Program Schedule

We’ve all been told “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” This high energy presentation based on Sarita’s book provides practical approaches and positive phrases for those times when you need to say something NOT so nice. Learn how to have difficult conversations and to constructively clue someone in, deflect the negative comment of a well-meaning friend, or let a business colleague know what he or she is doing drives you crazy — without destroying the relationship.

This presentation will provide answers to such questions as:

• How do I know if I should confront a situation or just let it go?
• How can I soften the sting when giving negative feedback or bad news?
• What should I do if someone asks my opinion and I have nothing good to say?
• How do I tell my boss a thing or two without appearing ugly or insubordinate?
• What’s the best way to respond to nasty comments like “that’s a dumb idea,” “I knew you couldn’t do it” or “what were you thinking?”

Leaders at Indian Hills Community College have identified low technical communication skills as a significant barrier to some students’ success in CTE programs. The college has implemented a diagnostic assessment as well as a number of new strategies in target programs to address the issue. This conversation will discuss how CTE programs could benefit from utilizing competency assessment results and showcase the details of a program used at a rural community college. This dialogue will include start up processes, best practices, initial findings and strategies related to student support services and instruction to address technical literacy.

2020 has proven to be a challenging year, and on that has presented complexities in how educators, students, and business partners stay connected! This interactive workshop provides you tips and resources to keep partnerships thriving, even during the impact of social distancing and shutdowns. You will hear from district leaders in innovative ways they are engaging their business partners with their students. Walk away with tools and resources connected to Ford Next Generation Learning’s Powerful Partnership Blueprint - an approach to take your partnerships to the next level.

This session will examine a comprehensive review of classroom management strategies aimed at the needs of diverse students. The presenter will demonstrate how understanding student’s cultural experiences and background can de-escalate classroom behavior and increase instructional time. Topics covered will be: the characteristics of good classroom management, the pre-requisites for being an excellent culturally responsive classroom manager, empathy not sympathy and two models of management useful for any classroom situation.

Experiences of trauma in childhood can contribute to vast impairments in key academic functions, including cognitive processing, impulse control, communication, and memorization. This presentation provides an overview of trauma in relation to student functioning. It explores how trauma manifests in the classroom as well as trauma-informed practices, policies, and strategies for addressing students’ maladaptive school behavior.

Implicit Bias or Unconscious bias is the stereotyping and prejudice that guides our preference for a social group that is often automatic. Implicit bias is ubiquitous in society, and shaped by individual’s experiences, perceptions, and upbringing, everyone has some form of unconscious bias. Recent studies have shown that this bias also exist in educators, and that can have significant impact on students achievement and success. This session will introduce participants to the concept “Blind Spots”, challenge participants to explore their own unconscious bias, and then we will have discussion around approaches that may assist educators to become conscious of their biases, and how they may be able to remedy them for the benefit of the students.

Community colleges offer a variety of Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degrees for health-specific disciplines but students waiting to be accepted into limited cohort size programs (e.g., nursing, surgical technician, paramedics) do not want to pursue anything outside of their immediate area of interest. As such, they oftentimes remain “undeclared” or choose to pursue a more generic degree option (e.g., Associate of General Studies). This session will explore the Associate of Science in Health Sciences option, which takes an interdisciplinary approach to exposing students to the healthcare industry, and provides working healthcare professionals easily transferable foundational coursework that can further one’s career and/or earning potential.

In secondary and postsecondary education outreach efforts, emerging technology programs of study, and grant funded activities change over time. Changes in leadership, emerging technologies, industry needs and grant funded activities don’t move in the same direction or develop at the same time. Secondary and postsecondary STEM administrators will learn strategies for alignment and how it drives course corrections and change in the outreach and activities.

Pioneers in construction education — NCCER, the Construction Education Foundation of Georgia (CEFGA) and Garret High School — will provide insight into virtual learning tools, best practices from the field and insight on how to provide support on a state and district level. Join Dan Belcher, Director of Workforce Development for NCCER, Zach Fields, Vice President for CEFGA and Chad Sutton, Director of Career Development for Garrett High School in this fast-paced interactive session.