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Christina Fenton
Workshops and Presenter
Workshops
Crafting Questions to Increase Learning
"Great ideas! I would love to have more time to explore more of what she has to offer –she was great!"
Asking questions is an essential teaching strategy that is used when teaching any subject matter. Effectively done, questioning can promote involvement, enhance learning, motivate learners and provide both teachers and learners with feedback about progress.
Participants in this workshop will learn how to frame questions that address multiple levels of learners, all based on the six levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. An examination of several models will increase each participant's skill in developing questions designed to increase comprehension. Be prepared to think, work and learn!
Please bring a textbook or teaching material for developing questions.
Audience: Teachers, paraprofessionals- all grade levels
Recommendation: maximum 35 participants
Time frame: Two hours
Community, Caring, and Celebration: A First Look at the Differentiated Classroom
This interactive workshop will provide an overview of differentiated classrooms. Participants will learn about the foundation and basis for differentiation through discussion and activities, including the following topics:
- Description of a differentiated climate
- Identification of student needs and teacher responses
- Preparation of a starting point for differentiation
- Introduction to current differentiation practices
Audience: Teachers, paraprofessionals, administrators - all grade levels
Recommendation: maximum 35 participants
Time frame: 2 hours
No Shrinking From Thinking: Making Meaning From Words and Texts
"WOW! Excellent presenter – so engaging with activities to use tomorrow! Thank you!"
This rich and comprehensive workshop will explore several research-based reading strategies that are used by proficient readers. Implementing the strategies will help a student connect understanding with thinking. Practical applications of the strategies such as visualizing, inferring, and questioning will be highlighted. Significant emphasis on techniques related to vocabulary development will be featured.
Audience: K-12 teachers and AIS specialists
Recommendation: maximum 35 participants
Time frame: 2 hours
Planning and Implementing Differentiated Instruction
"Great examples for every audience member - very organized! High level of energy and focus - very interesting and entertaining."
A valuable experience for all educators, this workshop will prepare teachers to maximize student learning. Participants will explore strategies to manage and deliver instruction in a differentiated classroom, addressing the following topics:
- Preparation of students and parents
- Planning of differentiated lessons
- Differentiation of content, process and products
- Differentiation strategies for whole group instruction
Note: Workshop is most effective if participants are grouped by elementary, middle and high school levels.
Audience: Teachers, teacher aides and assistants, administrators - all grade levels
Recommendation: maximum 35 participants
Time frame: 3 hours
Teach Up, Work Up: Creating Rich, Rigorous, and Relevant Differentiated Curricula
Discussion and reflection of the application of Carol Ann Tomlinson’s research on delivering powerful curricula and instruction in differentiated classrooms will be presented. Participants need to have background knowledge and experience with implementing differentiation practices. Topics addressed will include:
- A perspective of identifying student needs
- A deep look at the five characteristics of effective curricula and instruction (important, focused, engaging, demanding, scaffolded)
- An examination of concrete strategies such as tiered assignments and scaffolding used to develop strong curricula and instruction
Audience: Teachers, curricula developers, administrators - all grade levels
Recommendation: maximum 35 participants
Time frame: 3 hours
Small Group Strategies for the Paraprofessional
"I appreciated your energy and affirmations and reminders of how to challenge higher-level thinking."
"Dynamic, clear concise - used time to the fullest."
Participants will learn and practice techniques to use with individuals / small groups in mixed-ability classrooms:
- Questioning effectively
- Using the principles of learning
- Helping students to build meaning
Audience: Paraprofessional - all grade levels
Recommendation: maximum 35 participants
Time frame: 2 hours
About the Presenter
Christina Fenton
Christina Fenton’s goal is to share her experience and expertise with educators so they can maximize their effectiveness with students. She has taught in both regular education and inclusion classrooms, in grades 1 through 8. In addition, Christina is currently an adjunct professor at SUNY Geneseo,NY, and is serving as an in-building consultant on differentiation for the Abelard Reynolds School in the Rochester City School District Her experience in staff development is wide and varied and includes mentoring, instructing, writing and implementing curricula and contributing to state and national projects. Christina has been recognized for her achievements by the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, NY. She also received the New York State Teacher of the Year Award for the Gifted. Christina is a valuable resource for instructional strategies including differentiation and multiple intelligences.
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