Schools
I work with schools and organizations primarily in the areas of classroom management, multiple intelligences, promoting critical and creative thinking, dialogue in the classroom and Socratic Seminars. Contact me to schedule a phone call or meeting to customize the work we do together. Examples include:
- Help schools and teachers address the Common Core State Standards using Socratic Seminar and other techniques.
- Walk-throughs with administrators to assess critical & creative thinking or dialogue in classrooms using unique tools that I have developed.
- Coaching teachers through long-term projects in order to maximize student engagement, increasing differentiation and using multiple intelligences.
- Helping teachers and administrators practice and teach listening skills.
- Working with focus groups to develop dialogue skills throughout the school in order to achieve a culture of inquiry.
Colleges and Universities
I work with colleges and universities mainly around dialogue, or shared inquiry. Many upper-level classes are seminars based in discussion, but many people do not realize that group conversations can be deepened into dialogue. Discussions are often characterized by brief, individual answers to exploratory questions and are typically meant to broaden a topic by collecting multiple opinions. They tend to converge toward a “right” answer or conclusion. Shared inquiry, or dialogue, is characterized by collaborative answers to provocative questions and is based in cooperative efforts toward a greater shared understanding. Participants work together to strengthen all positions for mutual benefit. Examples of how I could help at the college level:
- Deepen class discussions into student-led dialogue, or shared inquiry.
- Increase participation through pre-seminar techniques.
- Increase learning through active listening strategies.
- Balance critical and creative thinking skills.
Businesses
I can work with businesses to facilitate better and more efficient communication for staff meetings, box calls, video conferencing, company retreats and more. Examples include:
- Working with company leaders to develop better dialogue, teamwork and facilitation skills.
- Working with groups to understand and appreciate the four stages of group process: forming, storming, norming, performing.
- Teaching employees how to listen effectively and how to ask different types of questions in order to meet a variety of needs.
Families
I can work with families to help with education-related issues, such as: learning difficulties, behavior issues, school placement, anxiety, and more. Contact me to set up an interview to determine if I can indeed help. Examples include:
- Helping disengaged students learn to love school again.
- Working with reluctant readers to give them the skills and confidence they need in order to read effectively and love reading again.
- Tutoring or mentoring students in a variety of subjects.
- Assisting young writers in completing long stories or novels.
Phone or Zoom Consultations
I am available for phone or Zoom consultations for a large variety of educational topics. Please contact me, and I will be honest about whether I can be of service. Examples include:
- New teachers who aren't sure about the advice they are getting from colleagues, mentors, or administrators.
- Parents and teachers who want to know more about naturalist students and how to meet their needs in the school environment.
- Students who want to get Socratic Seminars in their school or who want to start a philosophy club or other critical & creative thinking organization.
- Parents who want recommendations for reluctant readers.
- Tutors who want to know more about how to ask better questions
- Teachers who want their discussions to deepen into dialogue.
- College professors who want to engage their seminar students in new ways.