Talking In Class

·         Location: Yolo-Solano Center for Teacher Credentialing (4632 2^nd Street, Suite 110, Davis, CA 95618)

·         Topic: We all know how important it is to get our kids talking about what they are learning.  Real, focused, academic conversations move kids faster and make learning more meaningful.  But they are oh so challenging!  In this seminar, we will present student conversation strategies that can be used in a wide variety of contexts.  These strategies promote academic conversation, encourage students to use academic vocabulary, and are fun for kids.  We will introduce each strategy, model it for an upper and an intermediate grade level and then give participants an opportunity to plan how they can use the strategy in their own classroom.

·         Presenter Information:

o   Staci Turner has taught 7th-12th grade math and science in Woodland, California since 2001.  She recently returned to teaching 7th and 8th grade math at Lee Middle School because middle school students never fail to make her smile. Specializing in curriculum development, instructional strategies and engaging reluctant learners, Staci's focus is nurturing the problem solvers of our future. Now that her children are grown, her free time is spent walking Doran's Beach in Bodega Bay with her husband and rescue dogs.

o   Kate Helfrich has taught math and science at both the middle school and high school level since 1988.  After many years in the classroom she took a turn at administration and then went to work for Action Learning Systems, and educational consulting group based in southern California.  As a consultant, she travelled all over the state working with teachers to improve their math instruction.  She currently lives in Sacramento where she spends time cooking and gardening.