HUB Farm Room 125
Geoffrey Seelen, HUB Farm Educator
Learn about educational experiences for your students outside the traditional classroom! The Hub Farm is Durham Public Schools' 30-acre outdoor learning campus. Our mission is to engage the DPS community in meaningful outdoor experiences. We work closely with DPS Outdoor Learning, CTE, and other DPS Departments to bring hands-on learning alive for students and educators. Appropriate for all grades, K-12.
EdTech Tools 101 Auditorium
Shaniqua Hood, Digital Teaching & Learning Coach
This session will provide an introductory overview of EdTech Tools used in DPS, including district-provided subscriptions.
Canvas Basics Room 123
Kennetha Hopkins, Digital Teaching & Learning Coach
This session is a general overview of Canvas and how to use this LMS effectively. We will cover course setup, creating assignments, and using your Canvas as a classroom organization and management tool.
ESL in the General Ed Classroom Room 120
Sashi Rayasam, Director of English Learner Services
Teachers will participate in an interactive session and learn background information about English Learners in Durham Public Schools.
They will be able to gain a basic understanding of their ELs during the first few days of school. Participants will walk away with a couple of power strategies to use as they plan their lessons. They will also be able to access resources from the ESL webpage.
Getting Started with the Social Studies Inquiry Standards
Room 150
Charlene Martin-Klein, K-12 Social Studies Specialist
Participant Packet
In this workshop, participants will unpack the newly adopted inquiry standards and explore ways to implement them in their classrooms. Participants will leave with ready-made formal inquiries as well as a variety of strategies to meet the inquiry standards. This workshop is for social studies teachers of all grades who are new to inquiry.
Setting Up Your Elementary Classroom Room 152
Michaela Reynolds, WG Pearson Elementary
This session will provide beginning teachers with a how-to guide to help them create a safe and unique environment for their students! This session will include examples of teachers' classrooms, what best to focus on as a first-year teacher when it comes to setting up their room, a checklist of items that are a priority in their classroom, as well as help with basic classroom routines and flow. Beginning teachers will walk away with a better understanding of where to start when it comes to creating a safe and fun environment for their students.
Let’s Get It Started! Elementary
Room 154
Turquoise Parker, Media Coordinator, Lakewood Elementary
Establishing a respectful environment for a culturally and racially diverse population optimizes the Instructional Process. The only way to and through that is relationship. Building and growing Caregiver to teacher and teacher to student relationships go together like Sugar and Sweet Tea.
I call my students Mrs. Parker’s Professors because I am preparing them to be globally competitive and embracing all cultures. So that my Professors can understand they have the ability to be impactful in whatever capacity their interest sparks. I've combined parent engagement, global competitive readiness, and an engaged classroom to provide a transformative experience and environment.
Let’s Get It Started! (High School)
Room 146
Dorcas Gyekye, Jordan High School
The way you start your school year matters. Your classroom community serves as the foundation for an engaging and supportive learning environment, where students feel valued, respected, and eager to participate actively in their educational journey. In this session, we will discuss and develop strategies to help us foster a strong classroom community!
Reaching ALL Learners: Multi-Tiered System of Supports
Room 144
Sonya West, MTSS Specialist
Participants will break down the MTSS Framework by domain — academic, behavioral, and social-emotional — and define interventions associated with each domain at every tier.
Equitable Grading: It Starts with You
Media Center
Dr. Iwinosa Idahor and
Keaundra Robinson, DPS Equity Affairs
During this session, educators will reflect on the ways in which traditional grading practices attract and incorporate (and even perpetuate) our implicit biases. During this session, educators will also review various data points that support the ongoing need to address issues of equity in grading, while considering the potential influence and impact of our identities and experiences on our practices as educators.
6-12 Math: Desmos Calculator Basics Room 122
Kenya Lawrence and Alina Castillo,
6-12 Math Specialists
Participants will be able to navigate to the NC Test Version of the Desmos calculators, learn “must-know” skills for each level and calculator type and know where to find additional resources for the Desmos calculators.
Instructional Reading Routines for ELA/English Teachers Room 118
Heidi Perez and Beth Spataro, 6-12 Literacy Specialists
Grade 6-12 ELA/English teachers can join this session for in depth learning and planning to use the instructional reading routine with DPS core and intervention literacy resources. Participants will leave with plans for at least 2 instructional reading routine cycles.
Best Practices for Whole Group Instruction Room 116
Danielle Howard, K-2 Literacy Facilitator
Deepen your understanding of how to effectively provide whole group instruction, including utilizing the gradual release model, encouraging discourse, and incorporating other high impact strategies.
Best Practices for Small Group Instruction Room 114
Sarah Moon, K-5 Literacy Specialist
Deepen your understanding of how to effectively provide small group instruction, including utilizing the gradual release model, increasing student opportunities to respond, and customizing groups based on student data.
Hacking the Teaching Profession: Making a Career of Your Calling and Building Financial Freedom
Room 112
David Norman, Social Studies, Riverside
The goal is to understand your DPS Benefits and Opportunities. David Norman: RHS Teacher/Department Chair, NBCT, and financial “mutant” entering his 30th year at RHS whose mission is to help recruit and retain high quality teachers, highlighting a path for doing well by doing good.
HUB Farm Room 125
Geoffrey Seelen, Hub Farm Educator
Learn about educational experiences for your students outside the traditional classroom! The Hub Farm is Durham Public Schools' 30-acre outdoor learning campus. Our mission is to engage the DPS community in meaningful outdoor experiences. We work closely with DPS Outdoor Learning, CTE, and other DPS Departments to bring hands-on learning alive for students and educators. Appropriate for all grades, K-12.
EdTech Tools 101 Auditorium
Shaniqua Hood, Digital Teaching & Learning Coach
This session will provide an introductory overview of EdTech Tools used in DPS, including district-provided subscriptions.
Canvas Basics Room 123
Kennetha Hopkins, Digital Teaching & Learning Coach
This session is a general overview of Canvas and how to use this LMS effectively. We will cover course setup, creating assignments, and using your Canvas as a classroom organization and management tool.
ESL in the General Ed Classroom
Room 120
Sashi Rayasam, Director of English Learner Services
Teachers will participate in an interactive session and learn background information about English Learners in Durham Public Schools.
They will be able to gain a basic understanding of their ELs during the first few days of school. Participants will walk away with a couple of power strategies to use as they plan their lessons. They will also be able to access resources from the ESL webpage.
First Week of Class with Language Learners: A Conversation with a Beginning Teacher Room 150
Britney Pardue, ESL Teacher, Brogden Middle School
This session is hosted by Durham Public Schools BT of the Year 2023. Britney is a third-year teacher and works with students who have English as a second language. Come and ask a beginning teacher your questions and learn a few strategies that Britney learned from her experiences during her first 2 years of teaching.
Setting Up Your Elementary Classroom Room 152
Michaela Reynolds, WG Pearson Elementary
This session will provide beginning teachers with a how-to guide to help them create a safe and unique environment for their students! This session will include examples of teachers' classrooms, what best to focus on as a first-year teacher when it comes to setting up their room, a checklist of items that are a priority in their classroom, as well as help with basic classroom routines and flow. Beginning teachers will walk away with a better understanding of where to start when it comes to creating a safe and fun environment for their students.
Let’s Get It Started! Elementary
Room 154
Turquoise Parker, Media Coordinator, Lakewood Elementary
Establishing a respectful environment for a culturally and racially diverse population optimizes the Instructional Process. The only way to and through that is relationship. Building and growing Caregiver to teacher and teacher to student relationships go together like Sugar and Sweet Tea.
I call my students Mrs. Parker’s Professors because I am preparing them to be globally competitive and embracing all cultures. So that my Professors can understand they have the ability to be impactful in whatever capacity their interest sparks. I've combined parent engagement, global competitive readiness, and an engaged classroom to provide a transformative experience and environment.
Let’s Get It Started! (High School)
Room 146
Dorcas Gyekye, Jordan High School
The way you start your school year matters. Your classroom community serves as the foundation for an engaging and supportive learning environment, where students feel valued, respected, and eager to participate actively in their educational journey. In this session, we will discuss and develop strategies to help us foster a strong classroom community!
Restorative Practices Room 144
Letisha Judd-Manning, Director of Integrated Academic and Behavior Systems
This session will provide a brief overview of restorative practices. Participants will learn the basic principles of restorative practices and how they can be used to build relationships, repair harm, and create a more positive school climate.
Equitable Grading: It Starts with You
Media Center
Dr. Iwinosa Idahor and
Keaundra Robinson, DPS Equity Affairs
During this session, educators will reflect on the ways in which traditional grading practices attract and incorporate (and even perpetuate) our implicit biases. During this session, educators will also review various data points that support the ongoing need to address issues of equity in grading, while considering the potential influence and impact of our identities and experiences on our practices as educators.
Building Positive Learner Identities and Growth Mindsets Room 122
Kenya Lawrence and Alina Castillo,
6-12 Math Specialists
Students with a growth mindset and positive learner identities:
believe they can learn what they do not already know rather than assuming that they will never be good at something or that they are not smart enough to do something (growth vs. fixed mindset)
see failure as an opportunity to learn and try something new (mistakes are expected, inspected, and corrected)
see challenges as a way to learn (productive struggle)
In this session you will experience and take with you resources and strategies for building growth mindsets and positive learner identities in your classroom.
Audience: All content areas
Science of Reading for Secondary Classrooms Room 118
Heidi Perez, 6-12 Literacy Specialist
Secondary teachers joining this session will
explore components of the Science of Reading that have overarching impacts on adolescent learners in grades 6-12
consider instructional routines and practices that support content and literacy learning
collaborate with peers to plan instruction based in the Science of Reading
Hands on Strategies for Elementary Science Room 116
Amanda Bowers, K-12 Science Specialist
Hacking the Teaching Profession: Making a Career of Your Calling and Building Financial Freedom
Room 112
David Norman, Social Studies, Riverside
The goal is to understand your DPS Benefits and Opportunities. David Norman: RHS Teacher/Department Chair, NBCT, and financial “mutant” entering his 30th year at RHS whose mission is to help recruit and retain high quality teachers, highlighting a path for doing well by doing good.
Achieving Work/Life Balance as a Beginning Teacher Room 125
Becky Bonchick, Pearsontown Elementary
A healthy work-life balance is important for teachers to prevent burnout and promote overall well-being. This presentation covers some factors to consider when trying to balance work and personal life. Becky Bonchick is a 3rd year teacher who successfully navigated her first two years in the classroom while pursuing an alternative license and raising three school-aged children. She is Pearsontown’s 2023 Beginning Teacher of the Year.
EdTech Tools 101 Auditorium
Shaniqua Hood, Digital Teaching & Learning Coach
This session will provide an introductory overview of EdTech Tools used in DPS, including district-provided subscriptions.
Canvas Basics Room 123
Kennetha Hopkins, Digital Teaching & Learning Coach
This session is a general overview of Canvas and how to use this LMS effectively. We will cover course setup, creating assignments, and using your Canvas as a classroom organization and management tool.
Engaging Secondary Students with Protocols and Thinking Routines
Room 120
Charlene Martin-Klein, K-12 Social Studies Specialist
Participant Packet
Get your secondary students reading, writing, thinking, and even speaking with protocols and thinking routines. Adding these strategies to your teacher toolbox will not only foster your students' critical thinking skills, but they also make planning quicker and easier!
First Week of Class with Language Learners: A Conversation with a Beginning Teacher Room 150
Britney Pardue, ESL Teacher, Brogden Middle
This session is hosted by Durham Public Schools BT of the Year 2023. Britney is a third-year teacher and works with students who have English as a second language. Come and ask a beginning teacher your questions and learn a few strategies that Britney learned from her experiences during her first 2 years of teaching.
Serving Exceptional Children in the General Education Classroom
Room 152
Dr. Kristin Bell, Executive Director of Exceptional Children's Services and Wendy Vavrousek, Elementary EC Director
Most teachers will have at least one student in their class with an Individual Education Plan (IEP). Do you need help understanding what an IEP is and your role as a teacher of students with disabilities? This session will help you understand your role in facilitating learning for students who have an IEP. This session will help you start the year with information that will help you to know who to seek for help, how to support students in your classroom. Beginning teachers will be able to support students and know the legal and educational needs of their students.
Let’s Get It Started! (High School)
Room 146
Dorcas Gyekye, Jordan High School
The way you start your school year matters. Your classroom community serves as the foundation for an engaging and supportive learning environment, where students feel valued, respected, and eager to participate actively in their educational journey. In this session, we will discuss and develop strategies to help us foster a strong classroom community!
6-12 Math: Level Up Your Lesson Plans for Language Support
Room 122
Kenya Lawrence and Alina Castillo,
6-12 Math Specialists
Participants will be able to identify language functions of a math standard, write language objectives and sentence frames, and select or design aligned graphic organizers.
Reading Plus Basics for Secondary Teachers Room 118
Beth Spataro, 6-12 Literacy Specialist
This session will provide a thorough introduction to DPS's secondary universal reading screener and intervention platform, Reading Plus. Participants will explore the teacher and student user interactions with the online program and the offline support available to all teachers.
Secondary Science:
The Knack for Hands-on Science
Room 116
Dr. Emma Refvem,6-12 Science Specialist
Secondary science teachers will learn strategies for planning, setting up, teaching, and managing hands-on science activities.
Hacking the Teaching Profession: Making a Career of Your Calling and Building Financial Freedom
Room 112
David Norman, Social Studies, Riverside
The goal is to understand your DPS Benefits and Opportunities. David Norman: RHS Teacher/Department Chair, NBCT, and financial “mutant” entering his 30th year at RHS whose mission is to help recruit and retain high quality teachers, highlighting a path for doing well by doing good.
Word Play to Accelerate Academic Vocabulary Room 148
Heidi Perez, 6-12 Literacy Specialist
Welcome #WordNerds! Join this session to explore the power of morphology instruction and activities to engage students in learning that both accelerates and deepens literacy and content learning through word play.