“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.”

-Alexander Graham Bell

No one could have prepared our schools and teachers for what they are currently faced with. Expectations of our teachers, students, parents, and education as a whole have changed. But, what we can do is start thinking about how to adapt to school life when sessions start back again this Fall—no matter what format that takes.

Making Teacher Professional Development a Priority

For more than 30 years, Staff Development for Educators (SDE) has been at the forefront of powerful, customized, and research-based professional development. SDE offers many professional learning options to meet the needs of your school or district, including virtual professional development, on-site workshops (1-3 days), flexible job-embedded coaching, and customized conferences. Our professional learning is designed with educators in mind and is rich with the content and practices to meet the needs of today’s diverse classrooms, from traditional in-person classes or remote learning environments.

How We Can Help Address Learning Gaps Due to COVID-19

Here’s just a quick look at how some of our education consultants are supporting schools during this difficult time. We talked with Dr. Lori Elliott, Bernadette Lambert, and Dedra Stafford to learn more about how they will help schools address the potential learning gaps and other challenges schools may face in the 2020-2021 school year.

Dr. Lori Elliott

Lori is an energetic and passionate National Board Certified teacher (former) and trainer. She has taught students of various grade levels and has served as a district literacy coordinator and technology integration specialist. She is the author of the Teach Like a Techie series of books and Project-Based Learning for Real Kids and Real Teachers.

Bernadette Lambert

Bernadette is a literacy strategist and writer who teams with districts and schools across the United States designing units that engage and accelerate learners. Her experiences as a former middle school teacher and a K-12 district level literacy coach guide her as she models intentional practices to increase academic vocabulary use, weave writing across the curriculum, and support independent purposeful reading.

Dedra Stafford

Known as the “Queen of Practical," Dedra is the author and co-author of four books including, the best-selling Teaching Kids to Thrive and Summarization in Any Subject with Rick Wormeli. As a former teacher and district professional development specialist, Dedra uses her 20 years of experience working with students and teachers to provide staff development that is practical and motivating.

Focusing on the Topics Schools Need

Our professional learning offerings are as diverse at the classrooms we partner with. Here are just a few of the topics our consultants have addressed with schools and districts across the country.