How to Host Hard Conversations to Better Support Students

Join OSCA as we welcome back our AOCC featured speaker, Regina Armour, for a virtual workshop on Friday, December 10, 2021 from 8:30-11:30am.

Registration for the workshop is FREE for OSCA members and $75 for non-members (non-member registration includes a one-year membership with OSCA).

Registration will be open through Wednesday, December 8. Registrants will receive an email with the Zoom meeting link on Thursday, December 9. Participation is limited to the first 500 registrants.

Session Title: How to Host Hard Conversations to Better Support Students

Session Info: Many times we all face the struggle of having a hard conversation with our colleagues, supervisors and school administration. However, in order to support students in the ways we know we should, especially in this post-COVID recovery period, we have to step into the fire sometimes. This session will be a breakdown of what hard conversations are, why they are hard in the first place, and how we can navigate them with as little pain as possible. You are invited to join this session on how to "host" others in not only safe spaces, but brave spaces so that our students who now need us the most, will get what they need to thrive in school, when they need it, for as long as they need it!

Presenter Bio: Regina Armour is an established educator and the CEO of The Armour Group (www.thearmourgrp.net), an organization that provides high quality professional learning experiences around instructional coaching; equity in schools; and mindful leadership development. She received her doctorate from National Louis University’s Foster McGaw National College of Education and her research focused on the professional and personal transformation of school leaders rendered through school case studies. Her work in schools began as an intermediate and upper grade teacher of biological sciences and math in Chicago Public Schools. She moved to the non-profit sector and led several networks of schools through partnerships with Northwestern University’s School of Education & Public Policy; Northwestern University Kellogg School for Executive Education; the City Colleges of Chicago; Chicago Public Schools; Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center; and the University of Chicago’s Center for School Improvement. She was the first district-wide literacy coordinator and equity leader for Illinois School District 202 and has also taught high school, community college and university graduate students. Dr. Armour is currently the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Concept Schools. Concept is a network of 29 schools across 7 states in the Midwest. Her primary praxis is equity evolution and expansion, innovative coaching practices and equity education using a multi-faceted, systems approach. By crafting relevant, engaging learning experiences for all students—both young and adult, Dr. Armour’s work with schools, school districts and not for-profits has resulted in changing their narratives from marginalizing to inclusive...from segregated to integrated.....from surviving to thriving.