BIENNIAL WORKSHOPS
- Workshop Title: Teaching Writing to Struggling Readers: Using the Strategic Interactive Writing Instruction (SIWI) Framework
Facilitator: Dr. Paulson Skerrit
Target Audience: Teachers of elementary school students especially in light of the assessment framework for SEA 2019-2023
- Workshop Title: Using Robotics in Classrooms
Facilitator: Dr. Cathy Radix
Target Audience: Teachers and Curriculum Developers for children aged 11-14 years
- Workshop Title: Managing Challenging Behaviours in Inclusive Settings - Access, Equity and Opportunity in Inclusive Settings
Facilitator: Dr. Elna Carrington-Blaides
Target Audience: Educators
- Workshop Title: So, You Want to be An Author: Academic Publishing in the Caribbean
Facilitator – Dr. Shamin Renwick
Target Audience: Experienced and/or new researchers, teachers, administrators, curriculum developers, assessment personnel.
- Workshop Title: Assessing 21st century skills and expressive learning in the classroom
Facilitator: Professor Jerome De Lisle
Target Audience: Educators
- Workshop Title: Technology Integration: Innovative Video tools for 21st Century Teaching and Learning
Facilitator – Ms. Michele Taylor
Target Audience: Teachers, curriculum officers, administrators, curriculum developers, lecturers/educators
- Workshop Title: Using EndNote X8
Facilitator: Dr. Simone Primus
Target Audience: Experienced or new researchers
- Workshop Title: Mixed Methods
Facilitators: Dr. Loraine Cook & Dr. Vimala Judy Kamalodeen
Target Audience: Experienced or new researchers
- Workshop Title: Designing Early Childhood STEM Projects to S-T-R-E-C-H Young Minds
Facilitators: Dr. S. Abdul-Majied
Target Audience: Educators
- Workshop Title: Mixed Methods Research for Social Justice
Target Audience: Experienced and/or New Researchers
1. Workshop Title: Teaching Writing to Struggling Readers: Using the Strategic Interactive Writing Instruction (SIWI) Framework
Facilitator: Dr. Paulson Skerrit
Target Audience: Teachers of elementary school students especially in light of the assessment framework for SEA 2019-2023
Workshop participants will experience how the seven guiding principles of Strategic Interactive Writing Instruction (SIWI) can transform literacy instruction to develop the reading and writing proficiencies of students. SIWI is driven by three major instructional approaches: strategy instruction, interactive instruction and the development of metalinguistic knowledge and linguistic competence. Participants will develop skills in explicitly teaching strategies for writing as a guided collaborative activity, which apprentices novice writers who are struggling readers, in all aspects of the writing process. They will learn how the strategies for promoting linguistic competence and developing meta-linguistic awareness in our Trinidad English Creole speaking students will move them to develop greater fluency with reading and writing in Trinidad Standard English. Participants will have the opportunity to become involved in a Professional Learning Community through which the workshop presenter and participants will engage in on going post conference professional development aimed at effecting long-term high fidelity instructional change.
2. Workshop Title: Using Robotics in Classrooms
Facilitator: Dr. Cathy Radix
Target Audience: Teachers and Curriculum Developers for children aged 11-14 years
This workshop explores the different ways in which ICT-supported classroom activities linked to robotics, can be used to promote communication and team-work between students of different ability levels within and outside of the classroom.
Pre-workshop:
1) All registrants are asked to walk with a Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capable electronic device - either an Android smartphone/tablet, or a Windows tablet/laptop.
2) Instructions for installation of software on the device will be provided before the workshop.
3) Copies of the Kit Specification and Safe Practice document(s) will be provided before the workshop.
3. Workshop Title: Managing Challenging Behaviours in Inclusive Settings - Access, Equity and Opportunity in Inclusive Settings
Facilitator: Dr. Elna Carrington-Blaides
Email: elna.carrington-blaides@sta.uwi.edu
Target Audience: Educators
This workshop teaches participants to recognise, define and classify unwanted classroom behaviours which must be targeted for intervention. Participants will be exposed to the functional assessment of behaviour, and the selection and teaching of alternative behaviour to replace unwanted behaviour. Participants will be exposed to antecedent strategies designed to reduce unwanted behaviours as well as differential reinforcement procedures and consequence based strategies. A main focus will be the de-escalation of unfolding challenging behaviours in the classroom. Issues related to teaching skills in the inclusive classroom will be addressed throughout. Finally, issues related to the evaluation and monitoring of behaviour modification plans will be discussed. Participants will receive a workshop booklet.
4. Workshop Title: So, You Want to be An Author: Academic Publishing in the Caribbean
Facilitator – Dr. Shamin Renwick
Target Audience - experienced and/or new researchers, teachers, administrators, curriculum developers, assessment personnel.
Publish or perish – the eternal mantra of Universities - supposedly only one of the measures to determine promotion and tenure. Nevertheless, those of us in academia have a mandate to add to knowledge and communicate via academic publishing. This workshop will raise the issues potential Caribbean authors will have to consider when they wish to publish in the academic arena, whether a book, book chapter or article format, print or online, paid or free open access. A mix of lecture and hands-on, this workshop will introduce participants to a basic checklist of concepts and tools that can be used to assist those of us in the Caribbean to get published, individually or collaboratively.
5. Workshop Title: Assessing 21st century skills and expressive learning in the classroom.
Facilitator: Professor Jerome De Lisle
Target Audience: Educators
21st century skills describe a constellation of competencies such as collaboration, communication, critical thinking, global citizenship, and creativity that are required for students to thrive in today’s changing world and workplace. Expressive learning focuses upon creativity and performance through the expressive arts-music, drama, dance, and art and design. How can these skills and subject areas be fully integrated into the classroom setting and assessed for multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinary purposes? We elaborate on the FPSI model which emphasizes four principles in designing classroom assessment: formative feedback, performance assessment, 21st century skills, and integration. We explore the use of rubrics in designing assessments in this scheme. We consider the elements of rubric design and promote formative rubric development practices such as co-creation with students.
6. Workshop Title: Technology Integration: Innovative Video tools for 21st Century Teaching and Learning.
Facilitator: Ms. Michele Taylor
Target Audience: Educators
In this workshop you will experience a few very specific innovative video technology tools that would be useful for a teacher to facilitate teaching and learning in the 21st century.
Video for reflection - The Swivl Device – the use of video recording for reflection, performance assessment and professional Development.
EdPuzzle – a tool that allows you to use videos to create lessons.
Screencast-o-matic – an easy to use video recording and screen capture tool that allows you to easily create a flipped or blended learning class, capture a lecture and much more.
7. Workshop Title: EndNote X8
Facilitator: Dr. S. Primus
Target Audience: Researchers
Having difficulty keeping track of electronic files and formatting those references when you write? EndNote is a commercial software for managing references. In this introductory hands-on workshop participants will create and organise an EndNote library, add references to the library, insert and edit citations in a Word document, format references in the APA style and create a Reference List.
8. Workshop Title: Mixed Methods Research: Definition, Philosophy, and Designs
Facilitator: Dr. Loraine Cook and Dr. Vimala Kamalodeen
Target Audience: experienced and/or new researchers
The goal of this workshop is for participants to understand and be able to incorporate Mixed Methods Research (MMR) into their dissertation/thesis and research project. The workshop will be interactive, and the content will include the following:
- Examining the various definitions of Mixed Methods Research to ascertain the critical attributes of the research approach;
- Discussing the philosophical frameworks used in Mixed Methods Research; and
- Choosing a Mixed Methods Research design.
9. Workshop Title: Designing Early Childhood STEM Projects to S-T-R-E-T-C-H Young Minds.
Facilitator: Dr. S. Abdul-Majied
Target Audience: Educators
Learn how to design projects for young children that include the basics of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) thinking and learning. Participants will be offered an overview of the Project Approach (Katz & Chard, 2000) and will investigate ideas for integrated learning with a STEM focus. You’ll leave with a toolbox of strategies for introducing more effective projects that target specific learning outcomes for young children. Your students will benefit as projects you design will help them to develop their critical thinking, creative thinking, and problem solving skills. All resources and handouts are included in the cost of the workshop.
10. Workshop Title: Mixed Methods Research for Social Justice
Facilitator: Professor D. Mertens
Target Audience: Experienced and/or New Researchers
This workshop is designed for researchers who want to learn how to use mixed methods to better address the needs of members of marginalized communities, such as women, people with disabilities, poor people, racial/ethnic minorities, and religions minorities. It will address strategies that mixed methods researchers can include in their designs that enhance their ability to contribute to addressing social inequities. Using a transformative lens, researchers will learn how to identify those aspects of culture and societal structures that support continued oppression and how to contribute in a positive way to social transformation.