Betsy Varis

Education:
Master’s + 30, Instructional Strategies
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL

Master of Science, Sec. Ed. Curriculum and Instruction
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL

Bachelor of Science, Elementary Education
Illinois State University, Normal, IL

National Presentations
* Christian County Kentucky schools
* Coaching training, Macon, Georgia
* East Tennessee Education Association
* Educate Minnesota conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota
* Henderson County Kentucky schools
* Hershey, Pennsylvania schools
* Hickman County Tennessee schools
* Hopkins County Kentucky schools
* Illinois Reading Council conference
* Indiana Reading Association conference
* Indiana Wesleyan University, Marion, Indiana
* Kentucky Association of Elementary School Administrators
* Kentucky Association of School Administrators
* Kentucky Teaching and Learning conference, Louisville, Ky
* Marygrove College, Detroit, Michigan
* Orange County, Orlando, Florida
* Paris Special School District, Tennessee
* Raising the Bar for Excellence conference, Illinois
* Raising the Bar for Excellence conference, Missouri
* Rockford College, Illinois
* Small Learning Communities, Salem, Oregon
* Tennessee Leadership conference
* Tennessee Middle Schools conference
* Title One conference, Kentucky
* Trigg County Kentucky schools
* Wilkes University, Pennsylvania

PLS Courses I Teach:

• Achieving Student Outcomes Through Cooperative Learning®
• Brain-Based Ways We Think and Learn®
• Building Communication and Teamwork in the Classroom™
• Classroom Management: Orchestrating a Community of Learners®
• Coaching Skill for Successful Teaching®
• Designing Motivation for All Learners®
• Differentiated Instruction for Today’s Classroom™
• Discovering the Power of Live-Event Learning®
• Learning to Read: Beginning Reading Instruction™
• Meaningful Activities to Generate Interesting Classrooms®
• Purposeful Learning Through Multiple Intelligences®
• Reading to Learn: Comprehension Instruction™
• Successful Teaching for Acceptance of Responsibility®
• Teaching the Skills of the 21st Century®
• Teaching Through Learning Channels®

My Favorite Moment in Teaching:
One of my favorite moments in teaching occurred when one of my third graders suggested that our class plant flowers along the walkway by our classroom. The student-lead project stretched over two months with the children planning everything from how we could raise money to purchase bulbs, flowerbed layout, types of flowers that would grow in our area, planting, and finally, what to do with the blooming plants.

The learning which occurred in this project was tremendous as we had to study many aspects of math, science, social studies, and language arts in order to have a successful learning experience which also complied with our standards and goals.

This was just one of the student-lead projects which solidified my belief that providing the facilitation to learning experiences rather than always being the 'expounder' of information causes more internalization of the concepts.

We all had fun while learning the content. In fact, many of the students would bring garden tools from home and dig in the flowerbed during recess. A weed did not have a chance with them!