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Landmark College Winter Institute Presentation & Session Descriptions

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Keynote presentation: “Embodied Brains, Social Minds, Cultural Meaning: Why Emotions are Fundamental to Learning”

Headshot of Keynote Presenter, Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, Ed.D.

Friday, February 8, 2019, 10:30 a.m. – Noon
by Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, Ed.D., professor of Education, Psychology & Neuroscience at the University of Southern California (USC).
Location: Sequoia Room

Author of Emotions, Learning, and the Brain: Exploring the Educational Implications of Affective Science

Social emotions like admiration, compassion and inspiration shape how we act, who we become, and how we experience our own lives. But how? And what does this mean for teachers and the design of educational activities? Mary Helen Immordino-Yang will present her research on the neurobiology and psychology of social emotions, including these emotions’ deep visceral roots in the feeling and regulation of the body and consciousness, and their propensity to heighten one’s own subjective sense of self-awareness and purpose. She will share findings from her cross-cultural studies in Beijing and Los Angeles, including from an ongoing longitudinal study of low-SES American adolescents from immigrant families. The findings have important implications for our understanding of child and adolescent development, and can help educators and policy-makers to think in new ways about the purpose and scope of high-quality education.

Plenary presentation: “Next Generation Disability Services”

Sunday, February 10, 2019, 9 – 10:30 a.m.
by Manju Banerjee, Ph.D. Vice President for Educational Research and Innovation, Landmark College
Location: Sequoia Room

Headshot of Plenary Presenter, Manju Banerjee, Ph.D.

Postsecondary Disability Services (DS) are evolving. Some offices have reinvented themselves with new names, more central locations, and greater web visibility. Yet data suggest that many students are still unwilling to access disability services. This session will delve deeper into student reluctance to connect with DS; and more importantly, will challenge participants to rethink disability services of the future. It will intrigue, challenge and invite you to rethink traditional practices for accommodations and access, in light of the science of empathy and the value of perspective-taking from another’s point of view.

Three-Day Strands

Three-day intensive, hands-on workshops (or “strands”) form a core component of our Institute experience. Participants stay in the same strand for all three days. Strands run 1:15 – 4 p.m. each afternoon of the institute, February 8 – 10.

Strand A) Transition to College: 10+ Years of Change for Students and Parents
Presenter: Adam Lalor, Ph.D.
Location: Oak Room

Photo of Adam Lalor

The transition to college is a dynamic (and often confusing) process that begins early in a student’s academic career and continues through postsecondary degree completion. Both students and their parents can be overwhelmed by the process. In this strand we will discuss a variety of topics ranging from goal setting and college preparation to the college search and application process to college academics and living on campus. Strategies for working with students with LD, ADHD, and ASD during the college transition will be discussed.

Strand B) Executive Function Support for Diverse Learners
Presenter: Rick Bryck, Ph.D.
Location: Sequoia Room

Photo of Rick Bryck

Executive Function (EF) refers to the cognitive processes that allow us to organize thoughts and activities, prioritize tasks, make decisions, and take action. Participants in this interactive three-day strand will deepen their understanding of EF and its impact on student success. A balance between EF theory, research, and practice will be presented—emphasis is placed on understanding why students struggle with EF, as well as practical approaches for supporting students facing EF challenges due to increased academic demand, learning disability, ADHD, or ASD.

Strand C) Spanning the Spectrum: Building Classrooms that Work for all Students with Autism
Location: Cypress Room

Recent research across disciplines has revealed that there are many “autisms”—this diversity is best captured by Dr. Stephen Shore’s adage, “If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.” Although our knowledge of this diversity has grown, our approaches to addressing it in schools has not kept pace. Our goal during this strand will be to deepen our understanding of this diversity and developing supports that match the individual strengths, needs and goals of autistic students. To accomplish this, we will 1) explore cognitive theories of autism; 2) translate recent research findings from the fields of psychology and neuroscience to the classroom; 3) examine case studies of individual students and programs that successfully serve them; and 4) plan and practice instructional techniques that can support autistic learners. Although our focus will be on academic supports, we will also discuss how parents teachers and other professionals can work alongside students to help them achieve their goals. Although we will focus primarily on adolescents and young adults, the content of the course is appropriate for parents and professionals who work with children of any age.

Strand D) Supporting Math Learners as a Non-Mathematician: Strategies and Tools
Presenter: Ibrahim Dahlstrom-Hakki, Ph.D.
Location: Elm Room

Photo of Ibrahim Dahlstrom-Hakki

Understanding and supports for students with language-based learning disabilities have advanced significantly over the last few decades, but supports for students facing struggles with mathematics are far less prevalent. Many students who learn differently struggle with mathematics for a variety of underlying reasons, and it is not clear to many how to best to support those students. Indeed, many educators are not very comfortable with math and are apprehensive about providing supports in an area that they don’t feel very strong in. In this session, participants will learn the main reasons that students tend to struggle with mathematics, will look at and practice ways that educators at all levels can support students struggling in math, and will explore technological tools that can be helpful to learners underperforming in math.

Single Sessions

Single sessions are short (~1.25 hour) presentations on a range of topics with relevance for educators working with students with LD, ADHD, and ASD. Single sessions focus on practical take-aways and/or cutting-edge research in the field of learning differences.

Note: Presentations are tentative and subject to change.

Participants choose one presentation per session to attend.

Single Session 1. Saturday, February 9, 9 – 10:30 a.m.

1A) Mathematics: Project Based Learning Blended with Direct Instruction
Presenter: Kristen Atkins, Director of Learning Services, The Marin School
Location: Cypress

Students with learning challenges often perceive that math is unnecessarily complicated and disconnected from their world of practical usefulness, but research has shown that by incorporating project based learning into the curriculum, these learners can experience how math is both accessible and relevant to their everyday life.

1B) The Power of Student Reflection
Presenter: Katherine O’Donnell, Middle School Learning Center Specialist and Study Skills Coordinator, Flint Hill School
Location: Oak

Students with learning differences can struggle with an external locus of control, where they feel they have little to no power over their educational outcomes (“Why did she give me a C...?”). One approach to counteract this is by having students reflect on learning skills and strategies. Reflection can increase self-awareness and mastery of course content as well as decrease learned helplessness.

1C) Quality Standards for the Effective Design of Online and Blended Courses for Neurodiverse Students
Presenter: Marie-Pierre Huguet, Director of Online Learning
Jason Waldow, Adjunct Instructor, Landmark College
Location: Elm

This interactive session focuses on Landmark College’s approach to the design, delivery, support, and assessment of online and blended courses for neurodiverse students. Using concrete examples and supporting data from our online dual enrollment initiative, we will first demonstrate and discuss how online and blended courses can easily, and effectively, be made accessible to a neurodiverse population. Participants will then engage in activities designed to help them develop a better understanding of course design practices for neurodiverse students and how to leverage them in the online classroom. Presenters will give participants access to resources, examples and best practices.

1D) The Social-Emotional Domain of Learning: A Framework for Supporting Students who are At-Risk and Struggle with Anxiety
Presenters: Rebecca Matte, Associate Professor, Landmark College
Location: Sequoia

Social-emotional influences for students with learning disabilities is discussed within our larger framework of The Four Domains of Learning. This presentation will allow professionals to become aware of the common barriers to academic success that often lead to heightened levels of stress and anxiety within this population, and support strategies.

Single Session 2. Saturday, February 9, 10:45 a.m. – Noon

2A) Humanizing Pedagogy
Presenter: Zoila Lara-Cea, English Teacher/Academic Advisor/Eye to Eye Diplomat, Sterne School and Eye to Eye
Location: Cypress

This presentation is centered around creating classrooms that humanize rather than dehumanize. As a queer brown woman with dyslexia, ADHD and a processing disorder, the classroom was often a place where I was stripped of my humanity. Unfortunately, this continues to happen to many students. We will be discussing how to create healthy classrooms that are student centered and guided, embrace vulnerability, and foster community.

2B) Helping College Students Monitor Mind Wandering during Independent Academics
Presenter: Katharine Gibson, Ed.D., College Counselor, Westmark School
Location: Sequoia

This presentation will examine recent research on self-monitoring and goal driven learning as it relates to the independent academic tasks required of college students. Participants will be provided with simple tools to help students set learning goals and monitor attention, and to help them assess which academic tasks require a very focused approach, and which benefit from creative mind wandering. The ultimate goal is to empower students to acknowledge the strength of their own learning style, while simultaneously harnessing a wandering mind when needed.

2C) Transitioning to Higher Education: What to Do About Disability Documentation?
Presenters: Loring Brinckerhoff, Director, Office of Disability Policy, Educational Testing Service
Nora Pollard, Sr. Disability Policy Coordinator, Educational Testing Service
Location: Elm

Assisting students with LD, ADHD, and ASD as they transition to higher education is an important role for the adults in their lives. Students will need to learn about self-advocacy, the difference in the laws (IDEA vs. ADA), and how to apply for accommodations for high-stakes tests such as SAT and Act and college tests. ETS representatives will provide insight into the differences in the laws, procedures to follow, and documentation requirements across settings.

2D) Using Technology to Support Autistic Learners’ Literacy
Presenter: Jules Csillag, Speech Language Pathology Consultant & Author, ASD Nest Support Project at NYU Steinhardt
Location: Oak

Students with autism have many varied strengths, but they may experience difficulties when it comes to literacy. This engaging presentation will share best practices about how and why to integrate assistive and educational technologies to use autistic learners’ strengths and interests in order to support their reading and writing using diverse visuals, Google apps, and interactive reading sites.

Single Session 3. Sunday, February 10, 10:45 a.m. – Noon

3A) From Laboratory to Classroom: More Lessons Learned in a Partnership between UCSF Dyslexia Center and Charles Armstrong School
Presenters: Robert Hendren, DO, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of California, San Francisco
Karen Kruger, Director of Research and Education, Charles Armstrong School
Location: Cypress

Dr. Hendren and Karen Kruger will explore how a medical research center and an LD school can form a mutually beneficial partnership. They will describe key elements for a successful collaboration, discuss the necessary steps to begin the process and demonstrate how to maintain the partnership once the research is underway. This includes a description of the research at the UCSF Dyslexia Center.

3B) Promoting the Future Success of Students with Learning Disabilities
Presenter: Elizabeth Mendelsohn, Director, Winston Innovation Lab, Winston Preparatory School
Location: Oak

How can educators support students with learning disabilities become successful adults? This workshop will review recent research and present an educational model that links research to practice by developing programming at every age to target the skills each individual student will need to succeed later in life.

3C) A Common Coincident: ADHD & TBI, and How to Assist Students Experiencing Both
Presenter: Emily Tarconish, The University of Connecticut
Location: Elm

ADHD is one of the most common cognitive disabilities in postsecondary students and traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are the leading cause of disability in young adults. Can you imagine experiencing with both? As these two diagnoses are frequently comorbid, this is a reality for many students. This presentation will discuss the relationships between ADHD and TBI, symptoms for students who experience both, and strategies and tools that can assist this population.

3D) Supporting Adolescent Reading Development: Proven Instructional Strategies
Location: Sequoia

After students make the shift from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” in elementary schools, it is common for explicit reading instruction to all but disappear. This leaves many adolescent readers, and especially those with learning differences, ill-equipped to meet the complex literacy demands of high school and college. In this session, Chris will briefly discuss what the research tells us about the instructional needs of adolescent readers (and writers!) and then present four proven instructional strategies that all teachers can implement.

 

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