Join New York Times Best-Selling author Dave Burgess for a high-energy, entertaining, and inspirational program that will transform the way you look at your role as an educator. Learn how to dramatically increase student engagement, design wildly creative lessons, and build a course that is a life-changing experience for your students. Using a unique combination of magic and humor, he will reignite your passion for the education profession and show you exactly how to make school an amazing place that has students wanting to knock down the walls to get in. Teach Like a PIRATE has sparked a full-scale revolution in the educational world and has inspired teachers from all over the globe to achieve new levels of excellence in their schools and classrooms. This program is your chance to experience the one-of-a-kind presentational style of unbelievable intensity and outrageous energy that has transfixed audiences at packed venues across the nation.
Dave Burgess is the New York Times Best-Selling author of Teach Like a PIRATE, co-author of P is for PIRATE, and the president of Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc. which delivers powerful, inspirational, and innovative books, keynotes, and professional development. He is the host of The... Read More →
This session will detail the successful development and implementation of a class called Education Pathway Experience, designed to give junior and senior students interested in a career in the field of education insight into and experience with different aspects of teaching or possible other career choices within the field.
Schools across North America have invested time, effort and resources into creating collaboration time. And while the research on educators collaborating to examine and improve their practice is clear, the practice of educators working together and the impact this has on changing the learning experience for students is less conclusive. PLC 2.0 moves districts and schools beyond research to PRACTICE and OBSERVABLE IMPACT--the type of impact that we can observe in our classrooms. This session will take participants through all aspects of the PLC 2.0 Observable Impact Model and have them leaving confident in strengthening their PLC approach. Learning Outcomes: As a result of attending this session, participants will: understand all elements of the PLC 2.0 Observable Impact Model. examine their current realities within their PLC models. engage in co-creating a collective vision of learning and reflect on our evidence-based reality within that vision.
Garth Larson, Ed.D is the part-time Director of Educator Effectiveness for the Winneconne Community School District in Northeast Wisconsin and also serves as President of FIRST Educational Resources based out of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Garth previously sat on the Board of Directors for... Read More →
Monday December 9, 2019 10:00am - 11:00am CST
Utopia B
This session is targeted for educators who are not sure that the instruction, materials and the time spent on the foundational skills in their classroom is moving students to read on grade level by 3rd grade .
180 Days of School = 180 Days of Awesome! Awesome is all around us. Every day you walk into your school something amazing is bound to happen. Some days that awesome is easy to see, it comes in the form of laughter, academic progress, achieving goals, and building relationships with kids. Some days that awesome is nearly impossible to see amongst all the meetings, curriculum changes, displeased parents, and behavior concerns. Here is the cool part, whether you are having a level 10 day or level 0 day, focusing on the awesome has the power to turn each day of education into an exciting adventure in learning. Come along with me on this 180 day quest as we learn to focus on those little awesome moments that have the power to change everything. Because sometimes it's the little things that make the biggest difference.
A few years into her teaching career Monica attended a professional development workshop. She was eager to absorb every moment and hoped that the event would be a game changer for her classroom.One day into the conference Monica was terribly disappointed. This PD didn’t feel life... Read More →
Monday December 9, 2019 10:00am - 11:00am CST
Utopia A
Participants will experience one of the newest trends with gamification and personalized learning. Instead of breaking out, participants will break into learning using literature to connect to science or historical content. Participants will experience the gamified break in using a familiar board game that is digitalized and a variety of applications and platforms working in small groups to successfully complete each mini challenge and show the teacher mastery of standards and deep understanding of the content along the way.
Schools must be intentional about creating cultures of C.A.R.E.: cultures that are Culturally-relevant, Affirming, Responsive, and Empowering. In this presentation, participants will learn how these pillars promote the success of often marginalized student groups.
Learn about how to utilize the Cycles of Inquiry Model for School Processes to transform school improvement processes to be embedded in a culture of instructional inquiry. Presenters will share information about their engagement in a research study and their experiences in this change process.
Are you just tired of the same old discussion techniques? Students dragging their feet participating? Not getting the results you want? We have some suggestions for you! This session will be experiential in that you will actually do the strategies as students. Come experience Table Top Twitter Chats, 4 Corners, Tug of War, What's the Question and a few more. Be ready to talk!
Educators often converse about the bold ideas influencing education during this time. The conversations are filled with innovative concepts and how teachers hope to establish these ideas in class. It is a challenge for educators to balance traditional methods with cutting edge approaches to teaching. What if teachers had preferable tools for measuring what students knew or could accomplish? What if an educator's classroom was designed in a way that their students drove their own learning? In this session, teachers will learn what it takes to release the power and connect with their students. The audience will be challenged to shift their thinking from students and teacher learning styles to preferred learning. Students can find success through failure, grit, and lessons with purpose. It is my hope that teachers visiting this session will discover the benefits of flexible seating, success criteria and rubrics as tools for assessment, and student-led learning. Teachers can release the power of long established educational patterns and connect by allowing preferred seating, means for evaluation, and student led discovery. In this session, I will share humorous video clips, pictures of my students and classroom, and students' opinions on a flexible seating environment. Furthermore, I will explain the writing rubrics used at the intermediate level, in our district. This will show the teachers how students use preferred tools to measure their level of success. I will give teachers other real world examples of when educators can utilize rubrics to engage students in learning. The teachers will see videos of students using rubrics for self-evaluation. The writing rubrics combine the Common Core Standards and the 6 + 1 Traits of Writing To close this session, I will address the importance of teachers building relationships with students to empower their success. Connecting is the foundation for learning. It is my goal to inspire teachers to think differently, be responsive to preferred learning, and to leave a legacy by building relationships.
HyperDocs create an interactive learning experience for students, allowing them to explore content, create, and curate digital artifacts that demonstrate their learning. In this session we will explore how to use the HyperDoc process to transform the learning experience using the full Google Suite: including Slides, Drawings, and MyMaps.
Picture books have a magic about them. They have a way of drawing in both young and old readers. Bring this magic into your classroom! This session will provide participants with a list of over 200 mentor texts. I will be sharing ideas of how to pair fiction and nonfiction texts and how to use current and classic children's books to teach the standards. Participants will take away fun, engaging ways to use picture books as mentor texts in their own classrooms.
Speaking and listening standards are across the curriculum at every level, and sometimes are overlooked or underdeveloped. Podcasts can help you rev up your standards while also infusing others. Come learn about how to use podcasts in the classroom, how to create your own podcasts for student learning, and how to get students podcasting. Bring your listening skills, creativity, and gift for gab.
Come play games that incorporate the use of cards and dice that teach Pre - K First concepts: counting, early fluency, subitizing, patterns, and numbers to 10, 20 and 100. Engaging and easily differentiated to use whole class or in centers. Gameboards, students samples will be shared.
Participants will examine the Science Task Prescreen Tool and sample science performance tasks from the Task Annotation Project in Science in order to increase their understanding of how to write three-dimensional science assessments aligned to NGSS.
Learn about ways to increase student leadership opportunities in your school or district. Student leaders can change the world! There are many ways to encourage and support leadership through organized groups and teams as well as student-created opportunities! Come to this session to learn all of the creative ways we can help students be successful leaders!
This session is meant to help teachers take students from learning about civics and civic engagement into active participation through a variety of thinking and writing activities. While the activities presented were developed by a high school social studies teacher for use in his classroom, participants will take away multiple blankline master activities that can be adapted for a variety of age levels and subject areas.
IEP, LRE, 504... not confident how these terms affect you as a general education teacher? Join us to learn what you as a general education teacher need to know about how to read an IEP, which accommodations are relevant to your classroom, what least restrictive environment is and how to implement a 504 inside your classroom.
Hamilton County CUSD 10 implemented blended learning at the start of the 2013-14 school year in 2nd grade. After seeing tremendous results, the program expanded to grades Kindergarten-6th grade over the next several years. An evaluation based on NWEA's Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) shows students in grades using blended learning outperform students not using a blended learning model.
Schools across North America have invested time, effort and resources into creating collaboration time. And while the research on educators collaborating to examine and improve their practice is clear, the practice of educators working together and the impact this has on changing the learning experience for students is less conclusive. PLC 2.0 moves districts and schools beyond research to PRACTICE and OBSERVABLE IMPACT--the type of impact that we can observe in our classrooms. This session will take participants through all aspects of the PLC 2.0 Observable Impact Model and have them leaving confident in strengthening their PLC approach. Learning Outcomes: As a result of attending this session, participants will: understand all elements of the PLC 2.0 Observable Impact Model. examine their current realities within their PLC models. engage in co-creating a collective vision of learning and reflect on our evidence-based reality within that vision.
Garth Larson, Ed.D is the part-time Director of Educator Effectiveness for the Winneconne Community School District in Northeast Wisconsin and also serves as President of FIRST Educational Resources based out of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Garth previously sat on the Board of Directors for... Read More →
Monday December 9, 2019 11:15am - 12:15pm CST
Utopia B
Sometimes teachers (and students)are not aware of the reading and writing demands required of Social Studies' texts. This session will walk teachers through a number of disciplinary practices with accompanying strategies to use in the classroom.
Every student who walks into your classroom deserves to LOVE that experience. In order to do that we have to reflect on the everyday practices we have in place and transform them from average to awesome. A bell ringer is average, but a learning attack is awesome! Collecting homework is average, but Olympic sprinting to gather them is awesome! Small tweaks to the great things we are already doing makes a big difference. Come learn how to be a game changer for kids and for education!
A few years into her teaching career Monica attended a professional development workshop. She was eager to absorb every moment and hoped that the event would be a game changer for her classroom.One day into the conference Monica was terribly disappointed. This PD didn’t feel life... Read More →
Monday December 9, 2019 11:15am - 12:15pm CST
Utopia A
Teaching Outside the Box: A Crash Course in Creativity A fast-paced and fun session designed to teach techniques that will skyrocket creativity. You will learn how to use your brain like Google, create a GPS system for powerful teaching, and magically create new ideas through Creative Alchemy. In addition, learn how to overcome obstacles that stifle creativity by using the Wedding Photographer Principle. You’ll leave truly believing you are a creative being and inspired to add memorable experiences for students to your lesson plans.
Dave Burgess is the New York Times Best-Selling author of Teach Like a PIRATE, co-author of P is for PIRATE, and the president of Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc. which delivers powerful, inspirational, and innovative books, keynotes, and professional development. He is the host of The... Read More →
Monday December 9, 2019 11:15am - 12:15pm CST
Nirvana A
Too often Chromebooks are only thought of as tools for word processing and presentations. The reality is that you can unlock so much more with the Chrome apps, extensions, and add-ons that can transform the learning in your classroom.
As educators many of us have seen an increase in student behaviors and social emotional needs of students. This session will provide you with an understanding of the reason behind student behaviors. You will learn how to determine the function of a student's behavior. By determining the function of the behavior, you are able to understand the reason behind the behavior and develop appropriate strategies for addressing the behavior. Participants will learn methods for clearly determining the function of a behavior, as well as strategies they can use to address the different types of functions. This will aid educators in reducing the amount of behavioral issues present in the classroom. Additionally, the components of a functional behavior assessment will be discussed and participants will leave have a thorough understanding of functional behavior assessments.
Looking for a few tricks to use technology more effectively every day? This fast paced session will cover many tips & tricks that will make your life easier! After a few years of being 1:1 in our district, we’ve learned and shared many ideas to increase productivity and decrease headaches with technology in the classroom. We’ll be showing tricks for Google sharing, formatting, graphics, extensions, apps, and add-ons Come join the fun, but make sure you bring your laptop so you can play along and leave with the information ready to use on Monday morning! We will even share a few shortcuts that will be a game changer. We will focus on teacher productivity but many of the tricks can be used by students too. If you are looking for ways to make your Google experience more productive, this is the session for you!
As school leaders, we set the tone for what happens in our classrooms and our buildings. We know how important it is to help our teachers become the best they can be, but we struggle because our job descriptions are seemingly endless. With a to-do list far longer than hours in a day, our best intentions often go unfulfilled. Sadly, our instructional leadership plans get pushed to the side in order to put out the countless fires that come up during our day. So how do we become the instructional leaders we long to be and still keep the day-to-day-demands of our school in order? The answer is we can’t do it. Alone. In this session we will discuss teacher leadership, what it means, and how to identify and to share leadership in our buildings so teachers feel empowered and appreciated, student instruction improves, and you have time to focus on the things that matter most.
Problem Centered Instruction is a great way to engage students, integrate content, and inspire learning. However, true problem centered instruction requires a major shift in both teaching and learning, requiring the one thing teachers don't have: time. In today's session, we will look at some simple strategies that teachers can put to immediate use within the classroom to help start the shift towards a student-led, problem centered learning environment.
The key to student achievement lies in relevant instruction that elicits and empowers student thinking. This presentation will demonstrate the process of designing thematic units and instruction that focuses on students’ understanding. Current trends in education involve increasing equitable outcomes for all students through relevant instruction that encourages student voice. This type of relevant instruction can involve thematic teaching, backwards design, and a commitment to student understanding. The presentation will focus on creating engaging, challenging learning experiences that encourage and invite students to share and develop their thinking. Participants in the session will apply the research-based practices of backwards design to their instructional units and develop lessons around a big idea or theme. Backwards design and thematic teaching offers opportunities for students to engage with and make meaningful connections with the content. Participants will be able to apply principles of backwards design in their own instruction, connect concepts to an overall theme, and incorporate thinking strategies into curriculum planning and instruction. Through thematic teaching that empowers student thinking, students will achieve true understanding and become lifelong learners.
Hear our journey implementing Claim-Evidence-Reasoning into the ELA classroom. Students went from groaning to ASKING to do CERs after we tried some fun strategies to increase engagement and buy-in.
Need to interpret your school/district Illinois Assessment of Readiness results for math in Grades 3 - 8? Stop by for a look at the structure of the math assessment and discover unique ways of using the data to influence curriculum decisions.
Students need engaging practice tied to strategies, not rote memorization. Come prepared to play engaging and easily differentiated math games that use dice. Concepts covered: addition, subtraction including associative and commutative properties, doubles, make 10, early multiplication, multi-digit work. Gameboards, student samples and math talk extensions will be shared.
Families in Transition are a part of our community. Is your District aware of what to do if a Family in Transition is identified? Are you identifying? Once identified, how are you going to serve these students? You may be the only advocate for these students, so take action!
Delivering PD doesn’t have to bring tears to eyes. This session will focus on how purposeful PD for our K-12 district has helped us move to a destination district. The session will got through our hits and strikeouts as well as how our continual focus on student achievement drives what we do. This session will include what we do from our mentor/protege meetings in the beginning of the year to opportunities for end of career staff through online, face-to-face, and personalized learning. Batter up, let’s hit one out of the park!
Participants will experience how to take your picture books and novels to new levels with embedding the Design Process into the story through Novel Engineering. This session will show participants the steps in how to easily infuse cross curricular content and the Launch Cycle. This demonstration will also include a variety of grade level lessons, as well as options for low and high tech to that support the resources available to them in their district. We will show you seamless ways to use tech as a tool to enhance the engagement of your students and provide 21st skill building opportunities.
Teen STEM cafés develop leaders and excite teens about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers. Find out how you can develop a free, fun program where teens can socialize while exploring STEM fields through activities and interaction with STEM experts. The program develops teen leaders who organize and manage all aspects of the events. Teens learn to vet the speakers, develop related activities, and ensure that the speaker shares the path to related careers.
Strong SEL approaches and planning have led to increased academic gains and lowered behavioral instances. Incorporated Restorative Practices into place, supported by a Behavior Support team.
The Illinois State Board of Education and the Illinois Principals Association have partnered together to bring educators free access to Ed360 and Ed Leaders Network. These two online platforms provide the tools necessary to review data and make personalized professional development decisions that will drive student achievement.
Teacher improvement doesn’t need to come just from evaluations. Come learn how mentors and instructional coaches build an environment of trust and collaboration with teachers to increase engagement and student achievement. #ClassroomVisits, #Lunch&Learns #VideoReflection #Coteaching
Creating a personalized learning environment for students can have a strong impact on their academic achievement and behavior. Allowing students voice and choice in their learning helps students stay motivated and achieve their goals. This session will include a description of how we transformed our classrooms at the elementary level to meet the needs of a diverse group of learners through personalized learning. You will meet two teacher leaders and the principal of Lincoln Elementary School that has been on this journey to personalize learning for each student.
Project-based learning (PBL) is a methodology that encourages students to learn and apply knowledge as well as skills while engaging in meaningful experiences. This dynamic classroom approach allows teachers to incorporate real-world problems and challenges while aligning with district curriculum. Learn how to enhance your current lessons and/or projects to allow for more student investigation and inquiry.Shift the mindset in your classroom through Project Based Learning. See student engagement, understanding and ownership increase through PBL. Other benefits of PBL include increased opportunities for cooperative learning skills, problem solving and communication. In this session, we will explore and analyze the benefits and challenges of incorporating PBL in today’s classroom. We will look at frameworks and project organization to help get you started as well as various tech tools to help moderate progress and accountability. You will receive examples of project ideas, digital tools to support and manage student engagement, and strategies for managing PBL in the classroom.
This highly interactive session will focus on relationship building and tools you can use TOMORROW; come ready to have fun and engage. Though many of these strategies/activities were designed for students with Autism, I have seen them work well with ALL students, especially struggling learners.
ADHD will be presented from a neuropsychological conceptualization as a disorder of self-regulation, focusing on brain-behavior relationships, associated functional difficulties across domains, and objective assessment and intervention strategies.
Do you know what accessibility features are available on your digital devices? Is your online learning environment accessible to all visitors? In this session, learn about add-ons and features available from Google, Apple, and Microsoft as well as other tools to make your web presence accessible to all visitors.
Our students are self-conscious when it comes to expressing their ideas and needs. Technology is a great vehicle for students to share their voice in a safe space. Learn tech tools to create a climate of engagement and respect in your classroom.
After a school improvement meeting back in 2010 that revealed poor reading scores for their students on the ACT, three teachers changed their approach to teaching social studies to address this problem. They call their curriculum "Top Secret," as they have embedded reading comprehension skills, formative and summative assessments, and proven ACT and SAT reading test strategies into the content of their classes. “Top Secret” has been developed over years of research, collaborative work sessions, and experimentation in their own classrooms. Their curriculum is used by teachers throughout their district, and their summative assessments serve as part of the final exam for their district’s US History course. The data speaks for itself. “Top Secret” has resulted in remarkable student growth on the reading portions of the ACT and SAT Tests for their students and school district. Now you have the chance to learn the "Secret" to their success!
In this session, we will explore some of our favorite mathematical routines for the kindergarten classroom. Join us for a fun-filled hour of instructional activities geared towards our youngest mathematicians!
In this presentation, we discuss ways to celebrate literacy and build a literacy rich environment. We will take the audience through activities to make literacy more engaging, resources to get books for a low price, and offer some really engaging titles for middle school students. Additionally, we discuss strategies and resources for managing classroom libraries.
In order for our students to really be "figuring it out", phenomena must be a central component in our K-12 science classrooms. That sounds simple enough, but how do we actually do that? This session will explore why using phenomena is important for science instruction, how using phenomena has changed with the Next Generation Science Standards, the different types of phenomena, & what free resources are currently available to help teachers do this easily and effectively!
How do I include the new ILSS financial literacy standards and Inquiry-Based Learning in my already jam-packed day? Join us for a lively discussion, fun resources, interactive lessons, and a bibliography of popular children’s books for K-2 classrooms. Include financial literacy across curriculum – compete for prizes, join our poster contest!
Come learn how we were able to get over 2500+ students, families, and community members involved in this exciting event. Our STEAM Expo, founded in 2017 connects our schools to the community, our students to professionals, and generates an interest and excitement for science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics.
This session will walk participants through essential elements of assessment design in a standards-based or target-based reporting system. Educators often struggle to view assessments as a method of evidence gathering against standards or learning targets and often look for practical examples to work from. This interactive session will provide examples of how to take learning targets and create assessments that allow for participants to use the evidence from the assessment to reach conclusions on student proficiency. Educators attending this session will have the opportunity to work with other participants and will walk out with sample assessment questions that will help guide their work when they return back to their districts.
Garth Larson, Ed.D is the part-time Director of Educator Effectiveness for the Winneconne Community School District in Northeast Wisconsin and also serves as President of FIRST Educational Resources based out of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Garth previously sat on the Board of Directors for... Read More →
Monday December 9, 2019 1:45pm - 2:45pm CST
Utopia B
Tasks should be a part of each and every classroom. Why? To weave the standards together and provide the opportunity for students to fully engage with texts. This session will provide each teacher with a grade-specific tool to guide teachers to design tasks.
Strong relationships with students are the backbone to all learning! Sometimes it feels like students are building walls around growing in this relationship. But where there is a wall, teachers can learn to build a bridge. Come explore how creating an atmosphere that is open, exciting, and fun for students allows them to discover their unique interests, skills, and strengths as individuals. Let’s build a level of trustworthiness among students and learn how to turn a class into a family. This session is filled with activities and lessons that help build deeply rooted relationships within any school setting.
A few years into her teaching career Monica attended a professional development workshop. She was eager to absorb every moment and hoped that the event would be a game changer for her classroom.One day into the conference Monica was terribly disappointed. This PD didn’t feel life... Read More →
Monday December 9, 2019 1:45pm - 2:45pm CST
Utopia A
Teaching Outside the Box: A Crash Course in Creativity A fast-paced and fun session designed to teach techniques that will skyrocket creativity. You will learn how to use your brain like Google, create a GPS system for powerful teaching, and magically create new ideas through Creative Alchemy. In addition, learn how to overcome obstacles that stifle creativity by using the Wedding Photographer Principle. You’ll leave truly believing you are a creative being and inspired to add memorable experiences for students to your lesson plans.
Dave Burgess is the New York Times Best-Selling author of Teach Like a PIRATE, co-author of P is for PIRATE, and the president of Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc. which delivers powerful, inspirational, and innovative books, keynotes, and professional development. He is the host of The... Read More →
Monday December 9, 2019 1:45pm - 2:45pm CST
Nirvana A
Unlock the creative potential of the Chromebook and move beyond using the device for word processing, productivity and organization. The session will explore the creative potential of the Chromebook to give your students the ability to craft amazing multimedia masterpieces!
Instructional coaching can be a great way to support students, teachers, and a school...but how do you know it's having an impact? In this session, we will describe a data-driven, student-centered coaching process which includes formative and summative teacher feedback, pre and post student data, and other ways to measure success. Attendees will see actual elementary examples and will receive templates for their own use.
Do you have a lesson that is not very engaging? Is there a lesson that you do not like to teach? Come see how one school district uses Peer Collaboration to create meaningful, engaging lessons while building vertical articulation at the same time.
Remember the pencil holder you made back in elementary school or the bird house you made in middle school? Those moments are special because they are examples of our ability to transform an idea in our minds into a reality. Unfortunately, the teaching methods have been shifting the way we learn leaving behind opportunities for students to explore their creativity such as shop class. The main purpose of the “Innovation Makers Laboratory” program is to provide the ability for any school to transform an old fashion shop class into an exploration of creativity and life skill laboratory for any student from middle school all the way to adulthood to assist in knowledge and real word elements in creating meaningful learning for students. The program will provide the list of equipment needed for the Innovation Makers Laboratory as well as the safety training and the first aid training. Most important, it will provide professional development for the teachers involved in this program such as how to incorporate the Innovation Makers Laboratory into all the other curriculums. For example, building a musical instrument exploring sound waves or creating tools used for farmers during medieval time or building a better ketchup dispenser for cooking class. The Innovation Makers Laboratory is a low-cost option for a great curriculum that will promote exploration, innovation, cross curriculum opportunities, and life skills that will always be part of our memories like that pencil holder or the bird house.
Google Slides is often used in the classroom as a way for students to share their learning. However, the features and tools within Google Slides allows for it to be used in many other ways.
Participants will learn how to reset their thinking and begin creating interactive activities and/or lessons for their students to implement the 4Cs. Throughout the session, participants will use their device and Google account to practice the skills and tools being showcased. The session will start by breaking down the necessary steps in planning and setup of creating a Slides activity using the Backwards Design model. This includes page setup, themes, forced copy and other pertinent skills. We will also focus on the importance of the Master Slide aspect and how it can be used in various ways. Discussion of different features that can be inserted into Slides (animations, images, videos, etc.) as well as different formats will be included.
Activities created using Slides will support collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity in the classroom. Changing how you use Slides can change the way your students learn.
Learn some simple Whole Brain Teaching techniques that can increase student engagement in any classroom, any content area, any grade level. Whole Brain Teaching techniques are used by tens of thousands of teachers all over the country. These simple strategies can bring fun and excitement back into your lessons, and are easy enough to learn that you can implement them tomorrow!
Teacher questioning and prompting plays such an important role in helping support students in productive struggle in the math classroom. With the Common Core Standards and Math Practices calling for students to persevere in problem solving through more rigorous concepts than ever before, it is vital that teachers talk to students about their work and nudge their thinking. In this session, we will not only discuss the importance of prompting and nudging while students work, but provide real-life examples of this language being used in our classroom. Participants will leave the session with examples of language to help elicit students' mathematical thinking in their own classroom.
In this session, teachers will learn a variety of strategies to implement a guided math instruction model into their classrooms. We will show teachers practical ways to implement differentiated instruction, technology, independent practice, and hands-on learning for the elementary classroom.
Come enjoy a session on using Diane Sweeney’s Coaching Moves and increase your effectiveness as an instructional or tech coach with coaching cycles. Diane provides 4 easy steps to help support coaches and teachers working together in partnerships focused on student learning. Learn how to apply each of these steps and learn new strategies to help support a variety of situations.
In order to be the best for our students, we need to be the best version of ourselves. Educators often become stressed out and tend to take of ourselves last. This session will look at the impact of stress on our bodies and our minds and tips to achieve better work life balance.
Recognizing the increasing number of students with social and emotional needs, our school has responded with an RtI (Response to Intervention) intervention, called IMPACT, to support our students in their learning. Needing more than the school wide supports (soft skills and PBIS) and other tiered supports (mentoring program, counseling and check in check outs) that were already available, we strategically screened and placed students into a co-taught class with a regular education teacher and a school social worker. In our IMPACT class, we focus on positive values, building self-confidence, and communication skills. The lessons are designed to meet Illinois Social Emotional Learning Standards. Come see how we have built relationships with students to help them grow in these areas.
This session will demonstrate how children’s literature can be used as a springboard to the mastery of Illinois Standards in Social Studies. We’ll look at standards in each discipline, use literature to reinforce the standard, initiate discussions about diversity, and engage in activities that can be used to motivate student learning.
What exactly is dialogue and are we truly engaging in this highly supported high impact classroom strategy? Most educators believe Dialogue is just getting our students to talk in partners or collaborative groups. However, dialogue for engagement, equity, and deep learning is a detailed and purposeful approach to learning. Dialogue can be one of the best vehicles for helping students learn how to think for themselves, make moral decisions and understand varying points of view. In this engaging and motivational session, participants will explore various strategies to enhance dialogue and ensure deeper and lasting learning for ALL students. As a result of attending this session, participants will: understand how to facilitate dialogue for deep learning at the classroom, building or district level. examine and practice strategies and tools to support immediate implementation of promoting dialogue for deep learning plan at least one Dialogue for Deep Learning Strategy through their own context.
Garth Larson, Ed.D is the part-time Director of Educator Effectiveness for the Winneconne Community School District in Northeast Wisconsin and also serves as President of FIRST Educational Resources based out of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Garth previously sat on the Board of Directors for... Read More →
Monday December 9, 2019 3:00pm - 4:00pm CST
Utopia B
This session will provide participants with tips and tools to build student's reading stamina in the classroom. The Capture Basket, Annotation Bookmarks (for each grade level), Sentence Stems and Activity Guides will be shared.
All teachers love the Dollar Tree! And what is not to love about inexpensive, awesome, instructional tools! But I think The Dollar Tree is filled with hidden gems that can transform classrooms from average to awesome. Come check out how toys can be taken to a new level and turned into learning tools. Find out how canned fish can be turned into a fun, fresh way to motivate and engage students. This session will be full of exciting remixes that are bound to bring your classroom to a new level!
A few years into her teaching career Monica attended a professional development workshop. She was eager to absorb every moment and hoped that the event would be a game changer for her classroom.One day into the conference Monica was terribly disappointed. This PD didn’t feel life... Read More →
Monday December 9, 2019 3:00pm - 4:00pm CST
Utopia A
Teaching Outside the Box: A Crash Course in Creativity A fast-paced and fun session designed to teach techniques that will skyrocket creativity. You will learn how to use your brain like Google, create a GPS system for powerful teaching, and magically create new ideas through Creative Alchemy. In addition, learn how to overcome obstacles that stifle creativity by using the Wedding Photographer Principle. You’ll leave truly believing you are a creative being and inspired to add memorable experiences for students to your lesson plans.
Dave Burgess is the New York Times Best-Selling author of Teach Like a PIRATE, co-author of P is for PIRATE, and the president of Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc. which delivers powerful, inspirational, and innovative books, keynotes, and professional development. He is the host of The... Read More →
Monday December 9, 2019 3:00pm - 4:00pm CST
Nirvana A
This is a hashtag that is taking over the nation! Classrooms everywhere are making the commitment to #ClassroomBookADay with a goal of getting students to engage in picture books and build a love reading. Come learn the benefits of a shared reading experience with your students and discover purposeful mini lessons to support your students all year long in any classroom. In this session you will hear book ideas for a variety of themes, strategies, and standards, you will also learn management tips, and most of all how to develop empathy through picture books.
Are you looking for strategies to improve student focus, supplement class instruction, and boost test scores? This session offers instructional tips for incorporating physical activity into the classroom. Learn how to integrate brain breaks and energize your classroom.
It’s often believed that there’s something exceptional about children who are resilient, particularly those who've experienced trauma, that separates them from those who don’t demonstrate resiliency. However, resilience research has shown that resiliency is not extraordinary and is actually an ordinary part of normal human development. Mindfulness is a way to tap into and restore the natural resilience inherent in each of us. Join me for an interactive session that will provide information and activities you can use with students to rediscover and nurture this inner resilience.
This session will explore one teacher's attempt to implement a model of self-paced learning in 8th grade algebra from the beginnings of working with an instructional coach to present day successes and challenges. We will look at student performance, classroom management for implementation, student and parent feedback, and reflections for improvement moving forward.
Childhood trauma can have a direct impact on a student's ability to learn. Understanding the impact that trauma can have on the student's academic achievement and behavior is essential in order to support students in a safe learning environment. This session will showcase the steps our district is taking to bring awareness of childhood trauma and create trauma sensitive schools and community.
This session will explore how adults and students alike can empower themselves by accepting responsibility for one's own success! Whether it be succeeding as an educator, assisting students in making the most of the educational opportunities you offer, or by simply living a healthy emotional life as a rational thinker, this experiential session offers something for everyone. We will explore social/emotional learning through the lens of Albert Ellis' Rational Emotive Behavioral Theory (REBT). Not to be missed!
Infusing technology into the social studies curriculum creates an amazing impact on student learning. From multimedia creation to interactive timelines, we will explore how technology can impact your social studies classroom.
Brené Brown defines connection as the “energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.” Connection in the classroom is king! When connected, students feel the emotional safety needed to take chances, move out of their comfort zones, and live in the moment, not worrying they will fall prey to judgment and critique. Courageous teachers realize these attributes are needed for student success and intentionally make relationship building their top priority.
This session focuses on how PLCs work to make our school truly student-centered. By giving students the authority, capacity, and responsibility to own their learning, our school empowers student and builds motivation to increase student achievement. Our team will share tools and approaches to foster collaboration and student ownership.
Technology is awesome. Teachers are better. Blending new technologies into instruction is a non-negotiable if we are to help our students gain the skills they'll need to thrive in careers. And so too is educators' old school wisdom in planning intentional blended learning that works. Hence, BOLD SCHOOL. Bold School thinkers embrace Blended pedagogies and Old school wisdom. After all , the goal of blended learning isn't technology--it's student achievement. Based on Weston Kieschnick's book, this will demystify blended learning and provide you with a methodology to help you meld purposeful technology use with your old school wisdom to enhance instruction and learning via the Bold School Framework for Strategic Blended Learning. Vocabulary instruction will be used as an example of how the Bold School Framework can be used.
Collective teacher efficacy is the number one factor that influences student achievement according to John Hattie's Visible Learning research. This introductory session provides the foundation for understanding collective efficacy, its impact on student achievement, and the consequences associated with collective teacher efficacy.
Dr. Jenni Donohoo is a five-time best-selling author and professional learning facilitator with more than 25 years’ experience in leading school change. Jenni works in school divisions across the globe supporting high-quality professional learning designed to improve outcomes for... Read More →
Tuesday December 10, 2019 9:30am - 10:30am CST
Utopia A
Becoming a standards-based system involves more than changing report cards. The transition involves developing a standards-based assessment and standards-based data collection. Participants will explore tools and strategies for managing the change process.
Educational Consultant, Carroll University & McKendree University
I enjoy supporting school districts to improve curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices through systemic innovations. By collaborating with teacher and district leaders, I facilitate program evaluation and implementation in such areas as assessment literacy, learning progressions... Read More →
“Creativity is an exciting and unpredictable collision of environments, attitudes, and skills that produces unique and useful innovations.” - KH Kim How can we become more creative? There are many creativity techniques available to us, but sometimes we don’t know how to use them, don’t believe they are useful in the subject we teach, or are skeptical about them.
“(P)lay is a biological process. ...It shapes the brain and makes animals smarter and more adaptable...play lies at the core of creativity and innovation.” - Stuart Brown MD In this session we will “play” with some creativity techniques and tools so you feel more prepared to implement them for yourself, gain confidence using them, and teach students how to employ them.
Techniques with which we will play include (but are not limited to): synectics, improvisation, creative processes, SCAMPER, analogical thinking, and brainstorming (inc. reverse and backward). We can adapt, and use these techniques for any subject, topic, or age group participants bring to the session.
Brown, S., MD, & Vaughan, C. (2009). Play: How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination and invigorates the soul. New York, NY: Penguin Group.
Kyung Hee Kim (2011): The Creativity Crisis: The Decrease in Creative Thinking Scores on theTorrance Tests of Creative Thinking, Creativity Research Journal, 23:4, 285-295
Just as we expect our students to learn from peers and use multiple sources to acquire new knowledge we, as educators, need to model these traits ourselves. In this session, you will learn about the power of a professional learning network from two connected educators. Learn how we continue to grow, enhance our practice, and build relationships by learning from others around the world. An emphasis will be placed on using Twitter to connect but other platforms will be presented as well.
The focus on the social emotional well being of students often overshadows the social emotional needs of teachers. We as teachers must remember to put our mask on first or we won't be able to help our students. This session will bring ideas and strategies to avoid teacher burnout. Both teachers and administrators will gain ideas for events and techniques that can be used in schools to help teachers take care of themselves so they can better care for the social emotional needs of students.
Simply put, card sorts make students TALK. They provide opportunities to classify, rank and sequence while setting a natural context for argumentation. Join me for math and science card sorts that will make your students reason and think critically.
What do you get when you combine the power of an interactive whiteboard with the best features of G Suite? Jamboard! Come learn experience Jamboard and start using it tomorrow! No Jamboard kiosk? No worries! All you really need is an iPad, Chromebook, or other device! Come jam with us!
In classrooms where students 1) clearly understand their goals and expectations, 2) know what success looks and sounds like, and 3) have ample time to practice, make mistakes and receive focused feedback aligned to the success criteria, achievement is profoundly accelerated. This session will focus on creating student-friendly rubrics that enable and guide students in becoming independent learners through practice and feedback. Best practices for rubric creation will be incorporated as attendees create their own student-friendly rubric around a given standard and expected subskills.
This breakout session is for Non-Spanish speakers who have Spanish speakers in their classroom, school, or district. This interactive presentation will provide some simulations that will allow the participant to feel like an English learners while providing some tips on how to recreate these and other activities for other educators. The presentation will also provide strategies through best practice instruction such as literacy Squared, GLAD, and TPR how to use English to understand some Spanish. The goal is that participants leave with information, strategies, and a basic understanding of the Spanish language. Each participant will leave with some hard copy activities as well as access to many digital resources.
Explore the role of inquiry in NGSS and strategies for making scientific inquiry more authentic. Compare authentic inquiry with "hands-on" learning and discover how to adapt existing activities to better support the spirit of NGSS.
The new civics course mandate requires classrooms use simulations of democratic processes, current & societal issues and service learning to close the civic opportunity gap. Engage with FREE resources that you can use to enhance your classroom.
High School District 230 added an Advisory, Enrichment and Intervention Period to the school day to address social and emotional needs. See how the School Board, Administration and Teachers collaborated to support students.
Two instructional strategies that can be often overlooked are interactive video and self-assessment. In the interactive video strategy you will learn the two methodologies of "Show & Tell" and "Tell & Show." The second instructional strategy is self-assessment. Learn how the self-assessment strategy has a beginning, a middle and an end. Based on Weston Kieschnick’s book Bold School, make sure to come and BE BOLD!!!
Entrenched beliefs are often a barrier to quality implementation in schools. In addition to collective efficacy, other mindframes can serve to either impede or support school improvement initiatives. In this session, we will consider Hattie’s Ten Mindframes (how educators think) that inspire powerful impact in schools. We will explore leadership practices that teams can employ to help develop different ways of thinking.
Dr. Jenni Donohoo is a five-time best-selling author and professional learning facilitator with more than 25 years’ experience in leading school change. Jenni works in school divisions across the globe supporting high-quality professional learning designed to improve outcomes for... Read More →
Tuesday December 10, 2019 10:45am - 11:45am CST
Utopia A
Educational Consultant, Carroll University & McKendree University
I enjoy supporting school districts to improve curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices through systemic innovations. By collaborating with teacher and district leaders, I facilitate program evaluation and implementation in such areas as assessment literacy, learning progressions... Read More →
Tuesday December 10, 2019 10:45am - 11:45am CST
Utopia B
The foundation for success in every great classroom is built upon strong relationships; relationships with the teacher, relationships with and between students, and relationships within one’s self. Understanding each child’s background, prior knowledge, and what motivates them to excel is the best pre-assessment any teacher can have toward developing these connections. Do you know enough about each student to teach them well? Do your students know each other well enough to feel safe, comfortable and confident taking chances within the classroom? Do your students know enough about themselves to develop the self-efficacy needed to succeed in school and life?
Is your Drive a mess? Do you need some organizational how-tos? Come learn some Google tips and tricks to improve your workflow. Google Drive, Google Docs, Gmail and other Google tools will be addressed.
“Lazy’, ‘defiant’, ‘uncooperative’, or ‘not working up to potential’. These are familiar ways of describing students, and ourselves when we are stymied by a perceived lack of engagement. What if the real reason for that behavior wasn’t one of those at all? What if the student was actually a perfectionist?
In this session we will: Investigate the relationship of paralysis, procrastination, purposeful practice, shame, and underachievement in the life of a perfectionist; Examine the reasons why perfectionism can have the above negative associations from the outside observer, and actually have a totally different cause inside the perfectionist; Explore ways perfectionists can to move from negative/maladaptive perfectionism to positive/adaptive perfectionism.
This presentation will incorporate the work of Silverman, Schuler, Adelson, Wilson, Burns, Mendaglio, and Van Gemert, as well as many years of personal work with perfectionists.
Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of perfectionism, its manifestations, strategies for working with perfectionists, and resources for future reference and study.
James Nottingham's Learning Pit is a great analogy to use to help students become both collaborative and independent learners at the same time. Experience a lesson using the tenets of The Learning Pit to help students struggle though conceptual understanding using dialogue, questioning and debate. This analogy can be used in any class at any level and provides students with the tools to drive their own learning.
We plant the seed for student achievement to grow by finding engaging lessons and rigorous activities, planning for learning styles, and fostering grit. So why isn’t the tree growing? What does research say about the roots of student achievement? Let’s not forget about the teachers…! Are teachers leaving professional development sessions getting exactly what they need to reflect and grow as educators? Transformative Instructional Coaching has the power to do just that. This session will focus on the power of Instructional Coaching through the lenses of teacher clarity and establishing a culture for learning. When teachers have these foundations, only then will the seeds begin to grow. Becoming empowered, knowledgeable teachers will lead to greater student growth and achievement. It starts with YOU.
A truly Standards Based Grading classroom or grade book can be overwhelming and tedious, but it shouldn’t be! This session will demonstrate a practical approach to Standards Based Grading practices using grading categories, a traditional point-based system, and standards-based student-driven assessment. Take the busy work out of grading, and give the power to the students using a standards portfolio. See how allowing students to choose which assignments the teacher should grade empowers students to assess their own work critically. Oh, and did I mention, it creates LESS grading for you! Finally, you will see what a grade book looks like for this hybrid approach, and how to use the grade book to drive instruction.
Learn how to structure your math classroom (at any grade level), using the workshop model! This model combines a mini-lesson with collaborative activities, guided math groups, and opportunities to personalize learning to best meet student needs.
Utilizing the Healthy Communities Grant, Bartonville Grade School offers students in grades 4-8 enrichment activities and homework help 5 days per week. Masterpiece Monday - Art/theatre; Tech Tuesday - STEM; Real-life Wednesday - Consumer Science; CSI Thursday - Community Service; Chess - Fridays. Everyday - Homework Help. This session explains the details on how we accomplished this in our PreK-8 district.
This one hour session will provide teachers with an array of instructional strategies and tools to differentiate reading and facilitate an engaging classroom environment. The strategies will also include various technology components for literacy instruction.
In this session, teachers will be actively involved in playing vocabulary games and doing vocabulary activities that they can use in the classroom to enhance vocabulary instruction. The research behind engaging vocabulary instruction and how the "old-fashioned" instruction of looking up the vocabulary list definitions can be eliminated with a few vocabulary games and activities that will have students retaining vocabulary beyond the weekly test. The "This, Not That" Book Series, "No More Look Up the List Vocabulary Instruction" by Cobb and Blachowicz will be referenced. This is a fun, engaging session with "Use on Monday" activities!
What are some must haves in today’s classrooms to help students understand digital citizenship, engage in STEM, encourage making, and build skills for 21st century skills? This is the workshop you have been waiting for! Come learn some great new picture books that you can incorporate into your current curriculum that engages students in discussions and lessons that will help build the skills they need to be lifelong learners in a world of limitless opportunities.
Have you ever wondered why some people can get so much done in 24 hours and you are absolutely drowning? If so, this session is for you. Come learn practical strategies rooted in neuroscience to help you become more efficient and effective.
This session will discuss the changes in behavior management that began in the 2018-2019 academic school year. This led to a reduction in office disciplinary referrals and an increase in parent participation.
Learn about Belvidere's decade-long journey to transform all grade levels to a competency system where students learn to chase skills instead of points. Find out how years of curriculum work set the stage for a new reporting system that promotes personalized and student-directed learning.
"Bueller?...Bueller?...Bueller?" Remember that. Don't let your class become that iconic movie scene. Through the use of Bold School strategies for questioning and Socrative method, you can transform your classroom into an engaging place. Also learn how to move from teacher-centric instruction to student-centric instruction with the use of Bold School strategies for concept mapping. Based on Weston Kieschnick's book Bold School, BE BOLD and attend this session.
Dump the textbook and make your class a rich, flexible, and adaptable one-stop source for students, parents, and specialists. Unlock the power of slides to curate text, graphics, apps, simulations, video, paper resources, etc into YOUR organized class.
Are you ready to have a truly student-led classroom? Inquiry allows students to take ownership of their learning and engage in new ways that are essential for learners in today's world. Inquiry is also a main component of both the NGSS and new social science standards. However, these subject areas are often overlooked in the classroom. In this session, you will get a step-by-step guide for planning an inquiry-based unit that will engage your students and make the most of your time by using an interdisciplinary approach. The ideas presented in this session can be implemented in your classroom the very next day.
To most teachers, curriculum maps are the dusty documents that a district forces teachers to engage with on SIP days, only to be shelved until the next one. So how do we make our curriculum maps purposeful and at the center of instructional planning? How can we move them from transactional work to transformational guidance? Attend and find out! The research of John Hattie among others will be used to provide practical methods for implementing curriculum in an way that is both engaging and rigorous.
Keeping students engaged is tough these days!! With all the technology and instant media available it can be tough to keep our students engaged in their learning. Come get helpful tips you can take back and use the next day. I will also help you problem solve if you need help with engagement. I will have tips for k-5th grade.
We've all heard the common phrase in education -- "standard-aligned." But what do our standards REALLY say? In this session we will examine the learning standards and debunk any myths as to the expectations of students by the end of Kindergarten.
Technology has the power to create real change in our students’ learning; now it is our job as leaders to know the best practices for making that change happen. This session will examine the most commonly used technology evaluation models, and how they shift classroom technology forward.
Learn a variety of 3rd-6th math games that use cards and dice. Math content will include, place value, rounding, order of operations, beginning algebra, etc. Student work samples and a handout with rules and game board will be shared.
This workshop will discuss the impact of 3 out-of-school factors that have an impact on students' academic performance. These three factors are the students' surrounding community, home structure, and peers. The research discussed does focus on African American students.
Since its inception in 2017, Bellwood School District 88 has hosted its annual STEAM Expo in April. The expositions connected our schools to the community, our students to professionals, and generated an interest and excitement for science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics. Using Illinois Learning Standards, students engaged in a variety of in-depth “real-world” investigations. Come learn how we were able to get over 2500+ students, families, and community members involved in this exciting event!
Participants in this session will walk away with a variety of practical resources to use to engage students at their level of need. We will discuss how different ways we have structured our classes and the philosophies behind them.
Through this session, participants will learn how to build a continuous school improvement model designed to foster collective teacher efficacy. Specific elements of the program to be discussed include establishing collaborative inquiry groups, creating an instructional coaching model aligned to the overall school improvement plan, and re-imagining professional learning experiences.
We all know that we need to use direct instruction and one of the constants with direct instruction is working through examples with students and having them practice on their own. In this Bold School session we will be focusing on these three stalwarts. Learn about the value of these instructional strategies and how to take them from "old school" to "bold school." Based on Weston Kieschnick's book Bold School, come and be BOLD!
Since ‘Collective Teacher Efficacy’ topped John Hattie’s Visible Learning list of factors that matter the most in raising student achievement school leaders (both formal and informal) are asking themselves: How can we foster a sense of collective efficacy in schools? In this session, we’ll identify research-based, efficacy enhancing practices for strengthening professional learning communities and collaboration in schools.
Dr. Jenni Donohoo is a five-time best-selling author and professional learning facilitator with more than 25 years’ experience in leading school change. Jenni works in school divisions across the globe supporting high-quality professional learning designed to improve outcomes for... Read More →
Tuesday December 10, 2019 1:15pm - 2:15pm CST
Utopia A
PERA requires that teacher evaluation systems include student growth data using classroom assessments. This session explores how and why classroom assessment data is the most impactful data for supporting professional growth and school improvement.
Educational Consultant, Carroll University & McKendree University
I enjoy supporting school districts to improve curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices through systemic innovations. By collaborating with teacher and district leaders, I facilitate program evaluation and implementation in such areas as assessment literacy, learning progressions... Read More →
Tuesday December 10, 2019 1:15pm - 2:15pm CST
Utopia B
Dweck, Walton and Cohen (2014), state, “effective teachers and schools understand that it is through challenge that students learn and achieve over time.” They go on to say, “whereas effective teachers and schools challenge their students with high performance standards, less effective ones cater to the presumed limitations of their students by setting low standards (p.22).” Courageous teachers uphold the challenge throughout the lesson, never giving into the pull of their heartstrings when seeing students struggle. They understand that struggle is needed to grow. They understand that academic press is the key to student success.
In a globally connected classroom students experience face-to-face communication with students around the world without ever leaving the classroom. Join the discussion on how to find find these connections and create experiences your students will never forget.
The College Board is proud to provide students tools to own their futures. This session will explore the free tools available to students and educators, including Official SAT Practice through Khan Academy, and a provide a detailed overview of new College Board Opportunity Scholarships.
Listening and speaking are crucial for success in today’s society. Sadly, they are often the most neglected components of the curriculum. This session will provide some ideas, strategies, and techniques that you can use tomorrow in your classroom.
Creating a paperless classroom can be so much more than merely distributing work digitally. With OneNote and OneNote Class Notebook you can redefine what it means to create a digital classroom. You can embed engaging live content such as Forms, YouTube, GeoGebra, Sway, and more. Using digital ink your students will be able to take hand written notes, highlight text, draw, and work on math problems. OneNote’s Learning Tools make the classroom accessible to all students with its immersive reader. Finally, Teams creates a digital hub for all your student’s work where they can manage their assignments, participate in online discussions, and stay organized.
Engagement is the key to student success! In this session, participants will be given the pieces necessary for total student engagement, including teacher clarity, engagement structures, and feedback. This is one puzzle you'll want to complete!
We spend several hours a day with our students each school year, but how well do we really know them? When was the last time you looked at educational research as related to technology and your students? This session introduces educators to various research and survey sources that will help them understand how today’s students learn and what their views are regarding technology in education.
The understanding of fractions is so critical in 3rd-5th grades as it is the first time students really think about fractions as being numbers. Looking for new ways for your students to become more comfortable with the symbolic interpretation of fractions? Join this session for a deep dive into this important concept.
Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of math content that needs to be covered. I have developed a system to help reach all students and help all students obtain the skills they need to. Come learn how to cover the standards with fun and innovative ways.
Learn a variety of 6th-8th math games that use cards and dice. Math content will include, beginning algebra, order of operations, decimals and fractions, etc. Student work samples and a handout with rules and game board will be shared.
Our superintendent led us with the charge: All students have the right to read by the end of third grade. This workshop will describe the journey one district has started to implement, support, and sustain a district-wide K-3 reading initiative. The presenters will share their experiences in delivering research-based literacy programs in K-3 and provide the nuts and bolts for meeting the needs of diverse student populations in a variety of settings, including both whole and small group instruction and throughout the various tiers of instruction.
How do you make your students do the heavy lifting with teaching? While we don't want to spoon feed our student answers because E. M. Forster once said, "Spoon-feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon," we also need to make sure if we student-centric teaching, we do it with fidelity. These three instructional strategies that will be covered in this Bold School session do just that: peer tutoring, reciprocal teaching and problem-solving teaching. These can be used in any discipline and with the addition of technology it makes moving from old school practices with these instructional strategies to bold school practices even easier for the teacher. Based on Weston Kieschnick's book Bold School, join us and learn how to be bold!
People often say that seeing is believing and it turns out that they are right! Collective efficacy beliefs are formed based on information obtained from vicarious experiences. Vicarious experiences happen when teams (or individual teachers) gain knowledge or information about a strategy, skill, or approach to improving student learning by seeing it performed by others. When teachers get better, students get better and teachers get better by observing others. In this session, we will explore how to improve the quality of observational learning and examine ways to tap into sources of collective efficacy in support of deeper implementation of evidence-based practices. Key features of vicarious experiences will be shared and participants will consider practical applications for tapping into vicarious experiences as a source of collective efficacy.
Dr. Jenni Donohoo is a five-time best-selling author and professional learning facilitator with more than 25 years’ experience in leading school change. Jenni works in school divisions across the globe supporting high-quality professional learning designed to improve outcomes for... Read More →
Tuesday December 10, 2019 2:30pm - 3:30pm CST
Utopia A
SOLO Taxonomy is a research-based cognitive structure used to guide students to progress from surface level thinking to deep learning. If you are looking to design rigorous assessment and instruction, SOLO Taxonomy is for you! Learn how to use SOLO to critique and improve your classroom assessments.
Educational Consultant, Carroll University & McKendree University
I enjoy supporting school districts to improve curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices through systemic innovations. By collaborating with teacher and district leaders, I facilitate program evaluation and implementation in such areas as assessment literacy, learning progressions... Read More →
Teachers today understand the importance of social emotional learning. But with limited budgets, most educators don’t have hundreds and thousands of dollars to spend on products and programs to increase student social, emotional and academic development. Educators without access to the district credit card want research proven, teacher tested, kid-approved strategies they can implement easily, effectively and cheaply.
How does gifted class last 35 years at the high school level? With a classroom representing all grades (9-12), that creates a learning environment where students not only experience a multi-faceted perspective of literature and western civilization but also develop the necessary skills to be lifelong learners and future leaders. Take home concrete examples for successfully instituting a multi-grade, honors level, four-year literature, and humanities curriculum.
Looking to change up your instruction but don’t have the time to plan something new? This session can help! Participants will walk away with several engaging, classroom-ready strategies that promote collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking.
Being media literate is a skill that all students need to know. This session will explore basic media literacy concepts and examples of each concept. It will include websites, lesson plans and ways to incorporate these into all classrooms. While media literacy is applicable to all educators the content featured is geared toward 5th grade and higher (but all are welcome).
Looking for a way to to increase the sense of community within your school? How about starting your day with a school wide morning meeting? Come learn strategies to increase SEL school wide in a few minutes each morning.
Technology has transformed life as we know it, come learn how integrating technology can change your K-4 classroom for the better. We will be demonstrating how we use basic programs such as Seesaw, Nearpod, Flipgrid, Clips, and Quizizz to enhance our curriculum. We will also cover popular extensions and add-ons to make your experience with technology even easier! Technology helps give a voice to all students, and we are excited to share our 3rd-grade students' experiences with you.
Guided reading does not just consist of one leveled book. Come to learn about The Cafe Strategies by the two sisters, Gail Boushey & Joan Moser to spice up your guided reading groups. Through this engaging session you will learn how to embed guided reading into a balanced literacy model, and make your groups truly flexible. Each strategy presented supports the standards and helps you provide better conversations with your students. Students will quickly take onus of their learning. You will see student growth skyrocket!
With NGSS, teachers are needing to give students more responsibility with learning science content. Open ended, hands on activities are the ideal way. But it can be intimidating to know how or when to allow this type of learning to happen. I will help you learn how to let go of lectures and hold on to fun engaging activities for your students.
