SPEAKERS

Clancy Blair, PhD
Professor of Applied Psychology at NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development

Janice Toben, M.Ed. & Rush Sabiston Frank, M.S.
Social Emotional Learning Institute

Kathryn Stewart, PhD
Founder and Director of Orion Academy for children with Asperger’s and Non-Verbal Learning Disorders

SESSION DESCRIPTIONS

Clancy Blair, PhD, NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development [slides]
Self-Regulation in Early Childhood: A Central Aspect of School Readiness and Early Academic Achievement [slides]
The development of self-regulation in early childhood involves the ability to regulate emotion, to hold information in mind, to inhibit an automatic or impulsive response, and to shift attention. Each of these abilities is important for learning in school and for getting along with teachers and schoolmates. Research is uncovering the variety of influences on self-regulation development and on the best ways to promote self-regulation to maximize learning in school. This talk will focus on various ways of measuring self-regulation and will present research that indicates that a focus on self-regulation in early childhood education can help to ensure success in school.

Janice Toben, M.Ed. & Janice Toben, M.Ed. & Rush Sabiston Frank, M.S.,
Social Emotional Learning Institute [slides]
Session 1: Social and Emotional Learning: Research and Creative Approaches to Build Young Student's Intra- and Interpersonal Skills
This session will provide an overview of some of the research associated with student well-being and the teaching of social and emotional learning skills. The second half of the presentation will share examples of creative lessons, teaching strategies, and samples of student work from grades K - 5 where the use of metaphor, dialogue, inquiry, improvisation, and group problem-solving are involved in bringing the social and emotional learning "inside out" in the students and the school community.

Session 2: Social and Emotional Learning: Spotlight on "The Open Session" [slides]
In Open Session, middle school aged students respond to student-generated issues through an intentional, supportive exchange of listening and ideas. This format, facilitated by teachers, but "run" by the students, allows students to practice and develop the vital social and emotional learning skills of 1) clarification; 2) offering support and encouragement, and 3) providing alternative points of view and/or solutions that stem from personal wisdom. This experience increases the peer group's respect for each other, trust, and empathy while guiding them toward the practice of resilient and effective life skills.

Kathryn Stewart, PhD, Orion Academy
Using Social Skills Groups to Teach Anxiety Management in School- Aged Children on the Spectrum [slides]
This presentation will look at the cognitive ñ behavioral model of anxiety management and discuss ways to set up a social skills group for elementary age children to teach skills through activities that can be practiced in group. Consultation with teachers and parents will be discussed.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

* (Must send (to ucbschpsyc@gmail.com) name and e-mail address of professor to verify enrollment. Students at all schools welcome.)

CEUs
Attendees will be given a certificate of attendance at the end of the day.  We do not have APA or BBS CEUs, due to the additional cost required for a one day conference.

Confirmations & Receipts
Confirmations of registration are sent via email. If you have not received confirmation within five days of the program, please let us know ucbschpsyc@gmail.com.  See attendee list (Scroll to bottom of the link to event brite page.)

SPEAKER BIOs

Clancy Blair, PhD
A developmental psychologist by training, Dr. Clancy Blair studies self-regulation in young children, especially those from low-income homes. He was written and presented extensively on the development of executive functions and the ways in which these aspects of cognition are important for school readiness and early school achievement. He is also interested in the development and evaluation of preschool and elementary school curricula designed to promote executive functions as a means of preventing school failure. Dr. Blair is a professor of Applied Psychology at the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University Prior to coming to NYU, Blair spent ten years as an assistant and then associate professor in the department of Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State. He is currently examining the interaction between early experiential and biological influences on the development of executive functions as part of a longitudinal study funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Janice Toben, M.Ed.
Janice Toben is an educational consultant working across the country to promote positive school climate through the skills and tools of social and emotional intelligence. Janice coordinated The Nueva School’s Social and Emotional Learning Program for twenty-seven years where her teaching and coaching efforts focused on children, ages 5-14, and parents, generating a model for curriculum design and comprehensive lessons to creatively foster inter and intrapersonal skills. Janice facilitates professional development seminars, parent education programs and leads training institutes such as SELInstitute.org. She has conducted educational seminars at Wheelock and Columbia Teacher's College; designed programs for eight years with the Center for Advancement and Renewal of Educators, providing an innovative program for emotional and intellectual renewal for educators in the San Francisco School District; and presented at conferences such as NAIS and CAG. Janice appears in the video Emotional Intelligence: A New Vision for Educators (based on Emotional Intelligence [Bantam, 1995]) and is the author of many lessons for the early and mid-elementary grades, including The Open Session student-generated discussion format. Janice also initiated the video, Constructing Learning: The Nueva Forts Experience, based on the imaginative, cooperative outdoor play that flourishes through student agreements and sensitive supervision. On the strength of the SEL program, Nueva was recognized by the Templeton Foundation as a National School of Character and has become a Blue Ribbon School three times.

Rush Sabiston Frank, M.S.
Rush has over fifteen years of social work and counseling experience with youth and families. She has a Masters of Science in professional counseling and her undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Prior to coming to the Nueva School, Rush supervised the School Safety Advocate Program in the San Mateo Union High School District for four years and coordinated groups for Kids' Turn, an educational program that offers hope and optimism to children during divorce. Rush has added the interface between social-emotional learning (SEL) and media literacy; body image and gender issues; nutrition; psychological research on forgiveness; and proactive support for new students and parents to the SEL and Student Advisory curriculum and is an enthusiastic facilitator of her studentsí Open Session discussions as well as informative and interactive sessions for parents. She is a lead designer and facilitator of SELInstitute.org, a week-long social and emotional learning training session for educators across the country.

Kathryn Stewart, PhD
Dr. Kathryn Stewart is the founder and Executive Director of the Orion Academy, a college preparatory program for secondary students who whose academic success is compromised by a neurocognitive disability such as Aspbergers syndrome or a non-verbal learning disorder. She is frequently sought after for her expertise on neurocognitive disorders and has spoken at numerous parent and professional conferences in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to directing the Orion Academy, Dr. Stewart is an adjunct professor at the Wright Institute in Berkeley, and teaches several graduate courses for UC Berkeley Extension and JFK University. She is past board member of the Contra Costa Psychological Association and the California Psychological Association Mandatory Continuing Education program. The second edition of Dr. Stewart’s book, Helping a Child With Nonverbal Learning Disorder or Asperger's Disorder: A Parent's Guide, is available now from New Harbinger Press.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

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8:15 - 8:45  Registration, Continental Breakfast, Networking - please arrive early!

8:45 Welcome

9:00 - 10:15 Dr. Clancy Blair

10:15 - 10:30 Break

10:30 - 11:45 Janice Toben, M. Ed. & Rush Sabiston Frank, M.S.

11:45 - 12:30 Lunch

12:30 - 1:30 Janice Toben, M. Ed. & Rush Sabiston Frank, M.S.

1:30 - 1:45 Break

1:45 - 2:45  Dr. Kathryn Stewart

2:45 - 3:00 Closing

Mailing Address
Conference Location Info

Event Location
Clark Kerr Campus (CKC) in Berkeley
Phone: 510-642-4444
2601 Warring St. Berkeley, CA 94720-2288

Maps
Google Map | CKC Map (pdf)  | Street View Map

Driving/Parking
Parking is very limited at the conference venue and will cost $15 per day cash only. We have parking spaces for 1/2 the number of attendes so carpool or take public transit. 

We have adjusted the price of the conference to reflect this added expense. Street parking is limited to 2 hours and there are no nearby public lots. Here is a map to the overflow parking if our main lot is full.  If you must drive to the facility, please carpool.  Parking is in the South West lot (on Warring near Derby) and is not guaranteed. Please come by public transportation if you can.

Public Transit
Visit transit.511.org and put in the address of Clark Kerr (2601 Warring St. Berkeley, CA) for directions from your location.  The conference center is easily accessible by AC Transit with a bus stops in front of the conference center. Busses depart Berkeley BART & Rockridge BART Stations.  

Conference Mailing Address
UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education
School Psychology Program
4511 Tolman Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-1670
510/642-4202 (email is preferred)
Attn: School Psychology Conference
ucbschpsyc@gmail.com

view past conferences: 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010

45th Annual Conference

Building School-Family Partnerships: Strategies that Promote Student Success

Friday
April 27th, 2012

info & registration

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