innovate25: Full Schedule

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8:40am CST

Family Engagement for Growth and Belonging

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

Learn: Discover the impact of family and community involvement on student success and explore various strategies for fostering meaningful connections. Explore effective, actionable methods for welcoming parents and community members into schools in a way that is both frequent and productive.

Engage: Participate in activities designed to map out your current family and community engagement efforts. Identify what is working well, uncover areas needing improvement and collaborate with colleagues to share insights and ideas. Use planning tools and resources to develop ideas that build upon your school’s existing practices.

Apply: Gain a framework to create or enhance a family engagement plan tailored to the unique needs of your school and a clear path for strengthening partnerships that support growth, belonging and the overall success of your students.

Speakers

Jess Payne

Tuesday February 25, 2025 8:40am - 9:05am CST
Salon 3 Marriott St. Louis Airport

Belonging Culture

Audience All K-12 Educators, Building Principals
Session Type Ignite
School / Company MNPS

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

11:10am CST

Grow stamina and creativity using the design process/makerspace

Tuesday February 25, 2025 11:10am - 12:35pm CST

Salon 3

Learn: Discover the five stages of the design thinking process and their relevance to fostering creativity, problem-solving and collaboration in K-12 education. Explore real-world examples of how design thinking can transform learning experiences and inspire student engagement across various subjects and grade levels.

Engage: Participate in hands-on activities that will guide you through the design thinking process, from identifying problems to brainstorming solutions and creating prototypes. Work collaboratively with peers to experience how the design process builds student stamina, critical thinking and innovation.

Apply: Create a personalized plan to integrate design thinking into your existing curriculum. Gain practical tools, strategies and resources to turn your classroom into a dynamic makerspace where students can explore, create and solve problems in meaningful ways.

Speakers

Kara Sanders

Tuesday February 25, 2025 11:10am - 12:35pm CST
Salon 3 Marriott St. Louis Airport

Design

Audience Classroom Teachers, Specialist / Encore
Session Type Launch

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

3:30pm CST

Cognitive Strategies to Increase Student Achievement

Tuesday February 25, 2025 3:30pm - 4:00pm CST

Salon 3

Learn: Explore how cognitive engagement shifts the learning responsibility from teacher to student, fostering deeper understanding and retention. Understand the impact of active learning on student achievement and classroom energy.

Engage: Experience a variety of high-impact, low-prep strategies that can be applied across all content areas. Participate in hands-on activities that model these techniques in action.

Apply: Gain a toolkit of practical strategies to implement immediately, ensuring your students take an active role in their learning while you reclaim your energy and enthusiasm for teaching!

Speakers

Tanya Garcia

St. Louis RPDC Educational Consultant, EducationPlus

Tanya Garcia serves our member districts by developing tailored learning opportunities and professional development programs and working with area districts to provide supports for effective teaching and learning. Throughout her 15 years in education, Tanya has served in various roles... Read More →

Tuesday February 25, 2025 3:30pm - 4:00pm CST
Salon 3 Marriott St. Louis Airport

Belonging

Audience All K-12 Educators