What do you consider major and minor disruptive behaviors in your classroom? What is your response when these behaviors occur? In this session, we will categorize behaviors, discuss ways to be proactive, and look at next steps to take when disruptions occur.
Elementary: Unlock the power of play in fostering resilience, confidence, and cognitive growth in gifted students! This engaging professional development session will explore how games can be a powerful tool for developing grit and strengthening executive functions in students.
In this elementary session, participants will explore the foundational concepts behind number sense routines and how these routines can enhance students' mathematical understanding. Teachers will gain practical strategies for implementing daily routines that promote numerical fluency and flexibility. Through hands-on activities and discussions, educators will learn how to integrate these routines effectively into their classrooms to support student engagement, confidence, and a deeper conceptual understanding of mathematics. Special attention will be given to how number sense routines can be adapted to meet the needs of gifted and talented learners by encouraging flexible thinking and fostering mathematical creativity.
This elementary hands-on course is designed to help educators integrate low-prep, engaging ESL activities across all subjects, including specials like art, music, and gym, to support Emergent Bilingual Students. Teachers will explore interactive strategies to enhance listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills, using adaptable activities that require minimal preparation but maximize language learning. Participants will walk away with a toolkit of activities that promote meaningful communication, foster collaboration, and boost student confidence and language proficiency in diverse classroom settings.
Are you looking to make your math block more engaging and student-driven for all students? Come with me to experience strategies, activities, and ideas you can bring directly to your struggling math learners and also reach and extend learning for your gifted students. We will participate in number sense routines, engaging whole-group, and stations!
In this elementary session participants will dive deeper into the Explicit Instruction Framework. You will see research based strategies that are sure to improve the effectiveness of your instruction whether it be Tier 1 whole group instruction or Tier 2/3 small group interventions. Participants will see video examples of K-5 teachers using the effective strategies of the Explicit Instruction Framework.
Elementary Science Days offer an exciting opportunity for all students—especially gifted and talented (GT) learners—to showcase their deep understanding, curiosity, and leadership skills. This event empowers GT students to apply their advanced content knowledge, critical thinking, and creativity by stepping into the role of content experts. By designing and leading hands-on STEM activities, they not only reinforce their own learning but also cultivate communication and mentorship skills. In addition, Science Days provide a meaningful platform for non-GT students to actively engage with and demonstrate their understanding of scientific concepts covered throughout the year. By blending leadership, inquiry, and celebration of learning, Science Days foster a love for science across the entire school community.
**This is a 2 Hour session!** Session Cap: 50 people
Elementary: Looking for a powerful way to differentiate while challenging all learners? Depth & Complexity Frames are the answer! These dynamic tools help students showcase their learning over time while fostering deductive and inductive reasoning. In this interactive session, you’ll collaborate with fellow educators to design your own frames and discover how they can create personalized learning pathways that promote deeper thinking and growth. Walk away with ready-to-use strategies to transform differentiation in your classroom!
Session Cap: 25 people After a long school year, it’s easy to feel emotionally stretched thin. This session offers a restorative space just for you. Through hands-on experiences with community-building circles, reflective conversations, and simple tools you can take into next year, we’ll explore how to strengthen classroom culture and care for ourselves along the way.
Do your students struggle to grasp place value concepts year after year? Do you wonder why it’s ALWAYS a struggle? Vertical misalignment could be the culprit! Join us as we dive into the nuts and bolts of place value instruction, identify misalignments, and talk about the CPA progression. (It’s *highly* encouraged to attend with other math teachers from your campus so that multiple grade levels are part of the discussion.)
Session Cap: 45 people How can you increase student comprehension of word problems in math? It is very common for students to know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide but still struggle with finding the correct solution when answering word problems. This session introduces routines that focus on increasing comprehension and reasonableness for students when approaching word problems. We will also discuss how teachers can differentiate these strategies for all students, including gifted learners, through accommodations and extensions. Let's teach our students to understand word problems so that they can be successful mathematicians!
As we welcome Generation Alpha, the cohort of learners born from 2010 onwards, educators are faced with a unique set of challenges and opportunities. This generation is characterized by its exposure to technology from an early age, shifting social dynamics, and increasing needs related to executive function and impulsivity. In this session, we will explore the defining traits of Generation Alpha, understand the factors contributing to their needs, and equip educators with effective management and regulatory strategies to create supportive and engaging learning environments.
Session Cap: 25 people Increasing positive behavior in the classroom through feedback is an effective way to encourage students and create a supportive learning environment. In this session, we will discuss the importance of providing feedback to both Tier 1 and Tier 2 students. By incorporating feedback strategies, teachers can create a classroom environment where positive behavior is recognized, reinforced, and ultimately becomes the norm.
Did you know that understanding the author's purpose is very important to your student's success in reading comprehension? We will dive deep into how the author's craft is vertically aligned to support students K-5 and beyond! Participants will be introduced to strategies to use with students that go beyond "PIE" across genres, along with how to deepen GT student’s understanding of author’s craft using in-depth questioning stems and challenging them to create their own digital creation.
In this 2nd-5th grade session, participants will explore how to inspire students to become imaginative writers and unlock their creative potential. You'll discover practical strategies and writing prompts that ignite imagination and elevate student engagement. By fostering a love for writing and encouraging bold ideas, you'll learn how to guide students toward crafting compelling stories. Great writing begins with creativity—let's push the boundaries of imagination together!
In this dynamic session, attendees will explore the essential components of a successful RLA block and discover innovative strategies to maximize every moment. From boosting student engagement to effectively differentiating for diverse learners—including gifted students—this session equips participants with actionable strategies, research-based best practices, and ready-to-use resources designed to elevate RLA instruction and support the growth of all learners.
This session is geared towards Elementary Librarians, but all elementary staff is welcome.
Ready to effectively integrate robotics into the curriculum? Educators will learn some fundamentals of robotics, while exploring hands-on activities, using popular educational robotics kits such as Dash, Cubelets, Ozobots, and Botley. Teachers will have dedicated time to play, explore, and experiment with the robots! The course will also cover time for lesson planning and ways to engage students in STEM learning. By the end of the class, teachers will be prepared to lead robotics-based projects, fostering creativity, teamwork, and critical thinking in students.
Join us as we create engaging, AI-enhanced supplemental science resources. In this hands-on session, participants will explore tools like Diffit for differentiated science reading, Eduaide for game based activities, and AI-powered music generators for catchy science songs. Discover how to integrate online lab simulations such as PhET and Legends of Learning to bring concepts to life, and build interactive choice boards using MagicSchool templates. Leave with ready-to-use resources and the skills to keep creating long after the session ends!
Join us for a Make & Take session where you'll create engaging thinking tasks for your math classroom. Work with your team—or collaborate with other teams across the district—to create and customize tasks aligned to priority concepts in your math units. Walk away with a ready-to-use collection of meaningful thinking tasks to implement next year with your kids! Bring your campus copies of Classroom-Ready Rich Math Tasks and Math Tasks for the Thinking Classroom (green book) with you.
Session Cap: 25 people Join K-5 elementary educators for a collaborative session focused on deepening understanding of key science vocabulary. Together, we’ll work in teams to develop a shared, grade-aligned vocabulary document. Leave with a unified resource to support consistency and clarity in science vocabulary instruction across grade levels.
Session Cap: 100 people Elementary: Discover how to challenge and engage all learners—especially gifted students—by using Depth and Complexity thinking tools and graphic organizers. In this interactive session, we will focus on creating engaging and easily differentiated lessons that you can use immediately in your classroom. We will collaborate to build a variety of graphic organizers that support deeper thinking across all subjects. Walk away with ready-to-use templates tailored to your students' needs!
Join us as we create engaging, AI-enhanced supplemental science resources. In this hands-on session, participants will explore tools like Diffit for differentiated science reading, Eduaide for game based activities, and AI-powered music generators for catchy science songs. Discover how to integrate online lab simulations such as PhET and Legends of Learning to bring concepts to life, and build interactive choice boards using MagicSchool templates. Leave with ready-to-use resources and the skills to keep creating long after the session ends!
Join us for a Make & Take session where you'll create engaging thinking tasks for your math classroom. Work with your team—or collaborate with other teams across the district—to create and customize tasks aligned to priority concepts in your math units. Walk away with a ready-to-use collection of meaningful thinking tasks to implement next year with your kids! Bring your campus copies of Classroom-Ready Rich Math Tasks and Math Tasks for the Thinking Classroom (green book) with you.
Join us as we create engaging, AI-enhanced supplemental science resources. In this hands-on session, participants will explore tools like Diffit for differentiated science reading, Eduaide for game based activities, and AI-powered music generators for catchy science songs. Discover how to integrate online lab simulations such as PhET and Legends of Learning to bring concepts to life, and build interactive choice boards using MagicSchool templates. Leave with ready-to-use resources and the skills to keep creating long after the session ends!
Join us for a Make & Take session where you'll create engaging thinking tasks for your math classroom. Work with your team—or collaborate with other teams across the district—to create and customize tasks aligned to priority concepts in your math units. Walk away with a ready-to-use collection of meaningful thinking tasks to implement next year with your kids! Bring your campus copies of Classroom-Ready Rich Math Tasks and Math Tasks for the Thinking Classroom (green book) with you.
