Professional Development Opportunities
for Darke County & Western Ohio



Content Literacy Professional Development
Content literacy - being literate in any content area; having the ability to look at a piece of text and recognize its features well enough to pull the appropriate strategies out of the repertoire  

Wouldn't you like your students to be able to do that?

The common core standards for English Language Arts include a component titled: Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects.

That sounds daunting for any teacher, but the Ohio Department of Education is telling us that students will be expected to show proficiency in reading and responding to content area texts on both the English Language Arts assessments and likely on content area assessments.

If you'd like to know what these standards look like and get some strategies to easily incorporate more reading and writing into your content area classroom, then this blended face-to-face workshop and online book study is for you.
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What: Content Literacy Professional Development

Who: 6-12 teachers in any content area; English Language Arts teachers may participate, but the focus is on strategies that can be incorporated into content-area classes

When: February 2, 8:30-11:30 (meeting at ESC)
            February 10-May 8, online book discussion through DarkeNet workspace (syllabus attached)
            May 8, 8:30-11:30 (meeting at ESC)

Credit: 2 semester hours of credit will be offered for participation from the University of Dayton.  The cost of the 2 hours is $350.00, this will be paid at the end of the course.

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If you would like to participate in this course, please email me to sign up by January 27.  We will need at least 5 participants to hold this workshop/book study.

April Wulber
K-12 Language Arts Specialist
Darke County Educational Service Center
5279 Education Drive
Greenville, OH 45331
(937) 548-4915
Content Area Writing Book Discussion.pdf



Interactive Instruction Teacher Training Session


When:   February 24, 2012 from 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM
Where:  Darke County Educational Service Center, Greenville, OH  45331

Presenter:  Dave Shellhaas

Most teachers have heard about Marzano’s effective instructional strategies from his book “Classroom Instruction that Works” and the increased learning that comes from good formative assessment.  However, what is missing many times is how a teacher can implement all of these wonderful, research-based strategies in a practical way in their classroom.

This session will give teachers two powerful techniques that will allow them to incorporate Marzano’s top strategies as well as good formative assessment practices.  These techniques include interactive notebooks and interactive teaching.  (NOTE:  This does not refer to laptop/notebooks, but the use of traditional notebooks and instruction in an interactive manner with students.)

Here are some highlights of what will be addressed in the session:

Interactive Notebooks
·       Participants will receive a spiral notebook that they will use as the presenter models how this technique can be used in the classroom.
Interactive Instruction
·       Participants will learn firsthand how interactive teaching is done and how it can be used in the classroom.

This session is appropriate for teachers of any core subject in grades 3 – 12. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain some great new strategies that you will be able to take and immediately implement in your classroom to increase student learning!

The cost of this training is $100 per teacher (FREE to Darke County teachers).  Schools can send a team of 3 or more for a reduced rate of $90 per team member.  Please complete and return the Registration Form and payment by the deadlines on the registration form.  Space is limited so please register as soon as possible.

For questions, contact Dave Shellhaas at 937-548-4915 ext 221 or by email at dave_shellhaas@darke.k12.oh.us.
Interactive InstructionRegForm.pdf



Preparing to Teach the New K-5 Science Standards


When:   March 8, 2012 from 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM
Where:  Darke County Educational Service Center, Greenville, OH  45331

Presenter:  Dave Shellhaas

This is definitely a challenging time to prepare for the new science standards.  Ohio has revised our science standards and currently there are national standards being developed.  To add even more into this crazy equation, assessments will be changing soon as well.  So what are schools and teachers to do in this confusing transitional time?

This session will help to answer some of those questions (at least the best we can at this point) by explaining how schools can deal with this possible double transition to two different sets of science standards in the next few years.  

Here are some highlights of what will be addressed in the session:

- Overview of Ohio’s revised K-5 science standards and Model Curriculum
- Insights into transitions to future science assessments
- Information about the Framework for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
- Comparing the NGSS Framework and Ohio’s revised science standards
- Overview of the major focus change for science instruction of the NGSS
- Insights into the Framework of the NGSS and the 3 key dimensions
- Teaching science practices from the NGSS in current instruction to prepare students for current and future assessments


This session is appropriate for K-5 science teachers. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain some great new insights into the future of science education and how you can prepare now to be sure you and your students can be successful now and in the future!

The cost of this training is $100 per teacher (FREE to Darke County teachers).  Schools can send a team of 3 or more for a reduced rate of $90 per team member.  Please complete and return the Registration Form and payment by the deadlines on the registration form.  Space is limited so please register as soon as possible.

For questions, contact Dave Shellhaas at 937-548-4915 ext 221 or by email at dave_shellhaas@darke.k12.oh.us.



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