Third Annual Diversity Institute

Mayerson Academy proudly presents its third annual Diversity Institute on Wednesday, June 8, 2011 from 8:30-3:30.  The keynote speaker will be Dr. Lisa Delpit, author of Other People’s Children:  Cultural Conflict in the Classroom.  Dr. Delpit, a graduate from the Harvard School of Education, is an Eminent Scholar and Executive Director of the Center for Urban Education and Innovation at Florida International University in Miami.  Her work is dedicated to providing excellent education for marginalized communities in the United States and abroad. Click here for a registration form.

For information, please contact Gwen Walton @ 513-475-4120 or email walton.gwen@mayersonacademy.org.

MAYERSON ACADEMY HOSTS SECOND ANNUAL ANTI-BULLYING INSTITUTE

Mayerson Academy will host its second annual Anti-Bullying Institute on Thursday, June 9, from 8:00-3:30.  Representatives from Mayerson Academy in partnership with Xavier University, CPS and DISCO, will present this event to the greater Cincinnati community.  The morning keynote speaker is Alfred “Coach” Powell.  “Coach” Powell, a violence prevention specialist, is the founder/CEO of Human Motivation Circle.  He also works with underserved schools and communities to improve academic performance.  Alfred “Coach” Powell is the author of several books including Coaching in the Classroom: Helping Underserved Students Win the Game of Academic Excellence.

Participants will also have an opportunity to learn more about other issues related to bullying and strategies to reduce the number of incidents that might occur at the school site. Click here for a registration form.

For more information about the institute, please contact Gwen Walton at 513-475-4120 or email walton.gwen@mayersonacademy.org.

Anti-bullying Program Comes to South Avondale School

Mayerson Academy is pleased to announce that South Avondale School will implement the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program.  With over thirty-five years of research and successful implementation, the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program is designed to be used school-wide, in the classroom and individual levels that includes methods to reach out to parents and the community for involvement and support.  Its core principles are aligned to and will support the already existing CPS district initiative Positive School Culture.

The Olweus program will be spearheaded by the school’s Positive School Culture team.  The members will receive two full days of training by a certified Olweus trainer/consultant.  In addition, the Olweus trainer will provide ongoing support, materials and follow-up sessions throughout the year to make for  smooth implementation. 

Mayerson Academy to Host Chinese Delegation

In May, the Mayerson Academy will host a delegation of officials from the school district in Cincinnati’s sister city, Liuzhou, China.  This visit will include a day of public presentations made by members of the delegation.  Presentations will also be made by representatives of Cincinnati Public Schools officials, Mayerson Academy, the Ohio Department of Education, the College of Mount Saint Joseph, and city officials.  Throughout their visit, the delegation will be visiting local schools and Knowledge Works, in an effort to better understand issues around community involvement and partnerships to support improved student achievement and education reform.  These Chinese officials have also requested specific training from the Academy regarding a host of education issues ranging from adolescent developmental psychology to instructional pedagogy.  This visit will mark the beginning of an ongoing relationship between the Academy and the Liuzhou school district as a means of cultural exchange and building an international partnership.

Ohio/Kentucky/Indiana Regional TESOL Conference

The Mayerson Academy for Human Resource Development, in partnership with the Literacy and Second Language Studies Graduate Student Association at the University of Cincinnati, is proud to host the Ohio Kentucky Indiana (OKI) Regional TESOL Conference.  This year’s theme, Teachers without Borders, is symbolic not only of the work that we do as educators with English learners, but also of our goal to continue removing the borders that exist among education professionals working in the tri-state.  Further, the new partnership between Mayerson Academy and the University of Cincinnati hopes to eliminate the border that often exists between Pre-K—12 education and the colleges/universities that are preparing future teachers to work with this ever-growing population.
 
This year’s keynote speaker, Dr. Mary Schleppegrell, is a linguist and Professor of Education at the University of Michigan School Of Education, where her research explores the relationship between language and learning with a focus on students for whom English is a second language. She is the author of The Language of Schooling, among many other publications.

There are also sixteen breakout/concurrent sessions being offered on a wide range of topics in the area of second language acquisition—the registration form gives a detailed overview of all sessions. 

The cost for conference attendance is $85.00 per participant; this price does include lunch. Click here for a registration form.  Registration fees for Cincinnati Public Schools teachers have been prepaid; CPS teachers should register using MyPD at the Mayerson website.  (Course numbers for registering online can be found on the registration form.)

Mayerson Academy Provides LETRS Training for Newport Independent School District

The Mayerson Academy for Human Resource Development is engaged in a one-year partnership with Newport Independent School District to provide professional development focused on Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS).

LETRS provides the deep foundational knowledge necessary to understand how students learn to read, write, and spell – and why some students struggle.  All gr. K-6 content area educators will participate and benefit from this training.  The professional development will include training in teaching learning laboratories for reading coaches and monthly onsite support for module implementation and modeling.

In-Classroom Follow-up Provided for LETRS and Orton-Gillingham Training

Tremendous Opportunity!  Increase your instructional implementation. All teachers who have taken three or more LETRS (Language Essentials for Teaching Reading or Spelling) Modules or Orton-Gillingham training at Mayerson Academy may receive follow-up coaching in their classrooms. Research has shown that follow-up coaching helps teachers bring into effective practice the strategies learned about in workshop settings. For more information, contact, Sonia Milrod, literacy professional development specialist, 475.4145.

Tutors Receive Training through Mayerson Academy

Mayerson Academy providing training for tutors who work with Cincinnati Public School students either during the school day.

This 4-hour session will give tutors the ability to implement the Reading Express intervention program which CPS has adopted. Sessions are scheduled on multiple dates. For registration information, please click here.

Mayerson Academy is pleased to announce that we are hosting workshops for Kagan USA Tours.

The Kagan USA Tour is a unique learning opportunity. You'll learn the best from the best when you register for one of Kagan's USA Tour workshops! Workshops for Kagan's USA Tour are presented by Dr. Spencer Kagan, Laurie Kagan, and by Certified Kagan Trainers. At Kagan, trainers are dedicated to providing the best training possible.

March 16 Accelerating Achievement
Cost: $189
WS#10964

This workshop focuses on simple instructional strategies and structures that dramatically increase the achievement of all students, especially low-achieving and low-ability students.  In this active workshop, the participants experience these strategies, derive the rationale, and learn ways to adapt them to their classroom.  The structures have two proven outcomes: Excellence and Equity.  The Kagan structures not only boost achievement for all students (increased excellence) they decrease the gap between low and high achieving students (increased equity).  The strategies lift up the lows while accelerating the achievement of all students.  Come learn how to apply these easy-to-learn, easy-to –use instructional strategies in any lesson, at any grade level. 

Please register on the Kagan website: http://www.kaganonline.com/Training/USATour/tour.html

Mayerson Academy Offers LETRS for Early Childhood Educators

This two-day workshop provides research based professional development for preschool-first grade educators interested in helping young children build a strong foundation in early literacy skills. Participants learn how to plan developmentally appropriate, engaging, and scientifically-based activities that lay a foundation for higher level comprehension by enriching the child's vocabulary, listening, and oral language skills. The workshop is followed by up to four hours of in-class coaching to assist educators in implementing these strategies.

Mayerson Academy is certified by the Ohio Department of Education to provide 12 hours of early childhood professional development credit for LETRS (Language Essentials for Teaching Reading and Spelling) for Early Childhood Educators. Graduate credit is available through the College of Mt. St. Joseph.

Click here to download information and registration form (CPS Educators may go to MyPD to register).

For more information about scheduling LETRS for Early Childhood Educators in your school or district, contact Sonia Milrod, Mayerson Academy Professional Development Specialist for Literacy, at 513.475.4145 or milrod.sonia@mayersonacademy.org

Mathematics Virtual Learning Team

The Mathematics Virtual Learning Team has been meeting regularly since November 4.  Six teachers are participating using the chat feature of Blackboard.  They follow the same protocol as any other Learning Team.  They just don’t meet face-to-face, but carry on their discussions through the chat room.  The chats are recorded and posted in Blackboard so that participants can refer back to them.  Additionally, participants are posting lessons and other resources in Blackboard so that other members of the learning team can have access to them.

Online Professional Development Comes to the Academy

Mayerson Academy now has the capacity to offer online professional development through Blackboard.
In addition to the standard Blackboard tools, the Academy will offer synchronous video links so that participants can see one another “live” on Blackboard, almost as if they were sitting in a room together.

This fall two Virtual Learning Teams at the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade levels, one in math and one in science, will begin functioning.  This allows math and science teachers at those upper levels in K-8 schools to have content specific learning teams. 

The first three modules of a new Mayerson Academy online course, Student Centered Active Learning Environments (SCALE) will be available by late fall. Other developments are under consideration. The Academy will also be able to customize online professional development courses for its clients.

Mayerson Consultant Interviewed on WCET “Focus” with Kathy Lehr

As a part of the comprehensive training that Mayerson Academy offers in “Positive School Culture,” the Academy offers training to school personnel and families in bullying prevention and resolution in schools.  Ed Green, a consultant on anti-bullying legislation in Ohio schools, was interviewed last week by Kathy Lehr, for the WCET program, “Focus.”  The program focused on how schools can respond to the bullying problem that is gaining national headlines due to a seeming increase in the number of students committing suicide as a result of bullying activity.  A link to the program is provided below. 

For information related to training that the Academy can provide to schools in the area of bullying prevention, contact Ed at 513.478.5551 or e-mail him at green.ed@mayersonacademy.org. 

http://www.cetconnect.org/VideoPlayer.aspx?vid=5200

DIBELS® Next Transition Workshop Scheduled for November 6

Mayerson Academy is offering a DIBELS® Next Transition Workshop on November 6th from 8:30AM-3:30PM. This workshop is designed for professionals who are familiar with the DIBELS measures and would like to begin using the new DIBELS® Next assessments. For more information and registration, CLICK HERE or contact Sonia Milrod, Literacy Professional Development Specialist, at 513.475.4145.

Children Learn Best in a Safe Environment
Anti-Bullying Workshop for Parents

The Mayerson Academy, Parents for Public Schools, Safe and Drug-free Schools, D.I.S.C.O.  and Xavier University have come together to provide an evening of great conversation as parents learn proactive approaches to preventing and recognizing the signs of bullying.  Topics that will be discussed include:  cyber-bullying, parents/communities taking action, an overview of HB 276 General Anti-Bullying Legislation, and bullying on the bus.  

This Anti-Bullying workshop will take place in two sessions and will be offered in two separate locations to accommodate parents on the east and west side of town.  Please see the information below that tells where the workshop will take place and the time of the event.  Please select the place nearest to you.  Then call 513-475-4100 to register.  An interpreter will be provided for our Spanish speaking parents at both locations.

FOR PARENTS AND GUARDIANS LIVING ON THE WEST SIDE OF TOWN
Anti-Bullying Workshop for parents to be held at Roberts Paideia.
1702 Grand Ave.  Cincinnati, Ohio 45214
Session I – Tuesday, October 5
Session II – Tuesday, October 19
Time – 6:00-8:00 PM

FOR PARENTS AND GUARDIANS LIVING CENTRAL OR EAST SIDE OF TOWN
Anti-Bullying Workshop for parents to be held at Mayerson Academy
2650 Highland Ave.  Cincinnati, Ohio 45219
Session I – Thursday, October 7
Session II – Thursday, October 21
Time – 6:00-8:00 PM

FOOD WILL BE PROVIDED

Harry and Rosemary Wong return to Mayerson Academy

Harry and Rosemary Wong will make their second appearance at Mayerson Academy on Thursday, September 16.  Harry and Rosemary Wong are the foremost authorities on the effective teacher.  They are the most sought-after speakers in education.  Harry has spoken to more than one-million educators and the Wong’s have written the best-selling book in education, The First Days of School, that has sold more than 3.5 million copies.  They will deliver a three-hour presentation to teachers who are new hires to CPS as well as other teachers currently teaching in the district. 

I-Read Conference August 9-11, 2010

In partnership with Mt. St. Joseph, Mayerson Academy is hosting the annual I-Read Conference, August 9-11, 2010. The major area of focus will be on the newly revised DIBELS® reading assessment with break-out sessions for K-2 and 3-6 educators on all the new DIBELS® Next measures. Dr. Stephanie Stollar from Dynamic Measurement Group, the developer of the widely-used DIBELS® reading assessment, will provide a special trainer-of-trainers session which will enable schools/districts to send a teacher/psychologist who already uses DIBELS® to become trained in how to train others in the new DIBELS® Next assessment instruments. A second area of focus will be on the use of DIBELS® Next data to plan intervention. Click here to download information on sessions and registration.

Dater Foundation Grant Supports Orton Gillingham Multi-sensory Reading Training

The Dater Foundation awarded the Mayerson Academy a grant of $20,000 to help support the summer Multi-sensory Reading Program, better known as Orton Gillingham training.  This training will be offered twice this summer:  June 1—June 24 and July 6—July 29.  The grant will enable the Academy to support the in-classroom implementation component of the training with follow-up visits from master teachers to the classrooms of the teachers taking the training this summer. Teachers who took the training in 2009 were very positive about receiving assistance once they returned to their classrooms.. The Academy appreciates the continued support from the Dater Foundation in 2008, 2009, and again this year.  

Mayerson Academy and The College of Mt. St. Joseph Announce New Endorsement/Master’s Program in Reading Science

The College of Mt. St. Joseph (MSJ), in partnership with Mayerson Academy, is offering a new program which will give teachers the opportunity to earn their Reading Endorsement or Master’s Degree in Reading Science by taking a combination of courses at the Academy and MSJ.

The LETRS (Language Essentials in Teaching Reading and Spelling) developed by Dr. Louisa Moats and Orton-Gillingham courses offered by Mayerson Academy form the foundation of this new program. All courses taken at the Academy will be offered at a reduced MSJ tuition rate. To download a flyer about this program, click here.

For more information contact Sonia Milrod, Mayerson Academy,  milrod.sonia@mayersonacademy.org, 513-475-4145 or Amy Murdoch, College of Mount St. Joseph: amy_murdoch@mail.msj.edu, 513-244-493.

Kagan Cooperative Learning Franchise

Kagan Professional Development and Mayerson Academy have entered into an agreement granting Mayerson Academy a franchise. The agreement permits Mayerson Academy the rights to offer the Cooperative Learning courses developed by and approved by Kagan Professional Development to educators in the State of Ohio and within Kentucky and Indiana – limited to a fifty mile radius of Cincinnati. Cooperative Learning courses will soon be offered and taught by Mayerson consultant/instructors.

Smale Family Foundation Awards Grant to Mayerson Academy

The Smale Family Foundation awarded Mayerson Academy a $30,000 grant to train eight additional Orton Gillingham master teachers and four additional instructors by the summer of 2011. Orton Gillingham is a multi-sensory approach to teaching reading focusing on phonological skills, sound/symbol relationship, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. Master teachers supervise participants as they tutor students individually or in small groups and then provide follow-up coaching in the teacher’s classroom during the semester following training, Instructors teach the formal in-classroom sessions of the program.  .

Demand for Orton Gillingham training has grown significantly.The Academy now offers four courses each year: two in the summer, and one each semester of the school year.      

Anti-bullying Institute 2010

The Mayerson Academy, in partnership with D.I.S.C.O. and Xavier University, is hosting a two day anti-bullying institute on June 17-18 at the Academy.   From the first day of the institute, all participants will emerge with a stronger knowledge base related to bullying in the K-12 school setting. While possessing a strong knowledge-base related to bullying and what types of situations are more conducive to bullying is a critical first step, knowledge alone is not sufficient to combat bullying. As such, the second primary objective of the first training day is for participants to emerge with enhanced tools to take action to prevent bullying. Finally, all content and experiential activities from the first training day have been specifically designed to prepare participants to maximize the benefit of the 90 minute workshops to be offered on day two.  On the second day of the institute, participants will choose from a variety of breakout sessions that speak to specific issues presented from the first day of the institute such as working with parents, teen dating violence, cyber-bullying, relational aggression, and bully-proofing your classroom.  For registration information, click here.

Diversity Institute 2010

The second annual Mayerson Academy Diversity Institute will be held at the Academy on Thursday, June 3, 2010 from 8:30am-3:30pm.  This year’s theme is “A Diverse Universe Begins at School.”  Our keynote speaker, Stephen Peters, has served on panels as an education expert with U.S. Secretary of Education, Dr. Rod Paige in Washington, D.C.  He has also been featured on television programs such as “America, America” and “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”  Mr. Stephen Peters offers strategies and approaches that will affirm and validate teaching effectiveness in the classroom.  Participants will learn how effective relationship building with children is fundamental for student and school success.  Mr. Peters will give three specific steps that will engage students in the learning process.  The participant will come away with a better understanding of why we are dealing with the type of student we’re dealing with as well as, specific strategies to engage ALL learners. Mr. Peters will provide a framework for reshaping school culture, affording teachers and students an opportunity to become part of the solution collaboratively, instead of remaining part of the problem separately.  

After the keynote presentation, a student panel discussion will explore issues relevant to diversity from their perspectives.  Finally, in the afternoon, there will be breakout sessions on understanding the culture of poverty, understanding personal biases, courageous conversations about race, and integrating sheltered instruction into an inclusive environment.
 
For a registration form and specific details regarding the conference, click here.  Cincinnati Public Schools employees may register for this event using the MyPD page on the Mayerson Academy website. 

National Acknowledgement for Mayerson Academy’s Classroom Walkthrough Work

A new resource book has just been published by Eye on Education - Classroom Walkthroughs to Improve Teaching and Learning by Donald S. Kachur, Judith A. Stout, and Claudia L. Edwards.  Mayerson Academy contributed to this publication. The purpose of the book is to assist interested readers in acquiring the broader sense of classroom walkthroughs and the variety of ways in which walkthroughs can be used as an effective tool for improving teaching and learning.

If you are interested in perusing this book, a copy has been placed in the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) in the leadership section.

Critical Literacy, Academic Achievement, and Youth Empowerment in Urban Schools

Dr. Ernest Morrell, author of Critical Literacy and Urban Youth, will be speaking on “Critical Literacy, Academic Achievement, and Youth Empowerment in Urban Schools”, at Mayerson Academy, March 4 from 4PM-6PM. Light refreshments and a book signing will follow his talk.

Ernest Morrell is an associate professor in the Urban Schooling division of the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies (GSE&IS) and Associate Director for Youth Research at the Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access (IDEA) at the University of California at Los Angeles. For more than a decade he has worked with adolescents, drawing on their involvement with popular culture to promote academic literacy development.

This event is sponsored by the University of Cincinnati Urban Center for Social Justice, Peace Education, & Research; CECH School of Education Literacy Program; Department of Africana Studies; and African American Cultural and Research Center in partnership with Mayerson Academy.

Cincinnati Public School employees may register on MyPD for Course # 877.2095. Educators outside of CPS may register by going to www.cech.uc.edu/ucsjpers/morrell .  For more information contact Sonia Milrod, at Mayerson Academy, 513-475-4145; or Marcia Deddens, University of Cincinnati, 513-556-4425. Click here to download the flyer.