Posted by Mary Wimberley on 2007-07-05

About 200 teachers and administrators from Alabama elementary, middle and high schools are expected for this year's Samford Summer Institute for Teaching Excellence (SSITE) July 9-11.

The conference is sponsored by Samford University's Orlean Bullard Beeson School of Education and Professional Studies.

Several sessions will focus on raising teacher morale and motivating students and teachers. Other topics include teaching the Holocaust, creative lesson planning, new teaching strategies, humor in the classroom, the gender gap, and creative classrooms with high standardized test scores.

An exhibit of Holocaust-themed art will be on display.

Speakers are executive coach and consultant Michelle Drake, Holocaust specialists Ann Mollengarden and Randy Hubbard, interior designer/educator Natalie Weinstein, humorist and stress management expert Dave Caperton, new teacher mentors and authors Emma McDonald and Dyan Hershman, personal and professional achievement strategist Thom Lisk, gender bias/sexual harassment author David Sadker and curriculum innovation specialist Kim Bearden.

All events are at the Cahaba Grand Conference Center. Samford education professor Dr. David Little is SSITE director.

Established in 1987, SSITE is designed to offer Alabama's finest educators an educational growth experience with presenters who address current educational issues. Participants return to their classrooms with new materials, practical ideas and fresh inspiration.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.