Looking Beyond the Dark Fantastic: How Do We Close the Imagination Gap for Children of Color?

Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education, Associate Professor and Author of The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games

Sparking Civic Engagement and Writing in the Virtual Classroom

Marc MacDonald, Boys' Latin of Philadelphia Charter School

What practices can we as teachers use to actively engage students in the most important conversations that shape our nation? Participants will be given strategies that will bring students' voices to the center of classroom strategy and allow students to engage in verbal and written discourse as well as social justice reform efforts even within a virtual classroom.

Visualizing Math

Rachel Odoroff, Lea Elementary School; Catherine Michini, Philadelphia High School for Girls

This workshop will show some of the strategies involved in creating visual presentations for mathematics in online format. These strategies are particularly useful during the transition to virtual learning due to school closures and were developed with the support of Professor Robert Ghrist from the Teachers Institute of Philadelphia class Visualizing Math in 2020.

A New Perspective on the Topic of Slavery and Why it Matters

Liberated Through Literacy: The African American Pursuit of Equity in Education

Charlette Walker, Tilden Middle School

Slavery: A Tough Lesson

Margo Pinkney, Samuel Pennypacker School

Forging A Connection: Releasing the Bondage of Internalized Oppression through Quality Social Studies Instruction

Sondra Gonzalez, Gilbert Spruance Elementary School

Welcome to America: Enslaved Diasporic and Indigenous People

Jeri Johnson, Baldi Middle School

Host: Prof. Kathleen Brown, University of Pennsylvania

This presentation will showcase the units of study written in the seminar New Histories of Slavery: The View from the Penn and Slavery Project. Led by Penn historian Kathleen Brown, the seminar covered recent research on slavery in the United States, including its connection to the University of Pennsylvania.

Teachers and Families Collaborating to Accelerate Student Learning

Danielle Mancinelli, Senior Learning Designer, Springboard Collaborative; Stephanie Toronto, Program Director, Springboard Collaborative

This interactive session will describe the importance of FELA in empowering family members to actively support their children's learning. Participants will learn specific strategies for getting families and children to practice at home. Resources will be shared via Google along with a coaching plan (participants will see how a family workshop can be done in-person versus online for teachers to use to engage with families). This coaching guide features daily plans and scripts for connecting with families to support learning at home.