Special Education Directors,

ADE/ESS is pleased to announce additional training opportunities for Arizona’s schools with The Neurosequential Model Network. The trainings will assist schools in dealing with trauma and its effects on students. There are two training programs available to schools:

Neurosequential Model in Education

The Neurosequential Model in Education (NME) draws upon the neurodevelopmentally informed, biologically respectful perspective on human development and functioning to help educators understand student behavior and performance. The goals of NME are to educate faculty and students in basic concepts of neurosequential development and then teach them how to apply this knowledge to the teaching and learning process. NME is not a specific “intervention;” rather, it is a way to educate school staff about brain development and developmental trauma and then to further teach them how to apply that knowledge to their work with students in and outside the classroom, particularly those students with adverse childhood experiences. This training is for classroom teachers and is a trainer-of-trainers model, and participants will be equipped to bring strategies back to their schools. See this document that provides further details about the training expectations.

Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics

The Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) is a developmentally informed, biologically-respectful approach to working with at-risk children and is a way to organize a child’s history and current functioning. The goal of this approach is to structure the assessment of a child, the articulation of the primary problems, the identification of key strengths, and the application of interventions (educational, enrichment, and therapeutic) in a way that will help family, educators, therapists, and related professionals best meet the needs of the child. (This training is for Master’s level school social workers, school counselors, or school psychologists.) See this document that provides further details about the training expectations.

Please join the Neurosequential Model Network for an informational session on July 24, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. to learn more about the trainings and hear from other Arizona schools who have been learning and implementing the model for over a year. Admission into the training series will require attendance at the webinar (or viewing of the recorded webinar) and submission of an application provided at the conclusion of the webinar on July 24. The cost of the training is $150.

Please click here to register for the informational session. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Email Aanya Rispoli any questions you have about this professional learning opportunity.

Special Education Directors,  

Please join us for the next episode of Thursday Afternoon LEarning Series, or TALES, on Thursday, July 9 from 2:45 p.m.— 4:15 p.m., when Tony Vincent presents, “Electrify Any Lesson.” You’ll discover ways to turn a potentially boring lesson into a brilliant one. Make learning irresistible by hooking your students' senses, connecting to background knowledge, making predictions, and building mysteries. Experience pixelated pictures, blacked out text, research scrambles, locked content, customized Mad Libs, mystery maps, emoji messages, and other inviting ways to captivate learners. These “quick wins” are great for any lesson, whether they are in a classroom or online.  

 Please click here to register. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Participant registration is first-come, first-served and is not limited to special educators – feel free to forward. 

Questions regarding this professional learning opportunity can be sent to [email protected].

Special Education Directors,

Are you anxious about starting the new school year without the data you typically rely on? Are you worried about how your school can meet the learning needs of all students during these uncertain times? ADE is here with research-based strategies to help!

The Arizona Department of Education, Exceptional Student Services, is pleased to announce a Data-Based Individualization Professional Learning Series in partnership with the National Center on Intensive Intervention.

Given the limited information about students’ skills as they begin the new school year, teachers will need to be more intentional than ever about assessing students’ current functioning and providing targeted and intensive intervention. The Data-Based individualization (DBI) Professional Learning Series teaches educators a research-based process for individualizing and intensifying interventions for students with and without disabilities through the systematic use of assessment data, validated interventions, and research-based adaptation strategies.

If your school is interested in participating in the series, please register your team (principal, special education teacher and general education teacher, coach, or interventionist) for a readiness webinar on July 15, 2020 from 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Admission into the training series will require participation in the webinar and submission of an application provided at the webinar and due on July 27, 2020. If your team cannot attend the webinar on July 15 but is interested in participating in the learning series, please email Kim Rice.

For more information, please see this flyer or contact Kim Rice, Exceptional Student Services Program Specialist.

Special Education Directors, 

Please join us for the next episode of the Thursday Afternoon LEarning Series, or TALES, on Thursday, June 25, 2020, from 2:45 to 3:45 p.m., “Using YouTube for Student Engagement – in Any Setting” with Paul West. Whether your district or charter school is planning to re-open with a brick-and-mortar, online, or hybrid model, teachers will need be more intentional than ever about delivering instruction in ways that engage our students. YouTube videos can be an important tech tool for student engagement for ALL students. In this session, you will learn about some of the unique ways videos can be used to teach to the strengths of students with disabilities, as well as some great tips and tricks for organizing, customizing, and presenting YouTube videos to support student engagement and learning. 

Paul has been a Coach of Digital Innovation for the Tempe Elementary School District for the last 5 years. Prior to that, he taught 4th and 5th grade for 5 years. Paul is well-versed in all manner of EdTech and is currently an ambassador for Flipgrid, Wakelet, and other versatile EdTech tools. Participant registration is first-come, first-served and is not limited to special educators – feel free to forward. Please click here to register. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. 

Questions regarding this TALES professional learning opportunity can be sent to [email protected].

Special Education Directors,

Please see the available professional development opportunities below.

Dive Deep into AZ Math Standards

for

Special Education Teachers

We know that, as special education teachers, you are typically working across multiple grade levels and with students who have various strengths, and we are here to support you in making it all work!

Join us as we spend time diving into our math standards and supporting documents to consider the following:

• Where are the students coming from? We will delineate content from the previous grade level.
• What do they need to learn this year? We will discuss the major content standards of the current grade level and how we can embed previous year learnings.
• Where are they headed?  We will look at connections across grade bands that will support student learning in subsequent years.

See the list of sessions below, and please feel free to sign up for the session(s) that are most relevant to you, based on the students that you support.

Elementary Sessions

• Grades K-2:  June 23, 9:00 - 10:30 a.m. or July 21, 9:00 - 10:30 a.m.
• Grades 2-3:  June 24, 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. or July 22, 9:00 - 10:00 a.m.
• Grades 3-5: June 25, 9:00 - 10:30 a.m. or July 23, 9:00 - 10:30 a.m.
• Grades 5-6: June 26, 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. or July 24, 9:00 - 10:00 a.m.

Secondary Sessions

• 6^th Grade: June 23, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. or July 21, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
• 7^th – 8^th Grade: June 24, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. or July 22, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
• HS Algebra I/II: June 25, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. or July 23, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
• HS Geometry: June 26, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. or July 24, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.

Dear Special Education Directors,

Please join us for our next episode of the Thursday Afternoon LEarning Series, or TALES,  on Thursday, May 14, 2020 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., when we welcome special guest lecturer Jamie Valderrama, a national and international speaker and current Undergraduate Coordinator at Arizona State University for the Integrative Health Initiative, to present for us “The Magic of Mindfulness.”

We are all currently experiencing extraordinary levels of stress on a daily basis with the demands of working from home while caring for family members, supporting our own children’s online learning, and worrying about all our students and their families. Stir-crazy and stressed is not a good place to be! But luckily, we know there are some simple, free things that can help. Mindfulness is increasingly gaining attention worldwide with the emergence of promising data showing how the simple act of being aware can deregulate the body’s stress response, leading to a happier and healthier life. “The Magic of Mindfulness” highlights the stress response (physically and psychologically) as well as applicable mindful practices to deregulate stressful triggers in our personal and professional lives. This presentation is funny, insightful, and may help you not only get through this crisis, but it may also change your life.

Participant registration is first-come, first-served and is not limited to special educators – feel free to forward. Please click here to register.

Questions regarding this TALES professional learning opportunity can be sent to the ESS Inbox or directed to the ESS receptionist at 602-542-4013.

Special Education Directors,

ESS continues to offer virtual professional learning through Office Hours for Special Education Teachers.

These virtual meetups are a chance for special education teachers across Arizona to connect with each other, collaborate and learn from one another, and to celebrate and share successes during this new educational landscape. Join our virtual meetups and connect with your colleagues to learn and lead from wherever you are in our state!

Behavior/Social-Emotional Learning

Tuesday, May 5 from 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Tuesday, May 19 from 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

For more information, please email Celeste Nameth, our Multi-Tier Behavior Specialist.

Literacy

Thursday, May 7 from 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Thursday, May 21 from 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

For more information, please email Sandra Figueroa or email Kim Rice, our Literacy Specialists.

Math

Thursday, May 14 from 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Thursday, May 28 from 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

For more information please email Eboney McKinney or email Jenifer Hutchinson, our Math Specialists.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

We appreciate your dedication to supporting students, and we look forward to connecting with you!

Special Education Directors,

Are your staff and families experiencing challenges with student engagement and motivation during remote learning?

If so, please join us for our next episode of the Thursday Afternoon LEarning Series, or TALES, on Thursday, April 30 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. We welcome Dr. Laura Riffel, a national and international presenter, also known as the Behavior Doctor, to present “Thriving During Remote Learning: Engaged and Motivated.” Dr. Riffel will share a three-pronged behavioral intervention approach to get students engaged and motivated to attend to remote learning tasks. Even though we are working remotely, we can revise the environment, replace the behavior, and reframe our response to gain student input in desired ways.

Dr. Riffel will share some recommendations based on age levels and ideas for family members, students, and educators. She is also creating a web page filled with ideas that you will be able to access after the webinar. At the end, she will be available to answer your questions. If you’d like to check out her website ahead of time, go to BehaviorDoctor.org or visit the Behavior Doctor Facebook page. If you have a specific question you’d like answered privately, she will be happy to answer if you email Dr. Riffel.

To join us for this one-hour webinar, please register in advance.

Participant registration is first-come, first-served and is not limited to special educators – feel free to forward.

Questions regarding this TALES professional learning opportunity can be sent to the ESS Inbox.

Special Education Directors,

This week, ESS launched a new series of professional development learning opportunities called TALES-  “Thursday Afternoon LEarning Series.” We hope you were able to join us for How to Support Your Students’ Self-Efficacy in the Home Learning Environment.

Our next episode is scheduled for Thursday, April 23 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., following the ESS Special Education Check-In.  Next week’s topic will be “GreAT Stuff: Easy and Effective Assistive Tools to Use With Students Right Now.” The focus will be on readily available, easy, and free tools, websites, and strategies that teachers can use in distance learning. All resources selected have high payoffs for students who struggle with the reading and writing demand of online learning and low stress for teachers to learn and implement.

Click here to join us for this one-hour webinar that includes time for Q & A.

This webinar is not limited to special educators – feel free to forward.

Questions regarding this TALES training can be sent to the ESSInbox.

Special Education Directors,

The ADE/ESS Professional Learning Team is pleased to announce additional office hours opportunities for special education teachers!

These weekly virtual meetups, focused on specific content areas, are a chance for special education teachers across Arizona to connect with each other, collaborate and learn from one another, and also to celebrate and share successes during this new educational landscape.

Behavior/Social Emotional Learning Office Hours for Special Education Teachers

First meeting is Tuesday, April 21 from 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Register for April 21. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Literacy Office Hours for Special Education Teachers

First meeting is Thursday, April 23 from 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Register for April 23. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

We appreciate all your efforts to support students, and we look forward to meeting with you!