Dr. Robert Sylwester Keynote Speaker Presenting Why We Should Care About Our Brains and Our Brain and Our Schools

Dr. Robert Sylwester

Marny Sorgen

Marny Sorgen Presenting The Brain: A Teacher's Guide and Windows of Opportunity

Dr. William Bender

Presenting Distance Learning Applicationsand Brain-Based Learning in the Inclusive Classroom

 

Pamela Webster

Presenting Whole-Brain Learning

 

Sarah Ross

Presenting 21st Century Technology Applications

(For additional information on presenters and sessions, see below.)

 

 

All major sessions are presented in an interactive, 3 hour workshop format! Registration is $279 per person A Keynote Luncheon is included, plus Coffee & Danish Breakfasts.

 

Presenters and Sessions

Dr. Robert Sylwester

Dr. Robert Sylwester is an Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Oregon and a widely popular speaker on the educational implications of new developments in science and technology. He has written several books and dozens of journal articles, including his most recent books, A Celebration of Neurons: An Educator's Guide to the Human Brain and Student Brains, School Issues. The Education Press Association of America gave him Distinguished Achievement Awards for his 1994 and 1995 "syntheses" of cognitive science research published in Educational Leadership magazine. He has made almost 1000 conference and inservice presentations for educators on the brain and on stress theory.

Dr. Sylwester will deliver the keynote address for the conference, entitled Why We Should Care About Our Brains. Additionally, his workshop sessions on Our Brain and Our Schools will focus on the purpose and development of our brain, on how its principal systems (arousal/focusing/solution/action) combine to process intelligent behavior, and on the educational applications and misapplications of recent developments in the biological study of intelligence.

 

Marny Sorgen

Marny Sorgen has worked with thousands of teachers and administrators throughout the United States in designing and implementing practical instructional strategies that help to increase student learning and understanding. She draws from a wealth of background as a classroom teacher and staff development specialist. In addition to her authoritative understanding of current brain research and its application to classroom teaching, Marny brings expertise in effective instruction, classroom management, learning styles, and peer coaching. She is the co-author of the popular book Mind, Memory, and Learning: Implications for the Classroom, written with Dr. Pat Wolfe.

Marny's conference sessions will address two different themes. Two sessions will feature The Brain: A Teacher's Guide, and will highlight recent findings in cognitive science and brain research and discuss the many implications of these developments for teaching and learning. Two additional sessions, entitled Windows of Opportunity, will focus on brain development and the critical time periods in which certain kinds of learning must take place in order for students to reach their full potential.

 

Dr. William Bender

Dr. Bender is widely recognized as a national leader in distance education, with extensive experience in both instructional television systems and telesatellite systems. His national and international visibility stem from his distance education work as well as his extensive speaking and consulting schedule. He is the on-the-air moderator for the Teacher's Workshop teacher inservice telesatellite series, with topics including technology in the classroom, brain-based learning, inclusive schooling, multiple intelligences, classroom discipline, attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, stopping school violence, and many others. Dr. Bender has also hosted a weekly topical series on Georgia Public television, Education Today. This series provided Dr. Bender the opportunity to meet and interview national leaders in education including US Secretary of Education Richard Riley, Georgia Governor Zell Miller, and numerous others. You will enjoy his depth of experience and his humor, as well as the practical focus of his presentations.

Dr. Bender's teaching background includes a junior high resource class, where he worked with adolescents with behavioral disorders and learning disabilities for several years before receiving his Ph.D. in special education at the University of North Carolina in 1983. Since that time, he has taught at Bluefield State College in West Virginia, Rutgers University in New Jersey, and the University of Georgia, where he currently serves as associate professor in the Department of Special Education.

Dr. Bender's research includes over 60 published research articles and nine books on a fairly wide range of topics in psychology and education. Most of his published research is in the area of social, emotional, and behavioral development of individuals with learning disabilities, behavioral disorders, and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorders. He is noted for his books, Learning Disabilities: Characteristics, Identification, and Teaching Strategies, which is now moving into its fourth edition, and Understanding ADHD: A Practical Guide for Teachers and Parents. His newest book is Violence Prevention and Reduction in Schools.

 

Pamela Webster

Macon, Georgia

(Bio available soon!)

 

Sarah Ross

(Bio available soon!)

 

Participant Presentations

This conference will also feature one-hour participant presentations on various topics relating to brain-based learning.