Roy Moye will kick off the morning spark with an inspiring and entertaining performance from STEMusic, where music and STEM come together to captivate and motivate educators and students alike. See firsthand how creativity can break down barriers to STEM and other learning.
Learn: Discover how teachers can leverage their unique position to positively influence students' brain development. This session will explore research in mind, brain, and education, providing practical strategies to enhance learning, memory, critical thinking, and confidence in the classroom.
Engage: Participants will be actively involved through movement, curiosity, humor, play, music, and interactive discussions, making the learning experience enjoyable and memorable.
Apply: Walk away with a wealth of immediately applicable, low-cost strategies to nurture every student's brain and engage their interest daily. Understanding how the brain learns will transform your teaching practice and enrich your own learning experience as well.
Learn: Explore how to achieve a healthier balance between technology and traditional skills in your classroom. This session addresses concerns about excessive screen time and the impact on essential soft skills, drawing from discussions held within my school district.
Engage: We will cover diverse topics, including virtual reality, traditional geography skills, handwriting versus speech-to-text, library resources, and the importance of face-to-face communication. Attendees will have opportunities for Q&A throughout the presentation to foster engagement.
Apply: Participants will receive a T-chart to assess their current balance between technology and traditional skills, along with actionable strategies for reinforcing soft skills in their classrooms. Leave with practical ideas to enhance your curriculum and promote student success in both realms.
Learn: Join Roy Moye III, aerospace engineer and founder of STEMusic, as he shares his journey through STEM and addresses the need for more Black and Brown representation in STEM fields. Gain insights into the tools and strategies to make STEM engaging and accessible for students from diverse backgrounds.
Engage: Experience high-energy, interactive performances featuring live music that demonstrate how STEM concepts can be taught in relatable and memorable ways. Engage with musical examples that bring STEM education to life, showing how creative expression can foster student belonging and excitement in any subject area.
Apply: Gain practical ideas for integrating music and storytelling into lessons, making complex concepts more relatable for students. These strategies can empower the next generation and promote diversity not just in STEM but every subject, bringing fresh energy and cultural relevance into your own classroom.
Learn: Discover how Discovery Education Experience simplifies lesson planning and enhances student engagement. Explore standards-aligned resources and tools for PreK-12 that support dynamic and interactive teaching.
Engage: Participate in a collaborative challenge to “Escape the Discovery Education Room” with your peers, solving clues while exploring innovative tools and strategies. This interactive activity showcases how Discovery Education can transform the learning experience in your classroom.
Apply: Gain actionable strategies and fresh ideas to integrate Discovery Education resources into your lessons, empowering you to captivate students and streamline planning. Prepare to implement these tools and elevate your teaching!
Learn: Discover how to design, implement and teach students to create their own personal learning hubs. These hubs can focus on a single content area or serve as a tool across multiple subjects, empowering students to organize and manage their learning.
Engage: Actively explore the structure and benefits of a learning hub, with dedicated time to develop your own hub template. Collaborate with peers and experiment with different components to create a model tailored to your classroom needs.
Apply: Gain a completed or partially developed hub, along with the knowledge to guide students in building their own. Be equipped to implement this tool in your classroom, fostering student ownership and supporting independent, organized learning.
Learn: Discover how Merlyn, a voice-enabled AI assistant, revolutionizes classroom management and instruction by integrating seamlessly into daily teaching tasks. Learn how Merlyn supports real-time curiosity, engagement, and classroom focus, while maintaining strict K-12 privacy standards.
Engage: Experience how Merlyn functions in a classroom setting through live demonstrations and real-world examples. Explore interactive discussions on how Merlyn can address classroom challenges like managing devices, setting timers, and fostering engagement.
Apply: Walk away with actionable insights to implement Merlyn in your classroom. Gain practical strategies to enhance focus, improve classroom behavior, and create more opportunities for impactful teaching moments with this innovative tool.
Learn: Discover Cisco’s Global Problem Solvers (GPS) program as a powerful framework for Genius Hour, guiding students to tackle real-world issues. Learn how GPS cultivates critical thinking and digital storytelling to address local, national and global challenges.
Engage: Through live polls, collaborative brainstorming and Q&A, actively explore digital storytelling techniques and educational tools to enrich student-led projects. Small group discussions will foster idea-sharing and practical insights.
Apply: Gain ready to implement Genius Hour projects with Cisco's GPS resources, using digital storytelling to empower students to address contemporary challenges with creativity and precision.
Learn: Explore how curiosity can become a powerful tool for fostering student engagement and wonder in the classroom. Taylor Hughes reveals the secrets behind using storytelling and magic to inspire a love of learning.
Engage: Witness the impact of magic storytelling as Taylor models techniques educators can use to captivate and motivate students. See firsthand how blending creativity and curiosity can transform the learning experience.
Apply: Gain actionable strategies to integrate storytelling, curiosity and a sense of wonder into your teaching. Learn how to encourage students to explore, question and pursue their passions in meaningful ways.
Learn: Examine the evolving role of AI tools in student learning and uncover the myths that often accompany their use. From concerns about cheating to fears that AI stifles creativity, panelists will provide evidence-based insights to challenge these misconceptions and highlight how AI can enhance critical thinking, collaboration and innovation in the classroom.
Engage: Join the conversation through the Chat feature to share your perspectives, ask questions and discuss how students are currently using AI tools. Participate in a dynamic Q&A session where panelists will address concerns and provide examples of responsible and effective student-centered AI integration.
Apply: Explore practical examples of AI tools that students can use to support learning and creativity in real time. Learn how to empower students to use AI responsibly to solve problems, explore new ideas and develop critical skills for the future. Gain strategies for creating classroom policies and activities that encourage ethical and innovative use of AI.
Learn: Discover how Discovery Education Experience supports career exploration from kindergarten through high school. Explore engaging tools like career path quizzes and career-focused resource collections to inspire students about their future possibilities.
Engage: Participate in an interactive career path quiz to align your interests with potential careers and discuss ways to implement similar activities with your students. Collaborate with peers to explore curated career-focused resources and strategies for integrating them into your teaching.
Apply: Gain practical methods for sharing career-focused collections within Discovery Education Experience and actionable strategies to guide students on their career journey and spark excitement about their future aspirations.
Learn: Explore an introduction to labor-based grading, an innovative assessment model that shifts focus from outcomes to student effort and growth. Discover the educational advantages this approach offers for both students and educators, grounded in research by Joe Feldman, Asao B. Inoue, and Matthew Gomes.
Engage: Participate in online polls and Q&A sessions designed to facilitate a deeper understanding of labor-based grading practices. Engage with peers and ask questions as you explore real-world applications of this grading model.
Apply: Gain actionable knowledge and initial strategies to implement labor-based grading in your own classroom fostering a more equitable and supportive assessment environment for all students.
Dr. Simmons is a dedicated high school English teacher in Southern Illinois and an adjunct instructor at a community college. She received a Bachelor of Science in Social Work (2012) and a Master of Arts in Education (2018). Holding a Doctor of Arts in English Pedagogy with a focus... Read More →
Monday February 24, 2025 10:10am - 11:00am CST
Salon 3Marriott St. Louis Airport
Learn: Explore how STEM principles can integrate into all disciplines, including PE, Art, Debate and other specialist areas. Gain insights into how STEM-focused teaching transcends traditional subject boundaries and supports innovative learning across the curriculum.
Engage: Use the Chat feature to ask questions, share ideas and engage with both panel experts and fellow educators. During the live Q&A segment, address specific challenges like assessing STEM work and supporting STEM initiatives in non-STEM subjects.
Apply: Gain practical strategies to embed STEM in your teaching, no matter your subject. Learn ways to support STEM initiatives while meeting grading and assessment requirements, ensuring you contribute to a holistic learning environment for all students.
Learn: Discover the transformative potential of Generative AI in K-12 education through a no-cost, 90-minute virtual readiness session tailored for educators and administrators. Gain insight into the opportunities and challenges AI brings to learning environments.
Engage: Collaborate with seasoned consultants from Advanced Learning Partnerships (ALP) and CDW in exploring practical strategies for AI implementation. Participate in guided discussions and real-world scenario planning to understand how AI can shape your district’s educational practices.
Apply: Leave equipped with actionable insights and a strategic framework to define and scale AI-infused learning environments in your district. Start your AI journey with confidence and clarity.
Learn: Discover the expansive, free curriculum offered by Code.org, created to make computer science education accessible in every classroom. Attendees will explore the K-12 resources that align with state standards, focusing on foundational digital skills and computer science principles.
Engage: Through interactive discussion, participants will examine how Code.org’s curriculum integrates with their own teaching goals and classroom settings. We’ll also dive into available support, including teacher training funded through DESE, ensuring a fully supported rollout of these resources.
Apply: By the end of this session, participants will be prepared to bring Code.org's curriculum into their schools. They will leave with actionable steps and knowledge on accessing the resources, securing teacher training, and engaging students in computer science.
Learn: Explore the transformative value of integrating the arts into leadership development and professional learning for principals and district-level administrators. Discover how Arts-Based Professional Learning (ABPL) can enhance your own leadership skills while also benefiting your teachers and school communities.
Engage: Move beyond traditional professional development formats with engaging, hands-on activities that participants can introduce in their own schools. Experience interactive techniques such as sketching, role-playing, and mask-making, designed to enliven professional development and foster creativity.
Apply: Reflect on how to enhance your leadership behaviors through the arts and consider practical ways to incorporate ABPL into your school’s professional development programs. Gain innovative strategies and activities to enrich your leadership approach and inspire your teams.
Learn: Discover how to harness the features of your learning management system (LMS) to support Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and create more inclusive, accessible learning experiences. Explore insights from a district collaboration with the DESE AEM Cohort, demonstrating how UDL principles were translated into actionable goals to make the LMS a tool for diverse learners.
Engage: Explore district-created UDL resources and experiment with tools in an Open Canvas Course designed around UDL principles. Gain insights into how other districts are addressing barriers to learning and making their LMS more inclusive.
Apply: Put UDL into action by mapping UDL principles to your LMS, adapting shared Canvas examples, and developing personalized implementation goals that make your LMS a dynamic platform for learner-centered education.
Learn: Explore collaborative strategies for designing highly engaging, educational experiences using breakout boxes. Discover the fundamentals of crafting immersive learning experiences that captivate and challenge students.
Engage: Participate in a hands-on breakout box activity. Share feedback and insights to understand the impact and potential of these interactive learning tools.
Apply: Gain the knowledge and confidence to create your own breakout box activities, whether independently or in collaboration with fellow educators, ready to implement innovative and engaging lessons in your classroom.
Learn: Discover how to combine Discovery Education with free AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT to create personalized learning experiences, streamline lesson planning and boost student engagement. Get insights into practical strategies for customizing learning pathways, generating quizzes and designing full learning modules.
Engage: Participate in hands-on demonstrations to see AI tools in action, adapting content and generating lesson ideas tailored to your classroom needs. Share ideas and collaborate with peers to brainstorm innovative ways to integrate AI into your teaching practices.
Apply: Gain actionable strategies and an exclusive preview of Discovery Education’s upcoming AI-powered assessment tools. Whether you’re an AI novice or an experienced user, you’ll be ready to use these tools to save time and elevate your teaching.
Learn: Gain a comprehensive understanding of Dabrowski's Overexcitabilities Theory and its relevance to the characteristics of exceptional learners. Delve into each overexcitability, connecting theoretical concepts to real-life experiences.
Engage: Actively discuss overexcitabilities and identify your own, experiencing "OE Breaks" to understand the energy release associated with each type. This session emphasizes experiential learning over passive listening.
Apply: Move beyond theory to practical insights on creating conducive learning environments that support emotional well-being and concentration. Gain strategies for fostering self-awareness and emotional regulation in gifted students, including routines, activities and tools to manage overstimulation and enhance learning experiences for those with overexcitabilities.
Carly Mansfield is a dedicated Gifted Specialist at the Kirkwood School District, bringing over 20 years of teaching experience to her role. She has taught elementary education, middle school social studies, served as a building STEM coordinator, and now focuses on gifted education... Read More →
Learn: Discover how to use a lesson internalization protocol to enhance collaborative planning and instruction in critical content areas. This session targets districts using scripted lessons or those focused on developing teacher-created lessons, providing strategies applicable even in non-mandatory lesson planning environments.
Engage: Analyze video clips from lesson internalization meetings and examine protocols from various districts. Engage in discussions with peers and small groups to share insights and key takeaways throughout the session.
Apply: Gain hands-on experience with a planning template to guide portions of a lesson internalization protocol and how to implement these strategies in your school fostering best practices and instructional alignment.
Learn: Explore key elements of career readiness that have proven successful in diverse educational settings. Identify modules and mini-lessons that connect curriculum to profession-based relevance, tailored to fit your unique classroom context.
Engage: Collaborate with shoulder-partners to practice various strategies, contribute questions that guide the workshop’s direction, and co-create a list of valuable resources and ideas. This collaborative approach will enable you to expand on resources shared while addressing real-world applications.
Learn: Discover a powerful framework for sparking curiosity and driving learning. Explore how developing a "Big Question" can inspire students to dive into meaningful, interdisciplinary exploration with the support of their communities and global mentors.
Engage: Through interactive activities, role-playing and collaborative discussions, practice building networks of support within your communities and connecting with expert mentors worldwide. Experience hands-on strategies and effective techniques for integrating Open-Source Learning principles into classrooms or other learning environments.
Apply: Gain a foundational Open-Source Learning model, complete with your own “Big Question” to guide further inquiry and community-based exploration in addition to practical tools for fostering collaborative learning environments that encourage curiosity, interdisciplinary connections and impactful discoveries.
Learn: Explore the foundational procedures that make daily decision-making more efficient and effective for educators at every stage of their career. Gain insights into how thoughtful routines can support teachers, build consistency and free up cognitive space to focus on what truly matters—student success. Learn strategies to help leaders, mentors and coaches differentiate support for staff and foster a culture of growth, even during challenging times.
Engage: Participants will actively engage through the Chat feature to share their thoughts, ideas and experiences. During the Q&A portion of the panel, you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and gain insights directly from experienced leaders and experts. This collaborative approach ensures you leave with practical, personalized strategies.
Apply: Gain a tool kit of actionable ideas to implement in your school immediately. Create a plan for introducing or refining key procedures that resonate with both new and veteran educators. Develop a road map for differentiated professional support that meets your team’s unique needs and keeps everyone motivated through the toughest stretches of the school year.
Learn: Discover how to incorporate students' personal vocabulary and experiences into literacy instruction, making the learning more meaningful and relevant. Identify various literary structures found across curriculums and learn how to use these structures to enhance students' reading and writing skills. Explore how dictation technology can be leveraged to support struggling readers and writers in capturing their thoughts and ideas.
Engage: Participate in interactive activities that model classroom practices and foster a positive learning environment. Create your own literary examples and experiment with dictation technology on your own device to understand its application for students.
Apply: Gain practical examples of literary structures and techniques for integrating students' personal language into literacy instruction. Reflect on how to use dictation technology to support struggling students and leave with strategies that can be transferred directly into your teaching practice.
Learn: Uncover the fundamentals of storytelling and discover how to captivate your students with engaging narratives. Taylor Hughes will share simple strategies and practical tools to help you craft more compelling stories for the classroom.
Engage: Experience the wonder of magic as Taylor demonstrates strategies you can replicate with your students. Explore how storytelling and magic can combine to create unforgettable learning moments.
Apply: Gain actionable strategies and practical tools to improve your storytelling and be equipped to inspire and connect with your students through compelling narratives and a touch of magic.
Learn: Discover evidence-based prosocial education strategies that can be used with any age and content area. Examine successful Prosocial and Active Learning (PAL) Classrooms project data to gain insights into enhanced student climate and increased student engagement.
Engage: Discuss experiences and challenges related to student behavior and classroom management to discover new strategies. Analyze case study scenarios of prosocial strategies and discuss the implications and potential applications in your own setting.
Apply: Gain specific, implementable strategies for integrating prosocial elements into your existing curricula and concrete examples of how these principles can be applied in various educational settings.
Jen Foster has been harnessing the power of technology to support instruction for more than 20 years. Over the last 12 years, Jen has provided professional development to a wide variety of educators, school administrators, instructional coaches, etc. to enhance and grow their tech... Read More →
Learn: Understand how intentional, age-appropriate use of technology can enhance learning for young students. This session explores strategies for incorporating technology naturally into the classroom to meet the unique abilities and developmental stages of early learners.
Engage: Experience interactive demonstrations showcasing how tools like iPad can empower young learners to communicate, create, and explore at their own pace. Participants will also engage in small-group discussions to share ideas and insights on technology's role in early childhood education.
Apply: Gain practical tips for implementing technology in your classroom in ways that align with developmentally appropriate practices. Leave with a toolkit of strategies to foster creativity, self-expression, and individualized learning for your youngest students.
Learn: Delve into the practice of Instructional Rounding as implemented in the Mehlville and Affton school districts, and discover its positive impacts in special education. Discover how Instructional Rounding can foster a culture of continuous learning, strengthen educator capacity and promote a community of personalized professional growth.
Engage: Participate in hands-on activities, partner and group discussions, and interactive Q&A session. Through these collaborative experiences, gain deeper insight into how Instructional Rounding supports educator and student development.
Apply: Reflect on the impacts of Instructional Rounding and begin planning how to incorporate this practice in your own setting. Gain actionable ideas for implementing Instructional Rounding to cultivate a supportive and growth-oriented culture within your educational community.
Learn: Explore the findings of our nationwide survey involving 119 high school English teachers regarding their attitudes toward ChatGPT integration in instructional practices. Gain insights into ethical concerns, common usage patterns and current perceptions of ChatGPT in the classroom.
Engage: Learn how English teachers are utilizing ChatGPT for personal planning and classroom instruction as you are guided through the process of creating a ChatGPT account. Learn how to differentiate lesson plans for various learning levels, develop new lesson plans and streamline administrative tasks. Depending on compurter availability, work independently or interact with demonstrations.
Apply: Get hands-on experience with ChatGPT as you explore its capabilities using your own classroom materials. Gain practical strategies for integrating ChatGPT into your teaching, along with take-home materials such as printouts and access to our presentation to support future application.
Dr. Simmons is a dedicated high school English teacher in Southern Illinois and an adjunct instructor at a community college. She received a Bachelor of Science in Social Work (2012) and a Master of Arts in Education (2018). Holding a Doctor of Arts in English Pedagogy with a focus... Read More →
Dr. Cara Bertelmann holds a Bachelor's in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2015), a Master's in Secondary Education from Grand Canyon University (2018), and a Doctor of Arts in English Pedagogy with a specialization in English Language from... Read More →
Monday February 24, 2025 12:10pm - 1:00pm CST
Salon 3Marriott St. Louis Airport
Learn: Explore the transformative potential of Open-Source Learning in today’s rapidly changing world. Discover how this approach empowers students to pursue interdisciplinary goals and unique personal projects, from leading wilderness expeditions to publishing original research, that go beyond traditional classroom experiences.
Engage: Dive into the "Sixth Fitness" model, which centers on five core strengths—mental, physical, civic, spiritual and technological fitness—unified by a sixth quality that drives purpose and achievement. Through group reflections and real-world examples, discover how this framework can reshape learning in any setting.
Apply: Gain practical strategies and tools to assess your own Open-Source Learning fitness and design an action plan tailored to your learning environment. This session provides a road map for fostering a dynamic, self-directed learning culture that helps students and educators alike realize their potential.
Learn: Discover the latest Apple products, tools, and programs designed to transform education. Explore how innovative technology supports productivity, collaboration, and enhanced learning experiences in the classroom.
Engage: Participate in a dynamic session featuring live demonstrations of Apple’s newest educational tools. Collaborate with peers in small-group discussions to exchange ideas and explore how these innovations can benefit your teaching environment.
Apply: Leave equipped with practical knowledge and inspiration to integrate Apple’s cutting-edge solutions into your teaching. Take actionable steps to leverage technology for better productivity, seamless collaboration, and enriched student engagement.
Learn: Discover the latest AI resources and how to leverage them to streamline daily tasks, enhance instructional practices and engage students meaningfully, prioritizing effective learning outcomes.
Engage: Actively explore and utilize AI tools to design a classroom-ready lesson that incorporates practical applications, enabling students to engage actively with an AI platform.
Apply: Gain a ready-to-implement lesson plan that integrates AI, enhancing student engagement and facilitating deeper learning experiences in the classroom.
Learn: Discover how music can enhance STEM education! Explore the power of creating songs as a tool to reinforce key concepts, making learning both memorable and engaging.
Engage: Dive into a hands-on STEM activity, then work in groups to create a simple, catchy song about the STEM principles you explored. Through collaboration, experience the excitement of combining learning with creativity and discover firsthand how music can deepen understanding and retention in any subject area.
Apply: Each group will showcase their song teaching a STEM concept, modeling how this approach can spark interest and aid retention for students. Gain a memorable strategy to energize learning in your classroom.
