innovate25: Full Schedule

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8:40am CST

Passports, Playlists and Passions... Personalized Learning Projects

Tuesday February 25, 2025 8:40am - 9:05am CST

Learn: Explore three innovative personalized learning projects designed to foster connection and belonging within your classroom community. Discover the importance of these projects in promoting empathy and engagement among students.

Engage: Review templates developed from real classroom experiences, including creation tools and grading rubrics. "Stop and jot" your ideas and then collaborate with peers from similar grade levels or subject areas (e.g., high school social studies, high school ELA, or third grade) to brainstorm how to adapt these projects for your own classrooms.

Apply: Customize the provided templates to suit your specific content area and identify how these projects can integrate into your curriculum, ultimately creating a classroom environment that nurtures belonging and empathy while actively engaging students in meaningful learning experiences.

Speakers

Lori Rejent

Unified Arts Curriculum Coordinator, Music Specialist, Brentwood School District

Tuesday February 25, 2025 8:40am - 9:05am CST
Salon 2 Marriott St. Louis Airport

Design Belonging

Audience All K-12 Educators, Classroom Teachers, Library Media Specialists
Session Type Spark
School / Company Brentwood Schools
Resource Page https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GBmj1ahrhp5u3_PvQqsGr_Rwv3G5XFIkhQ8VDC7ZsNo/edit?gid=0#gid=0

9:10am CST

Embracing the Mess: Transforming Classroom Chaos into Student Engagement

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:10am - 9:35am CST

Salon 2

Learn: Discover how creative play can boost student engagement and recall by embracing messy, hands-on learning experiences. Explore effective classroom management strategies to maintain order while fostering a productive and stimulating environment.

Engage: Participate in discussions and activities that demonstrate how messy projects encourage deeper student reflection. Discover how these approaches inspire students to talk, write and think critically about their learning experiences.

Apply: Gain practical methods to integrate messy, creative projects across core subjects like science, history and language arts. Gain tools to connect art and creativity to academic goals, reinforcing the educational value of hands-on, interdisciplinary learning.

Speakers

Bryson Reid

Premier Charter School

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:10am - 9:35am CST
Salon 2 Marriott St. Louis Airport

Culture

Audience All K-12 Educators, Building Principals, Classroom Teachers, Curriculum Coordinators, Specialist / Encore
Session Type Spark
School / Company Premier Charter School

10:10am CST

Adapting Innovations to All Learners

Tuesday February 25, 2025 10:10am - 10:35am CST

Salon 3

Learn: Discover strategies for engaging SPED students through innovative methods and technology. Explore approaches to making lessons accessible and engaging for all learners, focusing on inclusivity and adaptability.

Engage: Participate in hands-on adaptive innovation lessons that demonstrate how to effectively engage diverse learners. Through these interactive examples, you’ll gain insight into techniques that make technology and innovation accessible to SPED students.

Apply: Gain strategies to transform your own lessons for SPED students, enabling you to integrate innovative tools and approaches that meet the needs of all learners in your classroom.

Speakers

Melissa Tackett

Innovations Technology Teacher, Orchard Farm

I teach curious K-4 STEM leaders in Orchard Farm School District in a special area class called Innovations. My class fosters creative thinking, utilizes technology, and helps students discover their potential to question, test, and design. I am passionate about inclusive STEM opportunities... Read More →

Tuesday February 25, 2025 10:10am - 10:35am CST
Salon 3 Marriott St. Louis Airport

Design Belonging

Audience All K-12 Educators
Session Type Spark
School / Company Orchard Farm

11:10am CST

Connecting Your Content with Design Thinking

Tuesday February 25, 2025 11:10am - 11:35am CST

Salon 3

Learn: Explore the five stages of design thinking—Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test—to understand how they can be applied to encourage creativity, collaboration and problem-solving in K-12 education. Gain insights into how design thinking connects with your content to create deeper, more engaging learning experiences.

Engage: Participate in interactive discussions and activities that model the design thinking process. Collaborate with peers to brainstorm ways to incorporate design thinking into your classroom, while sharing ideas and challenges with fellow educators.

Apply: Develop a plan to integrate design thinking into your curriculum. Gain actionable strategies, resources, and a clear vision to make this innovative process a cornerstone of your teaching practice.

Speakers

Kara Sanders

My name is Kara Sanders and I am the makerspace teacher at Gotsch Intermediate School in the Affton School District. I started with a simple classroom makerspace in my 5th grade classroom. Fast forward a few years and I am the makerspace teacher for the building. I have been in this... Read More →

Tuesday February 25, 2025 11:10am - 11:35am CST
Salon 3 Marriott St. Louis Airport

Design

Audience Classroom Teachers, Specialist / Encore
Session Type Spark

11:40am CST

Integrating Design Thinking is Possible

Tuesday February 25, 2025 11:40am - 12:05pm CST

Salon 3

Learn: Discover how the five stages of design thinking—Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test—can transform learning experiences in the classroom. Gain insights into how this process fosters creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking.

Engage: Participate in an interactive classroom example, where you'll work with fellow educators to develop innovative solutions to a real-world problem using the design thinking framework. Collaborate, share ideas and explore strategies to make this approach meaningful for your students.

Apply: Discover actionable strategies and inspiration to integrate design thinking into your teaching practice. Gain the confidence and tools to design engaging, student-centered learning experiences that empower and excite your learners.

Speakers

Kara Sanders

Tuesday February 25, 2025 11:40am - 12:05pm CST
Salon 3 Marriott St. Louis Airport

Design

Audience Specialist / Encore, Classroom Teachers
Session Type Spark

12:10pm CST

Launching Your Design Thinking or Makerspace

Tuesday February 25, 2025 12:10pm - 12:35pm CST

Salon 3

Learn: Explore the fundamentals of design thinking, including the five stages—Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test. Understand how this process promotes creativity, collaboration and problem-solving to address real-world challenges in the classroom.

Engage: Participate in interactive discussions and activities designed to generate practical ideas for integrating design thinking into your classroom. Share experiences and brainstorm solutions with fellow educators as you explore ways to guide students through innovative problem-solving.

Apply: Discover actionable strategies and resources to launch or enhance your design thinking or makerspace journey. Gain confidence to create dynamic, engaging learning experiences that inspire students to think like innovators.

Speakers

Kara Sanders

Tuesday February 25, 2025 12:10pm - 12:35pm CST
Salon 3 Marriott St. Louis Airport

Design

Audience Specialist / Encore, Classroom Teachers
Session Type Spark

2:30pm CST

Day in the Life of a Discovery Education Teacher

Tuesday February 25, 2025 2:30pm - 2:55pm CST

Salon 1

Learn: Explore how Discovery Education Experience can enhance every part of your school day, from sparking curiosity with immersive videos and virtual field trips to providing engaging, standards-aligned content for lesson planning.

Engage: Bring your laptop and dive into hands-on activities that demonstrate how to use Discovery Education for transitions, recess or downtime. Collaborate with fellow educators to uncover creative ways to integrate these tools seamlessly into your daily routines.

Apply: Gain strategies to captivate students and extend learning beyond the classroom by sharing resources with students and families. Whether you’re new or experienced with Discovery Education, you’ll gain practical tools to elevate your teaching and engage your students.

Speakers

Discovery

Tuesday February 25, 2025 2:30pm - 2:55pm CST
Salon 1 Marriott St. Louis Airport

Design Technology

Session Type Spark

3:00pm CST

The Perfect Pairing: SOS Strategies & Discovery Education Resources to Boost Engagement and Critical Thinking

Tuesday February 25, 2025 3:00pm - 3:25pm CST

Salon 1

Learn: Explore Discovery Education’s SOS Instructional Strategies and how they can transform classroom engagement. Discover how these strategies promote critical thinking, collaboration and literacy skills across all subjects using Discovery Education’s rich content library.

Engage: Experience hands-on demonstrations of SOS strategies, paired with Discovery Education resources, to see how they foster active learning. Collaborate with fellow educators to brainstorm creative ways to implement these strategies in your own classroom.

Apply: Gain ready-to-use tool kit of strategies that inspire collaboration, critical thinking and deeper engagement with content. Empower your students to participate actively and meaningfully across all subject areas.

Speakers

Discovery

Tuesday February 25, 2025 3:00pm - 3:25pm CST
Salon 1 Marriott St. Louis Airport

Audience All K-12 Educators
Session Type Spark
School / Company Discovery Education