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

Miriam Georg Presenting The Brain and Multiple Intelligences

Miriam Georg

Bill Haggart

Bill Haggart Presenting Learning Styles Assessment

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

 

There is a call for papers for this conference! One-hour participant sessions will be included. Call for details!

All major sessions are presented in an interactive, 3 hour workshop format! Early Bird Registration: $249 by August 15, 1999 After August 15, 1999 Registration is $279 per person Evening Keynote meal (Thursday) and Coffee & Danish Breakfasts (Friday & Saturday) included.

 

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.

 

Miriam Georg

Miriam Georg comes from a diverse background within the education field, having served in a variety of capacities including classroom teacher, university professor, and educational director. For the past nine years has served as the South Central Regional Director for Performance Learning Systems. A few of her current responsibilities include educational consultant, keynote speaker, and regional program manager. Miriam studied under Dr. Gardner at Harvard University and has trained in brain-based learning under Susan Kovalik and Dr. Bob Sylwester. College-level curricula she he has developed include a recent online course on multiple intelligences and her newest course, entitled "IDEAS: Brain-Based Ways We Think and Learn."

Miriam's conference workshops will present the main components of Dr. Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences and will move quickly to classroom applications, including specific lesson planning guidelines and tools. She will also share on the research support for multiple intelligences in the light of recent developments in brain research.

 

Bill Haggart

Bill Haggart was a classroom teacher for fourteen years. As he identified students' learning styles and taught to these styles, he experienced the impact of this knowledge on teaching, working with parents, and staff decision-making. Like many educators, he struggled with the "how-to's" of applying these insights. His classroom discoveries led him to share his findings with others. Since 1987, Bill has shown hundreds of schools and thousands of educators nationwide how to enhance student achievement. He is the author of the recently published PLS Learning Styles Inventory. A practical, humorous presenter, he is committed to helping teachers and administrators succeed and thrive in the field of learning.

Bill's conference sessions on Learning Styles Assessment will survey the field of learning styles research and the available tools for assessing the unique learning capacities of individual students. He will share on the relationship between learning style theory and other theories such as multiple intelligences theory, and will point to practical classroom applications. Bill will also present what to look for in an assessment tool and how to get the most out of the results of your assessment.

 

Participant Presentations

This conference will also feature one-hour participant presentations on various topics relating to brain-based learning. A call for papers is available; the deadline for proposals is September 15, 1999.