This session provides an overview of recommendations from the UW System about the role of the Wisconsin Standards of Mathematics in preparing students for post-secondary options.  This session will have a particular focus on high school courses including  what to consider in a course sequence, what to consider when planning advanced learning pathways, and what students really need in order to be mathematically ready for their aspirations of college and career. 

Prairie View Elementary School made a decision that they wanted the highest results for their students.  In order to do this, they made deliberate decisions to go beyond traditional teacher collaboration and turned the whole school into a PLC.  This resulted in increased student achievement and Model PLC status in two focused years.  While the journey continues, learn how Prairie View Elementary systematically became a Model PLC. 

In this session, we will explore how collaborative teams of educators can leverage the power of Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles to experiment with high-leverage classroom practices, collect authentic data, and foster a culture of continuous learning within their school communities.

This interactive session will introduce you to an approach that empowers teacher teams to experiment with classroom practices and collect real-time data to gauge their impact on students. We'll demonstrate the myImpact platform, a user-friendly tool designed to streamline data collection and analysis, enabling teachers to focus on meaningful professional conversations that elevate collective efficacy and student outcomes. You will leave the session with practical strategies and tools to transform classroom practices, enhance team collaboration, and ultimately, make a lasting impact on your students' learning journey.

During this breakout session, participants will:

• Discover how to enhance collaborative team discussions by removing common barriers that often hinder productive conversations. Learn strategies to engage in more meaningful dialogues centered around student engagement and achievement.

• Understand the critical link between collective efficacy—the belief that teachers can positively impact student learning—and actual improvements in student outcomes. Explore ways to nurture collective efficacy within your team.

• Practice the development of an academic rubric teacher teams use over the course of multiple PDSA cycles to monitor the impact of successive strategy experiments.

• Get hands-on experience with the myImpact platform, a web-based tool that simplifies data collection and transformation. See how classroom-level data can be transformed into actionable insights that drive reflective professional discussions.

Curiosity is hardwired in all of us, but the longer students stay in school, the less curious they become.  Why is that? Grounded in research, this engaging session uncovers the ways in which formal education seems to hinder our natural curiosity and shows educators how to intentionally cultivate inquisitiveness and wonder in schools. This session is based on the book Building a Curious School: Restore The Joy That Brought You To School.

Join me for an engaging and informative one-hour conference session tailored to directors of curriculum and instruction, instructional coaches, principals, and teachers. This session aims to equip educators with essential knowledge and practical strategies to effectively support English Learners (ELs) in the classroom. We will explore key laws and policies pertaining to EL instruction, effective programming models, and the importance of creating inclusive learning environments that value students' diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. 

How does the Cognitive Coaching framework, a research-based coaching framework, develop a coach's skill set to support educators? Learn how the Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District is committed to professional learning by implementing the Cognitive Coaching framework to build trust, credibility, and competence, and lead with empathy to provide continuous support to educators by “listening to understand.”  Educator turnover is at an all-time high; educators are more likely to commit to the profession when they are supported and valued. 

Description: After years of teaching educators how to write unit plans using the Understanding by Design (Wiggins/Mctighe) framework, I’ve learned a few “tricks” that lead to greater clarity and ultimately better unit plans. In this session, I will share my presentations, handouts and insights gained along the way. If you are trying to teach others how to write unit plans or are just trying to understand it yourself, then this session is intended for you.

Target Audience: K-12 Educators, Site leaders, and instructional coaches 

Amazing things rarely happen in comfort zones. The mental habits we form put us in a place from which we rarely venture. Stepping outside of your comfort zone can be challenging, but the benefits of modeling that type of risk taking as a leader are essential to the growth of your staff. Taking the first step outside of your comfort zone is clearly the most difficult. Connecting current practice to new modes of learning can help us all realize our ability as leaders and propel our staff to places they never thought possible.