Incorporating economics into your curriculum can seem like an overwhelming responsibility. However, by focusing on key economic patterns and principles there is a straightforward way to highlight the economics in primary and secondary sources you already use in your classroom. In our workshop we’ll work together to apply a systematic framework to analyze source material for connections to economic concepts. There will also be an opportunity for you to analyze a source you already utilize in your curriculum to see what economic principles you can easily integrate into your instruction.

Please bring a primary or secondary source from a course you are currently teaching such as:

• Political Cartoons

• Letters

• Newspaper Articles/excerpts

• Government Documents

• Journals

• Interviews or radio clips

• Historical advertisements

Before joining the St. Louis Fed, Amanda was a Florida public high school teacher for over 12 years. She has also served as a reader and table leader for the College Board AP Macroeconomics exam. She was recognized with a Regional Economic Educator and Leadership Award by the Florida Council on Economic Education and by her school site as a teacher of the year.

From Silence to Significance: 

WAMS Materials and Inquiry

Facilitated by Rachael Yaden (TRAILS), this 3-hour professional learning session at Midway College (Sept. 20, 2025) highlights the Building Block Inquiry framework and the Women and the American Story (WAMS) curriculum from the New-York Historical Society. Participants will experience a model inquiry, examine primary sources on women’s roles in colonial and revolutionary America, and engage in guided design time to integrate inquiry-based strategies and WAMS resources into their own classrooms.

In this engaging and hands-on professional learning session, educators will explore how artificial intelligence can serve as a powerful partner in teaching writing across the curriculum. Blending the Memphis Playful Education model of “Having Fun While Learning” with the Project-Based Works (PBW) framework, participants will learn how to design writing experiences that are inquiry-driven, joyful, and grounded in authentic student voice.

Teachers will practice strategies drawn from the National Writing Project and The New Art and Science of Teaching Writing—including RAW routines, the 5 C’s of Argument/Opinion, and rubric-based feedback—while discovering how AI can provide timely, personalized support that elevates both process and product. From Notice & Wonder to Writing Into the Day, from pitching proposals to publishing final products, educators will walk through the PBW steps and explore multiple pathways for student projects (blogs, podcasts, speeches, comics, TED talks, and more).