Blog Archives

Enduring Monuments: Using Kindred to Bridge the Gaps

High school teachers that work with students who lack the skills and confidence to be college ready know how difficult it is to capture their attention in the last quarter of the senior year. In this breakout session, I will walk you through a unit designed to engage students in a real-world debate by centering the discussion on controversial monuments in a way that not only captures their interest and reinforces their researching skills, but also offers shared historical context to one of America’s most troubling political choices without alienating students from any particular partisan stance. This session requires participants to bring a device to the session.

Shreds of Evidence

Revisions can be a useful tool for students to demonstrate understanding; however, time is the great barrier. How much time do the students need? When will I grade these? In this session, we will work to provide a narrower focus for students to revise small portions of their writing using specific wording from our rubric to practice the skills we want and to demonstrate their ability to meet expectations.

Session Materials

Moving Beyond, “I’ve Tried Everything”

Even with a lot of support, teachers often believe that they have tried everything and become discouraged. Expand your “everything.” Bring energy, passion, and a positive attitude back to students who are struggling while developing their literacy skills. Become more aware of over 120 practices that will ignite improved student achievement and bring struggling learners the joy of success in school. Learn how to use powerful scaffolds to build the confidence and skillfulness of struggling and disinterested learners. See how you can add to your strategies that motivate students to become engaged, empowered, and ready to achieve without watering down content material and lowering standards. Participants will be involved in fast-paced reflection activities to more closely examine issues and options related to low student literacy performance.

 

A NOVEL approach to a Perennial Problem: An Empowering Design Plan for Equitable Learning for All

In this energetic session, panelists with over 80 years of collective experience share how they design innovations to successfully tackle the puzzle of meeting the needs of a wide range of learners within a single classroom setting. Attendees will participate in interactive scenarios; learn to contribute to effective change; and receive procedures for developing discussion-centric, inquiry units to ignite student curiosity and honor their humanity.

Using Mentor Texts to Apply Literary Lenses and Critical Thinking

This breakout session will use The Great Gatsby as a mentor text in guiding participants through the critical lenses of Marxist, Feminist, and Racial perspectives. By engaging with the text through these frameworks, participants will develop a deep understanding of how literature reflects and critiques social structures. This presentation will not only enhance participants’ literary analysis skills but also empower them to view their world with a critical and socially aware perspective. By bridging classic literature (or any text) with contemporary social issues, participants will gain a deeper appreciation of literature as a tool for understanding and change. Participants will walk away with hands on ideas on how to facilitate this lesson in their own classrooms. This session requires participants to bring a device to the session.

Beyond the Letter Grade: Labor-Based Grading as a Path to Justice

As educators, we discuss “ethical and equitable pedagogy,” yet our grading often fails to truly meet students where they are. Labor contracts create a baseline, allowing all students to be held accountable while valuing growth. Writing isn’t about hitting a word count—it’s about revision. By emphasizing meaningful engagement in editing, we shift focus from grades to real-world writing. The goal isn’t perfection, but practice, pushing students to improve beyond the classroom.

 

Connecting Students with Their Communities Through News Media Literacy

Explore media mindfulness as a way to help students connect to their communities and be aware of their wellbeing as media consumers. This session demonstrates an activity in which students reflect on what news is meaningful to them and how it makes them feel. This is a powerful tool to engage students with local and current issues, help them process rapidly-changing news events, and encourage a discourse culture that is inclusive and open-minded. Session attendees will receive free core materials of the Thinking Habitats curriculum.

The Secret Magic to Literature Circle Success

Literature Circles, in my experience with teachers, have had hit-or-miss success. If you are committed to embracing the energy and power of student choice but not sure what’s getting in the way of these units fully clicking into place, this session is for you. In this session we will design Essential Question threads that unite book choices and give teachers the opportunity to focus on skill building and supplementary content. You’ll walk out of our session with at LEAST one fully planned unit! This session requires participants to bring a device to the session.