Presentations
Below is a list of Todd's presentations. They are categorized by subject matter. The handouts section can be used to download material for a particular workshop.
Having high-energy staff members is critical to the success of every school and district. Everyone who works with students must come to school in a positive frame of mind each day. This is even more challenging during difficult times. This session will focus on no cost ways for educational leaders to motivate themselves and everyone in their organization. Attendees will also learn how to take away the power from any negative people we come in contact with. During good times it is nice to have a positive focus, but during challenging times we must.
This workshop provides a step-by-step approach to successfully implement any change that you would like to occur in your organization. Leading School Change is perfect for leadership teams, individual leaders, or any combination of people who are interested in successfully leading change throughout their school or district.
Included will be information on which people you have to start the change process with, how to make sure the first exposure is great, and how to diminish the influence of the resistors. The hands on activities will enable you to develop a plan specifically for you and your group. Whether it is a change you hope to make or a new mandate you will learn how to bring everybody on board.
Remember when it was so exciting to go to work you would tingle? Do standardized tests, dealing with the same old kids, paperwork, and administration have you down? Do you ever have the "How many more days of school until vacation blues? Here is a chance to get you and your entire school revitalized, reenergized, and maybe even resuscitated!
Included in this motivational presentation are ideas to help your entire faculty rekindle those feelings of why they chose education. This session will provide strategies to help educators recharge their batteries by reminding them that education really is a wonderful life.
How can a principal be seen as supportive to teachers, fair with students and parents, and yet keep issues at the building level and not involving the central office? This workshop focuses on the principals role in effective school wide discipline in a proactive, positive way that allows everyone involved to learn and practice effective communication and decision making skills that can be applied in you schools immediately. Also included is information that can assist in developing the capability of your faculty to effectively manage their own classrooms and minimize the office involvement in classroom disruptions.
Call them resistant, negative, or mediocre. Whatever we call them they are still our most difficult staff members to work with. How do we motivate, regulate, or eliminate these troubled teachers? How can we get other staff members to help us? How can we work on the weaker members and still keep the respect of all teachers? Why should we even bother?
This workshop provide tips, guidelines, and motivation for improving, controlling, and/or eliminating the most difficult staff members in your building. included are ideas to lessen their influence and put the good guys back in control of the school. Every building has them, and every principals has the power to improve their school by effectively dealing with these most challenging faculty members.
This program will provide specific tools which allow you, in a non-confrontational manner, to reduce the influence of your negative leaders, motivate your less effective teachers, eliminate non productive staff members while keeping the respect of your faculty.
(And With Parents In Difficult Situations)
Do you have parents that you just dread dealing with? When they call on the phone or walk in your office do you get a sinking feeling? Do you ever have to deliver bad news to nice parents?
This workshop will provide valuable tools for administrators to deal with hostile parents, build relations with all parents, and learn new techniques that can help you effectively deliver tough news in a positive manner. You will develop skills which will allow you to help everyone in your organization be more effective in dealing with these most challenging people.
Having high energy staff members is critical to the success of every school. Everyone who works with students must come to work in a positive frame of mind each day. This session will focus on ways for principals, teachers, and parents to enhance the environment of their school. Participants will learn how to motivate themselves and everyone in their building. They will learn how to build staff morale in their school, learn how to help themselves be more motivated at work every day, and be reminded of the importance of education.
This workshop presents the "Friday Focus," a weekly staff memo that motivates, organizes, sensitizes, and can be the impetus for change throughout the school. Principals will improve school communication, energize all faculty, and expand their circle of influence utilizing a tool that most principals already use - the weekly staff bulletin. Samples will be shared, along with specific techniques that will enable all workshop participants to help their schools of all sizes and grade levels come alive.
If you need a fun, inspirational, and motivational session, Todd Whitaker can deliver. On a variety of topics you will laugh, cry, and be involved in one of his high energy motivational sessions. If you want to get an in-service day, conference, or school year started off right, these sessions will hit the mark.
The role of teacher evaluation is essential for an effective principal. This session will focus on evaluation of all teachers - from our superstars to our less than superstars. Principals will have a chance to practice conferencing, note taking, and to examine the most effective ways to evaluate and improve our teachers. This session will also include ways to improve instruction on a daily basis in your school. Included will be videotaped lessons, information on differentiated supervision, and how to focus on instructional leadership on a daily basis in your school.
An area that I work in a great deal is the middle level school. Topics in this area include adolescent development, advisory programs, developing interdisciplinary curriculum, discipline, transitioning to a middle level school, interdisciplinary teaming, effectively teaching middle level students, developing a schedule, etc. I have had the opportunity to work with teachers, administrators, parents, and school boards on all aspects of middle level programs and practices.
One of the most essential aspects of being an effective educational leader is being able to communicate successfully with everyone we come in contact with. Understanding what to say and how to say it are critical components in building relationships with parents, students, and other educators. This workshop will help you develop and refine your skills in effectively communicating every day. You will also be able to help everyone in your organization improve these critical skills. You will leave with specific things that will enable you to handle challenging people, initiate communication more confidently, and self-evaluate your personal communication ability.
What are the specific qualities and practices of great principals that elevate them above the rest? This workshop reveals what the most effective principals do differently than their colleagues. Blending school centered studies and experience working with hundreds of administrators, this workshop will focus on the things that the most successful principals do . . . that other principals do not. Participants will leave knowing what great principals do differently, why these things make them more effective, and how to immediately implement each of these practices into your school.
Making good decisions is one of the toughest and most stressful challenges principals face. Not only do we have to make the right choice, but we also need to get everyone to support our decisions. Is there a better way to manage this tough task? This session provides three guiding questions we need to ask before we ever make a decision. Participants will learn how to make better decisions, have more confidence in our outcomes, and gain credibility with everyone in our organization.
Do the best staff members do too much and the worst employees too little? Are there people in your school who work at avoiding doing work? Do you know anyone who whines, pouts, or complains endlessly? This session is just what you need. Based on the book Shifting The Monkey, this session will help everyone lead their schools more effectively. Come and join the fun as you learn how to shift the monkey!
Every school has amazing teachers who have an incredible impact on students and learning. These special teachers have the ability to connect with all students and deliver highly effective instruction. Each school also has teachers with varying ranges of talent and ability. If all teachers could become more like the most effective teachers, then we would have significant improvement in every school. This session focuses on what leaders can do to get all of the teachers to be like their very best teachers.
How can we tweak, refine or overhaul that culture of our school or district? This session will help you understand and change the culture in your organization in an efficient and effective manner. You will be able to immediately begin the process of positively influencing your school and district.
How can we actually influence the culture in our school in a positive direction? What is the most efficient and effective way to do so? And are there things we can do to ensure that the positive changes are infused for the long haul and not just a temporary shift in the wind?
You will know how to start, which people are most important, and understand the specific things needed to rewire the culture in your organization.
Classroom management can make or break your teaching. Whether you have been teaching one year or twenty-one years, it is often the biggest frustration we face and it affects our teaching and job satisfaction each day. Every teacher does the best they know how when it comes to classroom management, and this session is designed so that we can all learn to be even better.
This fun, high-energy workshop, based on the popular book of the same name, will help you gain effective strategies for designing, and improving your classroom management from the ground up. You?ll learn how the three core aspects of classroom management can be used to build and maintain an effectively run classroom. This session will empower you to identify what is going well, adjust what needs to be improved, and feel more prepared for the unexpected.
You will learn how to provide the structure and flexibility needed to the teacher you want to be and the teacher students need you to be. You?ll gain specific strategies that you can immediately implement in any classroom.
Do the best staff members do too much and the worst employees too little? Are there people in your school who work at avoiding doing work? Do you know anyone who whines, pouts, or complains endlessly? This session is just what you need. Based on the book Shifting The Monkey, this session will help everyone lead their schools more effectively. Come and join the fun as you learn how to shift the monkey!
Remember when it was so exciting to go to work you would tingle? Do standardized test, dealing with the same old kids, paperwork, and administration have you down? Do you ever have the "How many more days of school until vacation blues?" Here is a chance to get you and your entire school revitalized, reenergized, and maybe even resuscitated!
Included in this motivational presentation are ideas to help your entire faculty rekindle those feelings of why they chose education. This session will provide strategies to help educators recharge their batteries by reminding them that education really is a wonderful life.
Change is an issue all schools face. Leadership, both formal and informal, is the key to successful change. We can all take the reigns of leadership and help guide our school to effectiveness. How does a teacher get their peers and/or an administrator get their staff to successfully change? How can we get a new program to be implemented and supported by everyone? How do we get reluctant teachers on board? How can we get others to be as motivated as we are? This session will provide guidance and useful tips for you to take back and utilize for an effective change process in your school.
(And With Parents In Difficult Situations)
Do you have parents that you just dread dealing with? When they call on the phone or walk in your office do you get a sinking feeling? Do you ever have to deliver bad news to nice parents?
This workshop will provide valuable tools for administrators to deal with hostile parents, build relations with all parents, and learn new techniques that can help you effectively deliver tough news in a positive manner. You will develop skills which will allow you to help everyone in your organization be more effective in dealing with these most challenging people.
The workshop is focused on effectively working with all students at any grade/age level. The purpose is to help teachers build and refine their skills in order to manage their classrooms and empower them to successfully work with all students. Information is also included on contracting and involving parents and raising the parents level of responsibility.
It is essential that in each of our schools every teacher and every student feels important and cares about those around them. This presentation will assist all educators in assisting their schools to have a culture where every staff member and student feels valued and productive.
If you need a fun, inspirational, and motivational session, Todd Whitaker can deliver. On a variety of topics you will laugh, cry, and be involved in one of his high energy motivational sessions. If you want to get an in-service day, conference, or school year started off right, these sessions will hit the mark.
What are the specific qualities and practices of great teachers that elevate them above the rest? This workshop reveals what the most effective teachers do differently than their colleagues. Participants will focus on what the most successful educators do . . . that others do not. Everyone will leave knowing what great educators do differently, why they make them more effective, and how to immediately implement each of these into your own classrooms and schools.
We have chosen the most important profession that there is, yet sometimes it is difficult to remember that. All of us have times where we do not feel as valued as we should.
This session will help all of us regain the drive that encouraged us to choose education as our profession. You will leave with specific ideas that can be immediately implemented into your schools, classrooms, and personal lives that will make a difference to your students and to yourself. With a combination of humor, emotion, and practical ideas, you will remember why you chose education and rekindle the spirit that teaching really does matter.
An area that I work in a great deal is the middle level school. Topics in this area include adolescent development, advisory programs, developing interdisciplinary curriculum, discipline, transitioning to a middle level school, interdisciplinary teaming, effectively teaching middle level students, developing a schedule, etc. I have had the opportunity to work with teachers, administrators, parents, and school boards on all aspects of middle level programs and practices.
How can we tweak, refine or overhaul that culture of our school or district? This session will help you understand and change the culture in your organization in an efficient and effective manner. You will be able to immediately begin the process of positively influencing your school and district.
How can we actually influence the culture in our school in a positive direction? What is the most efficient and effective way to do so? And are there things we can do to ensure that the positive changes are infused for the long haul and not just a temporary shift in the wind?
You will know how to start, which people are most important, and understand the specific things needed to rewire the culture in your organization.
Classroom management can make or break your teaching. Whether you have been teaching one year or twenty-one years, it is often the biggest frustration we face and it affects our teaching and job satisfaction each day. Every teacher does the best they know how when it comes to classroom management, and this session is designed so that we can all learn to be even better.
This fun, high-energy workshop, based on the popular book of the same name, will help you gain effective strategies for designing, and improving your classroom management from the ground up. You?ll learn how the three core aspects of classroom management can be used to build and maintain an effectively run classroom. This session will empower you to identify what is going well, adjust what needs to be improved, and feel more prepared for the unexpected.
You will learn how to provide the structure and flexibility needed to the teacher you want to be and the teacher students need you to be. You?ll gain specific strategies that you can immediately implement in any classroom.
Remember when it was so exciting to go to work you would tingle? Do standardized test, dealing with the same old kids, paperwork, and administration have you down? Do you ever have the "How many more days of school until vacation blues?" Here is a chance to get you and your entire school revitalized, reenergized, and maybe even resuscitated!
Included in this motivational presentation are ideas to help your entire faculty rekindle those feelings of why they chose education. This session will provide strategies to help educators recharge their batteries by reminding them that education really is a wonderful life.
Teaching is the profession that makes all other professions possible, but sometimes we forget to remind ourselves of that. What we do each day makes a difference in the lives of so many others. This session will help remind us that we have chosen the most important professional of all and assist us in developing ways to continually take a positive outlook of life and of teaching.
What are the specific qualities and practices of great teachers that elevate them above the rest? This workshop reveals what the most effective teachers do differently than their colleagues. Participants will focus on what the most successful educators do . . . that others do not. Everyone will leave knowing what great educators do differently, why they make them more effective, and how to immediately implement each of these into your own classrooms and schools.
Do the best staff members do too much and the worst employees too little? Are there people in your school who work at avoiding doing work? Do you know anyone who whines, pouts, or complains endlessly? This session is just what you need. Based on the book Shifting The Monkey, this session will help everyone lead their schools more effectively. Come and join the fun as you learn how to shift the monkey!
How can we tweak, refine or overhaul that culture of our school or district? This session will help you understand and change the culture in your organization in an efficient and effective manner. You will be able to immediately begin the process of positively influencing your school and district.
How can we actually influence the culture in our school in a positive direction? What is the most efficient and effective way to do so? And are there things we can do to ensure that the positive changes are infused for the long haul and not just a temporary shift in the wind?
You will know how to start, which people are most important, and understand the specific things needed to rewire the culture in your organization.
Classroom management can make or break your teaching. Whether you have been teaching one year or twenty-one years, it is often the biggest frustration we face and it affects our teaching and job satisfaction each day. Every teacher does the best they know how when it comes to classroom management, and this session is designed so that we can all learn to be even better.
This fun, high-energy workshop, based on the popular book of the same name, will help you gain effective strategies for designing, and improving your classroom management from the ground up. You?ll learn how the three core aspects of classroom management can be used to build and maintain an effectively run classroom. This session will empower you to identify what is going well, adjust what needs to be improved, and feel more prepared for the unexpected.
You will learn how to provide the structure and flexibility needed to the teacher you want to be and the teacher students need you to be. You?ll gain specific strategies that you can immediately implement in any classroom.