A nationally recognized specialist in classroom management and youth character development, Jim Kestner will present practical, hands-on strategies to address unique challenges for building bridges that empower your students to overcome barriers from traumatic environments and circumstances to find empathy, acceptance, predictability, and hope through their time in your class. Specifically, the session will address the following:
Understanding the science of trauma* Compelling students to pursue character-based discipline as a tool for overcoming trauma
Facilitating student interpersonal communication, collaboration, and problem solving
Addressing confrontational student situations
Maintaining consistency in exceptional circumstances
Accounting for trauma in everyday classroom policies
Establishing a safe, trusting classroom environment
Teaching self-respect as a strategy for surviving long-term traumatic environments
Encouraging open communication
Adapting the physical environment to promote safety and success
Helping students set and achieve goals for managing uncertainty in their lives
Addressing changes in parent and custodial relationships
Jim Kestner will present his nationally recognized program in a high-energy session dedicated to helping teachers in their early career years address a wide range of classroom management issues. Teachers who attend will find strategies that lead students to make good choices, replacing controlling behaviors with strategies that lead students to monitor and take responsibility for their own behavior. Specifically, the session will address the following:
* Arranging the environment to improve student engagement * Developing and implementing effective classroom policies * Addressing common challenging behaviors * Difference between controlling behaviors and building good decision-making skills * Translating the concept of consistency to a variety of students and settings * Establishing a character-building classroom culture * Teaching self-respect, self-discipline, and responsibility * Self-esteem vs. self-respect * Grading systems that encourage student effort and engagement * Assessing student behavior * Parent and administrator involvement * Keeping and maintaining good records
Writing instruction from nationally recognized Jim Kestner’s more than 30 years of experience as a dynamic speaker brings workshop participants an innovative, game-like approach to teaching writing skills, empowering teachers to differentiate instruction that truly meets a wide range of students’ individual needs simultaneously. The option of an incentives-based, game-like interface equips middle and high school English teachers to harness the power of avatars and individual-based skill progression to shatter barriers and generate excitement in students as they gain ever greater writing proficiency along a virtual expedition to climb Mt. Everest. Check out these exciting features:
* A series of 17 self-paced writing challenges adaptable to time frames ranging from a few units to an entire school year * Real potential for students who need extra time a chance to master skills while simultaneously propelling gifted students to pursue advanced concepts that typically lie beyond the time available during the school year * Instruction on customizing the curriculum to a variety of settings and applications * Data collection and reporting mechanisms * ELA standards-aligned curriculum for grades 6-12 * Web-based data and leaderboards for teachers who decide to gamify the program * Easily adaptable for remote learning
A nationally recognized specialist in classroom management and youth character development, Jim Kestner will present practical, hands-on strategies to address unique challenges for building bridges that empower your students to overcome barriers from traumatic environments and circumstances to find empathy, acceptance, predictability, and hope through their time in your class. Specifically, the session will address the following:
Understanding the science of trauma* Compelling students to pursue character-based discipline as a tool for overcoming trauma
Facilitating student interpersonal communication, collaboration, and problem solving
Addressing confrontational student situations
Maintaining consistency in exceptional circumstances
Accounting for trauma in everyday classroom policies
Establishing a safe, trusting classroom environment
Teaching self-respect as a strategy for surviving long-term traumatic environments
Encouraging open communication
Adapting the physical environment to promote safety and success
Helping students set and achieve goals for managing uncertainty in their lives
Addressing changes in parent and custodial relationships
