Keynotes

Education: Living it, Loving it, and Laughing About It.
Looking to put a spark back into your teaching? Are you curious about what really makes your students tick? Looking for ways to connect with your students? This laugh out loud keynote provides ideas and strategies in the areas of connecting with your students, being an adult advocate for kids, and new strategies in classroom management. Jack will empower you with realistic solutions, which are good for kids, schools and school districts. A true crowd pleaser for any type of educator.

Managing the Madness
Based on the book, Managing the Madness, A Practical Guide for Middle Grades Classrooms. Jack provides real-life examples and solutions that help with classroom disruptions and management issues. This funny, informative, and entertaining session is designed to explain just why students interrupt our classroom and cause havoc within the school. See how you can develop useable action plans for students, and come discover not-so-typical ideas to manage a classroom.

Optimism and Opportunity
Inspiring, humorous, and applicable to all in attendance. Choosing optimism—even in the face of tough challenges—helps restore the healthy interactions and positive relationships necessary for enacting real school change. Hear how teachers and school leaders can rekindle their individual and collective enthusiasm for a profession that has been progressively inundated with negativity. Be prepared to learn, to laugh, and to leave with a renewed sense of purpose. Join these teachers for a fact-based, positive approach to “taking back our profession.” Research-based strategies, practical examples, and thought-provoking scenarios will be included.

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Presentations & Workshops

Some workshops can range from 50 minutes to 3 hours depending on your event needs.

Classroom Management
Based on the book, Managing the Madness, A Practical Guide for Middle Grades Classrooms, this is a perfect session for administrators and educators. Jack provides real-life examples and solutions that help with classroom disruptions and management issues. This funny, informative, and entertaining session is designed to explain just why students interrupt our classroom and cause havoc within the school. See how you can develop useable action plans for students, and come discover not-so-typical ideas to manage a classroom.

Creating a School that is Ready to Lead, Teach and Learn
Come explore ways to change the climate and culture of your school.  Learn how to deal with the items you can control.  Share examples on how schools are changing their climate to help teachers and students.

Critical Changes that need to happen in Middle-Level Education
This session will explore the questions, “Have middle schools become stale and obsolete?” “Are we now back to being the farm team for the high school?” Middle Level has always been on the cutting edge of reform, so what changes need to happen to make sure we stay current, innovative, and relevant. This is an up-front session that might go against some of our traditional middle-level ideals.

Deliberate Optimism – Reclaiming the Joy in Education
Based on the book, Deliberate Optimism: Reclaiming the Joy in Education, this session is all about how teachers and school leaders can rekindle their individual and collective enthusiasm for a profession that has been progressively inundated with negativity. This is a fact-based, positive approach to “taking back the teaching profession.” Be prepared to learn, to laugh, and to leave with a renewed sense of purpose.

How Electives Classes Can Increase Achievement
The battle between core and elective teachers has existed for decades. Elective teachers have felt out of the loop and under-appreciated. Discover how electives can help overall school achievement and learn about changing the term from electives to essentials.

How Vocabulary Increases Student Achievement
In the age of assessments and testing, it is imperative that students not only know the content, they also need to grasp the vocabulary of testing. Discover how schools and classrooms are changing the culture of vocabulary. Real examples with a dose of humor are part of this important session.

Taming of the Team
Being on a middle school team can be filled with great joys, struggles, and frustrations. It can also be a trying time for those involved in the meeting. This practical session focuses on the real-life issues surrounding teaming. We will provide informative examples to help with effective use of team time and how teams can work together to deal with kids, curriculum, and professional development. You might even laugh at Jack’s descriptions of the characteristics of a team member. Based on the book, Taming of the Team.

Teaching Strategies that Motivate Students
Looking for fun and motivating ideas for your middle-level classroom? This is a hands-on session that provides real, quality strategies in the areas of reading, writing, spelling, grammar, listening, and speaking skills. No philosophy here, just creative ideas to motivate the middle-level learner. This is a great session for new teachers and experienced teachers. Be ready to dance, laugh, and move!

Understanding Adolescents
Being able to figure out the inner workings of adolescents is key to being a great middle school teacher. Come discover helpful teacher tips on how to relate to young adolescents. Share and apply teaching ideas that meet the needs of middle school students. This session will also provide practical ideas to help with classroom management and behavioral issues from structuring your room to methods for getting a class to simmer down. Connect with your students and discover new ways to relate to them that will surely improve learning.

What Ever Happened to Mini-Courses?
Discover a great way to offer outstanding mini-courses to your students. Highly motivating and easy to implement in your school.

20 Things that Make a Great Classroom
This rapid-fire session outlines 20 things that make a great classroom. Ideas from management, organization, and design of the classroom will be shared. Information on what motivates students will also be shared. Who knows, you might figure out a new way to make some classroom changes. Fun and informative!

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Webinar Series

Professional Development available on your time, at your fingertips!  Topics include:

– Deliberate Optimism in a Unique Time
– Meeting the Basic Needs of Students in High Poverty Areas
– Social/Emotional Learning – the Foundations for Student Success
– Serving Diverse Learners During School Closures and Beyond
– Virtual Student-Led Conferences
– and more – www.jackberckemeyer.com/webinar-series

1 year subscription includes topics listed above plus new topics added each month throughout the school year.

Our Webinar Series can also be custom-tailored to meet your needs.  Contact us for more information.

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Additional Consulting Services