Morning Breakout Sessions:

M1.  What's At Stake and What's Involved in Learning to Read - David Boulton, Executive Director- Children of the Code

The deeper our understanding of what's involved in learning to read the better we can differentiate our methods of reading instruction to meet the needs of struggling readers. In this segment David Boulton will explore questions including: How does the brain create the simulated language experience we call reading?  What makes learning to read so difficult? How does learning to read affect our intelligence, emotional development, and the overall health of our learning?  What's the difference between dyslexia and reading improficiency?  What is the difference between inherited weaknesses and growing up in environments that insufficiently exercise the neuro-developmental prerequisites of reading?  How does learning to read affect self-esteem and how does self-esteem affect learning to read? How do the feelings evoked by learning to read difficulties exacerbate learning to read difficulties?

M2. Advocating for the Rights of Students with Dyslexia:  What Every Parent Should Know  -Torin D. Togut, Esq., Leslie K. Lipson, Esq. and Allison B. Vrolijk, Esq.

Conducting a comprehensive evaluation. Determining eligibility for special education services.  Developing an appropriate IEP.  Monitoring your child's academic progress.  Making a difference that goes beyond your own child.  In this session, these seasoned Special Education Attorneys will teach you the basics of advocating for your child with dyslexia or other learning disabilities in reading in the public schools.

Attendees who sign up for this session are invited to submit questions to info@idaga.org.  The questions will be compiled and sent to the panelists on February  3.

M3.  Orton-Gillingham: Principles to Guide Instruction - Susie van der Vorst, Fellow/Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators, Executive Director of Camp Spring Creek; Kristie Autrey,  NBCT, Mitchell County Public Schools, NC;  Tamara Houchard, MA Ed, NBCT, Mitchell County Public Schools, NC

Fellow Susie van der Vorst will provide an overview of Orton-Gillingham and its principles and how the O-G principles can be applied to any subject matter or research-based program.  Kristie Autrey will share how she incorporates the O-G principles into her daily teaching in her 3rd grade classroom and differentiates small group instruction.  Tamara Houchard will demonstrate how she has implemented a motivating, individualized spelling curriculum for her 6^th grade Language Arts students.  Both teachers will include video clips to show how their O-G based activities are incorporated in their classrooms.

M4.  Writing Matters:  Developing Sentence Skills in Students Who Struggle - William Van Cleave, MA, Educational Consultant, V.C. Educational Consulting

In this lively hands-on workshop, the presenter will share an appropriate lesson plan for teaching sentence skills.  Participants will then examine strategies for teaching parts of speech as a method of understanding the way words interact with each other and sentence parts as building blocks for creating different kinds of sentences.  Attendees will practice with the components so that they can immediately carry these strategies into their teaching environments.

Afternoon Breakout Sessions:

A1. Wilson Instruction for Older Students with a Word-Level Deficit -Barbara Wilson, President and co-founder of Wilson Language Training® Corporation

Some older students have gaps in decoding and spelling whereas others have a significant language-based learning disability.  Barbara will describe how Just Words and the Wilson Reading System are designed to meet the needs of these student populations.

A2. Making Math Memorable: Helping your Child with Math at Home and in the Classroom -  Joan Gerken, M.Ed., Fellow of the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators, Educational Consultant, Dean of Faculty at Swift School, Roswell GA

This presentation is targeted for audiences of teachers and parents of elementary and middle school math students.  This is an interactive workshop in which strategies to help students discover patterns in solving equations, fluency with computation, problem solving strategies, and the language of mathematics. The effectiveness of multisensory teaching and learning strategies will be demonstrated with various math concepts and skills. Often students who struggle with math do not have a solid understanding of concepts supporting a process or skill. Teaching from a concrete level to a representational level even at advanced levels is necessary for students to bridge into working abstractly with mathematical skills. Free websites for practice of a variety of math skills will be explored and shared.

A3.  Assistive Technology Assessments, Tools, and College Resources  -  Joe Tedesco, M.Ed., ATP  Learning & Development Manager, Georgia Institute of Technology, AMAC

This session will explore the concepts and considerations for Assistive Technology assessments, exploring and discovering tools to support students and the types of resources available to students transitioning to and in a college setting.

A4.  Teaching Notes: Music in the General Education and Music Classrooms  - Caroline Goldstein, Music Teacher, The Swift School, BA in Music, Haverford College; EdM in Learning and Teaching, Harvard Graduate School of Education

A well-rounded music education is critical for students with language-based learning differences. In addition to boosting confidence and giving students an outlet for creative self-expression, music education plays a key role in reading fluency and critical thinking. The Orff and Kodaly methodologies of music, both of which are considered standard in today’s general music classrooms, are sequential and multisensory in nature. By combining the principles of Orff and Kodaly with Orton-Gillingham, teachers can use music to further enrich their classrooms.

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