As educators, we are experts in instruction. We know how to teach but we don’t always fully understand what goes on without the minds of our students that helps promote or hinder their learning. In this session, you will learn all about our working memory cognitive system–what it is, how it works, and how it can be leveraged to enhance instructional design.

Join Dr. Cole Cook, certified meditation teacher, as he teaches about self-care and meditation, how they can be used to help educators survive the highs and lows of teaching throughout the school year, and guides us in meditation practice.

Fostering positive connections with students is so important for their learning, but doing it isn’t always easy–especially if you teach middle school! This session will be led by a retired middle school teacher of over 40 years who had a knack for creating strong connections with learners that extended, in some cases, throughout a lifetime (including being invited to a 40th birthday party for a former student)! Come learn her tricks and get ready to create some of the strongest bonds with your students that you’ve ever experienced.

Teachers collect reading data frequently on a variety of skills. When teachers share this progress monitoring data with students, positive outcomes are observed. This session will present findings of Data Mountain, a self-determination program designed to share progress monitoring data with students. The session will illustrate how Data Mountain can be layered on top of the data-based decision-making cycle of inquiry in reading.

Reading and math difficulties often co-occur, affecting 30% to 70% of students with either difficulty. We’ll discuss practical ways to support students with reading difficulties in the mathematics classroom, including methods for teaching math vocabulary and strategies for solving word problems.

The purpose of this presentation is to provide teachers with guidance and practical strategies to support students with intensive learning needs in reading in their classroom. This presentation will give an overview of instructional strategies as it crosses many dimensions of reading (phonemic awareness, fluency, print awareness, vocabulary, and comprehension) and discusses practical steps to develop day-to-day programming to meet the student’s highly individualized needs.

Join us for an engaging and informative 30-minute workshop designed for educators of all experience levels. Whether you’re new to classroom technology or seeking to use it more effectively, this workshop introduces the SAMR model—a framework that helps you integrate technology with purpose. We’ll explore the four levels of SAMR: Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition, illustrating how a single assignment can evolve at each stage. With real-life examples from elementary and high school classrooms, you’ll see the transformative potential of technology. Leave with practical strategies and fresh ideas to make your teaching more dynamic and engaging.