At the CTL, Arts Matter!
Speaker's Bureau
T-CARE
The Center for Teaching and Learning at CSUN welcomed their fourth biennial “What Really Works in Education” conference on Monday April 8th, 2019. The conference focused on how to improve outcomes for all students in an educational setting using Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and was sponsored in part by the Schools First Federal Credit Union. The conference was open to all educators and parents and over 200 people were in attendance. Audience members came from LAUSD, Glendale, Burbank, Simi Valley, Chino Unified, Baldwin Park, numerous charter and private schools, and even schools from northern California.
Attendees were welcomed with bags of CTL swag, to include the new What Really Works with UDL book (Murawski & Scott, 2019) that just came out this month. The UDL book is the 4th in the Murawski & Scott "What Really Works" series. Previous books were: WRW with Elementary Education (2015), WRW with Secondary Education (2015), and WRW with Exceptional Learners (2017).
During the conference, attendees took part in four break-out sessions, which consisted of different topics on how to provide students with the opportunity to succeed using UDL. Topics included UDL and...co-teaching, Positive Behavior Support, writing, literacy, math, science, gifted education, and much more!
The Keynote speakers were Rebecca Mieliwocki, a Burbank teacher and former National Teacher of the Year; Brad Upshaw, an LAUSD teacher and inductee into the National Teachers Hall of Fame, and -by video- Dr. Katie Novak, an internationally recognized educator and author on UDL.
Presenters included experts from 10 different states, as well as experts from Sweden and Taiwan.
At lunch, attendees were shared strategies and thoughts by a Teacher of the Year Panel. These local teachers of the year were from LAUSD, Burbank, and Glendale and included Betsy Astor, Christina Bludau, Dug Gutierrez, Wendy Lucia Lozano, Monica Multer, and Joyann Sofio. The panel was facilitated by Rebecca Mieliwocki.
During the day, conference participants had the opportunity to choose among various sessions to discuss topics and develop strategies. At the beginning of each session, participants were presented with background information. Next, they were provided with handouts and participated in small discussions/activities. At the conclusion of the conference, attendees participated in a chance to win Bingo and raffle prizes as well as discuss their take away topics from the conference. All in all, this was a highly successful event and we look forward to seeing even more of you at the next What Really Works conference in 2021!