In this webinar, we will identify techniques that improve students’ confidence in their ability to write organized and well developed essays, and to do so fluently. Dr. Davis-Perkins will discuss how to give students 1) a reason to write – one they value, 2) proof of their own neuro-linguistic strengths and ways to tap these skills to write fluently and effectively, 3) a system that reduces the cognitive load and eases the writing process, as well as 4) a way to ‘hear’ their words as the reader does and thus, evaluate the effectiveness of their own written expression. Improved confidence and effective essay writing were just two of the positive outcomes when these research based techniques were implemented in a pilot study conducted with high school students in Barstow, California.

Our Speaker: Maria Davis-Perkins, PhD., M.A., Sp-CCC
Dr. Maria Davis-Perkins has published and presented on topics that have included: student engagement; tapping neuro-linguistic skills to ease the writing process and build student confidence; the language of effective teaching; and selecting literature appropriate to developmental age. Her professional experiences include: co-creator of the Talk/Write (Using Talk to Write) workshops and pilot; educational consultant to high school staff; speech-language specialist in schools as well as hospitals; co-creator of the Kaiser cognitive-computer lab; speech-language pathologist – private sector; high school English teacher; and Speech/Debate coach. Her research interests include: academic literacy and language skills; reading and writing development; as well as research methods appropriate to assessing intervention effectiveness.