Cup of Cocoa & Canva: Advanced Graphic Design 

Ready to take your Canva skills to the next level? This dynamic, hands-on session is all about mastering the little things that make a big difference in your designs! After you have familiarized yourself with Canva basics and Canva Classroom, now let’s kick it up a notch! Whether you’re creating classroom visuals, newsletters, social media posts, or student projects, you’ll learn the insider tricks that turn everyday Canva users into true design pros. The first part of class will be instructional with all of the tips and tricks for enhanced design. Then, you will work on either enhancing a Canva design already in your portfolio or work to create a new Canva design for your classroom and students that integrates and showcases these tips. In this session, you’ll:

• Discover hidden Canva features that save time and add polish

• Learn color theory and font pairing basics to make your designs pop

•  Explore shortcut keys, alignment tools, and layering hacks for effortless precision

• Master background removal, transparency, and animation tools

• Create scroll-stopping graphics for presentations, websites, or social media

Riding the AI Wave: Exploring Google's Newest Classroom Tools  

• • Join John for an eye-opening session diving into the rapidly expanding world of Google’s Gemini-powered education tools. From Gemini and NotebookLM to EduGems and Nano Banana image generator, you’ll learn how these emerging AI features are reshaping classroom creativity, feedback, and personalized learning faster than ever before. 

Training for Teacher Assistants and Paraeducators - In partnership with Education Elements and NYSASCD 

Recognizing the essential role these professionals play in supporting instruction and student success, this series provides foundational training that builds confidence, skill, and clarity around their contribution to the classroom and school environments. 

Session 1: Strengthen Behavior and Classroom Management Capacity

Equipping teacher assistants and paraeducators with practical strategies to de-escalate student behaviors, foster calm environments, and support positive student interactions through mindful, trauma-informed

practices.

Session 2: Enhance Classroom Teamwork and Collaboration 

Clarifying the roles of TAs and paraeducators within instructional teams and providing tools to build strong partnerships with teachers, promote proactive engagement, and increase instructional support.

Session 3: Build Confidence in Supporting Diverse Learners

Developing knowledge and skills related to IEP/504 implementation, data collection, and differentiated strategies that enable TAs and paraeducators to contribute meaningfully to the success of students with special needs.

The Disengaged Teen by Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop - Book Study

Purpose:
To understand why teens disengage from school and learning—and how adults can rebuild motivation, agency, and purpose.

Outcomes:

• Identify signs and types of disengagement 

• Understand motivational modes 

• Reflect on adult behaviors that contribute to disengagement 

• Develop practical strategies for re-engaging teens

• Create a personal or group action plan

Session 1 - Focus: What does disengagement look like - and why is it happening?  -  March 17

Reading - Inroduction and early chapters 

Key Concepts:

• The teen engagement crisis  

• The difference between compliance and engagement 

• Four motivational modes (overview) 

• School vs. real-world learning gap

Session 2 - Focus: Understanding how teems related differetly to learning - March 31

Reading - Chapters explaing the four motivational modes.

Key Concepts: The four modes.

Session 3 - Focus: The Role of Adults and Systems - April 21

Reading - Chpaters addressing achievement culture, pressure and adult behavior.

Key Concepts:

• Overemphasis on performance 

• External vs. internal motivation 

• Autonomy, belonging, and purpose  

• Adult anxiety transferring to teens

Session 4 - Focus: Re-Engagement and Action Planning - May 12

Reading - Final chapters with solutions and examples

Key Concepts:

• Cultivating intrinsic motivation 

• Supporting exploration 

• Reframing failure 

• Expanding definitions of success

Instructional Illusions - Book Study 

Please join me for a practical and collaborative book study that will change the way your students learn! Instructional Illusions is a compact, accessible and highly practical book written by a powerhouse team of experts on the science of learning; Paul A. Kirshner, Carl Hendrick and Dr, Jim Heal. 

So much of what happens in the process of learning and instruction is obscured from view. Much like the effects of a convincing illusion, what we think we see when we observe instruction is often far from the reality. 

We will explore the ten instructional illusions through the lens of educational psychology, cognitive science, and instructional design. Together, we will consider how such illusions operate, unmask their true nature in light of the evidence, and learn powerful alternatives for authentic teaching and learning. Join me this winter to see beyond the illusion, understand and apply the true nature of instruction.