10 AI-Based Upgrades to Teaching and Learning 

Matt Miller, Keynote Speaker

Level up your teaching practice with AI assistants like ChatGPT.

Explore strategies that AI tools can upgrade teaching and learning in your classroom. Your students will be able to do deeper learning without lots of extra time and effort on your part. 

Gain better teaching, better learning with less time.

Strands: Technology, Design

Asset-Driven Approaches to Student Innovation

Leena Bakshi McLean, Keynote Speaker

Explore strategies for applying multiple means of representation and expression within the context of student innovation practices ensuring that students can engage with instructional content and design challenges in ways that resonate with their individual strengths and learning styles through a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) lens.

Delve into the critical role of identity in designing science and engineering practices. Discuss how acknowledging and respecting students' identities can enhance the quality of instruction and encourage participation in the practices of real-world innovation, science and engineering.

Gain knowledge and practical tools to lead the way in transforming learning into a more inclusive, empowering and identity-affirming experience for all students. Become an educational leader who champions the assets and potential within every learner, all while embracing the essential student practices that drive innovation and discovery.

Strands: Leadership, Design

DEMO SESSION : Bringing CS Concepts to the Real World with Code.org and micro:bit

Sara Phelps, Learning Technology Center of Illinois

Learn about how physical computing supports the acquisition of foundational computer science and computational thinking concepts through active participation and peer-to-peer learning.

Gain tools from the session to apply in the classroom live.

BYOB: Build Your Own Box for Self-Regulation

Lindsay Schmidt, EducationPlus

In the chaos of everyday life, navigating emotions, impulses and reactions becomes an invaluable skill.

Explore the concept of self-regulation by creating personal self-regulation kits.

Gain the skills of feeling empowered and prepared to tackle whatever comes your way!

Strands: Wellness, Culture

Creativity in the Classroom

Jennifer Orton and Andrea Eggering, Lincoln County R-III

Explore and experience activities with the iPad that encourage creativity within curriculum.

Learn how to integrate and view examples for elementary and secondary classrooms.

iPads will be available for use if you don’t have one.

Strands: Technology, Design

Cultivating Culture with Ted Lasso

Patrick Keenoy and Michael Wheeler, Mehlville School District

Transform your culture into a recipe for success, proving that “culture eats strategy for lunch” no longer applies.

Gain an introduction to Lasso's transformative lessons, equipping you with tools to create an empowering school culture.

Apply Ted Lasso's leadership principles to cultivate an educational environment that fosters individuals' growth and enables you to become your best self.

Strands: Leadership, Belonging

Design Intervention: Maximizing Digital Accessibility

Erin Gaubatz, Mehlville School District

Learn about universal design and best practices in digital accessibility.

Practice applying universal design concepts with fonts, colors, graphics and more.

Apply universal design concepts into your content and share your learning with colleagues and students.

Strands: Design, Technology

Designing Your Work Life

Dawnette Dierking Wiskur, Rockwood School District

Learn how to use the Design Thinking Process to reconnect and reframe your work experience.

Employ self-reflection and have collaborative conversations about staying engaged in your work life.

Gain new tools and strategies that you can apply to your current work life and planning for the future.

Strands: Design, Culture

E.P.I.C. Moments of Empowerment

Jennifer McBride and Kaci Lueking, Wentzville School District

Discover a fool-proof method for creating E.P.I.C. moments – moments that jolt us, elevate us and change us – to empower your learners, no matter the content or grade level using research from the book The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath. Discover what it feels like to experience an E.P.I.C. moment and how to create moments of elevation, insight, pride and connection.

Reflect on ways to implement E.P.I.C. moments and brainstorm ways you can tailor instruction to include E.P.I.C. moments that empower learners.

Gain access to a hub of specific ideas for empowering learners and be encouraged to contribute as you learn and grow in this practice.

Strands: Design

Experience a Project Slice

Renee Trotier, EducationPlus

Learn how to embed elements of project based learning into your existing lessons in order to create a more engaging, relevant and equitable classroom for your students.

Experience an authentic project slice where you will build knowledge and skills, then develop and critique products to answer your driving question.

Apply the project slice structure immediately to existing units in your classroom.

Strands: Design, Equity  

Get Animated with Adobe Express

Claudio Zavala, Jr., Adobe

Experience how to amplify voices using Animate from Audio. 

Learn how to use this feature in Adobe Express and get students sharing their voices to provide feedback, recap events, tell stories and above all have fun creating and learning.

Strands: Design, Technology

Innovation Implementation: Resources and Strategies for Integration

Laura Boccanfuso, Featured Speaker

Explore easy-reference resources that will support the learnings from previous sessions for the technology tested.

Review use cases covered for Sphero Bolt, Indi, Flipgrid and ABii robots in the classroom, and brainstorm additional ideas.

Share ideas for incorporating selected technologies into the lesson planning process and explore provided resources to develop ideas on how to leverage for illustrating important concepts.

Strands: Technology, Design

Making Time for What Matters

Greg Lawrence, Wentzville School District

Create more time in your day and be more productive. Learn strategies and skills to prioritize what truly matters in your daily schedule through conversations, self-reflection and brainstorming with others.

Acquire the skills to minimize distractions and set priorities, enabling you to make time for what truly matters in life.

Strands: Leadership, Wellness

No Permission Slips Required! Explore Immersive Learning Opportunities in Discovery Education

Marissa Geyer, Discovery Education

Learn how immersive learning in the classroom refers to the integration of interactive and engaging experiences that deeply involve students in the learning process. It goes beyond traditional lecture-style teaching and encourages active participation, critical thinking and real-world application of knowledge.

Explore the wide range of immersive learning resources that can be implemented in the classroom through Discovery Education Experience Platform.

Gain a cross-curricular toolbox of virtual fields trips, augmented reality ready-to-use activities, interactives and games to immediately use with students to immerse them in the learning process, spark curiosity and grow engagement.

Strands: Design, Technology

Out of Sight, Out of Mind: How Implicit Bias Impacts Service to Students

Sheldon Eakins, Featured Speaker

Explore varying examples of implicit bias in school settings.

Discover the emotional and behavioral dynamics of implicit bias through research and true stories.

Gain a complete understanding of the fundamental premise, four forms and how to better address implicit bias.

Strands: Belonging, Culture, Wellness

Ready to LEGO and Have Some Fun with Critical Thinking?

Marissa Geyer, Discovery Education

Learn how LEGO and Discovery Education support using play to explore complex issues and find innovative solutions.

Explore the new LEGO resources in Discovery Education and engage in hands-on play with LEGO bricks to communicate and problem solve a real-world issue.

Gain this activity plus other ready-to-use activities from LEGO and Discovery Education to use with your students and see how LEGO's "serious play" can enhance critical thinking in your classroom.

Strands: Design, Technology

Total Participation Technique: Balancing English and Multilingual Identities in the Classroom

Rob Greenhaw, EducationPlus

Explore "Total Participation Techniques" (TPTs) for active participation.

Engage in discussions on balancing the need to develop academic English while also communicating the value of Multilingual Learners' home languages.

Apply these techniques firsthand, experiencing how they promote active participation and cognitive engagement in the learning process.

Strands: Equity, Design

You'll Never Change This Slow Again!

David Williams and Kevin Carl, Hancock Place School District

Learn about Hancock Place School District's holistic approach to creating a school culture that supports the implementation of competency-based instruction and assessment.

Explore a framework that can be used to cultivate a shared vision that fosters a deep understanding of competency-based education among all stakeholders.

Adapt and apply a framework that will support the development of an implementation timeline for an effective, student-centered, competency-based instruction and assessment model.

Strands: Culture, Leadership