Workshops and Institutes

2018-19

The Wildwood Outreach Center is housed at Wildwood School, an independent, coeducational K-12 school in Los Angeles. We put theory into practice every day in every classroom, and share our work with you through our professional development workshops and custom on-site consulting services.

To receive updates, please contact Steve Barrett, Director of Outreach, at sbarrett@wildwood.org or (310) 806-4502 to be placed on our email list.

2018-19 WORKSHOPS & INSTITUTES

Advisory Programs

• Advisory Is Essential™ 101 

• Advisory Is Essential™ 201 

Multicultural Programs

• Never Too Young: Elementary Age Social Activism

• Multicultural Leadership Institute 2019

Teaching, Learning, and Assessment

• Standards-based Assessment: Moving Towards Mastery

• The Swiss Army Teacher: Versatile Facilitation With Protocols 

• Brave New Worlds: Augmented and Virtual Reality in the Classroom

• Life Skills for Lifelong Learning

Capstone Projects

• Beyond Final Exams: Authentic Year-End Assessments  

• Into the Wild: Middle School Capstone Projects

Custom Programs

• Let Us Come to You!
  
  

Locations: Workshops take place at either Wildwood School's elementary or middle and upper campuses.

Fees: Most single-day workshops are $199 per participant. Prices vary for multi-day workshops. Registration includes parking, continental breakfast, lunch (for most workshops), and all program materials.

Discounts: Available for registrants from public and charter schools for most workshops.

Advisory is Essential 101

Registration closed. Check back for 2019-20 dates in August.

Just starting out? Want a complete program re-design?

Choose this in-depth, 2-day session to create an advisory program that fits your school—public, charter, or private—and leave with a plan to succeed. Participants will:

• Observe Wildwood advisories

• Analyze current research on Advisory and best practices

• Learn from Wildwood advisors and students

• Practice Advisory and classroom facilitation protocols

• Generate a plan to implement their program

For Grades 5-12
Click HERE to register. $375 per participant (discounts available for public and charter schools). Location: Wildwood middle and upper campus— 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Choose from the following dates:

• November 15-16, 2018
• April 9-10, 2019 

Facilitator: Steve Barrett
Steve is Wildwood's Director of Outreach with 28 years' experience as a teacher and administrator in public and private schools. Advisory is one of Steve's professional passions and he has facilitated professional learning at schools here in Los Angeles, nationally, and internationally. 

Advisory is Essential 201

Registration closed. Check back for 2019-20 dates in August.

Already have a program in place that needs a tune-up?

Our advanced, 1-day session provides strategies to strengthen and sustain your existing advisory program, as well as to hone your facilitation skills. Participants will:

• Observe Wildwood advisories

• Focus on applying current Advisory research and best practices

• Apply Advisory and classroom facilitation protocols to strengthen their existing programs

For Grades 5-12
Click HERE to register. $199 per participant (discounts available for public and charter schools). Location: Wildwood middle and upper campus— 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Choose from the following dates:

• November 6, 2018
• January 17, 2019
• April 23, 2019

Facilitator: Steve Barrett
Steve is Wildwood's Director of Outreach with 28 years' experience as a teacher and administrator in public and private schools. Advisory is one of Steve's professional passions and he has facilitated professional learning at schools here in Los Angeles, nationally, and internationally.

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Never Too Young: Elementary Age Social Activism

Registration closed. Check back for 2019-20 dates in August.

Want to facilitate young students’ conversations around race, class, gender, and other social issues?

Join us for this thought-provoking, interactive one-day workshop. Leave with developmentally appropriate teaching strategies and tools to help you to normalize conversations about often-silenced social topics. Participants will:

• Learn to facilitate young students’ conversations around race, class, gender, and other social issues

• Observe examples of this work in action at Wildwood

• Explore the “doll stories” instructional model to help elementary-age children explore big social justice topics

• Acknowledge and validate their own multicultural identities 

For Grades K-5
Click HERE to register. $199 per participant (discounts available for public and charter schools). Location: Wildwood elementary campus— 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Choose from the following dates:

• January 22, 2019
• April 24, 2019 

Facilitator: Monique Marshall
Monique is a 5th grade teacher at Wildwood School. A 29-year teaching veteran, she is a founding member and current board member of SoCal POCIS (Southern California People of Color in Independent Schools). Monique passionately works to create multicultural learning opportunities that spring from her young learners’ naturally inquisitive worlds.

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Multicultural Leadership Institute 2019

June 24-28, 2019 / Registration Closed (To be placed on our waitlist, please contact Steve Barrett at sbarrett@wildwood.org)

Interested in creating and sustaining a multicultural school?
This five-day institute is designed for educators to create and sustain authentically multicultural schools through reflection, understanding, planning, and implementation.

Our Multicultural Leadership Institute provides responsive professional development by leveraging current research and practice, along with Wildwood School's institutional experiences. The setting is intimate and intentionally small, limited to 40 participants.

The Institute supports individuals and cohorts committed to developing a shared vision of institutional and cultural change within their schools. Participants will consider, generate, and refine strategies to foster authentically inclusive and equitable practices.

The Institute features:

• Expert guest presenters and facilitators

• Dynamic protocols and learning experiences

• Overview of Wildwood School's multicultural program

• Personal and school focused application

• A multicultural framework for personal and school focused application

• Introduction to stages of white racial identity development and white anti-racist practices

• Multicultural leadership team development

• Breakout sessions focused on participant needs, including:

• School-wide multicultural curriculum

• Student and faculty affinity groups

• Gender diversity and inclusion

• Socio-economic differences

• And more
  

Ideal training opportunity for:

• Multicultural/diversity coordinators

• Administrators

• Deans and curriculum directors

• Teacher leaders

• Board members and parents

MLI 2019 is Sold Out!

For Grades K-12
Location: Wildwood Elementary Campus

Early Bird Rates: Through April 15, 2019
$1,154 per person (3-5 participants from a school)
$1,336 per person (1-2 participants from a school)
All lunches included

After April 15, 2019
$1,288 per person (3-5 participants from a school)
$1,488 per person (1-2 participants from a school)

Facilitators: Rasheda Carroll and members of Wildwood's Multicultural Leadership Team
Rasheda is Wildwood School's Director of Equity and Inclusion and is a highly sought-after facilitator, noted for her numerous presentations at NAIS's People of Color Conference and Annual Conferences. She coordinates Wildwood's student affinity groups, as well as Wildwood's annual student-led Multicultural Symposium. 

Past Featured Presenters:

• Dr. William Cross—Academic legend in the field of clinical psychology and originator of racial identity theory

• Alison Park—Educator and lead facilitator of Blink Consulting; nationally-known facilitator on socio-economic differences in schools

• Terry Berman—Expert facilitator on alliance building and anti-racism; multiculturalism consultant from Visions, Inc.

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Systems Thinking Schools™: Summer Workshop

June 17-20, 2019 / Register Now!

Ready for the next iteration of deep learning? click HERE for our introductory video.

An exceptional four-day workshop supporting elementary educators interested in integrating Systems Thinking into daily practice.

Systems thinking invites students to deepen their thinking and expand their knowledge connecting their learning with the natural and human-made systems around.

Learning through a systems thinking lens, students can understand how what they do in their own lives and classrooms, and in their communities connects them with the world.

Systems thinking fosters the exploration of ethical, environmental, and global issues by encouraging both increased personal responsibility and social action. The Systems Thinking approach invigorates teachers' planning and practice.

A public/private learning partnership

Hosts and facilitators are teams of teachers and administrators from independent Wildwood School, along with LAUSD’s Palms Elementary and Mid-City's Prescott Schools, the founding partners of Systems Thinking Schools—a growing community of public and private schools committed to student and school success everywhere through systems thinking. 

Over five years of coaching and learning, Wildwood, Palms, and Mid-City's teachers have worked and learned together incubating systems thinking in their schools and classrooms. With our combined experience and new website (launching soon), we are ready to share this unique work and its benefits for students and teachers.

Systems thinking classrooms are being studied by education professors and researchers from universities in California and beyond.

To learn more about systems thinking practice at Palms Elementary and Wildwood, click HERE for our introductory video.

Seeking new partners in learning

The Systems Thinking Schools Summer Workshop is perfect for educators interested in:

• Re-vitalizing their practice and teaching more joyfully
• Fostering competence with Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards while increasing student engagement
• Nurturing collegial collaboration within and beyond their schools
• Building classroom- and school-wide commitments to social and environmental sustainability
• Being amazed at what students can accomplish

Benefits

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Design Thinking for Systems Learners

Registration closed. Check back for 2019-20 dates in August.

Want your students to learn more and (maybe) save the world?

Add two innovative approaches to your professional repertoire: Systems and design thinking. Systems thinking is a pedagogical approach that builds students' learning upon their understanding of the human-made and natural systems all around them. Design thinking affords them the tools to define and find solutions to all kinds of dilemmas—academic, societal, or global. Used together, these approaches equip students with skills and strategies that boost their academic and social-emotional learning.   

With our experts' guidance, participants in this workshop will:

• Explore the 'how' and 'why' of systems thinking pedagogy
• Engage in the design thinking process to address systems thinking problems
• Create a design thinking learning experience for their students
• Take away examples of teacher and student work that can be adapted to their classroom context

For Grades K-5
Click HERE to register. $199 per participant (discounts available for public and charter schools). Location: Wildwood elementary campus— 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Choose from the following dates:

• November 14, 2018
• February 25, 2019 

Facilitator: Carolyn Peralta

Facilitator: Maria Pizano

Critical Friends Group™ (CFG^®) New Coaches Training

July 29-August 2, 2019 / Register Now!

Ready to develop peer-to-peer coaching at your school?
This five-day workshop provides educators with research-based tools for developing a collaborative culture that fosters professional learning communities and improves student achievement. Beginning Coaches Training offers an opportunity to learn the fundamentals of CFG coaching by experiencing them firsthand. Participants also meet and work with like-minded professionals engaged in similar work across the country.

By the end of the workshop, participants will:

• Be CFG coaches certified by The National School Reform Faculty
• Embrace adult learning in service of student achievement
• Know how to “mine” a text for maximum meaning
• Understand how to match protocols to particular examples of student and adult work
• Know how to give and receive productive feedback on professional practice
• Develop CFG facilitation skills
• Have several strategies for increasing adult learning by examining student and adult work
• Develop skills to create equitable opportunities for all students
• Have a plan for starting a CFG at their school or district

For K-12 and University Educators
Click HERE to register. Location: Wildwood middle and upper campus. $850 per participant ($775 per participant for schools/institutions sending 5 or more people).  

Registration fee includes:

• CFG Coaching Certificate from The National School Reform Faculty (NSRF)
• One-year membership to NSRF (allows access to coaches-only materials)

NSRF National Facilitators: Deb Christenson and Steve Barrett

Deb is a history teacher at Wildwood's middle and upper campus. With over 40 years' experience as a teacher and administrator in public and private schools, Deb has helped to start and sustain schools dedicated to authentic and engaged student learning. 

Steve is Wildwood's Director of Outreach with 28 years' experience as a teacher and administrator in public and private schools. As a professional development facilitator, Steve uses numerous CFG protocols to guide the professional learning of educators here in Los Angeles, nationally, and internationally.

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The Global-ready Learner (Grades K-5)

Registration closed. Check back for 2019-20 dates in August.

Are your students ready for the world?
Delve into the skills and mindsets necessary to launch elementary age students as global citizens, with practical examples for teachers at all kinds of schools—public, private, or charter. Examine strategies to help your students speak and listen more thoughtfully, develop greater empathy, and understand the value of multiple perspectives.

Participants will:

• Explore the purpose and practice of global citizenship education
• Analyze global citizenship curricula and their use in Wildwood classrooms
• Leave with ideas for classroom practice—including using the United Nations Global Sustainability Goals for 2030 as a framework for teaching content and student learning

For Grades K-5
Click HERE to register. $199 per participant (discounts available for public and charter schools). Location: Wildwood elementary campus— 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. One session only:

• April 25, 2019

Facilitator: Alli Boas

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The Global-ready Learner (Grades 6-12)

Registration closed. Check back for 2019-20 dates in August.

Are your students prepared for global citizenship?
Develop strategies to help your students view themselves as global citizens who understand their roles in a diverse world and seek to find creative solutions to societal challenges.

Participants will:

• Explore the purpose and practice of global citizenship education
• Consider existing and planned global citizenship projects in the Wildwood curriculum
• Examine interdisciplinary approaches which build connections across content areas to deepen student understanding
• Generate practical project ideas for classroom implementation

For Grades 6-12
Click HERE to register. $199 per participant (discounts available for public and charter schools). Location: Wildwood middle/upper campus— 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. One session only:

• April 30, 2019

Facilitator: Holli Plummer

Holli is in her 3rd year at Wildwood as an Upper School Humanities teacher and Advisor after extended experience as a teacher and dorm parent at Idyllwild Arts Academy. A multi-faceted educator and business entrepreneur, Holli's enthusiasm for global citizenship was recognized in 2018 when she was awarded a place in the Harvard Graduate School of Education's Think Tank on Global Education.

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Life Skills For Lifelong Learning

Registration closed. Check back for 2019-20 dates in August.

Interested in making your school's core values part of students' learning every day?
Life Skills are the desired personal qualities and skills that inform Wildwood School's elementary program. They're woven into students’ everyday experiences and provide a framework for faculty and parents to support students’ academic learning, as well as social and emotional growth.

Participants will:

• Engage in Life Skills-focused hands-on activities
• Investigate Life Skills’ and similar frameworks’ roles in student growth
• Develop strategies implement their own schools' core values into daily practice 

For Grades K-5
Click HERE to register. $199 per person (discounts available for public and charter schools). Location: Wildwood elementary campus— 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. One session only:

• November 7, 2018 

Facilitator: Roxanne Bergmans

Roxanne is a 3rd grade teacher at Wildwood with over 30 years' experience as an educator—the past 20 in Wildwood classrooms. Roxanne's enthusiasm for Life Skills at Wildwood stems from her love of learning from her students every day; from their thinking, perspectives, and creativity.

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Standards-Based Assessment: Moving Towards Mastery

Registration closed. Check back for 2019-20 dates in August.

Is your school prepared for the future of assessment?
When it comes to measuring what your school values—showing is better than telling. Work with Wildwood School teachers and administrators who will challenge participants to disrupt traditional, opaque grading practices and envision clearer, more descriptive measures of learning for their students. This future-forward workshop is perfect for participants at schools interested in the work of the Mastery Transcript Consortium—a nationwide assessment reform movement—or who are simply interested in framing student learning in more meaningful ways.

Participants will:

• See standards-based assessment in action by unpacking Wildwood School’s leading-edge system for measuring student learning and growth
• Consider how to develop illuminating reporting practices to enlighten student and parent understanding
• Leave with ideas to apply to your individual, or school's, practice

Come discover Wildwood’s unique role among the founding members of the Mastery Transcript Consortium, as a K-12 school leading the way for nearly 20 years without relying on letter grade assessments or traditional report cards (even in upper school).

The Swiss Army Teacher: Versatile Facilitation With Protocols

Registration closed. Check back for 2019-20 dates in August.

Want some new tools for your classroom practice?
Versatility is the theme of this hands-on workshop. Participants will practice and reflect upon a variety of multi-use protocols to help them meaningfully facilitate student learning. Whether your goal is to increase student engagement, implement Common Core State Standards, or simply enliven your craft, you'll leave with new skills, ready to use in class the next day. Practice protocols to help facilitate your students' abilities to:

• "Mine" texts for deeper meaning

• More respectfully converse with each other

• Ask good questions

• Generate strong ideas

• Thoughtfully reflect on their learning

• Identify and build upon successes

For Grades 6-12
Click HERE to register. $199 per participant (discounts available for public and charter schools). Location: Wildwood middle and upper campus— 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. One session only:

• May 2, 2019

Facilitator: Steve Barrett
Steve is Wildwood's Director of Outreach, with 28 years' experience as a teacher and administrator in public and private schools in California and Illinois. As a facilitator, he's guided the professional learning of educators here in Los Angeles, nationally, and internationally. Steve is also a national Critical Friends Group (CFG) facilitator.

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Brave New Worlds: Augmented and Virtual Reality in the Classroom

Registration closed. Check back for 2019-20 dates in August.

Don't you want to give it a try?
This half-day workshop immerses participants in Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) learning environments: What’s available, examples of student work, and how to bring it to one’s own practice—across the curriculum.

• Participants will experience the AR/VR platforms of Metaverse, Google Expeditions, and ARkit,
• Try devices like The Oculus Rift, HoloLens, and more.
• No experience with AR/VR necessary—just a healthy curiosity.

For grades K-12
Click HERE to register. $68 per participant (discounts available for public and charter schools). Location: Wildwood middle and upper campus— 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Choose from the following dates:

• November 13, 2018 
• January 15, 2019

Facilitator: Joe Wise
Joe directs the Wildwood Institute for STEM Research and Development (WISRD), is a career educator, and program development expert. His decades of experience help Joe connect students with contacts in academic and scientific communities nationwide. Joe has explored new models for learning using technology, games, and assessment. His current work at Wildwood is informed by insights gained as a creator of the W.M. Keck Math/Science Institute, the Center for Effective Learning, the Learning Tool, and the PlayMaker School.

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Disruptive by Design: The Institute Model for Learning

Registration closed. Check back for 2019-20 dates in August.

Want to re-make your students' concept of school?
This provocative workshop is for middle and high school educators interested in disrupting the prevailing educational model by making authentic, cross-disciplinary research and development the work of students in school. Participants will explore:

• Wildwood’s pioneering R & D institutes The Wildwood Institute for STEM Research and Development (WISRD) and the Wildwood Institute for Social Good and Community Leadership

• Tapping student interest and expertise to guide learning

• Fostering student identification of real-world problems and solutions

• Shifting their roles as educators toward facilitation and guidance of student learning

• First-hand insights from Wildwood student researchers and developers

For Grades 6-12
Click HERE to register. $68 per participant (discounts available for public and charter schools). Location: Wildwood middle and upper campus— 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. One date only:

• January 23, 2019

Facilitator: Joe Wise
Joe directs the Wildwood Institute for STEM Research and Development (WISRD), is a career educator, and program development expert. His decades of experience helps Joe connect students with contacts in academic and scientific communities nationwide. Joe has explored new models for learning using technology, games, and assessment. His current work at Wildwood is informed by insights gained as a creator of the W.M. Keck Math/Science Institute, the Center for Effective Learning, the Learning Tool, and the PlayMaker School.

Facilitator: Callie Kamada
Callie is the inaugural Director of Wildwood's new Institute for Social Good and Community Leadership. A passionate advocate for social change, Callie most recently served as the Director of the Glenn Institute for Philanthropy and Service Learning at The Westminster School in Atlanta.

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Beyond Final Exams: Authentic Year-End Assessments

Register Now!

Want to see authentic capstone assessments in action?
See Wildwood students’ end-of-year Gateway and Exhibition Presentations demonstrating their academic and personal growth and take away ideas to implement similar authentic assessments for your students. Participants will:

• Attend 8th, 10th, and 12th grade presentations

• Engage in Q & A with student presenters

• Analyze the elements and design of Wildwood's capstone projects

• Identify ways to design and implement capstone projects at your school

For Grades 6-12
Click HERE to register. $199 per participant (discounts available for public and charter schools). Location: Wildwood middle and upper campus— 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. One session only:

• May 30, 2019

Facilitator: Steve Barrett
Steve is Wildwood's Director of Outreach, with 28 years' experience as a teacher and administrator in public and private schools. As a teacher and advisor, Steve has guided students through these authentic assessments. As a facilitator, he's guided the professional learning of educators here in Los Angeles, nationally, and internationally. 

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Into the Wild: Middle School Capstone Projects

Registration closed. Check back for 2019-20 dates in August.

Want to help your students chart their own learning paths?
In this full-day workshop participants will engage with Wildwood students, teachers, and each other to unpack examples of Wildwood’s Middle School capstone project, Into the Wild: An independent, student-driven exploration of a topic of personal interest.

Participants will work with Wildwood experts to envision and design capstone projects for their own students—customizing experiences that reflect their own schools’ missions, values, and/or a variety of Common Core State Standards.

Come find out how to help students in grades 6-10 build autonomy, master new skills, and strengthen their sense of purpose around learning. 

For Grades 6-10
Click HERE to register. $199 per participant (discounts available for public and charter schools). Location: Wildwood middle and upper campus— 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Choose from the following dates:

• November 5, 2018
• April 22, 2019

Facilitator: Megen O'Keefe
Megen teaches middle school humanities at Wildwood, with 20+ years’ experience at schools in Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Megen conceived and launched the Into the Wild project in 2014 to help 8th graders guide their own studies, take risks, and become brave learners. Megen’s Into the Wild has inspired similar projects at other Wildwood Outreach Center client schools. In the humanities classroom, Megen is adept at fostering the skills and confidence her middle schoolers will need for their successful transition to high school.

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CUSTOM FACILITATION AND WORKSHOPS

Let us come to you!
We can custom-design programs that target your school's goals. Our specialties include:

• Advisory programs
• Social-emotional learning
• School leadership strategies
• Facilitative practices for teachers and administrators
• Systems thinking pedagogy
• STE(A)M programs
• Project-based learning
• Instructional and assessment differentiation
• School culture
• Authentic assessment
• Graduation by exhibition
• Common Core-aligned reading and writing practices
• Internal professional development capacity building

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