Cicero School District 99

PLC TEAM LEADER TRAINING (6CPDUs)

8 A.M. to 3 P.M.

Professional Learning Community (PLC) Team Leader training focuses on developing leadership skills, enhancing collaboration, and improving educational outcomes through shared goals and continuous teacher development.

Presenter: Anthony Grazzini

BACKWARDS PLANNING FOR EVERY LEARNER: DESIGNING INCLUSIVE BEGINNINGS WITH CREATIVE CURRICULUM (6CPDUs)

8 A.M. to 3 P.M.

This interactive training guides preschool teachers through backwards planning the Beginning of the Year study using the Creative Curriculum. With a focus on supporting children with special education services, participants will learn to design inclusive, developmentally appropriate learning experiences that set all students up for success from day one.

Presenter: Jackie Rage-Orozco Presenter: Christina Saenz

USING LUMIO IN THE CLASSROOM (3 CPDUs)

8-11 A.M.

The purpose of this session is to assist participants in navigating Lumio - a digital learning tool used for turning lessons into collaborative learning experiences. The session will focus on creating and editing lessons in Lumio, how to deliver lessons to students, how to create choice boards for independent work, and how to gather data from some of the interactive activities in Lumio. Participants will bring curriculum in order to build lessons with support from the presenter. Previous experience using Lumio is not a prerequisite.

Presenter: Mark Melka 

TRAUMA SENSITIVE SERIES (3 CPDUs)

8-11 A.M.

This professional development session focuses on integrating Positive Psychology’s framework on Character Strengths and Virtues into trauma-sensitive classrooms and school cultures. Participants will learn how to create a strengths-based environment by applying the 24 Character Strengths in their own lives and teaching them to students in age-appropriate ways. The session also emphasizes enhancing emotional literacy skills and identifying opportunities to challenge negative thinking in students related to their academic performance and interpersonal relationships. Additionally, the workshop will offer strategies for incorporating SEL into the curriculum for positive outcomes.

Presenter: Amanda Norris

STRUCTURED LITERACY PRACTICES THAT ACCELERATE STUDENT LEARNING K-6 (2 CPDUs)

9-11 A.M.

The session will share some strategies that utilize powerful scaffolds that help accelerate student growth and allow students to access grade level text. Some strategies will demonstrate how to build automaticity and fluency with skills needed to access grade level text while other strategies will be shared on how to accelerate learning of the code. Each strategy provides scaffolds to support students and makes use of immediate corrective feedback. The scaffolds build power over time. Students are then able to utilize these strategies independently. Participants will walk away having viewed some teacher video examples of these strategies they could implement into any curriculum or content area instruction in their classrooms.

Presenter: Elana Gordon

ENHANCING MULTILINGUAL LEARNERS’ SUCCESS (2 CPDUs)

9-11 A.M.

This professional development session is designed to equip educators with effective strategies to support Multilingual Learners (MLs) in diverse classroom settings. Participants will explore the challenges MLs face, including academic language development, access to grade-level content, and balancing language acquisition with content mastery. Through engaging activities such as peer discussions, collaborative planning, and data analysis, educators will identify high-impact instructional strategies to enhance ML success.

Presenter: Sheila Daly  Presenter: Gaby Serrano-Gonzalez

ELEMENTARY MATH FLUENCY WORK (2 CPDUs)

9-11 A.M.

Strong procedural fluency is a good predictor of math success. This workshop will look at what procedural fluency means, how students develop it, and how teachers can assist in that development. The work we'll do together is geared towards the fluency standards found in the primary and intermediate grades and is most appropriate for elementary teachers.

Presenter: Emmie Pawlak

GOGUARDIAN GOOGLE CLASSROOM (1.5 CPDUs)

1-2:30 P.M.

The purpose of this session is to familiarize participants with two of the district's digital platforms. The first part of the session will introduce GoGuardian (the district's device monitoring platform) and its uses for device management in the classroom environment. The second part of the session will provide training on how to effectively use Google Classroom. Participants will bring their curriculum in order to build assignments in Google Classroom.

Presenter: Neal Siegellak

MAXIMIZING CLASSROOM WALLS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL & CONTENT SUPPORT (2 CPDUs)

1-3 P.M.

This professional development session is designed to help K-8 teachers transform classroom walls into interactive instructional tools that support student learning. Instead of being purely decorative, classroom walls can serve as dynamic resources that reinforce content, promote engagement, and provide scaffolds for multilingual learners and diverse student needs. Through hands-on activities, peer collaboration, and a Gallery Walk, teachers will reflect on their current classroom walls, brainstorm new strategies, and create a plan for making their walls more interactive and meaningful. By the end of this session, participants will leave with practical tools to transform their classroom environments into powerful learning spaces!

Presenter: Sheila Daly Presenter: Gaby Serrano-Gonzalez

USING LUMIO IN THE CLASSROOM (3 CPDUs)

8-11 A.M.

The purpose of this session is to assist participants in navigating Lumio - a digital learning tool used for turning lessons into collaborative learning experiences. The session will focus on creating and editing lessons in Lumio, how to deliver lessons to students, how to create choice boards for independent work, and how to gather data from some of the interactive activities in Lumio. Participants will bring curriculum in order to build lessons with support from the presenter. Previous experience using Lumio is not a prerequisite.

Presenter: Mark Melka

EMBRACING ALL LEARNERS: UNLOCKING SUCCESS WITH PYRAMID MODEL STRATEGIES (3 CPDUs)

8-11 A.M.

This training empowers preschool teachers to embrace and support every learner by implementing Pyramid Model strategies. Participants will explore practical techniques to promote social-emotional development, prevent challenging behaviors, and create an inclusive classroom where all children can thrive.

Presenter: Jackie Rage-Orozco Presenter: Christina Saenz

EXPLORING THE 2024 iREADY EDITION FOR KINDERGARTEN & 1ST GRADE TEACHERS (2 CPDUs)

9-11 A.M.

The new 2024 edition has some changes for Kindergarten and first grade that are different from the current edition. We'll use this time to explore the new materials in the first unit.

Presenter: Emmie Pawlak

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: CLOSE READING & EXPLICIT WRITING INSTRUCTION FOR GRADES 3-5 (2 CPDUs)

9-11 A.M.

In this session, we’ll read a shared Amplify text and start by setting a content objective based on the main idea statement. Together, we’ll analyze the text and develop text-dependent questions that align with the curriculum questions and target challenging language. Then, we’ll wrap up by planning a writing activity that reinforces the key content from the text. At the end of the session, you’ll have the opportunity to bring everything together and plan a lesson using a text you intend to teach.

Presenter: Martin Mireles

PLANNING FOR A CKLA UNIT (2 CPDUs)

9-11 A.M.

This session will discuss how I planned for and implement a CKLA unit in fifth grade during the 2024-2025 school year. We'll discuss retrieval practice, planning sentence-level reading questions and text strucutre work, and what was trimmed.

Presenter: Ben Zulauf

GO GUARDIAN & GOOGLE CLASSROOM (1.5 CPDUs)

1-2:30 P.M.

The purpose of this session is to familiarize participants with two of the district's digital platforms. The first part of the session will introduce GoGuardian (the district's device monitoring platform) and its uses for device management in the classroom environment. The second part of the session will provide training on how to effectively use Google Classroom. Participants will bring their curriculum in order to build assignments in Google Classroom.

Presenter: Neal Siegellak

ON THE SPOT ENRICHMENT (2 CPDUs)

1-3 P.M.

We have students in need of enrichment but enrichment shouldn't mean additional work for students or for teachers. This session will help give teachers strategies for supporting students in need of enrichment in daily instruction. Time will be given to plan what that might look like in your specific content area.

Presenter: Emmie Pawlak

USING LUMIO IN THE CLASSROOM (3 CPDUs)

8-11 A.M.

The purpose of this session is to assist participants in navigating Lumio - a digital learning tool used for turning lessons into collaborative learning experiences. The session will focus on creating and editing lessons in Lumio, how to deliver lessons to students, how to create choice boards for independent work, and how to gather data from some of the interactive activities in Lumio. Participants will bring curriculum in order to build lessons with support from the presenter. Previous experience using Lumio is not a prerequisite.

Presenter: Mark Melka

NGSS ASSESSMENT WORK (3 CPDUs)

8-11 A.M.

Assessments that get to the heart of the Performance Expectations will be discussed. Current district EOUs will be analyzed using research-backed rubrics. Suggested changes will be welcomed based on the input of those in attendance.

Presenter: Natalie Madden Presenter: Emmie Pawlak

UTILIZING PROGRESS MONITORING DATA TO INFORM OR ADJUST INSTRUCTION GRADES K-6 (2 CPDUs)

9-11 A.M.

The session will use mClass measures to demonstrate how to dig deeper into the mClass assessments in order to determine how to match instruction. Teachers will walk through example scenarios of student data, and how to determine what instruction is needed to help support student growth in the areas of phoneme segmentation, letter/sound fluency, decoding words, and fluency reading.

Presenter: Elana Gordon

INCREASING WHOLE GROUP ENGAGEMENT (2 CPDUs)

9-11 A.M.

Finding time to reteach is challenging when every minute of your day is already devoted to instruction. The purpose of this session is to discuss ways teachers can present our tier 1 curriculum to make it more accessible to all learners so that we can maxmize the minimal instructional time we have with students.

Presenter: Ben Zulauf

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: CLOSE READING AND EXPLICIT WRITING INSTRUCTION FOR GRADES 6-8 (2 CPDUs)

9-11 A.M.

In this session, we’ll read a shared Amplify text and start by setting a content objective based on the main idea statement. Together, we’ll analyze the text and develop text-dependent questions that align with the curriculum questions and target challenging language. Then, we’ll wrap up by planning a writing activity that reinforces the key content from the text. At the end of the session, you’ll have the opportunity to bring everything together and plan a lesson using a text you intend to teach.

Presenter: Martin Mireles

EMBRACE (2 CPDUs)

9-11 A.M.

Join us for a hands-on session designed specifically for special education staff to learn how to efficiently navigate and use Embrace, our new IEP system. 

Presenter: Megan O’Malley

GO GUARDIAN & GOOGLE CLASSROOM (1.5 CPDUs)

1-2:30 P.M.

The purpose of this session is to familiarize participants with two of the district's digital platforms. The first part of the session will introduce GoGuardian (the district's device monitoring platform) and its uses for device management in the classroom environment. The second part of the session will provide training on how to effectively use Google Classroom. Participants will bring their curriculum in order to build assignments in Google Classroom.

Presenter: Neal Siegellak

RESTORATIVE PRACTICES SERIES (3 CPDUs)

8-11 A.M.

This professional development session highlights the importance of social sustainability as a key component of SEL. Participants will explore the barriers and protective factors that affect social sustainability in their own lives and in the lives of the students they support. The session will also demonstrate how adopting a social sustainability framework can enhance various aspects of life, including personal growth, emotional well-being, education, and career success, as well as improve team collaboration. Additionally, participants will develop and practice using an evaluation tool to identify missed opportunities for incorporating social sustainability and SEL lessons into coaching scenarios.

Presenter: Amanda Norris 

USING THE iREADY DIAGNOSTIC (2 CPDUs)

9-11 A.M.

The iReady Diagnostic gives teachers a wealth of data about their students. Using that data effectively can be a challenge. This workshop will walk teachers through the steps they should take to effecively plan for their students' math needs, based on the results of the diagnostic.

Presenter: Emmie Pawlak

NEWCOMER SUPPORTS

4-7 P.M.

Participants will learn about considerations for welcoming newcomer immigrant students and the diversity of their experiences, as well as strategies to support their mental health, social emotional development, and behavior in the classroom. 

Presenter: Sonya Rich Presenter: Liliana Martinez

TIER ONE CLASSROOM DATA COLLECTION & BEHAVIOR SUPPORT

4-7 P.M.

Participants will learn the importance of behavioral data collection in the Tier 1 setting. During this session, participants will review different sources of behavioral data, discuss ways to make decisions based on collected data and opportunities to practice using resources that will be easy to bring back to the classroom. Additionally, participants will review easy to implement classroom based strategies to help their students when experiencing an increase in behavior needs.

Presenter: Andrew Blonigen Presenter: Michelle Pacini

MINDFULNESS

4-7 P.M.

This session will explore a variety of mindfulness practices for staff and students that support the cultivation of present-moment awareness and acceptance of thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Specific practices that you will engage in include breathing practices, mental concept practices as well as experiential strategies utilizing art and meditation in motion. Each participant will leave with a piece of artwork created during the session.

Presenter: Elisabeth Nealon

CULTIVATING SOCIALLY SUSTAINABLE STUDENTS & SEL

4-7 P.M.

Participants will identify how using a social sustainability framework can positively impact all aspects of a student's life. Through learning about the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal and the impact of Social Emotional Learning, we will explore barriers and factors people face and identify opportunities to create and use SEL lessons with ease. 

Presenter: Amanda Norris

DITCH THE CLIP: TIPS & TOOLS FOR CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

8-11 A.M.

Participants will learn and practice a variety of strategies to support students within the school setting. These strategies will focus on build classroom community and de-escalating situations.

Presenter: Dr. Jack Rein Presenter: Alison Espinoza

WHO WE ARE, HOW WE BEHAVE, & WHY WE DO THE THINGS WE DO: UNDERSTANDING STRESS TRAUMA

8-11 A.M.

Taking an inward look at how trauma impacts the ways we think and act in order to establish a culture that supports individuals and yourself.  If participants wish, please bring a yoga mat, blanket and/or towel for your own personal use.

Presenter: Jen Evans Presenter: Kym Mosley

CULTIVATING CULTURAL BELONGING: STRATEGIES FOR SUPPORTING STUDENTS OF COLOR AND ENHANCING ACADEMIC SUCCESS

8-11 A.M. 

Participants will reflect on the role of schools in promoting cultural assimilation and how they maintain cultural homeostasis to the detriment of students of color. Participants will increase their understanding of cultural factors that prevent students of color from feeling like they belong to the school community, impacting academic achievement. Finally, participants will be presented with strategies that can be implemented within schools to improve students’ sense of belonging, leading to greater engagement and increased academic outcomes.

Presenter: Jerry Cook

MEANINGFUL MOVEMENT

8-11 A.M.

Meaningful movement in the classroom encourages students to engage physically with learning, enhancing focus and cognitive function. By incorporating purposeful activities such as group discussions, hands-on learning activities, or brain breaks, educators foster a dynamic environment where learning is active and holistic. This approach not only supports physical health but also boosts creativity, collaboration, and retention of information.

Presenter: Candy Kramer

SCHOOL BASED CONFLICT RESOLUTION

8-11 A.M.

Explore the risk factors and negative impact that conflict, anger, fighting, and crisis can have on the global school setting. Participants will participate in the learning around the core conflict resloution skills, and its effects on relationships to walk away with a tool kit of positive communication examples to promote de-escalation in the school setting.  

Presenter: Amanda Norris

BEHAVIOR ACADEMIES IN THE CLASSROOM

4-7 P.M.

Participants will engage in discussions and learning on the practical use of Behavior Academies in the classroom to systematically and strategically manage behaviors within the classroom setting.

Presenter: Dr. Jack Rein Presenter: Alison Espinoza

MAKE LEARNING RELATABLE

4-7 P.M.

Participants will be actively listening, doing and discussing how to make connections to all students. We will dig deep into the "why" we need to make connections to all of our students and what activities can promote learning across all content areas.

Presenter: Aimee Raczkowski

REFOCUSING ATTENTION

4-7 P.M.

Participants will learn how to recognize subtle signs of distraction, uncover common causes such as environmental factors, technology use, and personal challenges. Participants will discover best practices for fostering an environment that promotes sustained attention and active participation. The session will provide valuable tools to enhance classroom focus and support student success.

Presenter: Christina Rodriguez

IMPACT OF POSITIVE COMMUNICATION

4-7 P.M.

Explore communication styles through identifying your own personal communication practices. Learn to effectively set boundaries and expectations using written and verbal communication and walk away with your own unique blueprint for positive and effective communication styles, techniques, and tactics. 

Presenter: Amanda Norris