D.I. Asia Summit 2016 - Speakers
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Drs. Harry & Rosemary Wong

Educational Consultants, Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc., United States

Harry and Rosemary Wong are teachers. Harry is a native of San Francisco and taught middle school and high school science.  Rosemary is a native of New Orleans and taught K-8, including working as the school media coordinator and student activity director.

Harry Wong has been awarded the Horace Mann Outstanding Educator Award, the National Teachers Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award, the Science Teacher Achievement Recognition Award, the Outstanding Biology Teacher Award, and the Valley Forge Teacher's Medal.  He was selected as one of the most admired people in education by the readers of Instructor magazine.  Rosemary was chosen as one of California's first mentor teachers and has been awarded the Silicon Valley Distinguished Woman of the Year Award.  She was also honored as a Distinguished Alumnus from her alma maters, Southeastern Louisiana University and Louisiana State University.

Harry and Rosemary have been awarded the Upton Sinclair Award and were nominated for the Brock International Prize in Education. They have built and sustain a school in the jungles of Cambodia.

The Wongs are the most sought after speakers in education today, booked two years into the future. Their presentations are practical, offering a common sense, user-friendly, and no-cost approach to managing a classroom for high-level student success. Over a million teachers worldwide have heard their message.

Harry and Rosemary are the authors of the bestselling book ever in the history of education, The First Days of School.  The book has sold 3.9 million copies and the book is printed in Singapore.  It has also been translated into seven foreign languages.

KeynoteThe Effective Teacher

The overwhelming research states that the only factor that will improve student learning and achievement is an effective teacher.  Over 50 years of research has repeatedly stated that the three characteristics of effective teachers are:  1) effective organization and managing of the classroom, 2) effective management for lesson mastery, and 3) positive expectation for both teacher and student success.  The presenters have spoken extensively on and have written the best-selling book in the history of education on this subject.

Spotlight Session on 8 Sep 2016: Creating Classroom and School Culture

The major role of a principal is to establish, nourish, and disseminate a culture.  All effective schools and classrooms have a Culture of Consistency, a structure and organization where the students know what to DO (Procedures) and what to LEARN (Objectives).  Effective teachers know the strategies and techniques on how to organize and manage a classroom so that students can visibly see what they are to do to learn and succeed.  The presenters have written two major books on this subject.

Spotlight Session on 9 Sep 2016: The Learning Triangle

The only way to improve student learning is to improve teacher instructional practice.  The effective teacher structures the lesson based on the three points of the Learning Triangle:  1) Objectives:  Tell the students what they will be learning before the lesson begins, and student achievement can be raised as much as 27 percent.  2)  Assessment:  Provide students with specific feedback about their progress, and achievement can be raised as much as 37 percent.  3)  Instruction:  Good instruction is 15 to 20 times more powerful than family background, income, race, gender, and other explanatory variables. 

 


Dr. Marcia Tate

Chief Executive Officer, Developing Minds Inc., United States

Marcia L. Tate, EdD is the former Executive Director of Professional Development for the DeKalb County School System, Decatur, Georgia.  During her 30-year career with the district, she has been a classroom teacher, reading specialist, language arts coordinator, and staff development executive director.  She received the Distinguished Staff Development Award for the State of Georgia, and her department was chosen to receive the Exemplary Program Award for the state.  More importantly, Marcia has been married to Tyrone Tate for more than 30 years and is the proud mother of three wonderful adult children: Jennifer, Jessica, and Christopher; and the doting grandmother of two granddaughters, Christian and Aidan, and a grandson, Maxwell Connor.

Marcia is currently an educational consultant and has taught more than 350,000 administrators, teachers, parents, and business and community leaders throughout the world, including Australia, Egypt, Hungary, Singapore, Thailand, Oman, Greece, and New Zealand. She is the author of the following five bestsellers: Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Instructional Strategies that Engage the Brain (Second Edition); “Sit & Get” Won’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Professional Learning Strategies That Engage the Adult Brain (Second Edition); Reading and Language Arts Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Literacy Strategies that Engage the Brain; Shouting Won’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Techniques for Managing a Brain-compatible Classroom; and Mathematics Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Numeracy Strategies that Engage the Brain; as well as her most recent books, Science Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Instructional Strategies That Engage the Brain; Preparing Children for Success in School and Life: 20 Ways to Increase Your Child’s Brain Power; and Social Studies Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Instructional Strategies That Engage the Brain. Participants in her workshops refer to them as “some of the best ones they have ever experienced” since Marcia uses the 20 brain-compatible strategies outlined in her books to actively engage her audiences.

Dr. Tate received her bachelor’s degree in psychology and elementary education from Spelman College in Atlanta, her master’s in remedial reading from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and her specialist and doctorate degrees in educational leadership from Georgia State University and Clark Atlanta University respectively.  Spelman College awarded her the Apple Award for excellence in the field of education.

Keynote Session: Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Brain Compatible Strategies That Differentiate Instruction

It stands to reason that if students don’t learn the way we teach them, then we must teach them the way they learn! Experience 20 instructional strategies (based on brain research and learning style theory) that differentiate instruction for all students. Increase learning for students when strategies like drawing, metaphor, music and storytelling are used to teach curriculum objectives. Explore research that shows why these strategies are preferable to others. This session has been called both professionally and personally life changing and lots of fun!

Spotlight Sessions: Characteristics of a Brain-compatible Classroom Environment

Regardless of the grade level or content area, increase student achievement, reduce behavior problems, and make teaching and learning fun by creating a brain-compatible classroom environment. Participants will: State five factors which all teachers should use to increase differentiated instruction; Design a brain-compatible differentiated classroom environment; Develop teaching plans which adhere to brain research and incorporate at least three of the 20 strategies. This session has been called informative and life changing.  


 

Ms Erin Erceg

Training Associate, Friendly Schools, Hawker Brownlow Education, Australia

Erin is currently the associate trainer for Friendly Schools Plus with Hawker Brownlow Professional Learning Solutions and an honorary appointee with the Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia. Having spent15 years with the Child Health Promotion Research Centre at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia Erin’s most significant roles relate to her work on research around social and emotional learning and aggression and bullying among young people. Her other areas of research include; capacity building for interventions in schools; secondary school transition factors; cyber bullying and it’s effects, reducing effects of bullying among Aboriginal children; children’s connectedness factors and mental health, building school capacity to engage parents and increase their connectedness to the whole-school environment and self esteem and resilience of young people.

Previous to this work Erin has worked as a teacher in both primary and secondary school classes for 13 years, and then as a development officer health and wellbeing programs and as a consultant with community builders and suicide prevention.

Erin is a lead author of the internationally recognised Friendly Schools Initiative and has been directly involved in the research supporting this initiative since it began in 1999. She has also been the lead trainer for the Friendly Schools and many other Research projects throughout this time and has worked extensively with primary and secondary schools.

Keynote SessionEvidence Before Action - Pathways to individual Social And Emotional Capability

Singapore, along with other international education systems have embraced the ever-increasing research supporting the crucial role of a balanced set of social and emotional competencies combinedwith cognitive skills to enable students to effectively engage in their learning. In order to offer students differentiated instruction that support their specific pathways to social and emotional competence, we need first to look at thesedevelopmental pathways across time and the various influences that may develop and interact throughout this journey. This presentation will explore how early patterns of social and emotional development become apparent, what kinds of factors influence changes and differences in these pathways. We will then look at evidence-based strategies and processes to offer students learning opportunities that fit their individual interests and needs.

Spotlight Sessions:  Supporting students to take control of their journey!

By using a differentiated approach tostudents’ emotional, social and behavioural development, educators can support each student to grow in all key skills and knowledge areas andto ultimately manage themselves, their relationships and their futureas independent learners. Each student will be at their own starting pointson their individualpathway to social and emotional competence.Behavioural and social “mistakes” will be inevitable part of this journey and offer an opportunity for us to teach young people skills and understandings in the same way we treat other learning errors. This session will explore how to use a differentiated approach to assess and monitor social and emotional skills, knowledge levels, and interests to determine effective ways for all students to engage in the journey towards independently managing their own emotions, behaviours, relationships and learning.


Dr. Kathy Perez

Director of Teaching Leadership, Saint Mary’s College of California, United States

Dr Kathy Perez, a Professor of Education at Saint Mary's College of California, has extensive teaching experience training a wide range of students and educators from preschool to graduate school. A dynamic presenter and "teacher cheerleader", she has the experience to guide both novice and experienced teachers. Dr Kathy is an acclaimed educational consultant, author and motivational speaker, specializing in instructional strategies and creative approaches to curriculum as well as organizational and professional development. She integrates state-of-the-art methods, research with passion and practical insights from her own classroom experiences.

Teachers from all levels and subject areas can testify to the effectiveness of Dr Kathy Perez's dynamic approach to teaching. Her innovative and interactive workshops are loaded with classroom-tested materials and activities that teachers can bring back and use immediately. Spend a lively and informative day with such an experienced and informed educator who knows firsthand the daily instructional challenges of classroom teachers, and be inspired by her infectious enthusiasm! Dr Kathy Perez has worked extensively with teachers, administrators and parents throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Caribbean, New Zealand, Singapore and Australia.

Spotlight Sessions: 21st Century Skills:  Promoting Creativity, Curiosity and Cooperation in your DI Classroom!

As the world accelerates teachers need to ensure that their students thrive in the changing culture of the classroom. In today’s highly diverse classroom, how can we provide instruction that maximizes success for each student while providing the appropriate level of challenge for the struggling student as well as the high-achiever? How can we ensure that ALL students acquire key concepts and skills we are teaching through varied activities and assignments that account for individual interest and motivation? What are the pieces that need to be in place to manage a differentiated classroom?If you are searching for practical answers to these questions, this is a seminar you won’t want to miss! These strategies will help you to accelerate learning and student success.

Objectives and Outcomes:  Participants will…

  • Increase productivity, achievement and enthusiasm for learning
  • Implement key practices for creating an innovative environment that supports differentiated teaching and learning
  • Maximize the power of differentiation to increase student achievement
  • Discover activities and techniques that can be used immediately in your classroom to reinforce the 3C’s

 

Closing Address: Innovate, Integrate, Motivate:  Strategies for Success!

Learning is NOT a spectator sport!

Equip your students with a burning desire to learn! In this interactive session, explore what motivates students to achieve success and how to make teaching fun so all learn. Ignite and excite your students with that “can do spirit” fostering a growth mindset. Increase student productivity and build confidence in all of your learners with tools to develop a brain-friendly classroom while differentiating content, process and products.  Meeting the challenge of differentiation:  the time is now!