Services Provided by Our Facilitators

Services Our Facilitators Have to Offer

Lori Bird

Lori Bird, Director, Center for Mentoring & Induction (http://ed.mnsu.edu/cmi/), is a twenty–year veteran public school educator. Lori facilitates the CMI's Mentor Network (Learning Community) and is a public school induction program coordinator.

Lori offers customized professional development in the following areas:

• Induction Program Planning & Implementation — One, Two, and Three–Year Models
• Mentoring Strategies — Selecting and Training Effective Mentors
• Supporting New Teachers — Identifying New Teacher Needs, Designing Meaningful Seminars
• Classroom Observation Techniques and Pre– and Post– Conferencing
• Professional Teaching Standards — Danielson's Framework for Effective Teaching
• Formative Assessment Processes and Facilitating Professional Growth Plans
• Leadership and District–Wide Support of Exemplary Induction Programs
• Program Evaluation Techniques

Julie Carlson

Julie Carlson is a faculty member of the Educational Leadership Department at Minnesota State University Mankato. She has many years of experience in helping adult learners better understand group dynamics, group leadership, and small group process theory. She is a trained DiSC Profile facilitator through Inscape Publishing.

The DiSC Profile is a personal assessment instrument intended to help people identify their natural behavioral tendencies across four dimensions, improve their work and personal relationships, increase their appreciation of the behavioral styles of others, and respect and value differences. Based on decades of research on the work of psychologist William Moulton Marston, the DiSC Profile has been used by scores of organizations and by over 50 million individuals worldwide.

Julie offers half or full day workshops in the following areas:

• Building Self–Awareness and Interpersonal Strengths
• Improving Communication Effectiveness
• Reducing and Managing Conflict

Kitty Foord

Kathleen (Kitty) Foord is the Coordinator of Professional Development and Associate Professor in the Department of K–12 and Secondary Programs. In addition to teaching graduate courses in assessment, differentiation, learning communities, and coaching for teaching effectiveness, she leads professional development in school districts and coordinates the Master of Science in Teaching and Learning program. Kitty joined the College of Education after 28 years of service to Minnesota's public schools as a teacher, curriculum and assessment coordinator, gifted/talented coordinator, and staff development specialist.

Kitty offers service and programs in the following areas:

• Arrange professional development for courses or certificates within the Master of Science in Teaching and Learning
• Grant writing assistance
• Develop customized professional development courses to meet school or organizational needs
• Consultation and professional development in the following areas:
  • Development of coaching skills for teacher improvement and evaluation
  • Development of professional learning communities
  • Differentiated Instruction
  • Critical thinking across the curriculum
  • Culturally responsive teaching strategies (especially the area of mathematics)
  • Assessment (Development of both large scale models for continuous improvement and classroom assessment strategies to increase learning)
  • Adult learning strategies for engagement and collaboration
  • Dimensions of Learning
  • Change process
  • Using student work to inform instruction

Jean Haar

Jean Haar is the Director of the Center for Engaged Leadership and a faculty member of the Department of Educational Leadership. Jean served as a teacher and principal in K–12 schools before joining the College of Education.

Jean offers customized professional development in the following areas:

• Principal professional development
• Leadership development
• Development of professional learning communities

Robert Hugg

Robert Hugg brings over 30 years leadership, management, assessment and teaching experience to the Center for Engaged Leadership. Bob has a long and distinguished history of innovative, award–winning, successful roles in many industries, including the military, IT, and Higher Education. Of particular note is Bob's work in change management, organizational development, leadership training, communications–culture building and organizational improvement, curriculum design and Service Learning. Bob's credentials include the M.S. in Experiential Education and the Specialist Degree in Educational Leadership.

Bob offers a full range of assessment and leadership/management consulting services including:

• Program design, review and evaluation and training on program management tools
• Climate Assessment, performance assessment and improvement mapping
• Wide range of qualitative, quantitative, and heuristic analysis for projects of any type/size
• Assessments using many cutting edge qualitative and quantitative software applications
  • Charting/mapping of results
  • Design and delivery of formal presentations of results
  • Small and large group presentations to all levels of organizations
• Organizational coaching and team building training
  • Leadership training and leadership team building
  • Organizational management and administration skills training
  • Communications strategies for internal and external constituencies
• Strategic Planning training and/or facilitation
• Innovative curriculum design for integration of:
  • Project Based Learning
  • Problem Based Learning
  • Authentic Learning
  • Service Learning
  • Life Skills Training

David Metzen

David Metzen graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctorate in educational administration. He worked for the South St. Paul school district as a teacher, principal, assistant superintendent, and served as superintendent for 18 years. As superintendent he consolidated schools which resulted in district wide efficiencies; introduced the International Baccalaureate program; and started one of the most successful public school foundations in the state. Currently Metzen is a leadership consultant working with school district boards of education and administrative teams. He speaks to groups (large and small), focusing on change, leadership, and effective governing boards. He recently wrote an article for Minnesota Business entitled "The Basics of Good Board Behavior." Metzen serves as a director of American Bank and has been a member of the University of Minnesota Board of Regents since 1997. He chaired the Board of Regents from 2005-2007.

David offers a full range of consulting services including:

• Board Development
  • Board member self evaluation
  • Group tabulation of strengths and weaknesses
  • Discussion of evaluations
  • Develop future priorities for the district
• Administrative Development
  • Self evaluation of leadership skills
  • Why administrators must embrace change
  • A lesson in management vs. leadership
  • How to (a) hire, (b) fire, (c)give feedback, (d) develop a vision, (e)set benchmarks
• Keynote Speaker
  • Basics of Good Board Behavior
  • Leading Change in Today's School
  • What School Boards Want/What Superintendents Want
  • What You Did Not Learn in School About Being a School Administrator
  • Are You a Leader or a Manager?
  • How Can We Become a Better School Board
• Follow-up Coaching:
  • Individual board members
  • Board chairs
  • Superintendents
  • Administrative leaders

Jerry Robicheau

Jerry is a faculty member of the Educational Leadership Department at Minnesota State University Mankato. His leadership career has included serving as principal, central office school leader and superintendent of schools.

Jerry offers services and professional development in the following areas:

• Study of grade spans and configurations
• Strategic planning strategies
• Building leadership capacity within a district
• Mentoring aspiring leaders
• Special education deliver strategies
• Analysis and evaluation of public policy

Perry Wood

Perry Wood has over 30 years of experience working with communities throughout Southern Minnesota. His primary focus has been concerned with applied research projects dealing with development and redevelopment issues.

Perry offers services in the following areas:

• Strategic Planning
• Facilities Evaluation
• Demographics
• Surveys
• Focus Groups