Ken Rand

How to Connect & Engage with your students

This is by far, Ken’s most requested ‘teacher’ presentation. In this powerful, motivating and entertaining talk, Ken will test the teachers’ comfort zone. Filled with activities and games and valuable information, teachers will have an opportunity to pick and choose which ones they want to use, and they will learn, in a short amount of time, how to enhance their classroom teaching techniques.

This presentation can be as short as one-hour or a four - eight hour ‘faculty’ workshop.

Who am I?

Similar to the student presentation, Ken allows his audience to new insights as to “who is Ken Rand”. Filled with entertaining stories, its goal is to inform and enlighten, and it does just that.

Collaborative Learning

A firm believer in collaboration learning, Ken offers some new and old ways to help prove that “two heads are better than one.” Teachers will walk away with activities and games and proven techniques designed for ‘small’ and ‘large’ groups, that are entertaining, fun, and practical.

Creating Academic Camps (math, science, English, etc.)

In 2009, Hartnell College received a STEM grant. Ken took this gift and created the colleges first academic camp called the Math Academy. This program became the single most successful grant program at Hartnell and became a model for similar programs and camps throughout California and the United States.

This presentation walks teachers through the goals of academic camps and the ‘how to’ steps needed to create similar intersession and summer programs.

The Adjunct Instructor

Upon the request of an administrator, Ken was asked to create a workshop for adjunct instructors Often the forgotten, yet a vital part of the faulty, college adjuncts are shown ‘the ropes’ and given valuable tools to enhance their teaching in an entertaining and information way.

This presentation was originally designed as a one-hour session, but it had so much valuable information that it grew to a 2 – 3-hour workshop.

The First Day of Class

 Whether you are a new or veteran instructor, the first day of class can set the tone for the entire year. Teachers on any grade level will be given a list of activities and ‘things to do’ and ‘things not to do’ for this critically important first day. It is OK to smile on the first day and Ken’s presentation will prove this to be true. How to establish daily routines and ‘connecting’ with your students are keys to your success.

Writing throughout the Curriculum

Too often, we as instructors get caught up in the bind of having to complete our own subject’s curriculum. So much so, that we forget the importance of writing as a form of communication. Ken has developed some unique and painless student ‘assignments’, regardless of the course you teach, that will help them communicate with you via ‘writing’. Get ready to be surprised. It is amazing how our students write better when they are not graded on how or what they write.

Test Corrections
(how to enhance the learning process)

Early in his career Ken realized students do not learn at the same pace. As teachers, we often feel that we must complete a ‘topic’ within a given time limit. However, this can be incredibly unfair to the slower learner. Ken’s Test Corrections allows his students an opportunity to increase their test scores. But it is not so easy. His homework assignment to them, offered in this workshop, not only forces them to correct their mistakes in a rigorous step by step format, but it also has them reflect and explain ‘how and why’ they made the error(s).

For Math Teachers Only

Have you ever tried to teach a difficult concept using different methods? And have you ever taught the same topic to two or more classes on the same day only to find out that your second or third attempt far exceeded your first-class session?

There are specific topics in mathematics that are game breakers for our students. These include ‘multiplication facts’, ‘fractions’, ‘integers’ and ‘multiplying binomials’ just to name a few.

Are you ready to teach outside the box and make concepts that are so confusing for our students, much easier for them to learn and ‘understand’? Get ready for a unique approach to these ‘game breaking’ topics.

You can explore Ken’s teaching presentations for these and other math topics on his 50+ math PowerPoint presentations on concepts ranging from Arithmetic through Intermediate Algebra.

Monitoring Student Learning

As teachers we too often assume that our students are learning simply because they affirmatively nod their heads. In this presentation Ken illustrates the essential ways to monitor student learning before we give them a test. Ken also offers practical ways to help teachers and students to connect with each other during the learning process.

Other valuable presentations include

• Using Icebreakers
• Classroom Management Techniques
• Teaching Today’s Students
• A Guide for New Teachers
• Using Videos and Music in the classroom to teach about ‘learning’ and how to connect with your students

Ken has presented at the following conferences and colleges

• League for Innovations
• NACCTEP (National Association for Community College Teacher Preparation)
• CMC3 (California Mathematic Council of Community Colleges)
• AHSIE (Alliance of Spanish Service Institution Educator NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Lumina Conference
• Hartnell College
• CSUMB (California State University Monterey Bay) San Jose State University
• Peralta Community College District Chabot/Las Positas CCD
• Rio Hondo CCD Thousand Islands CCD