Penny Jadwin

Learning to Read: Beginning Reading Instruction™

There is a basic foundation of instructional strategies required to teach a child how to read. This allows an educator to teach students reading with or without ancillary programs. Calling on her experience in teaching a varied population of over 3,000 students how to read, Penny will walk you through this balanced and integrated approach to reading instruction. As you rely on your own learning style and appreciate that of others, you will practice hands-on use of these essential tools of teaching.

Reading to Learn: Comprehension Instruction™

Understanding what we read is the point of reading. In this workshop, Penny shares proven strategies to aid students in reading comprehension. Using researched-based information on comprehension process and instruction, Penny reveals how you can motivate and engage your students. You will learn to implement an approach to how you teach reading comprehension that is centered on scientific and research-based strategies with ties to the National Reading Panel Report. You will identify curriculum resources, reading research in the areas of narrative and expository text structures, vocabulary, practice, engagement, motivation, and assessment.

Coaching and Mentoring

Whether you are in a position to mentor a beginning teacher or part of a school-wide peer coaching program, this workshop will give you tools you need to be an effective coach, coachee, and mentor. Using a specific sequence to develop a coaching or mentoring relationship, Penny will guide you in identifying and participating in the various roles of coach, mentor, and evaluator. You will practice verbal and nonverbal communication skills to create a positive coaching climate adaptable to specific needs and circumstances.

Teaching Students With Special Needs

Diversity, inclusion, students with disabilities, special education, challenged students, gifted students, mainstream students — it all boils down to reaching someone in ways they can learn. Penny excels at teaching diverse students — whether in regular or Special Education — in ways that empower them to succeed and flourish. Combining proven theory, research, and direct experiences, this workshop will break down the labels and allow you to teach — simply teach — every individual child, regardless of need. Highly interactive with proven strategies, this workshop is a must for those teaching students with special needs.

Lessons I Have Learned

While teaching for over 18 years, one would think Penny was the expert. As it turns out, she has learned more from her students than she believes she has taught. In a moving presentation, Penny reveals the wisdom, persistence, courage, honesty, and trust she has learned from specific incidents involving her diverse students. From those stories, you will appreciate how Penny became a better teacher and a better person. Come prepared to be motivated and shown how you can learn valuable characteristics from your own students.

Classroom Management

The hickory stick is long gone. Educators now know how encouraging responsibility among students goes much further than any discipline or punish-reward system. Using 12 highly researched and proven verbal skills, Penny will give you the tools you need to communicate with students in ways that allows them to want to behave and continue to contribute to the group. Weaving learning styles with specific techniques of communication, you will leave this workshop with confidence to manage your classrooms and your students gracefully and successfully.

Step Up to Writing

Learn how to improve the writing skills of all your students, regardless of ability levels. Using multi-sensory, classroom-proven teaching strategies and student writing activities, this lively workshop incorporates an easy-to-use program developed by Sopris West. Let Penny show how you can teach your students to write with good organization and clear prose. Discover how you can create writing opportunities where students experience success. Most importantly, Penny will show how you can prepare your students for real-world writing in an environment of excitement about reading, writing, and learning.

Help is On the Way: The REWARDS Program

This workshop focuses on how you can provide immediate intervention and help for students struggling with basic skills. Learn how to teach students to decode words, accurately read more multi-syllabic words in sentences and enhance oral and silent reading fluently. Penny will explore with you ways to help your students improve comprehension as accuracy and fluency increase, thus giving them greater confidence. Recommended for students in grades 4-12, the REWARDS program developed by Sopris West gives you tools you can use to help students eager to learn.

Building the Basics

This special and regular education program builds and maintains accuracy and speed to meet the needs of students who require additional practice. Let Penny show how you can develop one-minute practice exercises that allow students to see their own progress. The focus on helping students become fluent in basic skills is applicable regardless of what subject matter you teach.

The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS)

Learn a unique prevention-oriented assessment for growth and development of early literacy skills. Penny will lead you through this dynamic assessment system designed to assess all students' progress (kindergarten through third grade) on the big ideas of early literacy development in a standardized, time efficient manner. This will help you easily and quickly identify students in need of intervention at the classroom, school, and district levels. When used as recommended, the results can be used to evaluate individual student development as well as provide grade-level feedback toward validated instructional objectives.