The Teaching & Learning Center Faculty attended a professional conference this month hosted by SAIS, Southern Association of Independent Schools, an organization that supports independent schools through accreditation, professional programs, and networking. The conference was held over two days at the Emory Conference Center in Atlanta.
This professional development opportunity was designed uniquely for educators who offer academic support, focusing on topics such as dyslexia, attention, memory, executive functioning, and motivation. It also delved into latest research and advances in neuroscience, the connections between support programs and classroom practices, the intersection of AI and academic support, how diagnosis drives differentiation, and much more.
Learning specialists were thrilled to have this time to explore both individual educational passions, and examine how their professional interests align with their colleagues and those at peer schools.
“I was particularly interested in learning about academic coaching, building executive functioning skills, and new research in the area of processing speed at this conference,” offered Molly Jordan, lower grades learning specialist.
Jordan continues to bring that enthusiasm to the Learning Center as she supports advancements made to instructional practices this year. She, Julia Houston, and Kaleigh Tutorow, learning specialists who serve students in Pre-K to 5, have implemented unique executive functioning routines for their students.
“At the conference, we drew two very important conclusions related to our work with executive functioning,” said Jess Laliberte, director of the Teaching & Learning Center. “The first is that our practices align with the latest research. Next, we noticed that what we are doing with our students is cutting edge in comparison with peer schools.”
In addition to having their practices validated at the conference, the Teaching & Learning Center team had a chance to spend time examining great resources and conferring with experts. In the fall of 2023, the Teaching & Learning Center initiated a new Learning Strategies class for students in 6-12 grade; as part of this class, learning specialists employ teaching tools and resources created by leaders in the field.
“Use of time management tools was a recurring topic in several of the sessions during the conference,” said Laliberte.
Dr. Celeste Rivers, Pre-K to 8 learning specialist, and other team members were thrilled to connect with time management experts face to face at this conference.
“I have really appreciated our use of 'Visual Tools for Executive Functioning Success' by Marydee Sklar," she said. "The teacher’s manual along with the student workbook provide a clear and simplistic way to teach E.F. skills in a cohesive format. I think having time with these experts has helped us as we continue to develop a universal language amongst our team, which will, in turn, help to bring clarity to the teachers, parents and administrators about the work of the Teaching & Learning Center.”
Jennifer Luitwieler, Upper School learning specialist, also brought back several ideas from the conference.
“I found topics on teaching study strategies and using reflections with my students to be very interesting and useful to the work we are doing in the Learning Center, “ she said. Jennifer has partnered with her colleague, Justin Bruce, to teach time management skills and routines in their Learning Strategies classes.
"This conference had it all," said Laliberte. "From AI to the latest best practices in progress monitoring and accommodations reports, every conference presenter and breakout group explored ideas of high interest to us. Most importantly, I was thrilled to see engagement amongst my team and enthusiasm to continue to bring the best practices to our work at Darlington.”
Laliberte viewed this conference as an important inflection point for her team, especially as they have welcomed learning specialists to their department this year.
“It really brought us together as a team and unified our commitment to one another and to our students,” she said. “Part of my job is to nurture and support learning specialists with affirming and consistent feedback as they bring advancements in our field into their practices with students. I am proud of them and gratified by how excited we all are to continue to learn and grow together, all for the benefit of our students.”
To learn more about Darlington’s Teaching & Learning Center, click here.
