2024 Great Ideas in Education Conference

Our littlest learners are filled with wonder! Are you curious how you can support sensemaking in the elementary science setting? Join us for a session centered around how to best align lessons to our state science standards and engage students in knowledge building. This session will feature elements of lesson design, opportunities for cross-content integration, and how to support our early readers as they grapple with building vocabulary and background knowledge.

Join us for an engaging professional development session tailored to administrators looking to enhance math instruction in their schools. In this session, we will delve into the myriad benefits of integrating IXL into your daily curriculum.

IXL serves as a powerful ally in supporting the core curriculum, offering a comprehensive diagnostic tool that allows educators to precisely gauge students' knowledge levels. By leveraging this tool, teachers gain valuable insights into each learner's proficiency, enabling them to craft personalized next steps for optimal growth.

One of the key features of IXL is its ability to provide up-to-date insights whenever needed, ensuring educators have access to real-time data to inform their instructional decisions. Through personalized practice and the innovative recommendation wall, students are empowered to take ownership of their learning journey, fostering a sense of autonomy and engagement in the classroom.

IXL's versatility extends to whole class instruction, allowing educators to seamlessly integrate targeted skills that complement their core curriculum. With a wealth of quizzes at their disposal, teachers can tailor assessments to suit the needs of their students, fostering a culture of continuous learning and growth.

Furthermore, administrators will discover how to tap into IXL's robust analytics to identify students in need of additional support and tailor interventions accordingly. Armed with insightful information, educators can effectively plan next steps to address individual learning needs and propel students towards proficiency.

Don't miss this opportunity to explore the transformative potential of IXL in your school's math instruction. Join us as we unlock new possibilities for personalized learning and student success.

This presentation targets principals and building leaders who want to learn more about how to support ESOL staff, general education staff, English Language Learners, and their families.

What about writing?  While a focus centered on reading has been beneficial for schools,  the use of writing to cement and transfer the learning yields a greater positive effect than reading alone. The new KSDE Writing Tenets will assist Kansas teachers in providing quality writing instruction. Moreover, these tenets will support Kansas students in learning to write clearly, express themselves with intentionality, and communicate effectively with their targeted audience.

In this session, we peer into the intricate dynamics of gender and race, uncovering their profound significance in shaping individual experiences and societal structures. Through interactive discussions and thought-provoking activities, participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of the importance of openly discussing gender and race. We will explore the concept of intersectionality, recognizing how gender and race intersect and appreciating the nuances of their differences. Delving deeper, we will examine the pervasive nature of stereotypes and biases, illuminating their real-world impact on individuals and communities.

In October 2023, John Calvert was one of approximately 150 people who were able to go through a guided tour of the 1200 building at Majory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the building where the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history took place. This building was frozen in time, and has sense been demolished. Come listen to key takeaways and lessons learned from walking the building with the lead prosecutor in the case.

This presentation focuses on behavioral and physical indicators of child abuse, how to respond to a child that discloses abuse and how to report. The Kansas mandated reporter laws will be covered. We will also discuss the process and local connections, resources and services, how to support local children and families, trauma informed response, indicators of trauma at different age levels and secondary trauma care.

Standards, standards, standards. How well do teachers know them to be able to deliver their instruction effectively as well as know the extent and depth of knowledge for their grade level? Learn about a framework for understanding standards alignment horizontally and vertically. This framework will promote PLC groups’ abilities to focus on high quality instruction. Moreover, learning the alignment can accelerate learning across the grades due to reducing overlapping instruction.

This session explores the concept of "Thin Slicing," which delineates a sequential progression of a lesson from prior knowledge to grade level standard. Learn how to quickly gather insights into student thinking through targeted tasks and observations. Discover how Thin Slicing can inform your instruction, differentiate learning, and propel students towards deeper mathematical understanding. Math teachers will experience and work together to create thin sliced lessons. They will collaborate on how to launch the lesson and provide tasks that increase rigor and ability to avoid frustrations and boredom while instilling perseverance and patience.

Join us for an action-oriented session to enhance knowledge, tools, and strategies necessary to implement collaborative inquiry processes within your schools. By leveraging data-driven decision-making and fostering a collaborative culture, attendees will learn how to identify possible systemic challenges, select aligned evidence-based practices, plan and implement practices across a school, and monitor progress to ensure sustained student success. This session will focus on literacy data, however many of the processes can be transferred to other content areas if you choose to implement them at your school site.

Modern artificial intelligence tools present both challenges and benefits to classrooms across the academic spectrum. This session is intended primarily for K-12 classroom teachers and curriculum leaders in all subject areas. Presenters will provide a brief look at the current state and capability of popular software tools and then discuss both the potential positive and the potential negative impacts of these capabilities. Best practices from national organizations and from other states’ efforts will be described, covering hot topics such as academic integrity, inquiry, and immediacy of feedback. A significant portion of the session will be reserved for discussion of attendees’ key concerns.