On-Site Staff Development

One of the first National Board Certified teachers in America, Rick Wormeli brings innovation, energy, validity, and high standards to both his presentations and his instructional practice, which includes 23 years in the classroom teaching math, science, English, physical education, health, and history. Rick's work has been reported in Good Housekeeping, What Matters Most: Teaching for the 21st Century, and the Washington Post. He is a columnist for the National Middle School Association's Middle Ground magazine, and he is the author of the award-winning book Meet Me in the Middle: Becoming an Accomplished Middle Level Teacher as well as the books Day One and Beyond: Practical Matters for New Middle Level Teachers, Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessment and Grading in the Differentiated Classroom, and Differentiation: From Planning to Practice, Grades 6-12, all four from NMSA and Stenhouse Publishers as well as Summarization in any Subject, published by ASCD. His classroom practice is the showcase for the first tape of ASCD's best-selling video series, "At Work in the Differentiated Classroom."

With his substantive presentations, sense of humor, and unconventional approaches, he's been asked to present in 49 states, Canada, China, Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia, the Middle East, and at the White House. He is a seasoned veteran of many international Webcasts, and was honored as Disney's American Teacher Awards 1996 Outstanding English Teacher of the Nation. He has also been a consultant for National Public Radio, USA TODAY, Court TV, and the Smithsonian Institution's Natural Partners Program and their search for the Giant Squid. He lives in Herndon, Virginia, with his wife and two children and is currently working on his first young adult fiction novel and a new education book on formative assessment. Rick is the 2008 recipient of the James P. Garvin Distinguished Service Award, presented by the New England League of Middle Schools.

• Differentiated instruction
• Grading/assessment in the differentiated classroom
• Teaching diverse learners
• Cognitive theory and neuroscience
• Motivating colleagues
• Homework
• Summarization techniques for any subject
• Instructional games for the classroom
• Motivating today's middle school students
• Reading and writing taught via content area
• Sponge activities and warm-ups
• Teaching gifted or advanced students
• Practical strategies for first year teachers
• Classroom management
• Changing instruction in block length classes
• Taking positive risks in the middle school classroom
• The unique nature of the young adolescent student
• Parent connections in 21st century middle schools
• Critical thinking and getting students to think
• Racism
• Teaming
• The middle school concept