Paul Drake

Instructional Support Program

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Westminster’s Instructional Support program wants to share its success with other schools looking to increase the student/teacher ratio, give students more individualized attention and increase opportunities for students who need remediation, enrichment or reinforcement of required content and skills. From the “how and why” of the program’s establishment to practical scheduling and logistics issues, we hope that teachers and principals will learn how they can begin a similar program in their own schools. The Instructional Support team will be available for a Q&A session.

Lori Jill Keeler

Lori Jill Keeler is the Lower School Principal at the Westminster School in Birmingham, Alabama, a role she has enjoyed for the past 13 years. She earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and English literature and a master’s degree in integrated curriculum and instruction from Covenant College. She served as the educational expert on the founding board of directors for Evangelical Classical Christian School in Helena, Alabama. Lori Jill has written curriculum for Bible and literature, and has a passion for training teachers. She and her husband, Scott, have two sons.

Paul Drake

Teaching with Excellence

Posted on by Paul Drake

Teaching with Excellence is a seminar for you if you want to be more con dent in your role as a classroom teacher. You will be equipped with practical techniques and teaching frameworks that you can implement in your classroom on Monday.

Lori Jill Keeler

Lori Jill Keeler has served for the past 12 years as the Lower School Principal at The Westminster School at Oak Mountain in Birmingham, AL. She earned a BA in Secondary Education and English Literature, and an MEd in Integrated Curriculum and Instruction from Covenant College. She served as the educational expert on the founding Board of Directors for Evangel Classical Christian School in Helena, AL, has wri en second- through sixth-grade Bible curriculum, and has been a guest speaker on creating a culture of grace at several classical schools in the Southeast. Lori Jill and her husband, Sco , have two sons.

Paul Drake

Best Practices in Reading

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Best Practices in Reading will help classroom teachers better equip their students to be good readers. We know how important it is for students to develop good reading skills, so providing the best foundation possible should be one of our primary goals as classical grammar school teachers. This seminar will provide you with teaching strategies and examples of assessments and reading guides to help you teach more effectively.

Lori JIll Keeler

Lori Jill Keeler has served for the past 12 years as the Lower School Principal at The Westminster School at Oak Mountain in Birmingham, AL. She earned a BA in Secondary Education and English Literature, and an MEd in Integrated Curriculum and Instruction from Covenant College. She served as the educational expert on the founding Board of Directors for Evangel Classical Christian School in Helena, AL, has written second- through sixth-grade Bible curriculum, and has been a guest speaker on creating a culture of grace at several classical schools in the Southeast. Lori Jill and her husband, Sco , have two sons.

Paul Drake

Total Participation Techniques

Posted on by Paul Drake

Helping students increase their level of engagement and depth of thinking is one of the quickest, simplest, and most effective means of improving teaching and learning. Using these strategies can help you focus on what, and to what extent, your students are learning what you are teaching.

Lori Jill Keeler

Lori Jill Keeler has served for the past 10 years as the Loner School Principal at the Westminster School in Birmingham, AL. She earned a B.A. in Secondary Education and English Literature, and a M.Ed. in Integrated Curriculum and Instruction from Covenant College. She served as the educational expert on the founding Board of Directors for Evangel Classical Christian School in Helena, Alabama, has written second through six grade Bible curriculum, and has been a guest speaker on creating a culture of gracce at several classical schools in the Southeast. Lori Jill and her husband Scott have two sons.

Paul Drake

Lesson Planning for Optimal Learning

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The most effective teaching and the most meaningful student learning happen when teachers design the right learning targets and use them along with their students to aim for and assess understanding. This practical seminar will be helpful for elementary and secondary teachers as they strive to be more intentional in their instruction and assessment, with the ultimate goal of increased student achievement.

Lori Jill Keeler

Lori Jill Keeler has served for the past 10 years as the Loner School Principal at the Westminster School in Birmingham, AL. She earned a B.A. in Secondary Education and English Literature, and a M.Ed. in Integrated Curriculum and Instruction from Covenant College. She served as the educational expert on the founding Board of Directors for Evangel Classical Christian School in Helena, Alabama, has wri en second through six grade Bible curriculum, and has been a guest speaker on creating a culture of grace at several classical schools in the Southeast. Lori Jill and her husband Scott have two sons.

Paul Drake

Building a Culture of Learning

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This seminar is for lead teachers, principals, and other instructional leaders who want to build a better learning culture with common language for best instructional practices, develop shared mission and vision, and create more opportunities for collegiality and fellowship on your teaching teams.

Lori Jill Keeler

Lori Jill Keeler has her B.A. in Secondary Education and English Literature, and her M.Ed. in Integrated Curriculum and Instruction. She served as the educational expert on the founding Board of Directors for Evangel Classical Christian School in Helena, Alabama, has wri en second through six grade Bible curriculum, and has been a guest speaker on creating a culture of gracce at several classical schools in the Southeast. Lori Jill and her husband Sco have two sons.

Paul Drake

Developing a Growth Mindset

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Help your students develop a different way of thinking! The way students think about learning has major implications on what and how they actually learn. We will discuss Carol Dweck’s research on growth mindsets versus fixed mindsets to help improve our ability to more positively impact student learning and help students (and ourselves) think differently about challenges, mistakes, and even failures. Particular attention will be given to practical ways to give more effective and targeted student feedback

Lori Jill Keeler

Lori Jill Keeler has her B.A. in Secondary Education and English Literature, and her M.Ed. in Integrated Curriculum and Instruction. She served as the educational expert on the founding Board of Directors for Evangel Classical Christian School in Helena, Alabama, has wri en second through six grade Bible curriculum, and has been a guest speaker on creating a culture of gracce at several classical schools in the Southeast. Lori Jill and her husband Sco have two sons.

Paul Drake

Shepherding the Grammar School Heart

Posted on by Paul Drake

Based on the works of Tedd and Paul David Tripp along with years of practical application in the classroom, this seminar will help grammar school teachers learn how to deal with students’ hearts and their own as they do the hard work of daily classroom life.

Lori Jill Keeler

Lori Jill Keeler has her BA in Secondary Education and English Lit, and her M.Ed. in Integrated Curriculum and Instruction. She served as the educational expert on the founding Board of Directors for Evangel Classical Christian School in Helena, Alabama, has wri en second through sixth grade Bible curriculum, and has been a guest speaker on creating a culture of grace at several classical schools in the Southeast. Lori Jill and her husband Scott have two sons.

Paul Drake

Teaching With Excellence

Posted on by Paul Drake

Both new and experienced classical Christian teachers will be equipped with strategies, techniques, and principles to guide their instruction. Tools for the teaching toolbox along
with tips on how to use them more effectively in the classroom will give every teacher more resources to teach with excellence to improve student learning.

Lori Jill Keeler

Lori Jill Keeler has her BA in Secondary Education and English Lit, and her M.Ed. in Integrated Curriculum and Instruction. She served as the educational expert on the founding Board of Directors for Evangel Classical Christian School in Helena, Alabama, has wri en second through sixth grade Bible curriculum, and has been a guest speaker on creating a culture of grace at several classical schools in the Southeast. Lori Jill and her husband Scott have two sons.

Paul Drake

Teaching Middle School Literature

Posted on by Paul Drake

This seminar will present criteria for 1) choosing literature that is appropriate developmentally, correlates with the curricula as well as the logic phase, and encourages a love of reading in students; 2) building on the grammar of literature and comprehension strategies; 3) using methodology that will train students to think about and discuss literature logically and discerningly; 4) integrating a biblical and gospel-centered worldview through the texts studied.

Lori Jill Keeler

Lori Jill Keeler is the Lower School Principal at the Westminster School in Birmingham, Alabama, a role she has enjoyed for the past 13 years. She earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and English literature and a master’s degree in integrated curriculum and instruction from Covenant College. She served as the educational expert on the founding board of directors for Evangelical Classical Christian School in Helena, Alabama. Lori Jill has written curriculum for Bible and literature, and has a passion for training teachers. She and her husband, Scott, have two sons.