STLinATL

Learning about and working on the ideas in Building Thinking Classrooms, there is a difference between note-taking and note-making. Let’s intentionally design opportunities for students to make sense of their learning by creating their own notes.  In this hands-on session, we will “do” some math, experience an example of note-making, and discuss how to develop this important skill in our students.

Find out how Optima partners with independent schools to support student learning and teacher development through virtual reality. Explore how educators use innovative tools to inspire the next generation.
Listen to one of our partners share their experience and their plans for future learning.

How can we ensure the success of our students, teachers, and programs match the breadth of our mission and objectives? Drawing on over two decades of global research, this workshop will share an enthusiastic and provocative look at how a new generation of teachers and technology are evolving how we define, measure, and communicate student success.  Simple portfolios, cutting-edge AI resources, and engaging data visualizations will be amongst the real-world tools and international examples highlighting school and classroom efforts to leverage new ideas, resources, data, measurement, to better tell their story and achieve their goals.

Writing is a powerful tool for deepening knowledge, enhancing reading comprehension, and developing analytical thinking. It also plays a crucial role in helping all students engage with grade-level material. Yet, writing remains one of the most challenging tasks we ask students to master. To unlock the power of writing instruction, we need to: (1) reduce overwhelm by starting at the sentence level when needed, (2) teach grammar and writing conventions in the context of students’ own writing and, (3) integrate writing activities into the core curriculum—across all subjects and grade levels. This presentation will explore practical strategies and examples of effective writing activities that support these goals.

Last school year, the 6th grade transition team analyzed assessment data regarding our students. We found that our students struggled with reading comprehension of informational texts, specially with identifying the main idea of a passage. By late elementary school, most students are no longer “learning to read”, and begin “reading to learn”; our students are expected to read and comprehend texts across academic settings to learn new concepts. Our students with diagnosed and undiagnosed reading disorders can struggle to attain grade-level reading comprehension, and their knowledge gap grows over time. The goal of this session is to prepare teachers, grades six and up, to integrate reading instruction into their classroom instruction. Teachers will leave with intentional, research-based strategies and activities they can try in their classrooms to aid their students’ reading comprehension. They will also have an opportunity to explore digital resources to supplement these strategies. This session will be most helpful to teachers who work with
students from the transition program or who receive accommodation plans. Teachers who frequently feature, or would like to increase their usage of informational text, will find this session beneficial.

The rise of AI tools like ChatGPT has changed the game for educators, challenging traditional assessments and creating new opportunities for personalized learning. In this hands-on workshop, we’ll start by exploring the skills and mindsets needed to shift toward authentic, future-ready assessments. Then, we’ll focus on strategies to make assessments “ChatGPT-proof” by prioritizing meaningful, critical thinking tasks. To wrap up, you’ll get a hands-on walkthrough of Toddle’s AI Tutors—a game-changing tool for creating personalized learning experiences like never before.

3 Takeaways:

1. Develop Skills for AI-Enhanced Education: Cultivate the mindset shifts and dispositions needed to lead assessment innovation in the age of AI.
2. Redesign Assessments for Deep Learning: Learn strategies to create authentic assessments that prioritize critical thinking and reduce reliance on AI-generated responses.
3. Leverage AI for Personalization: Explore how Toddle’s AI Tutors and other tools can help personalize learning, foster engagement, and meet diverse student needs.