LIST OF PRESENTERS 2019:

• Amy Armstrong – CARSplus Region director, presenting on “Donor’s Choose”
• Ananda Aspen – “A Model for Implementing Systems Change by Increasing Use of Evidence-Based Practice for ASD” -  She is an Education Specialist in the field of GenEd and SpEd and an autism specialist/consultant for SELPAs.  She will be presenting on CAPTAIN: a model for implementing systems change by increasing use of evidence-base practice for Autism Spectrum Disorder. Participant will learn about the CA Autism Professional Training and Information Network (CAPTAIN) goals, resources and important tools
• Apple Education Development Executive – A special presentation and keynote address by an executive of Apple that will be presenting on “Access Abilities, Designing for All Learners”.  This speaker is a former member of the CARSplus board and a special education teacher.
•  Ingrid Bens – is an educational research and evaluation consultant, Special Education Department of Education.  She will be presenting on “The Powerful Facilitation Techniques for IEP Meetings”.  This session explores the challenges and describes how facilitation can help with a hand on experience with specific facilitates tools and techniques that address key challenges and improve meeting quality. Interactive session Learn how to set norms, make interventions and overcome resistance.
• Chrissy Booe and Brenda Woodsmall – Adult Transition teachers with the Livermore Valley Joint Union School District, have created a partnership with the community that addresses skills allowing student to relate and function in society without anxiety.  They have been creative in funding their activities and you’ll want to learn their tricks.
• Val Bowman – “Deep Breathing for Student & Teacher Relaxation” - has been an educator since 1984 working her way up from a para-educator to administration.  deep breathing for student and teacher relaxation
• Kristen Brown, CDE- “Spotlight on Connecting Data, Linking Whole Child Resources, and Identifying Bright Spots: The California One System Serving the Whole Child Initiative.”Take a walk through the Local Control Funding Formula Priorities/Whole Child Resource Map with resources that local educational agencies, schools, teacher and families can use to support the needs of the English Lerner population
• Rachel De Bruin – “Ability Centered Transition System”- She is the creator of ACTS (Ability Centered Transition System) and teacher/administrator for the past 15 years.  Her session will highlight ACTS utilization of a research-based, three-phase, sequential program that guides students to identifying their abilities and strengths.
• Amy Foody – “Everything You Wanted to Know About SELPA” - will give a basic overview of what a Special Education Local Plan Area is and the different ways SELPA can support school district special education programs.
• Dr. Margie Gillis – “Dyslexia Guidelines and Teaching Strategies”-  with Tobie Meyer Intro- she holds numerous board positions and is a well-published author and speaker in the fields of literacy and dyslexia and is the president and founder of Literacy How.  Her presentation will be on dyslexia guidelines & teaching strategies for students with dyslexia.
• Angel Giroux-Greber – “Parents As Partners” - is a mother of a child with autism and intellectual disability and became very active in lobbying for change for people with disabilities and has become a regular at the capitol and is president of the North Ba Regional Center’s Board of Directors.  Her intent is that you will learn why some parents appear to be difficult to work with and to provide you with strategies to encourage them to work with you to set the stage for greater student success.
• Dr. Tom Green- “RTI/MTSS/UDL/Full Inclusion – It All Means Collaboration”
• Matthew Kabel –“CA SUMS MTSS Initiative” - he is a teacher with the Tehachapi USD and a recipient of the CA SUMS MTSS Initiative and will share resources to find grants, gain funding and tips for writing a grant.
• Matthew Kabel – “Student-Led IEPs”-will also be sharing how to implement student-led IEPS.
•  Knowbly – Shawn Burson & Trip Gould - ” Leveraging UDL for Inclusivity” Not all content is created equal and yet all content can be inclusive. Learn how to leverage software to apply the basic principles of UDL to your content quickly and easily. Create a flexible, customized content experience for your learners that can be adjusted to individual needs or larger groups as needed. Give your students an equal opportunity to learn with engaging content. We'll show you how to take a common core lesson written for a specific group and turn it into an accessible plan for your students. Knowbly has partnered with CARSplus with an online authoring tool that will allow learning content in the cloud to be as user friendly as can be. 
• Bryan Kroff, Franklin Covey – “Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager” - is a former teacher who has been working with the Franklin Covey since 1994.  You will be familiar with the Franklin Covey book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and will be presenting on project management essentials for the unofficial project manager.  Learn how to inspire team members to work for you and how to achieve their dedication to seeing a project successfully completed.
• Michael Laharty – For almost 40 years, Michael has served students with special needs, their families, and the staff who support them. He is recognized as a statewide leader in providing transition services for youth with special needs.  His presentation will explore research-based best practices regarding the development and delivery of effective social skills training programs as well as examples of them for all ages.
• Michael Laharty – “It’s Not Who You Know; It’s How You Treat Them”-This presentation will try to address the needs of students with disabilities in the general education classroom.  You will learn effective, research-based strategies for meeting the needs of diverse learners.
• Dr. Michelle La Monte – “Is Co-Teaching Delivering on the Proms of Co-Teaching?” is a session to learn effective, research-based strategies for meeting the needs of diverse learners. Co-Teaching is becoming an increasingly popular service delivery model.  Unfortunately, the promise of specialized academic instruction sometimes “gets lost,” leaving teachers at a legal disadvantage.  Come to learn effective, easy to implement strategies that allow co-teachers deliver specialized academic instruction, and help ALL students achieve success.
• Dr. Michelle La Monte - “Help for When Co-Teaching Goes Bad” is a session to help you learn how to avoid some common co-teaching pitfalls. Co-Teaching is becoming an increasingly popular service delivery model.  The idea of pairing a pedagogical expert with a content expert is a very appealing proposal.  Unfortunately, the vision of a synergistic teaching team producing fabulous results falls short for various reasons.  Come learn how to avoid some co-teaching pitfalls.·      
• Dr. Michelle La Monte - Working with Students with Disabilities in the General Education Classroom - Inclusion is becoming an increasingly more popular teaching model, consequently, this means more students with disabilities in the classroom.  Trying to address the needs of students with disabilities in the general education classroom can be overwhelming.  Come to this session to learn effective, research-based strategies for meeting the needs of diverse learners.
• Gail Lancaster and Dr. Patricia Dickerson -  “Technology Infused Math Instruction: Designing Math Instruction with Digital Tools” - Gail taught special education for 39 years prior to retiring and now is an Associate Faculty member at National University and has been training special education teachers since 1993.  Dr. Patricia Dickerson is an associate professor of teacher education at National University.  She has a wealth of experience and knowledge with technology tools and applications.  Check out her website: www.teacherpreptech.com
• Ginna Myers- "UDL from Philosophy to Reality: Practical Strategies for Teachers"
• Ginna Myers – "Get PsychEd! The Application of Psychology to Teaching, Learning and Memory"
• Karley Noel, MA ED, CHES – “Question Strategies and Self-Regulation with RedRover Readers”.  As Director of Education for RedRover, her session will help you discover how this type of questioning promotes executive functioning and helps activate and integrate various parts of a student’s brain in ways that support self-regulation, behavior, self-awareness, care for others, decision-making and connectedness.
• Steve Ombrek – “SIRAS- Beyond the Basics”-Is founder and president of SIRAS Systems which is the second leading IEP system used in CA. He will be sharing beyond the basics of SIRAS.
• Christine Straub - “Collaboration With Colleagues For RSP and Co-Teaching” - she has taught special education for 13 years and worked with her students in reading, writing and math. Her presentation is aimed at new and veteran teachers to include effective strategies to communicate and collaborate with their colleagues in order to create the best inclusive environment for your RSP students to thrive in as well as creating a partnership that flows well and is beneficial I a co-teaching model.
• Dr. Judith Swisher, Dave Cloninger and Rebekkah Swisher – “Motivate Students to Use Their Potential with PAES – Practical Assessment Exploration Systems” -  Dr. Swisher is the author of PAES – the Practical Assessment Exploration System and has published and co-authored research articles on the use of PAES and performance-based assessments for students who have special needs.  She serves as a consultant to the Career and Transition Centers in the LAUSD. The presentation will address the curriculum of 246 “hands-on” jobs in various industries.
• Manvel Ter-Pogosyan, MEd, BCBA- “Understanding Challenging Behavior” -  He has worked with infants, children and young adults until 2012 to increase the quality of life of individuals and families affected by developmental disabilities.  His session, with co-presenter Veronica Reynolds, MS, BCBA and Associate Clinical Director at Autism Learning Partners, is to provide insight into challenging behaviors demonstrated by individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
• Dr. Mike Torres – “CAASPP: All About Accessibility” -  Dr. Mike Torres is an Education Programs Consultant for the Assessment Development and Administration Division at the California Department of Education (CDE). Mike is the state lead on accessibility for the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress system. He works with a group of individuals to develop and support the administration of statewide assessments. 
• Susan Traugh – “Daily Living Skills and Transition Planning for M/M Programs” -  is an award-winning author specializing in curriculum development.  She is the former president of POSH (Partnership of School and Home) whose purpose was to open lines of communication between parents of students with special needs and school.  She will be presenting on daily living skills and transition planning for mild-to-moderate programs.
• Kristi Vincent –“Using the Read Live Intervention to Support the Fluency, Accuracy and Comprehension of Striving Readers”- She has worked for over 20 years as a classroom teacher, instructional coach and ELA/ELD instructor.  For the past 14 years she has worked as a consultant, coach, presenter and trainer for Read Naturally reading program.  Her presentation is to help you learn how to develop fluency, support vocabulary, and promote comprehension by combining three powerful, research-based strategies: teacher modeling, repeated reading, and progressive monitoring.
• Kristi Vincent – “Foundational Skills: Tell Us WHAT – Research Tells Us HOW”
• Mitch Weathers –“Organized Binder: Help Students Develop the Skills and Behaviors Needed to Succeed”- He is a high school teacher, adjunct college professor and the creator and founder of Organized Binder. His session is to learn how to support students through an organized, predictable, and dependable classroom routine while encouraging the executive functioning skills all learners need to succeed.
• Kathleen Whelan Gioia – “Introduction to the What’s & Not’s of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Implications for Behavior and Instruction” - a diagnostic education specialist serving on the trans-disciplinary assessment team at the Diagnostic Center, Southern California. She will be presenting an introduction to the What’s & Not’s of ADHD- becoming familiar with the diagnostic criteria associated with ADHD, understanding the relationship between executive functions and ADHD, and identifying how executive functions impact performance and daily living at home and school.
• Nancie Whiteside, MA, CAPE – “Special Olympics” - she has broad experience in adaptive physical education and currently is working with the Northern CA Special Olympics as the LVJUSD coordinator for school based Special Olympics.
• Kristin Wright – Director of Special Education, California Department of Education
• Charlene Wrighton, Ed.D. – “Kids Love to Move! Kids Must Move to Learn”-  She taught special education for 21 years as and L.H, SDC and Resource Specialist Program teacher and currently is director of the Safari Learning Academy where all students are include and learn through the Zoo-phonics program. She will present a playful, physical, mnemonic, novel, vervistic curriculum to get children out of their seats to learn, putting new information to log term memory.
• Linda Wyatt – CDE – “Orientation and Mobility-A Related Service” - she is currently a Special Education Consultant in the SpEd division of the CA dept. of Education.  Along with co-presenters Jaye Shupin and Jeff Thom, their session will explore the legal basis for orientation and mobility related services and examine the current issues facing the implementation of the services for students.
• Vanessa Cuellar and Raelyn Keys  – “Overview of YO! Disabled and Proud”-  both work as youth organizer at CA Foundation for Independent Living Center (CAFILC).  Their workshop will give you an overview of YO! Disabled and Proud”, going into depth regarding disability history, the FAIR Education Act, their anti-bullying campaign “Own My Power”, and the importance of having youth input during any legislation process.