Shannon Jones & Ryan Schaefer

Empowering Student Ownership Through Island Exploration: A Hands-On Approach to Engagement

Empowering Student Ownership Through Island Exploration: A Hands-On Approach to Engagement

In this session, I will share how student ownership and engagement soared in my classroom through an immersive, project-based learning experience. My students became island creators—designing their own unique 3D model islands and using them as platforms for scientific inquiry and data analysis.

Students ran real experiments on their islands to explore topics such as erosion, climate, and sustainability, collecting data and drawing meaningful conclusions. They then took on the role of promoters, crafting persuasive brochures to showcase their island’s appeal. The unit culminated in a peer showcase where students presented their findings and pitched their islands to visiting classes.

This cross-curricular project blended science, geography, literacy, and creativity while giving students voice, choice, and authentic purpose in their learning. Join me to see examples of student work, hear about what worked (and what didn’t), and leave with actionable ideas for sparking ownership and engagement in your own classroom.

Slide Deck

Room #139

Kelsey Grossen

Math Best Practices and Math Small Groups

During this session, we will review the 8 Effective Mathematical Teaching Practices and how to incorporate them in a small math group. We will  analyze a lesson to locate the practices and/or find where we could embed them! Handouts will be provided describing the practices as well as a "quick start". Meant to be taught during WIN time. Targeted Audience: K-6th.

Slide Deck

Room #135

Melyssa Chasteen

Building Inclusive SEL Practices in Noncategorical SPED Settings

Learn how to effectively implement Morning Meetings, CASEL-aligned SEL, and social skills instruction in diverse special education classrooms. This session explores Transformative SEL (TSEL) to foster identity, agency, and equity, while offering practical strategies to support all learners—regardless of label. Attendees will gain tools to build classroom community, teach core social-emotional skills, and create inclusive, student-centered environments.

Slide Deck

Room #133

Christa Pruss

tSEL integration in Math

In this session, attendees will gain a clear understanding of how social emotional learning integration accelerates student learning in mathematics. Learn engaging strategies to integrate social emotional learning skills into instruction,  leading to risk taking and strong collaboration to support all student mathematicians,  Learn the power of questioning strategies, and understand the connection between the 8 Mathematical Practices and Social Emotional Learning skills. All students deserve access to high quality, high leverage practices, ensuring you are creating a safe mathematical space for the students you serve. 

Slide Deck

Room #233

Ellis Wylder

LGBTQ+ Basics (Supporting Gender Diverse Students 101)

Introduction to understand the basics of gender/sex/sexuality, information about pronouns and preferred names, and then finish off with a discussion around things such as bathrooms, confidentiality, etc 

Slide Deck

Room #230

Kevin Hehn

AI for Education: Supporting Educators, Enhancing Learning

This session explores how artificial intelligence can support the work educators are already doing, making tasks like lesson planning, grading, differentiation, and communication more efficient and effective. We’ll focus on real classroom and school-wide applications, highlighting free and practical tools that save time and open up new possibilities for student engagement. You’ll also learn strategies to use AI ethically and responsibly, with an emphasis on equity, data privacy, and keeping the educator’s voice at the center. Leave with a toolkit of ideas and resources to begin thoughtfully integrating AI into your day-to-day practice.

Slide Deck

Room #234

Mary Kay Babcock

The Power of the Union: Growing Together as Educators

Join us for an energizing union gathering where we’ll explore the full range of benefits available to you through the National Education Association (NEA) and the Oregon Education Association (OEA). Discover resources that support your personal well-being, professional growth, and classroom success—from member discounts and legal protections to leadership development and advocacy tools. Connect with colleagues from across our district, share ideas, and learn how your union membership opens doors to opportunities, trainings, and networks that strengthen both you and our profession.

Slide Deck

Room #228

Misty Lewis

Unleash creativity in the classroom with Canva Video

Explore how Canva Video makes it easy to co-create, from planning a parent communication piece to designing instructional content and capturing student learning. You’ll dive into real classroom examples and walk away ready to bring video into your teaching toolkit.

Slide Deck

Zoom Link

Room #130

Meg Goliday

Level 1S: Getting Started with MagicSchool for Students

This hands-on session introduces educators to the MagicSchool platform built specifically for students, emphasizing safe, responsible, and purposeful AI use in classrooms. Participants will explore the student dashboard, experience tools from both the teacher and student perspectives, and learn how to assign and monitor tools through Student Rooms. The session promotes AI literacy by modeling responsible use, flagging, and moderation, while giving teachers practical experience with customizing tools to meet diverse student needs. By the end, educators will feel confident guiding students in skill-building through AI.

Slide Deck

Room #240/242

Avra Robinson

Supporting English Learners 3 with Kami

Did you realize that Kami is more than just a tool for annotating PDF files? Kami offers an all-in-one environment for creating differentiated, interactive activities with a wide variety of scaffolds to help students be successful.  From translation to audio and video recording, there are so many ways for language learning to be successful.  This session will explore how teachers can create assignments with Google Classroom and then give quick and easy feedback - in writing and verbally!  This hands-on session will provide tons of new ideas and resources for teachers to kick off the next school year!  From collaboration to differentiated instruction, Kami has something for everyone! 

Slide Deck

Meet Link

Room #132