TACTics
Journal
A Publication for and by TOC
for Education Practitioners
April 11, 2003
In this week’s issue:
Connections
(1) OLE!, Kathy Suerken
(2) 7 th International TOCFE Conference
Reader’s Feedback
(3) Denise Meyer
Editors’ Notes
(4) Kay Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A.
Edwards
CONNECTIONS
(1) OLE!
From Kathy Suerken
I just returned from Mexico
where I addressed 1,400 educators at the Congress of Innovative Education of
the Americas, sponsored through the Secretariat of Education for public schools
(SEP), Nuevo Leon. Eleanor May-Baenneker from the United Kingdom also gave an
address as well at a workshop on Dyslexia. Eleanor will provide a full day
workshop at the 7th International TOCFE Conference on the use of TOC
teaching strategies with children who have dyslexia.
All of our TOCFE conference
workshops this year have been approved for local school district in-service
points, which then apply as well to any future local TOCFE workshops. Given
that my local Florida school district already has the highest state test
scores, this endorsement is meaningful! If you are interested to receive these
in-service component write- ups (easily adapted to other district
requirements), please email a request to suerken@cox.net.
The teacher workshops are
composed of all new materials, will be taught by Rami Goldratt and Cheryl
Edwards, and are focused on the use of TOC to better achieve Academic Standards
and Benchmarks. The seminar on how to address resistance to change, taught by
Audrey Taylor, is primarily for administration and definitely meets the needs
of those who work with—or on—school improvement teams. The behavioral workshop
this year will be peer mediation training co-taught by Mary Ellen Bourbou and
Michelle Royan and will feature a demonstration by A GOAL Academy. All of these
workshops may be attended by TOC beginners, but will serve also to upgrade the
certification of TOCFE experts in these new
materials/tailored applications. Additionally, we have a syllabus
designed just for TOCFE experts that include workshops such as Danilo Sirias’s
international research project and also Rami Goldratt's workshop on the new
transition tree process.
Meanwhile, back in Mexico,
Marina Rodriquez and her TOCFE team at the
SEP are making remarkable progress. Because the application of TOC to
behavior is not sufficiently effective to engage most mainstream teachers,
Marina launched an initiative last fall with 49 schools new to TOCFE to work
with teachers specifically on the use of TOC in content. Since then, most of
the teachers in these schools are TOC trained and Marina reports that her team
is supervising, evaluating (documenting results) and giving feedback on how to
teach content through TOC.
These schools are located
throughout the state, from one end to the other (covers about 250 miles). Her
initiative seems to be working—more than 20 additional schools have called
Marina's office recently to request this new training program. An even greater
consequence, however, is the decision to train ALL Nuevo Leon Civics
teachers in TOC! This decision by the SEP came as a result of teacher
demand and the specific request of those who manage those programs.
Marina has 6 TOCFE facilitators
under her supervision and they will begin with Civic teachers in primary
school. The plan is to train over 2,000 such teachers by end June 2003!
And, there is even MORE good
news from Mexico—news that has a global impact. That news will be announced on
Friday, May 16 in Ft. Walton Beach at the 7th International TOCFE Conference.
I hope you will join us there
in the OLE!
(2) 7th International TOCFE Conference.
May 16-19, 2003
Ramada Plaza Beach Resort
1500 Miracle Strip Parkway
Ft Walton Beach, Florida, USA
Hotel:
• For reservations, USA toll
free: 800.874.8962.
• Please reserve your room
under the TOCFE Conference block of rooms.
• Boxed continental
breakfast-up to two per room included.
• Blocked rooms will be held
until April 24, 2003 (afterward, reservations only if space available).
• The following prices are for
maximum of 2 people per room (additional person is $10/person per night up to
maximum of 4 per room).
Standard: $120 (plus tax) per
night.
Courtyard: $135 (plus tax) per
night
Poolside: $155 (plus tax) per
night
Beach Front: $175 (plus tax)
per night
Airport:
• Fort Walton Beach, Florida
(VPS is the airport code).
• Cab/shuttle service from
airport to hotel is about $15.
• Driving information will be
shared in a future TACTics.
Conference Fees:
• Daily Rate: $25 includes
lunch, coffee breaks and all materials.
• Full conference rate: $125
includes 4 lunches, all coffee breaks, all materials and Special
Dinner/Entertainment Event on Sunday, May 18. A Special Event is still being
planned for Saturday, May 17!
Registration:
To download a registration form
or to see the most current conference agenda, visit www.tocforeducation.com. Or, you can also
e-mail Kathy Suerken at suerken@cox.net.
READER’S
FEEDBACK
(3) Denise Meyer, Los Angeles, California, USA.
I was pleased to see the
strategy that Sima used in the negative branch. We also have found that to be very useful. Another strategy that
can be added, which is very powerful, is to initial each box with whomever has
power to change that box. That way, the child begins to realize where s/he has
power to change the outcome even when the other child has been the aggressor.
It is then the boxes that s/he has control over that become the one to focus on
in changing the outcome.
EDITORS’ NOTES
(4) Kay Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A.
Edwards
Feel free to share with us. Send your responses, applications of the thinking processes, lessons, announcements, and etc. by mail to: Cheryl A. Edwards,
2253 S. Hill Island Rd.,
Cedarville, Michigan 49719, USA. Or send hyperlink to cedwards@cedarville.net or
bucknek@earthlink.net.
You may also view TACTics in its intended formatting, by visiting our web site at www.tocforeducation.com. Click on “What’s New.”