Leadership

Evisha Ford, EdD, is the founding executive director of the iCan Dream Center in Illinois and a sought-after thought leader specializing in trauma-compassionate leadership, equity, and diverse learners. She is a former assistant superintendent and director of special education.

Based on the combined works of Dr. Timothy D. Kanold and Dr. Tina H. Boogren and their framework for educator wellness, this inspirational and interactive webinar will help you learn how to live a well-balanced and fully engaged life in order to build a safe, supportive, and collaborative school culture that positively impacts both student achievement and teacher retention.

Dr. Daman Harris is an award-winning education leader focused on equity, instructional leadership, student advancement, and educator development.

As educators and leaders across the nation grapple with the challenge of changing policies, practices, and procedures to ensure high levels of learning for all students, the inability to effectively change the mindsets of colleagues, faculty, and staff is proving to be the biggest hurdle of all. Hence, in order for systems to change, outlooks will also need to change.

Hiawatha Smith, PhD, is an associate professor of literacy education. Prior to his work preparing educators to teach literacy, Hiawatha worked as a classroom teacher and an instructional coach.

Ari Gerzon-Kessler is a sought-after speaker and professional learning provider working with schools and districts committed to forging stronger school-family partnerships. He’s presented at national and international conferences and his writings have been featured in a variety of educational publications.

Sheline Miller is a high school vice principal and was the former learning coach for the Washington County School District in Utah, where she successfully worked with teachers and teams to help establish professional learning community practices.

Kyle is the principal of Powell Middle School in Powell, Wyoming. Prior to administration, he was an elementary teacher where he developed the passion for professional learning communities and the power behind building a strong culture and teamwork in a school.

Instructional leaders (e.g., coaches, principals, and teacher leaders) work with teachers to improve educational outcomes for their students. This role can be overwhelming, especially when students and teachers have lost a full year of academic instruction.

With so much focus on students’ foundational skills, we cannot afford to overlook the unconstrained components of language comprehension. In this webinar, author Molly Ness highlights the research showing the cognitive, linguistic, socioemotional - and even physiological - benefits of read alouds. Despite their solid research basis, 50-70% of teachers do not plan read alouds in advance! This webinar overviews a planning protocol for effective read alouds in Pre-K - Grade 8 in literacy blocks and content-area classrooms.