Increasing Student Engagement through Project-Based Learning

Kendra Simmons - Session 1 - Room 1002

Student disengagement has become a topic of interest within education communities. Teachers have tried to entertain students to gain their attention and hook them into their lessons, however, this interest in lessons is short-lived. The idea behind Project-Based Learning, or PBL, is to engage students in their learning by encouraging them to investigate their passions and create projects or solve problems that result in meaningful learning experiences. By facilitating learning, teachers then pass the responsibility to students to learn and transfer skills to areas in their lives outside of school.

Google Add-Ons: Work Smarter, Not Harder!

Sarah Molloy - Session 1 - Room 1013

Google comes with many cool add-ons! In this session I will show you some time saving tips utilizing the free add-ons you can find on Google. There is an add-on for everything!

Transform Your Classroom So You Can Teach

Jesse Herring - Session 1 - Room 1005

How much time have you lost to student disruptions in your classroom? Do you find yourself spending more time writing discipline referrals and detentions than teaching your content? Do you end up giving more attention to misbehaving students than to your good students. If so, you need to Time to Teach!. Time to Teach! Is a philosophy and set of strategies designed to give you back control of your classroom. These strategies will transform your classroom management so that you have more time to teach your curriculum. It will help you take back your classroom so that you literally add hours back to your teaching time. I will provide you with methods that allow you to take back your classroom today!Building a Positive

Science Then and Now: What Does a 3G Science Lesson Look Like?

Allison Olivarez and Caitlyn Rutkowski - Session 1 - Room 1011

This session is the evolution of teaching Science, and how the NGSS standards are changing the way we teach! Learn about what a 3G lesson looks like and how you can start incorporating those aspects into your current Science lessons. We have student work and testimonials to demonstrate how 3G lessons are so much more thought-provoking and engaging!

School Culture and Climate

Augusta Smith - Session 1 - Room 1006

This interactive session will give participants the tools and strategies to create and maintain a culture of high expectations and accountability through a focus on effective leadership, shared vision, trust and restorative practices.

More Little Things that Make a Big Difference in Math

Alfreida S. Jamison - Session 1 - Room 1010

This fun, interactive session will test your knowledge of little things in Math that, if not attended to, mean the difference between a correct response and an incorrect response. Come see how you stack up against your peers. Speed won't put you on top -- but, being mindful of details will. Prizes awarded to the top three scorers.

The Art of Family Engagement: A Family Together, Grows Together

Saundra Parker - Session 1 - Room 1012

This workshop will examine of the impact of family engagement in elementary school. The presentation will focus on the implications of family engagement as it relate to developing family support through service partnerships. We will provide techniques to help create, build and strengthen family foundations to support children academic success

Building Equity Through Powerful Literacy Instruction

Kristy Rauch - Session 1 - Room 1017

A commitment to access and equity starts with the individual and is enacted through our daily interactions with our students. In this session we will engage in a professional reading, discussion and lesson observation to examine how culturally responsive teaching practices can enhance our literacy instruction and support access and equity for culturally and linguistically diverse students.

Number Talks, Number Strings, and Everything In Between

Jackie McMahon and Margaret Nugent - Session 1 - Room 1018

Whether you are new to number talks or are comfortable using them in your classroom, this session is for you! Come see how to easily incorporate number talks into your math routine or get some fresh ideas to change things up. Number talks are a quick and easy way to help improve your students' number sense and math fluency. Number talks are a game changer! Come join the conversation!

Creative Student Voice Challenges

Steve Wick - Session 1 - Room 1019

Creativity frequently tops the list of skills most desired by employers. Creativity is an important part of the learning process in student-centered classrooms. Some of the most memorable learning experiences provide students with opportunities to share their voice in creative ways as part of the learning experience. Attendees will explore creative digital student voice resources that can engage students in visual design, video creation, verbal responses, and more. Let’s get them creating and make learning stick!

SESSION 2

10:15am - 11:00am

Bueller? Bueller? Tired of Waiting for Students to Raise their Hands: Raise Student Accountability and Literacy Success

Caroline Sweiss and Jamie Albon - Session 2 - Room 1005

Looking for ways to engage students in literacy? This two-part presentation will unlock the secrets to engaging students in reading and writing tasks, while addressing the standards of Common Core. Part 1 of this presentation will address how to engage students in literacy-related tasks, while actually keeping YOU (the audience) engaged in the activities that you could implement with your students. Expect to be engaged throughout this presentation on student engagement, with a focus on pre-reading and during reading strategies and activities! *Attendance of Part 2 is not mandatory but encouraged

Connecting Content to Essential Digital Skills

Steve Wick - Session 2 - Room 1019

How do you engage students in the development of essential skills? The Google Applied Digital Skills Curriculum provides students with opportunities to learn & practice essential digital skills in a free project-based video curriculum. Attendees will explore how the curriculum can be used to connect their curriculum to essential digital literacy skills for all learners.

Closing the Formative Feedback Loop in Math Class

Anne Agostinelli - Session 2 - Room 1006

Do you feel as though the daily grind turns into a blur, and before you know it, a unit assessment is upon you but you're unsure about individual students' readiness? Over the past year, I have been working on structures that promote student ownership of feedback. Come learn about my top 5 tools and strategies to use in real-time or over the course of a couple of days.

Meaningful Instruction with Mentor Sentences

Jada Gilleyen and Erin Kasanders - Session 2 - Room 1010

"Research over a period of nearly 90 years has consistently shown that the teaching of grammar [in isolation] has little or no effect on students." -George Hillocks & Michael Smith - Come learn how to use a mentor text to implement a predictable weekly routine that will engage your students and help them transfer grammar skills into their writing.

Multiply Student Thinking

Maureen Finnegan and Darci Van Kalker - Session 2 - Room 1001

Moving Beyond Skip Counting and Repeated Addition - A solid foundation in multiplicative thinking allows students access to the major work of grades - 3 - 8 mathematics. We know that memorizing facts is ineffective, but what is the important groundwork that leads to rich conceptual understanding? In this session, we will focus on the beginning phases of multiplicative thinking. We will explore student tasks, activities, and math talks used to build student understanding."

Increasing Student Engagement through Project-Based Learning

Kendra Simmons - Session 2 - Room 1002

Student disengagement has become a topic of interest within education communities. Teachers have tried to entertain students to gain their attention and hook them into their lessons, however, this interest in lessons is short-lived. The idea behind Project-Based Learning, or PBL, is to engage students in their learning by encouraging them to investigate their passions and create projects or solve problems that result in meaningful learning experiences. By facilitating learning, teachers then pass the responsibility to students to learn and transfer skills to areas in their lives outside of school.

Creating the "I Believe in You" Classroom

Paul Enderle - Session 2 - Room 1011

Efficacy is defined as having the capacity for producing a desired result through our actions. As educators one of our foundational purposes is to develop, within our students, a sense of belief in oneself. Students with high efficacy show greater effort and persistence, a willingness to try new approaches, and set more challenging goals. One simple way to encourage an environment of efficacy is to routinely let children know that we believe in them. Attend this session to learn about intentional classroom practices that encourage an “I Believe in You” classroom culture that will serve to promote positive behavior, increased motivation, and high expectations of students by convincing them that they can do well in school.

The Caring Classroom

Sarah McIntyre and Joan Boss - Session 2 - Room 1012

Create a classroom that is an emotionally safe & positive place. We will discuss and demonstrate Morning Meetings, positive reinforcements, and how to ensure that all students have a voice. You will leave this session with some practical tips & tools for your classroom management toolbox.

Best Practices in Writing

Kristy Rauch - Session 2 - Room 1017

Participants will experience a writing lesson designed to support writers and build a classroom writing community. Participants will also consider how they might incorporate recommended best practices in their own teaching of writing. Finally, after observing a portion of a video taped writing lesson, participants will reflect on its implications.

Is your school Unified? This will help!

Jillian Schneider - Session 2 - Room 1013

Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools Program provides educators with the knowledge and expertise to support students with and without disabilities to become active members of their school community. UCS uses educational programs, leadership opportunities and sports to teach young people how to build a respectful school environment and include and advocate for students with all abilities in their school communities. The opportunity to become student leaders and proponents of change in their schools by this education-based project that uses sports and educational programs to activate young people to develop school communities where all youth are agents of change – fostering respect, dignity and advocacy for people with intellectual disabilities. The Unified Champion Schools program reaches all students in a school community. One innovative leader can create the ripple effect and begin change. Over the past five years participant feedback has shown decreased instances of bullying and increased acceptance and inclusion of students with intellectual disabilities. The Unified Champion Schools program directly correlates with the Illinois Social- Emotional learning standards. Schools can utilize the program and its resources to help support their school wide positive behavior lessons producing positive peers relationships and decreasing instances of bullying.

It's More Than Numbers: Supporting English Learners with Math Problem Solving

Angela Goetz and Susan Whited - Session 2 - Room 1018

More than ever, the instruction happening in math classes is rich with opportunities for academic language and discourse. In this session, participants will learn how to support students in understanding and interpreting word problems, and justifying and critiquing solutions. Through the use of interactive strategies, attendees will learn how to plan lessons that highlight multiple-meaning words and tier 2 vocabulary, create visual representations of problem situations, provide multiple opportunities for student interaction, and offer alternate forms of assessment.

SESSION 3

11:15am - 12:00pm