READY! SET! TEACH! is the theme for CTA's Good Teaching Conferences. The conferences - one in Northern California and the other in Southern California - feature teachers teaching teachers. They focus not only on increasing professional skills, but also on giving participants practical information they can put to use right away.
The Northern California conference will be held Jan. 24-26 at the San Francisco Airport Marriott.
The Southern California conference will be held March 7-9 at the Westin Hotel in Long Beach.
Among the sessions in the planning stages are: Conscious Classroom Management: Bringing Out the Best in Students and Teachers; Brain-Compatible Approaches for Motivating Reluctant Learners; Reading Comprehension Tools and Strategies; Unlock the Door to Writing; There's Magic in Math (And Vice Versa); Math Games - Learning to Play, Playing to Learn; Newspaper Math; Reclaim Your Passion for Teaching; Using Rubrics to Raise Student Achievement in the Classroom; Teaching the Language Arts Curriculum to a Culturally Diverse Population; Learning Strategies that Meet the Needs of Diverse Learners; and You Are Not Alone: Knowing and Utilizing Student Support Services.
Two pre-conference programs are available for early registrants. One is "I Can Do It," a CTA program to help new teachers with classroom management. The other is "Strengthening the Bond," a CTA program to help classroom teachers meet the needs of special education students. The six-hour sessions cost $50.
Registration for the main conference begins at 4 p.m. on Friday. Opening remarks begin at 7:30 p.m.
On Saturday, the conference continues with small group sessions all day. Sessions end at noon on Sunday.
The San Francisco Airport Marriott Hotel room rates are $114 a night single/double (plus tax). For reservations, call (800) 228-9290 or (650) 692-9100. The cut-off date is Jan. 2.
The Long Beach Westin Hotel rates are $120 a night single or double (plus tax). For reservations, call (562) 436-3000. The cutoff date is Feb. 6.
The registration fee is $150 ($125 if registration is received before Jan. 3 for the southern conference - the northern conference early registration date has passed). The fee for nonmembers and fee-payers is $420 ($345 for early registrants). A special registration fee of $30 ($25 for early registrants) is available for Student CTA members. Team discounts are also available for veteran teachers accompanied by new teachers.
For more information, call CTA Instruction and Professional Development at (650) 552-5567 or visit the CTA website www.cta.org (CTA Sponsored Conferences and Events / The Good Teaching Conference).