Subject Matter Expertise

Students need authentic and meaningful learning opportunities.

CEL’s nationally-recognized faculty, staff, and consultants have subject matter and instructional expertise that supports the learning of teachers, coaches, administrators, and district leaders. To help build the capacity of teachers and leaders, we teach workshops specifically designed to provide rich content and pedagogical background. Reading, writing, and mathematics are foundational skills for students.  In order to support all students in experiencing success, we help educators clearly define what students need to know and be able to do, as well as help them learn the most effective strategies that assist students in accessing this knowledge.  Our goal is to provide teachers with specific subject matter instructional strategies and assessment techniques that will increase the achievement of all of their students.  Some examples of what participants learn during CEL’s subject matter workshops include:

Mathematics:

• Learn effective mathematics pedagogy (e.g., effective questioning, developing concepts through the use of manipulatives, implementing ongoing formative assessment).
• Create substantive intellectual lessons that link to local and NCTM curriculum standards.
• Foster meaningful discourse among students that promotes mathematical reasoning.
• Develop the socio-mathematical norms within the classroom that create environments where students take risks , support each other,  learn from mistakes, enhance participation, and encourage students to communicate mathematically.

Reading:

• Examine the specific needs of emergent, early, transitional and fluent readers.
• Learn the various structures of reading instruction (read aloud, shared reading, guided reading and independent reading).
• Explore and take away some practical ideas for teaching reading using children’s favorite and familiar texts.
• Uncover the power of formative and summative assessments in the initial design and on-going “in the moment” decisions of reading instruction.

Writing:

• Examine and use curricular standards to develop applicable units of study.
• Create a blueprint for crafting daily writing lessons that address state and national standards.
• Discover a rich variety of mentor texts that provide students a clear vision of the writing they are expected to do.
• Learn formative assessment strategies—particularly conferring with students—to inform writing instruction.

CEL helps establish "studio residencies" in classrooms to provide educators with a job-embedded, authentic experience for deepening their content knowledge and skills. To read more, click here.

Contact us for a no-cost consultation of how we can support the improvement of teaching and learning in your district.