In order to create a healthy school culture it is critically important that we strive to develop ourselves, not just as better educators, but as better teammates and colleagues. What can we do to be bigger and better versions of ourselves as value add team members? This interactive pre conference, based on Jennifer Abrams'  book, Stretching Your Learning Edges: Growing (Up) at Work, will focus on five specific ways we work to develop ourselves, and provide attendees with take aways to help create an even better professional, healthy, productive team culture back at school.

Building a team that truly believes in, and acts on, its collective power to impact student learning takes intentional collaboration. This full-day pre-conference is designed for teacher-leaders, aspiring leaders, and members of collaborative teams who want to strengthen their collective efficacy and make their teamwork more focused, purposeful, and impactful.

Through interactive learning, reflection, and planning in context, participants will explore various elements of team collaboration: designing agendas that support effective and efficient meetings, applying decision-making protocols, analyzing and interpreting student learning data to make instructional decisions, and creating team agreements that foster trust, responsibility, and continuous improvement.

By the end of the day, participants will leave with practical tools, strategies, and structures to enhance communication, deepen collaboration, and strengthen the collective efficacy that drives meaningful outcomes for both teachers and students.

In this dynamic session, collaborate with other educators seeking meaningful community connections that support deep learning and sustainable action. Meet a school leader who follows their school mission of supporting “lifelong learners who will be a force for positive change in the world as compassionate global citizens.” Meet the founder of Mudita Foundation along with several teachers, dedicated to improving the lives of underprivileged Burmese children who have been forced to flee Myanmar. Along with the lens of service learning and community engagement, we will experience a process that includes:

Coming to Know Community: What do we mean by “community,” a concept we begin exploring in our earliest years of school and continue to strive for throughout our lives? An engaging dynamic you can replicate within your schools for new perspectives.

• The Interview: How do we come to know others? Gathering stories, deep listening, and prioritizing the time to engage in dialogue that informs, shapes, and changes how we see the world. Through a curated step-by-step process, you will find a sequence that resonates with students and can be applied within any school context. A convergence of knowledge, skills and dispositions all come into play for a memorable experience.

• Constructing Reciprocal, Sustainable Partnerships: Small group conversations and engagements bring forth the essential elements of community connections that amplify the school service ethos. How to avoid the parachute syndrome of dropping in and “doing good” and exiting. What can replace the bakesale approach to "action" with meaning and purpose? What is the shift to an asset-based community model that works toward shared collaborative opportunities?

• Reflection and Gathering: Of course, reflection will happen throughout yet we want to ensure a gathering, a harvesting of the gems and highlights that we will take with us to shape what happens within the rest of the conference and back at our schools. This is just the beginning!

Join a unique opportunity where in real time, we can meet and learn from experts who can guide us to read the world and build together.

In this deep dive session, participants will apply proven strategies to design real-world learning experiences to boost student engagement, build understanding, and have an impact beyond the classroom. Collaborative activities will challenge participants to plan high-quality projects that focus on students as problem-solvers, engage with community partners, and extend learning in powerful ways.

The session is appropriate for teachers who are new to project-based learning (PBL) as well as those who want to deepen their practice by increasing the authenticity and relevance of projects. School leaders and instructional coaches will reflect on opportunities to connect PBL with schoolwide practices such as learner profiles, student-led conferences, performance assessments, PLCs, and portfolio defenses.

Participants will start by analyzing case studies from a new book (Students to the Rescue) in which students from diverse contexts have applied their learning to address issues that matter to them and their communities. Results range from making their own campuses more sustainable to promoting voter turnout to chronicling untold stories as citizen journalists. Through such projects, students master both academic and non-academic competencies (such as collaboration, self-direction, digital literacy, and critical thinking) and reflect on their growth as engaged citizens. Participants will see how students develop these essential competences over time through developmentally appropriate experiences with authentic problem solving.

Such examples counter the current narrative about declining student engagement and create opportunities for participants to reflect on their own practices for engaging learners. 

Participants will come away with:

• Strategies for project design that emphasize student voice, real-world problem solving, and sustained inquiry

• Assessment tools that provide feedback throughout projects, empowering students to reach challenging goals

• Partnership strategies to extend learning and impact beyond the classroom

• Reflection tools to strengthen student learning 

In collaborative activities, participants will also reflect on their strengths and opportunities for growth as project-based teachers. 

High-quality coaching benefits everyone - and when you cultivate a coaching mindset, anyone can have great coaching conversations (even if your job title doesn’t include the word “coach”). Cultivating a coaching mindset creates space to reflect and process learning, for everyone in our school communities. Coaching can provide a framework to be more intentional in our conversations, to deepen our work together, build our collective efficacy and create a sense of belonging.

Any educator who embraces a coaching mindset will learn how to get the best out of themselves, their peers and their students. If you already partner with teachers regularly (in roles like EAL, Special Needs, Librarian, and EdTech educators) coaching skills can be exceptionally powerful in building strong relationships, engaging in meaningful collaborative work and supporting the needs of all students. When we are able to work better together, students learn better. When the whole community embraces a coaching mindset we’re creating a foundation for collective efficacy. 

Designed for all educators this pre-conference will explore the Five Domains of a Coaching Mindset and how you can begin to implement this process in your school (and your classroom or practice) immediately. This interactive session will provide time and space for us to practice the key skills, attitudes, actions, roles and agreements that we need when we are engaging in our work with a coaching mindset, as well as unpack the potential of bringing a coaching mindset to our work.

We will also uncover the difference between embracing a coaching mindset and the intentional development of an instructional coaching program. A coaching mindset and a coaching program work together to create a culture of coaching in your school setting. Understanding how these two elements support each other are key in truly leveraging the potential of coaching.

Participants in this pre-conference will leave with concrete coaching skills they can apply with colleagues, students and parents immediately, as well as a big picture understanding of how coaching fits into the fabric of the school. 

Most teachers can recall lessons that fell flat despite careful planning—and others where students were challenged, took risks, and left changed. What separates these experiences?

This preconference introduces a research-backed framework grounded in neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and culturally responsive pedagogy. You'll explore five phases and ten key features that transform lesson planning. In this workshop, participants will learn how to

• Center People and Purpose: Establish psychological safety where students take intellectual risks, and connect content to their lived experiences and cultural knowledge.

• Explore Pathways to Learning: Offer meaningful choice through Universal Design for Learning-inspired approaches, and implement evidence-based strategies from cognitive science

• Design an Intentional Learning Journey: Manage cognitive load through brain-based sequencing and make thinking visible through routines that build a robust culture of learning.

• Implement and Adjust Lessons: Use formative assessment as an instructional compass and provide growth-oriented feedback that fuels improvement.

• Reflect and Refine: Structure celebration and reflection that consolidate learning and build motivation.

We will actively design and refine lessons for our classrooms using the transformative planning template, self-assessment rubric, and classroom-ready protocols. Participants will leave with comprehensive materials—all planning tools, digital templates, and strategies that work across subjects and grade levels—that transform both what students know and how they see themselves as learners.

Social inclusion is foundational to community-building, belonging, and overall student well-being. Yet many of the most meaningful moments that shape a student’s school experience happen beyond the classroom—during recess, lunch, extracurriculars, field trips, and the informal social spaces that make up the school day.

This full-day, pre-conference workshop invites educators to examine those often-overlooked opportunities and reflect on how they currently support, or unintentionally hinder, social inclusion. Participants will explore the strengths already present on their campuses, identify opportunities to enhance socially inclusive practices, and consider how the broader school climate influences students’ sense of belonging.

The workshop will highlight the powerful intersections among social-emotional learning (SEL), Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), restorative practices, and responsive classroom strategies, and other pre-existing frameworks that support social inclusion. Through discussion, reflection, and practical application, participants will investigate how these frameworks can work together to foster more inclusive social spaces across the school day. Educators will leave with an action plan for strengthening social inclusion at their school. 

Outcomes:

• Define the core components of social inclusion

• Assess existing school strengths for promoting social inclusion

• Identify existing frameworks/initiatives and how they support social inclusion

• Create an action plan to improve social inclusion and belonging for all students 

Digital life shapes student wellbeing, learning, and behavior—and educators are on the front lines. This full-day, interactive workshop equips teachers, leaders, counselors, and caregivers to navigate digital challenges with clarity, confidence, and care. Together, we’ll reflect on our own tech habits, separate fact from fiction around gaming, social media, online conflict, “addiction,” and anxiety, and explore what young people are truly experiencing in their always-connected worlds. And because phone bans and policies—no matter how well-designed—can only address a small part of the picture, we’ll look at what students still need from us to truly support their digital wellbeing.

You’ll gain a research-informed understanding of the core pain points students face today—comparison, pressure, and digital drama—while engaging in empathy-building activities that illuminate their digital struggles and strengths. We’ll connect digital citizenship to character education and school values, making it easier to integrate meaningful, calm conversations across classrooms and communities.

You’ll leave with aligned messaging, practical tools, and supportive strategies to help you model and mentor healthier tech habits and promote balanced, resilient digital lives for your students and communities.

AI is reshaping how students learn, create, communicate, and solve problems. Our students will learn and live with AI, and understanding how to prepare them for this reality alongside the skills and standards we already teach is essential. This work isn’t about a separate technology class. It is about strengthening the skills that already sit at the heart of good teaching. These include skills like questioning, data analysis, critical reading, verification, collaborative thinking, dialogue, understanding perspectives, and metacognition. These skills are already in K–12 classrooms, and AI brings an added purpose to teaching them. It helps students practice these skills with more clarity, intention, and focus.

This full-day workshop gives you the time and space to explore what it means to prepare students for an AI-powered world. You will engage in new learning, analyze instructional use cases, collaborate with colleagues, and build on the work already happening in your buildings. You will also have the chance to look across a lesson, a unit, and the full year to think about where this work fits and how to integrate it in ways that feel intentional and realistic. The learning will be practical, hands-on, and teacher-centered. The goal is for you to walk away with ideas you can use right away and a clearer sense of how AI can support the work you already do, not replace it.

Throughout the day, you will explore:

• Ways to build AI-ready thinking, with and without technology

• Flexible tools and approaches for all grade levels and subjects

• Frameworks and readiness assessments for meaningful integration

• How AI can support reading, writing, thinking, and discussion

• Classroom use cases for whole-class, small-group, and independent work

• How to teach students to question, verify, and clarify with AI

• Practical habits for safe, ethical, and responsible AI use

• How AI aligns with current standards and instructional goals

• Entry points for integrating AI into lessons, units, and yearlong plans

Have you noticed an increase in student behavior difficulties at your school? Join international education consultant Shelley Hawkes for an engaging and dynamic pre-conference session that explores the complexities of student behavior. Participants will uncover the underlying causes of behavioral challenges through both causal and functional approaches, including training on how to conduct effective behavior observations and a simplified process for creating behavior support plans. Shelley will draw on her more than 30 years of experience to share practical, evidence based strategies at all three levels of behavior support, providing actionable tools and activities that can be implemented immediately.

Additionally, participants will explore the history of the autism diagnosis, examining how societal shifts and events have shaped our understanding of neurodiversity and behavior. Shelley will also address the burning question of why the number of individuals diagnosed with autism continues to rise.

This session will include an exploration of successful behavior interventions and supports, including steps toward customizing Social Emotional Learning (SEL). Walk away with fresh perspectives on student behavior and a toolbox of strategies to help all students thrive, empowering you to create a more inclusive and supportive learning environment.

Learning Outcomes:

• Understanding the Root Causes of Behavioral Challenges: Participants will gain insight into the underlying causal and functional factors contributing to student behavior difficulties.

• Mastering Evidence-Based Strategies: Attendees will learn and apply practical, evidence-based strategies for supporting student behavior at all three levels of behavior intervention, including creating effective plans for tier three behavior needs.

• Supporting Neurodiverse Students: Participants will deepen their understanding of neurodiversity, including the rising diagnosis rates, historical context, and societal shifts, and will learn strategies to better support neurodiverse students in the classroom.

• Exploring Behavior Support through SEL Programming: Attendees will explore how Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programming and customized approaches can be effectively implemented to promote positive student behavior and social skills development.

• Improving Student Behavior Outcomes: Participants will leave with a comprehensive set of tools and strategies to enhance student behavior, increase engagement, and foster a more positive, productive classroom environment.

Are you ready to lead with greater confidence, clarity, and care?

Leading teacher teams is both deeply rewarding and increasingly complex—requiring empathy, intentionality, and practical leadership skills. If you are a coordinator, team leader, department head, or aspiring leader, then this pre-conference is for you!

In this interactive session, you will strengthen the heartsets, mindsets, and skillsets needed to align your team for meaningful student impact. You’ll deepen your understanding of who you are as a leader, take an asset-based approach to developing others, and learn how to differentiate leadership strategies so every team member feels seen, supported, and valued.

Wondering how to lead peers who may be hesitant, skeptical, or resistant to change? Together, we will practice navigating conflict, facilitating productive dialogue, and creating the conditions for collaboration—even when challenges arise.

Through a blend of reflection, discussion, and hands-on exercises, you will build actionable strategies to lead authentically, facilitate with purpose, and guide teams through change with confidence.

By fostering trust, empowering others, and aligning efforts toward shared goals, you will cultivate a collaborative, inclusive, and purpose-driven work environment—and rediscover the joy that comes from leading and learning together.

Key Takeaways

• Deepen Leadership Self-Awareness and Identity 

• Navigate Change and Resolve Conflict with Confidence

• Cultivate Trusting, Aligned, Collaborative Teams

• Facilitate Purposeful, Inclusive and Impactful Meetings

• Implement Strategies that Transform Daily Practice 

Young children grow through curiosity, exploration, and active engagement, and Project Based Learning (PBL) offers a joyful, developmentally grounded approach to support that learning.

In this immersive, hands-on workshop, educators will build a strong foundation in the constructivist and learner-centered principles that anchor early childhood PBL. Together, we will explore the different “on-ramps” for early childhood projects—whether they emerge from children’s interests or questions, meaningful standards, community connections, or a strong product idea—and how each can lead to rich and developmentally grounded inquiry.

Throughout the day, participants will learn how to weave existing curriculum and daily routines into PBL units, to redefine “research” through playful inquiry, and to use the ECPBL Project Planning Outline to design a meaningful project from start to finish. Through classroom examples, collaborative planning, and reflective discussion, educators will leave with a thoughtfully developed project and a clear, replicable approach they can apply in their own settings.

This workshop is designed for educators working with children ages 3–8, and the examples and planning tools reflect this developmental range. Educators of younger toddlers are warmly invited and may find approaches they can adapt to their own contexts, though the core strategies are geared toward preschool through early primary classrooms.

This session is ideal for early childhood educators seeking practical strategies, deeper understanding, and a supportive space to imagine what Project Based Learning (PBL) can look like with our youngest learners.

This interactive workshop is designed for early childhood educators, teachers, counsellors, and caregivers working with children from birth to age seven. Together, we will explore engaging discussions, role plays, and hands-on activities that model strategies to strengthen cohesion, cooperation, and community in early learning environments.

Participants will learn to apply the principles and tools of Positive Discipline—an Adlerian, research-based approach—to everyday moments with young children. We will deepen our understanding of how children learn in the early years, why belonging and social-emotional development are essential, and how to nurture these skills in both classroom and care settings.

Objectives

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Create classroom and care environments where children experience belonging and significance through contribution, connection, and skill building.

• Foster foundational social-emotional skills that support healthy development and school readiness.

• Identify the root causes of challenging behaviours and respond with empathy and effective guidance.

• Apply key Positive Discipline and Adlerian concepts within the classroom, across the preschool community, and in partnership with parents.

Many EAL teachers have the opportunity (or the responsibility) to offer workshops for colleagues – during new teacher orientation, at faculty meetings, or on PD days. However, finding, creating, and delivering high-quality professional learning is time-consuming and can be stressful. In this session, you will learn easy activities and approaches for facilitating professional learning at your school to help you build capacity for all teachers to serve multilingual learners. This workshop will provide shared pro tips and effective approaches, as well as some ready-made resources that can be replicated or adapted for your context. You’ll also have the opportunity to share what you have done and learn from what has worked in other schools.   

This preconference session offers aspiring leaders a structured exploration of the knowledge, behaviors, and decision-making skills required for future departmental and school-wide leadership roles. Participants will examine core leadership competencies, including vision setting, operational planning, effective communication, and fostering collaborative team cultures. Through guided activities, they will analyze authentic scenarios that reflect the responsibilities of heads of departments, assistant principals, and principals.

The session provides focused opportunities to strengthen judgment, understand organizational systems, and develop strategies for leading equitable, student-centered practices. Attendees will engage in reflective exercises, peer discussion, and leadership simulations designed to build confidence and clarity about their professional trajectory.

Participants will leave with a personalized leadership framework, practical tools, and actionable next steps for advancing toward future roles in school leadership.

This one-day pre-conference with Tom Schimmer offers a practical and forward-looking exploration of how to design assessments that truly reflect the competencies students need most. Grounded in clarity, consistency, and modern learning design, Tom will guide participants through the essential shifts required to move beyond task-focused evaluation and toward evidence that captures reasoning, application, and the authentic transfer of learning. Participants will examine the 7 critical competencies at the heart of next generation assessment, learn how to build criteria that make those competencies visible, and practice designing aligned tasks that elevate student agency and deepen feedback conversations. By the end of the day, participants will leave with concrete models, updated tools, and a clear plan for transforming assessments into reliable, meaningful measures of what students can actually do, not just what they can recall.

Through the development and use of educational accommodations as extensions of good teaching practice, participants will learn easy to implement, practical solutions for including autistic and otherwise neurodivergent students in regular education – For example, affording a student unable to stand still and sing in chorus class to engage in improvisational movement is another way of meaningful participation.

This pre-conference session is designed to equip teacher leaders with skills to lead in their department/grade levels and schools. Specifically, the workshop features two distinct responsibilities for effective teacher leaders: 

1. Supporting classroom improvement by building skills in teacher peer observation, coaching, and mentoring, and;

2. Supporting school-wide improvement by using action research and program evaluation tools to improve teaching and learning. 

In the morning session, we will feature ways you can engage in peer observation and give and receive feedback focused specifically on improving instructional practice. We will explore what makes observation feedback truly impactful, focusing on the characteristics of effective feedback, the role of quality evidence, how to ensure feedback is actionable, and the importance of engaging teaching peers in reflective conversations. By exploring classroom video simulations and using Generative AI tools, we will practice the essential skills of observation and feedback support. This hands-on approach will help refine your ability to have meaningful conversations about teaching that foster trust, collaboration, and professional growth. You will leave with practical strategies you can implement immediately to enhance teacher development and ultimately, student learning!

In the afternoon session, we will focus on how you can engage with your own community of practice in your school and embark on a journey to contribute to your school’s growth and success. Specifically, you will identify an opportunity for growth in your school and hone professional skills to develop a comprehensive plan to address a school improvement project identified through action research or program evaluation. The afternoon session will feature EARCOS teacher leaders who engaged in program evaluation and teacher-driven action research studies to support initiatives in their schools while growing and developing their own leadership skills in the process.

Whether you're an experienced teacher looking to take the next step in your career or a passionate teacher leader seeking to make a greater impact, this workshop offers a platform for professional growth, innovation, and collaboration.