CIU 20 offers essential professional developing opportunities designed to support you and your team as the school year progresses.

The professional development opportunities presented below are just some of the timely opportunities CIU 20 is offering to help fellow educators.  Register for any event, workshop, or meeting to engage in collaborative discussion with experts and peers that focus on the skills, challenges, and goals most relevant to each field or subject.  Educators and staff are more than welcome to attend one or all sessions in a series.

While CIU 20's professional development opportunities are detailed below, you can find out more and register for any of our additional opportunities at www.ciu20.org/PD/.

Workshops

MTSS 2.0: Operationalizing MTSS

October 12, 2022;  9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

During this session, participants will have the opportunity to think critically about their own MTSS systems and processes using fidelity tools and assessments with the goal of identifying areas in need of improvement. Comprehensive resources will be shared to help teachers and administrators refine and advance their MTSS system, in order to enhance students' academic and behavioral achievement.

LETRS Module 1: The Challenge of Learning to Read

October 20, 2022; 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

LETRS Module 1 explores the nature of skilled reading; the progression of reading development; the reasons why many children fail to become good readers; the influences of biological, linguistic, environmental, and instructional factors in learning to read; and the components of effective reading instruction.

Advanced Morphology for Vocabulary Development

October 27, 2022; 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

This workshop will include topics in advanced decoding and vocabulary development, including the reading brain, word origin and why it matters, instruction of the regular syllable patterns in English, morphemes and morphological instruction, and implementation of classroom instruction in advanced decoding skills. Participants will learn how to identify words from Anglo-Saxon, Latin, and Greek origins; the six regular syllable types in English; routines for teaching syllabication; word building and word analysis with prefixes, roots, and suffixes; and models for effective instructional routines.

Teaching Literacy to Children with Complex Needs: Writing

November 1, 2022; 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Have you ever wondered if your writing instruction is best supporting the needs of your students with the most complex learning needs? The goal of this workshop is to provide teachers with the necessary resources and information for emergent and conventional writing instruction. All children can learn to write, and this workshop will incorporate presuming competence strategies needed to meet this essential goal.

Writing Standards Aligned IEP Goals and SDI

November 3, 2022; 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

In this session, participants will explore how to write strength-based IEPs that prioritize identified skill deficits and utilize necessary criteria to write measurable annual goals by utilizing PA Core Standards. Additionally, participants will investigate the "do's and don'ts" of writing specially designed instruction (SDI) to facilitate student learning.  

TIPS: Team Initiated Problem Solving

November 8, 2022;  9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Team-Initiated Problem Solving (TIPS) is a framework to use during meetings focused on data-based decision making to improve student outcomes. The TIPS model includes focus on meeting foundations guided by a structured meeting minutes form and a six-step problem solving process.  TIPS is applicable to varied data sources, content areas, and levels of application across all levels of tiered supports.

Opening the Door with Assistive Technology

November 8, 2022; 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Our session will focus on providing participants with general assistive technology information as well as information about the assistive technology decision making process. Participants will also have the opportunity to review and explore different types of assistive technology available.

Establishing the Science of Reading Classroom

November 17, 2022; 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Participants of this workshop will have the opportunity to review key concepts, principles, and frameworks on the Science of Reading (SoR). Educators will explore how to use this foundational knowledge and apply it to their classroom instructional practices.

LETRS Module 2: The Speech Sounds of English: Phonetics, Phonology, and Phoneme Awareness

December 15, 2022; 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

LETRS Module 2 introduces phonemes (speech sounds) and discusses the importance of phonological awareness for reading readiness and spelling instruction. Additional topics are features of consonants and vowels that may be problematic for English learners.  

Networking Meetings

Check & Connect Networking Meeting

October 13, 2022; 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Check & Connect is a structured, but not scripted mentoring intervention to promote student success and engagement in schools.  Check & Connect Mentor training in an in-depth, competency-based training designed to provide Check & Connect mentors with the information, competencies, and skills needed to be an effective mentor at their local site.

Instructional Coaches Networking Meeting

November 2, 2022; 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Instructional coaching is a proven, job-embedded professional development strategy whereby a highly skilled educator works with other educators in a collegial and collaborative manner to strengthen instructional practice. Our instructional coaches networking meetings are designed for instructional coaches, teacher leaders, and/or specialists as a means to communicate, collaborate, and share resources with one another to help strengthen classroom instruction, student achievement and engagement.

Educators of the Gifted Networking Meeting

November 2, 2022; 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Educators of the Gifted networking meetings are held throughout the year at CIU 20. Meetings include networking opportunities for participants to share successes and discuss current issues with other knowledgeable and experienced administrators and teachers of the gifted working in our region, PDE updates, and current information on best practices for meeting the needs of gifted students.

MTSS Networking Meeting: Accelerated Learning Through the MTSS Framework

November 10, 2022; 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

This first networking meeting of the 2022-2023 school year will provide a foundation for teams to examine their processes, explore accelerated learning to assist with unfinished learning, and connect with colleagues and peers while reviewing current updates from PDE and PaTTAN. The MTSS networking team would like to invite you, your staff, and teams to join us for conversation, collaboration, and connection with colleagues and peers.

English Language Development (ELD) Networking Meeting

March 15, 2023; 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

English Language Development (ELD) Educators networking meetings are held throughout the year at CIU 20. Meetings include opportunities for participants to share successes and discuss current issues with knowledgeable and experienced ELD administrators and teachers working within our region, PDE updates, and current information on best practices for meeting the needs of EL students.