Training | Tal Thompson

Full 2

Ignite. Engage. Inspire.

Full 2

Ignite. Engage. Inspire.

Professional Development Workshops

Tal’s workshops and seminars share one key theme – they are all engaging and interactive! Whether attendees are with Tal for one hour or an entire week, they will have tons of fun and leave reinvigorated, inspired, and ready to ignite a new love for learning in their students. The overwhelming feedback after Tal’s training sessions is always, “How can we get more of this training? This was so useful and I want to learn more!”

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"Tal is an absolute genius! His ideas are cutting edge, and his zest for life is contagious. His incorporation of innovation and creativity in learning help drive students to forge their own paths and be independent thinkers. I would recommend his workshops to anyone looking to boost enthusiasm and increase engagement in the classroom."

"The opportunity to learn the material and build over the week was very worthwhile. Too often teachers get slammed with new programs and content with no time to familiarize with or plan for it prior to implementation in the classroom. This program allows for development of ideas and actual plans for utilizing what is learned through practical modeling that is engaging and enjoyable."

"See there are a lot of us out there that are good teachers and we will impact 22 students a year and that is great! But teachers like you will work to change the way other teachers teach, leading by example and because of this more than just 22 students a year will be impacted."

Kelly Jackson, Teacher and Former Class Parent

Here is a sampling of Tal’s professional development offerings.

All are offered in-person (according to local restrictions) or virtually.

WOW Teaching = WOW Results

Bring the Classroom to Life and Get Students Jumping Out of Bed to Learn

This interactive, outside-the-box session focuses on WOW teaching that inspires real engagement and concrete results in the classroom. One of Tal’s most popular workshops, this session brings learning to life, restores a love of teaching, and boosts staff morale to new heights.

Why WOW Teaching?

When a student walks into the classroom and says, “WOW,” big things can happen.
When a student hugs her teacher and says, “WOW - this was the best day ever,” teachers strive to create more of these transformative moments.
When a parent tells a friend, “WOW - let me tell you about my kid’s day,” community involvement and support soar.

WOW Teaching = WOW Results helps teachers create truly memorable classroom experiences that inspire students, staff, and your community.

The Maker Space Classroom

Constructing an Environment That Sparks Innovation and Growth

The “maker movement” cultivates and celebrates thinkers, risk takers, creators, innovators, problem solvers, enthusiastic learners, collaborators, communicators and all those who aspire to grow! This workshop transforms the classroom into a maker lab – giving educators tools to fire up learning, spark innovation, and bring learning to life. Attendees will gain first-hand experience with making and see for themselves how it can energize students, the classroom, school, and community. Turn the classroom into a “maker space” and ignite a school-wide maker movement!

Project, Problem, and Passion-Based Learning for All

Breaking PBL Down to Build Something Big!

Project, problem, and passion-based learning (PBL) are all forms of inquiry-based learning, a process through which students generate and fully explore questions to acquire knowledge. PBL’s success continues to grow in classrooms and schools around the country. For some teachers, it can be an intimidating concept that takes them outside their comfort zone. In this workshop, we start small and break PBL down into easy-to-understand, easy-to-implement blocks, then help teachers build them into something BIG. Watch as perseverance and creativity reach new levels in the classroom and students get inspired to change their school, community, and the world! Attendees will leave this workshop with templates, assessment strategies, and the framework to bring PBL into their classroom.

Scrap the Worksheet for Dynamic Learning

Build a Classroom Rooted In Activity and Engagement

Students flourish through engaged and active learning. When required to sit still and focus on boring worksheets, their behavior suffers and meaningful learning is lost. This workshop focuses on turning the mundane classroom into one buzzing with activities and engaged students. Attendees will come away with an assortment of activities to implement in their own classrooms and schools. More importantly, teachers will gain the ability to create their own engaging activities so they can foster dynamic learning for years to come!

PD In a Box

A Powerful Week of Customized Learning for Your Staff

With this highly customized program, Tal comes to your school or district for an entire week of learning and professional growth for your teaching staff. Tal can design the full workshop schedule to best suit your needs, or your professional development staff may custom-select specific sessions from a long list of options. You can also determine who should attend each session or leave it up to the teachers to decide. Your entire staff, from administrators to teaching assistants, will dive into some very powerful practices and strategies while having a ton of fun along the way!

Additional Available Workshops:

The Power of Confidence in the Classroom

The Secret Ingredient to Turn Students into World Changers

Every day, teachers seek opportunities for students to shine, amaze, and excel beyond their wildest imaginations. Unfortunately, the product from our students is often lackluster. Why? The problem is lack of confidence. No matter how complex, interactive, engaging, or rigorous the project is, it will not show off the awesomeness of the class and its students if they don’t have confidence. In this workshop, we explore the power of confidence in the classroom that turns everyday students into world changers. This workshop equips educators with a wealth of resources to build the kind of confidence that generates amazing creativity, outstanding critical thinking, engaging communication, and effective collaboration.

MUSIC + ENERGY + PASSION = Inspired Learning

Three Tools to Create Incredible Learning Experiences

Do you want to see students instantly transform in the classroom? If so, they must be inspired. Outside of school, students have incredibly stimulating and engaging lives. Video games, social media, movies, TV, and smartphones make our kids’ lives a giant roller coaster of excitement. How can we expect them to learn in a non-exciting environment? Throughout his years of teaching, Tal has learned two irrefutable truths. First, if teachers want to relate to their students, they must tune into their outside interests. Second, teachers must use that information to create amazing learning experiences. Attendees will come away from this workshop knowing how to use three sure-fire methods – Music + Energy + Passion – to engage and inspire students.

Building Collaboration Into the Classroom

Equip Students with Skills for Teamwork

The 21st century demands that students have the ability to collaborate at a high level. But, effective collaboration doesn’t just happen – it requires skills and habits that must be cultivated. Once students learn these skills, everything changes! Communication, creativity, and critical thinking soar. In this workshop, teachers will gain strategies and practices to fire up collaboration and learning to new levels of success.

Writing Across the Curriculum

Help Students Become Their Best Through Writing

The very practice of writing across a variety of subjects is proven to help students improve the quality of their writing and understand its widespread application and value. Unfortunately, when teachers mention the word “writing” in their classrooms, students often respond with an audible “Ugh.” This workshop helps teachers turn that “Ugh” into a “Yessss!” Attendees will learn a variety of strategies to bring out the best in their students and their writing.

Activities to Start and End Learning with a Bang

Games to Engage and Cultivate a Love of Learning

Did you know that igniting excitement and engagement in the classroom to start a new unit can set the stage for how successful it will turn out? Or, that firing up the engagement level for an end-of-unit review can often raise the roof on assessment scores? This workshop will show teachers how to develop games and activities that motivate and create excitement for upcoming lessons and to close-out units in a fun and successful way. These activities are a great way to cultivate a love of learning by showing students how fun it can actually be. In this workshop, attendees will participate in hands-on projects individually and in small groups to develop exciting activities that inspire and ignite passion.

Don’t see the perfect fit here?

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