Summer Learning Blitz

This professional development initiative is designed to support educators in the effective implementation and integration of supplemental curriculum resources that enhance core instruction and address diverse learner needs. Educators and administrations will deepen their understanding of what Prodigy is, what a student and educator experience looks like, and how to support students with differentiation in ELA and Math.

A Becoming Brain Smart overview based on Dr. Becky Bailey’s work, equips educators with neuroscience-based strategies to foster self-regulation, emotional intelligence, and a supportive classroom environment. Incorporating information on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), this session helps adults understand the impact of trauma on brain development and provides tools to create safe, connected, and empowering learning spaces. This experience will also encourage adults to explore their needs to create a manageable self care plan in order to bring their best selves to their school each day.

Unlock the full potential of your IEP development process with this session designed for special educators, service providers, and administrators. Using the Wayne County MiStar IEP design as our guide, we'll navigate critical components of the IEP, ensuring you gain practical insights that can be applied across various platforms.

You'll acquire actionable strategies to enhance the quality of your IEPs, ensuring they are both compliant and impactful for student outcomes. Whether you're a seasoned professional or new to the process, these tips and techniques are designed to elevate your practice.

Don't miss this opportunity to refine your skills and contribute to your students' success. Join us and take the next step in mastering IEP development.

This session provides a foundational overview of Assistive Technology (AT) and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). Participants will explore what AT and AAC are, review the Communication Bill of Rights, and gain an understanding of the laws around AT and quality indicators that guide effective implementation. Designed for educators and support staff, this session highlights the importance of communication access and equips participants with essential knowledge to begin supporting students who may benefit from a variety of tools.

Effective special education documentation is essential for ensuring compliance and enhancing student outcomes. This session empowers educators with practical strategies for maintaining thorough and compliant records.

This session will examine creating and managing contact, service, and accommodation logs, vital for tracking interactions and support services. Participants will understand the critical elements of providing timely and comprehensive written notices, ensuring adherence to legal timelines, and ensuring clarity in communication.

Whether you are a seasoned special education professional or new to the field, this session offers valuable tools and knowledge to enhance your documentation practices. Join to strengthen your skills and contribute to your students' success.

Elevate your teaching with this engaging training focused on naturally weaving health education into your K-12 classroom! Discover effective and creative techniques to connect vital health topics like nutrition, physical activity, mental well-being, and safety with your existing lessons in math, science, English, and social studies. This session will provide you with practical ideas and resources to empower students to build healthy habits and make informed choices, enriching their learning experience across all subjects.

Multilingual learners of all ages need a comprehensive literacy approach as they learn to read or begin to read in English. Because of the integrated nature of an effective approach to literacy education for multilingual learners, making sure that all essential elements–oral language development, meaning-making skills, cross-language connections, foundational skills, and more– are implemented is vital. Join us as we explore effective literacy models for multilingual learners at the elementary and secondary levels.

This professional development will provide participants with an opportunity to learn more about the career development resources available in Wayne RESA’s Department of Workforce Development, CTE, Adult Education and Career Counseling. Participants will have an opportunity to explore career development tools and explore how they could be used to support district career readiness goals. Attendees will also learn about community resources and training available to support educators, students, parents, and guardians in fostering a future-ready mindset. This session equips leaders with the tools to promote meaningful career pathways for all students.

What is translanguaging, and how can we use it to support our multilingual learners–even if we do not speak the home language/s of our students? This session provides an overview of the benefits of translanguaging and practical strategies to help students make meaning using their full linguistic repertoire. When implemented well, translanguaging promotes healing, positive identity, belonging, and agency for multilingual students. Join us and take on a translanguaging stance, regardless of your role or how many languages you know.

Leadership: Visible or Invisible? Instructional Impact through School Leadership - In this session, leaders will focus on the topic of Visible and Invisible Leadership and the role it plays in their day-to-day leadership role. The discussion will share strategies for implementing this paradox, equipping leaders with the ability to reflect on leveraging these two types of leadership practices in order to both support and empower their staff.

Facilitated By: Kalyn Wulatin, Laura Begley, Zeinab Haidous, and Pam Cunningham.

Effective collaboration between multilingual and special education teams is essential to support multilingual learners with exceptionalities and multilingual learners with suspected disabilities.

Join WRESA Multilingual and Special Education Consultants in this session on collaborative practices to accurately assess students’ needs, build on their linguistic and academic strengths, and provide the appropriate resources and interventions to support their success.

Explore how strong relationships between families, schools, and communities drive student success. Grounded in the Michigan Family Engagement Framework, the session will highlight high-impact, research-based strategies that position parents as true partners in learning. Participants will gain practical tools to build trust, strengthen communication, and implement engagement practices that improve attendance, academic growth, and school connection.

Facilitated by Jennifer Snapp and Dr. Carla Postell.

It’s time to stop doing it all. This session empowers principals to break free from the burnout of solo leadership by strategically distributing responsibility, building trust, and cultivating leadership in others. Learn how to “drop the mic” on outdated top-down models and lead a team that shares the mission—and the momentum.

Are you thinking about sharing your expertise at a professional conference but unsure where to start? This one-hour session will walk you through the process of identifying a topic, crafting a compelling proposal, and understanding what reviewers look for-so you feel confident and ready to submit. This session will showcase adult learning principles to help you design a session that is not only informative but also engaging.

Facilitated by Judy Bowling & Dr. Laura Gabrion.

Discover creative ways to boost student engagement using Padlet, a versatile digital collaboration tool. In this session, you'll explore strategies for using Padlet to spark discussion, organize thinking, and elevate student voices across content areas.

Facilitated by Laura Gabrion, Russell Robinson, and Heather Rottermond.

Teachers know that the classroom environment plays a crucial role in how students connect and interact with one another. Cultivating a caring and supported environment allows students to thrive in positive ways, both academically and socially. This session will provide participants with strategies for connecting and building a social environment within a virtual classroom.

Designed to help teachers harness the power of G-Suite to enhance writing instruction, this session will focus on motivating and engaging writers through research/standards-aligned writing instruction. Discover how commenting features can be used to encourage peer-editing and engage families. Explore ways to encourage writing for varied purposes and audiences, by using Google Slides, Keep, and Jamboard.

To maintain an effective feedback cycle, teachers need to initiate and sustain students’ participation in the process. This session provides participants with a variety of digital tools that will facilitate an ongoing dialogue designed to improve students’ writing skills and self-efficacy.

Designed to encourage the use of questioning to elicit evidence of student learning. This session will focus on understanding the research behind questioning and how teachers can craft powerful questions. Additionally, we will explore how to  use student responses to make instructional shifts and scaffold learning to meet the needs of all learners. Participants will learn how to build their questioning toolkit and the role questioning plays in the formative assessment process.

In today’s busy world, online collaboration is an absolute must. Discover ways to encourage meaningful discussions both synchronously and asynchronously. Explore best practices and fun ways to connect and collaborate with families, community members, and more.