Your Profession

ESP Conference 2019

Where: Hilton Burlington, 60 Battery Street, Burlington, VT 05401
When: March 29th - 8am - 4 pm (Breakfast begins at 7:15 am)

We are excited to announce this year's ESP Conference will be held at the Hilton Burlington overlooking gorgeous Lake Champlain. We sincerely hope you can join us for this exciting professional development event designed specifically for Education Support Professionals. The conference is completely free for Vermont-NEA members-- breakfast, lunch, snacks and parking included!

Click here to be redirected to the event website. Please note: We have reached full capacity for this year's ESP Conference, but encourage you to join the wait list. Cancelations are inevitable, and it is likely many people on the list will end up snagging a spot. Once on the event website, simply click the "register now" button to add your name.

AGENDA:

7:15-8:00 - Registration/Breakfast

8:00-8:15 - Opening Remarks by Vermont-NEA President Don Tinney

**8:15-9:00 - I am From Here video and table talks**

“I am from here,” a 30-minute instructional film directed and produced by Bess O’Brien, serves as one component of Vermont-NEA’s virtual toolkit, Advancing Racial Equity in Vermont’s Public Schools. It is important that anyone working with Vermont students understand the experiences of Vermonters of color as they navigate through the public education system.
This film was commissioned by Vermont-NEA for use in school systems across the state. We will start the ESP Conference viewing this film and starting a discussion about this important topic. We will also provide opportunities for a deeper dive as session selections in the morning and afternoon.

9:15-11:45 - Morning Breakout Sessions (Break 10:15-10:30):

Developmental and Secondary Trauma: Risks and Remedies for Paraeducators (SESSION FULL)

This 2.5 hour training will provide opportunities for participants to learn and practice self-regulation techniques that calm the stress response in themselves and their students/clients. Developmental trauma, measurable by the ACES test, happens to some degree to everyone. Learning and practicing techniques to calm the physical and emotional reactivity generated by primary and secondary trauma helps to create safe and effective learning environments for students and teachers alike. Support handouts will be provided. Facilitator: Jane Buchan, AAMET Accredited EFT Master Trainer

Putting the “CO” into Collaboration: Building Winning Teams

This interactive workshop will investigate the WHATs, WHYs, and HOWs of collaborative paraeducator / teacher teams to best meet the needs of all students. Using material from the Building Winning Teams (BWT) curriculum, along with targeted discussion, this workshop will explore several key concepts presented in the BWT micro-credentials, including collective action, respectful and responsive communication, and tried-and-true organizational tools and tips to empower and support each other and the students. Join Wendy and Martha, a Vermont team with over 15 years experience, to examine specific strategies for working together to build a winning team. Participants in this session are encouraged to invite a teacher with whom you team. Facilitators: Martha Santa Maria, M.Ed., NBCT, Teacher of Language & Literature/Curriculum Leader and Wendy Brouillard, Special Education Paraprofessional

Math: Why Not the Old Way?

How many times have you wondered why kids cannot just learn math the old way? It worked for many of us, didn’t it? In this workshop, we will explore the why of current approaches to elementary (and middle school?) mathematics, focusing on ways to help students gain independence in the processes of mathematics, so that you will be less tempted to just give the students answers. Facilitators: Sherry Singer, Math Mentor/Interventionist and Barb Borowske, Paraeducator

Google Drive

Come learn the ins and outs of Google Drive. Discover how to increase student workflow by understanding file organization, collaboration, sharing, add-ons, and advanced searching. Learn what different programs are available within Google Drive, and how Drive works with Gmail and other applications. Bring a Chromebook if you have access to one. Facilitator: Jessica Wilson, Digital Learning Leader

Behavioral Interventions for Students Who Struggle With Social Thinking (SESSION FULL)

Let us help you with a road map for solving challenging behaviors in school! Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and ADHD struggle with many aspects of social interactions. We will explore interventions specifically tailored for students with ASD and other behavioral challenges. We will provide overviews of Michelle Garcia-Winner’s ILAUGH curriculum, Carol Gray’s Social Stories and Leah Kuyper’s Zones of Regulation. We will show you how to use a variety of social thinking strategies to help students learn to manage their own behavior. By focusing on the underlying social thinking, we will help you identify deficits or skills your students need in order to be successful in school.

Chris Sedic-Lawton and Lisa Bisbee have both worked as special educators in the Williston School District for many years. Their combined experience covers a wide range of challenges and interventions for students with a variety of labels. We will spend time in the workshop working on understanding the challenges you are facing and helping you find ways to support your students. Facilitators: Lisa Bisbee and Chris Sedic-Lawton

I Am From Here - Advancing Racial Equity in Vermont's Public Schools

Educators have a tremendous responsibility to make sure their students are ready to learn. If there are barriers to learning, it is the challenge of educators to identify those barriers, then break them down so that their students may learn. Racism is a barrier not readily identified or acknowledged. Once acknowledged, many educators do not know what to do about it.

This session will allow participants to begin to explore the following:
• Identify and examine personal biases (all of us have them) and consciously address them when working with students of color;
• Be willing to have tough conversations with colleagues related to the film, "I am from here";
• Consider ways you might use “I am from here,” and its discussion guide to develop conversations in your school.
• Work to identify and challenge explicit and implicit racism in school, setting a positive example and in turn, improve school climate.
• Look at the school with new eyes and identify systemic racism, however subtle, that has existed in the day to day operation of the school;
• Make personal changes in your approach to your work so that all students feel respected, included, safe, and challenged when learning

Facilitator: Martha Allen, NEA EdJustice Facilitator

Supporting Anxious Students

This workshop will focus on strategies to support anxious students at all grade levels. Participants will explore anxiety and what it may look like within a variety of school settings. This work embodies the research of Dr. Ross Greene, Dr. Robert Brooks, and Dr. Sam Goldstein to list a few. Topics will include proactive problem solving, activities that promote positive behaviors and social strategies in the daily life of a school day, and practical and easy ways to build a positive relationships. Session facilitators Emily Tyl and Barb Smith have over 30 years of experience working with students in the Essex Town School District. In the past 4 years, they have consulted and mentored new and veteran teachers. Facilitators: Emily Tyl and Barb Smith

11:45-12:45 - Lunch featuring ESP of the Year, Pat Thompson

1:00-3:30 - Afternoon Breakout Sessions (Break 2:15-2:30)

Supporting a Growth Mindset in our Students

Growth mindset is the idea that, with effort, it's possible to increase intelligence levels, talents, and abilities. Students who demonstrate a growth mindset believe their abilities develop over time, tend to seek out opportunities to gain new knowledge and broaden their skills, and do not typically shy away from challenges (Kazakoff & Mitchell, 2017). How can ESPs help build a growth mindset with students? In this session, participants will explore their own mindset, and look at qualities of and ways to support a growth mindset with their students. Having a growth mindset is essential to lifelong success, and it is something that students can develop with practice. Facilitators: Kevin Pioli-Hunt, Teacher, and Charles Dabritz, Librarian/Media Specialist

Supporting Anxious Students (SESSION FULL)

Am From Here - Advancing Racial Equity in Vermont's Public Schools

Facilitator: Martha Allen, NEA EdJustice Facilitator

Mentoring Paraeducators

Paraeducators and other ESPs are not routinely given support through mentoring. In this session, we will look at mentoring in general, and explore a Vermont example at St. Albans City Elementary, who worked with Vermont-NEA through a Great Public Schools Grant, to provide all new paraeducators a paraeducator mentor. Outcomes include: Understanding the advantages of mentoring paraeducators, sharing one example, looking at the grant outcomes to date and planning for year 2 of the grant, and discussing how locals might support their own through mentoring. Facilitators: Pat Thompson, ESP of the Year; Margaux Vaillancourt, Paraeducator; and Juliette Longchamp, Vermont-NEA Director of Professional Programs

Behavioral Interventions for Students Who Struggle With Social Thinking (SESSION FULL)

Chromebook Tips & Tricks

What do you really need to know about Chromebooks? Come join this workshop to explore how Chromebooks can maximize student achievement and engagement. Learn some of the more advanced uses of a Chromebook, accessibility features, add-ons, speech-to-text, bookmarking, and more. Learn to navigate the Google Chrome Store and how to find apps and extensions which support students’ individualized learning needs and differentiated instruction. Participants will learn how to help improve student accountability, while helping students learn strategies for collaborating and communicating, and becoming responsible individual learners. Bring a Chromebook if you have access to one. Facilitator: Jessica Wilson, Digital Learning Leader

Strategies to Support Students In Argument/Opinion Writing

This workshop will focus on tools and strategies to support students with argument/opinion writing. We will work with the Common Core Standards for writing, rubrics and other tools for informing writing progress, and will be introduced to some tools and strategies to help support students and to help them build independence and success as writers. Facilitator: Karen Heath, English/Language Arts Coordinator