SDE's Destination Common Core Seminar Helps Set K-1 Teachers & Students on the Road to Reading, Writing, and Math Success

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Mar 21, 2014, 08:30 ET

PETERBOROUGH, N.H., March 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The shifts resulting from the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have had an extraordinary effect on teachers. With the onset of these new standards, this much is clear: teachers can't just magically, one day, switch to the new Common Core. For experienced teachers, there are positive instructional changes that must be met to meet the new foundational standards in the kindergarten or first grade classroom in developmentally-appropriate ways.

Professional development experts Staff Development for Educators (SDE) invite K-1 educators to spend two confidence-building days exploring the new reading, writing, and math Common Core requirements, while also exploring fun and engaging activities and strategies to help integrate the standards seamlessly in the classroom. Destination Common Core: Your Roadmap to Success in the Primary Classroom, includes two information-filled days, packed with instructional tools and innovative ideas to help educators discover exactly what the new Common Core requirements mean in the classroom.

In this seminar, award-winning teacher and early childhood expert Kim Adsit offers educators exciting activities and guidance through the Common Core, with emphasis on how to integrate the standards across the curriculum. An educator for more than 30 years, she motivates teachers across the country to tap into the curiosity of young children and plant the seed for lifelong learning. Adsit is also the co-author of several books and online teacher resource materials, and draws on a solid background in early childhood education to bring valuable information and inspiration to every seminar.

"Teachers have found that getting to that important destination—the Common Core—is not easy," Adsit explains. "I can help guide and show the way to help teachers become more confident and enthusiastic about continuing the journey on their own."

Teachers will explore the standards inside and out —starting with Language Arts on day 1 and moving to Math on day 2, discovering exactly what to teach, how to teach it, and why —to make the required shifts in instruction easily and confidently. Adsit's proven repertoire of fresh learning activities to build foundational skills and meet new expectations provide a comprehensive toolkit of resources that instructors can take back to the classroom and use immediately.

Adsit walks teachers step-by-step through what the new requirements mean in the classroom, and demonstrates how to begin with student-tested strategies that teachers already use to address the standards. Developmentally-appropriate activities for meeting both the literacy and math requirements are highlighted so that teachers feel confident in bringing home a full collection of ideas to implement immediately.

Adsit also explores how to use a research-based template to construct dynamic lesson plans for literacy and math, allowing teachers to better stay on track with Common Core implementation and to help view instruction through a different lens to ensure they are hitting on necessary changes.

Differentiating instruction through student-centered activities to build foundational skills, such as through engaging mini-lessons, centers, games, and small-group instruction, are all thoroughly covered so that teachers understand how to vary and customize their instruction for total student success. For example, teachers will leave armed with mini-lessons for nonfiction text, and engaging games for operations and place value.

The seminar is designed for new and veteran teachers alike.

Staff Development for Educators is America's leading provider of professional development for PreK through Grade 12 educators. SDE believes that educators have the most important job in the world. That's Through Onsite PD, PD Events, Web-based PD, and PD Resources, the company empowers teachers and administrators across the country with ongoing professional development that is not only research-based, innovative, and rigorous, but also practical, motivating, and fun. All SDE training is presented by the nation's top authors and educational experts, with the goal of creating extraordinary classrooms that prepare students for the evolving demands of the 21^st century.

All SDE events include a free resource book of handouts, lesson ideas, reproducibles, and more, and a free 60-day membership at TeachingMadeEasier.com. With the paid registration of a staff member, SDE extends free tuition to a principal from the same building, and also offers group discounts for groups of 10+ and 20+.

Destination Common Core will be offered in Memphis, TN on March 31-April 1; Rockford, IL on April 7-8; Phoenix, AZ on April 14-15; Birmingham, AL on May 5-6; and Wichita, KS on May 8-9. Educators interested registering for this seminar, or learning about more about SDE's national conferences, upcoming SDE events, or other professional development opportunities, can visit www.SDE.com, call 1-800-462-1478, or email [email protected].