Conference Program

After 11 years in leadership together, presenters Alicia and Josh have created a system for thoroughly implementing cultural best practices to continuously support students and grow leaders in a positive, productive capacity. Their staff-centered approach has earned them a reputation as experts in culture building, retaining staff and achieving high employee satisfaction results. They will share their time-tested tips and tricks for success and give you a ready-to-use system to implement with your own staff.
This session will be repeated:
Tuesday, July 19
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: High Plains 3
Room Level: Vineyard Tower (Level 1)
Wednesday, July 20
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Grapevine Ballroom BD: Table 13
Room Level: Ballroom Level (Level 3)

While problem-based learning has been shown to increase student engagement, students require more than generic scenarios. We argue that PBL with a culturally responsive focus not only increases students' level of engagement but also adds value to what they bring to the classroom— their cultural capital. This instructional approach, culturally responsive project-based learning (CRPBL) not only provides maximum engagement but also ensures a high level of rigor and relevance. This session will take participants through a highly engaging CRPBL activity. We will also provide resources and ongoing supports for those who intend to create their own CRPBL activities.
This session will be repeated:
Thursday, July 21
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Location: High Plains 3
Room Level: Vineyard Tower (Level 1)
Friday, July 22
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Location: Palomino 3
Room Level: Lone Star Tower (Level 3)

Did you teach online during the last year or two? Did you struggle to find ways to provide video lessons and find online tools to support your students' learning? If so, you are headed to the right session. This session will help you to create online content and find online tools for your students. Moreover, we will provide you with our success stories of creating digital lessons to help build your capacity to navigate the world of digital instruction and online learning. Please join us in a collaborative conversation about implementing video lessons and online tools.
This session will be repeated:
Wednesday, July 20
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Location: High Plains 3
Room Level: Vineyard Tower (Level 1)
Friday, July 22
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Escondido 3
Room Level: Vineyard Tower (Level 1)

Strong staff-student relationships are the foundation for getting students excited about and engaged with their learning. In this session, we will explore the relationship between social-emotional learning  and career and technical education. CTE courses give students an opportunity to gain exposure potential careers and choose career pathways of the most interest to their future goals. In this session, participants will learn activities that they can use with students to not only review their CTE content but also infuse SEL, career exploration and relationship-building into their instruction. Participants will leave understanding that we are better together when we incorporate SEL into our CTE classrooms.
This session will be repeated:
Wednesday, July 20
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: Dallas 3-4
Room Level: Ballroom Level (Level 3)
Thursday, July 21
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Location: Grapevine Ballroom BD: Table 12
Room Level: Ballroom Level (Level 3)

Although grit, toughness and resilience are as essential to achieving career and life goals as any academic knowledge and skills, students rarely have learning experiences that cultivate and strengthen these attributes. This session will focus on how the adversity and challenges associated with standards-based assignments can nurture students' efficacy and prepare them to experience success in academia and beyond. We'll discuss the role that grit plays in one's trajectory for career and academic success after high school and how to use praise to engage students in completing challenging tasks.
This session will be repeated:
Thursday, July 21
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Appaloosa 3
Room Level: Lone Star Tower (Level 3)
Friday, July 22
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Palomino 1
Room Level: Lone Star Tower (Level 3)

What if we read in math class? Want to put a new spin on a difficult concept like finding the surface area of a rectangular prism? Need an interesting way to create box plots with authentic data? How about making "Wanted" posters for lost pieces of a circle? Learn how to link literature with math and address college- and career-readiness standards. I'll share 100+ popular children's book titles to use in middle grades math classes. Participants will receive lesson plans, directions for how to make foldables for vocabulary words, rubrics for scoring projects, games for transitions and door prizes! Come giggle with us!
This session will be repeated:
Wednesday, July 20
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Location: Appaloosa 3
Room Level: Lone Star Tower (Level 3)
Thursday, July 21
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Location: Grapevine Ballroom BD: Table 9
Room Level: Ballroom Level (Level 3)

In order to create authentic math tasks, teachers need a strategy for harnessing their ideas and turning them into engaging learning opportunities. I use the GRASP method (Given, Required, Analysis, Solution and Paraphrase) to create math tasks that are not only authentic but fun and engaging, too. In this session, I'll explain the GRASP method of creating performance tasks, show exemplars of performance tasks in my classroom, model how to use the vertical alignment of curriculum standards to differentiate learning tasks, and show you how to convert a traditional word problem into an engaging performance task.
This session will be repeated:
Tuesday, July 19
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Location: Appaloosa 3
Room Level: Lone Star Tower (Level 3)
Wednesday, July 20
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Location: Grapevine Ballroom BD: Table 6
Room Level: Ballroom Level (Level 3)

Students need to read, write and think daily to learn math conceptually. Join us as we tie literacy skills to students' mathematical success. Practical literary strategies will be shared that will enable students to connect mathematical representations such as coordinate pairs, slope and similar concepts to the real-world situations they represent. We'll take a look at some of the storybooks that lend themselves to math lessons, strengthening students' understanding of mathematical relevance and their reading comprehension. Best teaching practices that encourage students to think will be reviewed. We'll also share leadership strategies that help principals and instructional coaches know what to look for in the literacy-based math classroom.
This session will be repeated:
Tuesday, July 19
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: San Saba 4
Room Level: Vineyard Tower (Level 1)
Friday, July 22
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Location: Appaloosa 3
Room Level: Lone Star Tower (Level 3)

John Maxwell has been ranked as the #1 leadership expert in the world and his team provides on-going training to governments and organizations around the globe. He teaches that everything rises and falls on leadership... and leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less. As an education leader for 30+ years and an executive director with the John Maxwell Team, Dr. Jeanne Ford combines her experience with John's research and teachings to add value to leaders. In this fun, fast-paced, interactive session, you will learn strategies for understanding and utilizing your strengths and the strengths of your team, colleagues, and students. You will learn what motivates and what hinders each individual style, as well as develop skills for identifying fears, fortifying weaknesses, communicating, connecting and developing trusting relationships that will enhance team spirit and student learning and move your school or department forward! It's all about leadership, and it's all about influence!
This session will be repeated:
Thursday, July 21
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Location: High Plains 1
Room Level: Vineyard Tower (Level 1)
Friday, July 22
1:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Appaloosa 3
Room Level: Lone Star Tower (Level 3)

Do you need to reestablish teacher agency — the connection between instruction and student impact? Do your schools need help with learning leaps and accelerated student learning? A mix of historical practices and the difficulties of educating students during a pandemic poses a brand-new challenge for students and their teachers as no one is quite sure what students have learned and what they do not know. This session will cover research-proven methods to facilitate learning leaps and accelerate your students' skills recovery.
This session will be repeated:
Thursday, July 21
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Location: Appaloosa 3
Room Level: Lone Star Tower (Level 3)
Friday, July 22
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Location: Escondido 2
Room Level: Vineyard Tower (Level 1)

After implementing the Canvas learning management system during the pandemic, we have some takeaways for how to structure and create systems of support for educators, students and parents in our school system. Come ready to share your LMS strategies, too!
This session will be repeated:
Wednesday, July 20
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Location: Dallas 5-7
Room Level: Ballroom Level (Level 3)
Friday, July 22
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Location: Appaloosa 3
Room Level: Lone Star Tower (Level 3)

Document-based questions and historical inquiries can seem dull. All historians or fans of history know that history is anything but dull because good historical narratives are provocative. Due to our fears of these discussions getting out of hand, many middle and high school teachers avoid historical controversies and stick to memorization of facts and vocabulary. This session focuses on the creation and curation of provocative historical inquiries while still recognizing and respecting the diversity and inclusivity needed in our classrooms. It also demonstrates a way to teach historical analysis based on documents and facts in which many students will be excited to participate.
This session will be repeated:
Tuesday, July 19
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Appaloosa 3
Room Level: Lone Star Tower (Level 3)
Wednesday, July 20
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Location: Grapevine Ballroom BD: Table 2
Room Level: Ballroom Level (Level 3)

In this session, we'll show teachers and student services professionals how to balance the load by engaging in leadership for continuous improvement and enhancing systems of support through empowered distributive leadership, improved professional collaboration, resource mapping, effective child-find techniques and strategizing to implement academic and social-emotional supports.
This session will be repeated:
Tuesday, July 19
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Location: Escondido 2
Room Level: Vineyard Tower (Level 1)
Wednesday, July 20
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Location: Grapevine Ballroom BD: Table 9
Room Level: Ballroom Level (Level 3)

Do you need to reestablish teacher agency — the connection between instruction and student impact? Do your schools need help with learning leaps and accelerated student learning? A mix of historical practices and the difficulties of educating students during a pandemic poses a brand-new challenge for students and their teachers as no one is quite sure what students have learned and what they do not know. This session will cover research-proven methods to facilitate learning leaps and accelerate your students' skills recovery.
This session will be repeated:
Thursday, July 21
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Location: Appaloosa 3
Room Level: Lone Star Tower (Level 3)
Friday, July 22
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Location: Escondido 2
Room Level: Vineyard Tower (Level 1)

The role and responsibilities of school counselors are deeply rooted in SREB's Systems of Support focus area. This session will help counselors introduce students, parents and teachers to their comprehensive counseling programs. Join me to unpack the crucial role of school counseling programs in improving student outcomes and providing academic and social supports and career guidance.
This session will be repeated:
Thursday, July 21
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Location: Escondido 2
Room Level: Vineyard Tower (Level 1)
Friday, July 22
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Escondido 1
Room Level: Vineyard Tower (Level 1)

This session will be repeated:
Tuesday, July 19

Student teaching and mentoring do not end the day a preservice teacher exits student teaching and graduates from college. This is only the beginning of the learning process to build knowledge and skills to effectively teach and manage a classroom of students. During this session, I'll share knowledge and strategies learned from 15 years of experience mentoring new teachers as well as the interview data from preservice teachers from my award-winning dissertation on preservice teaching and school leadership. The lived, researched and interviewed data and experiences highlight the question, "What does mentorship look like?" This presentation aims to provide you with ideas to bring back to your schools to help build the capacity of your teachers to mentor our next generation of teachers.
This session will be repeated:
Wednesday, July 20
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Location: San Saba 3
Room Level: Vineyard Tower (Level 1)
Friday, July 22
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Location: Palomino 2
Room Level: Lone Star Tower (Level 3)

Presenters will share easy-to-replicate routines that establish patterns of thinking and provide opportunities for students to develop deep understanding and experience what it means to engage in a culture of thinking.
This session will be repeated:
Wednesday, July 20
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Location: Appaloosa 1
Room Level: Lone Star Tower (Level 3)
Friday, July 22
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Appaloosa 4
Room Level: Lone Star Tower (Level 3)

After this session, you will leave with tangible, practical ideas you can use right away to create rigorous and engaging tasks in both reading and writing around culturally relevant, grade-level complex texts. These rigorous tasks address equity and the standards in urban education settings. You'll also learn how to scaffold learning for your scholars so that all learners have access and success with the content.
This session will be repeated:
Wednesday, July 20
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Location: Appaloosa 1
Room Level: Lone Star Tower (Level 3)
Thursday, July 21
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Location: Grapevine Ballroom BD: Table 5
Room Level: Ballroom Level (Level 3)

Join us for an introduction to Fast Track: Elementary Schedules as a strategy for overcoming COVID-19 impacts and addressing long-term achievement gaps by accelerating literacy and math instruction. COVID-19 has disrupted the successful teaching and learning of core academic skills in all grades. The long-term impacts are greatest in the elementary grades, where students are failing to learn the critical literacy and math skills essential to success in school. Historically underserved students are particularly impacted by COVID-19 and are predicted to have disproportionate learning loss. Are things hopeless or are there solutions that can address the situation? We believe there is hope. By creating “fast track” school designs, district and school leaders can increase efficiency and effectiveness in addressing the overall issue of elementary learning loss as well as the specific issue of equity for students most likely to impact.
This session will be repeated:
Wednesday, July 20
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: High Plains 2
Room Level: Vineyard Tower (Level 1)
Friday, July 22
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Appaloosa 1
Room Level: Lone Star Tower (Level 3)

SREB's improvement process has been put to use in this rural school to examine the myriad of problems schools have faced in the last few years. By using this process, the school addressed the root causes and monitored their change ideas leading to a systemic improvement. Come hear how Tyler Consolidated High School in West Virginia addressed the root causes and monitored their change ideas leading to a systemic improvement. Major areas addressed were social and emotional learning post-pandemic and revising the adviser/advisee program to be more effective.

Neuroscientists have highlighted how the portions of your brain that support academic learning, memory building, ability to focus, ability to maintain attention and develop skills are located in the same parts of the brain and are connected to the portions of the brain that impact our emotions. As the CEO of Shmoop, presenter Andy Rahden and his team have focused their efforts on research along with thousands of other studies that connect factors and dimensions of academics to other factors like emotions. In this session, we will take the mysteries out of how these things tie together, what you need to focus on as an educator to improve academic outcomes, and specific steps you can take to really impact kids' learning!
This session will be repeated:
Tuesday, July 19
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Appaloosa 1
Room Level: Lone Star Tower (Level 3)
Thursday, July 21
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Mesilla 2
Room Level: Vineyard Tower (Level 1)

How do students know they have in-demand workplace competencies when they graduate from high school? Currently, students largely rely on teacher feedback regarding mastery of technical or industry-specific skills. However, many in-demand competencies are internal processes, such as self-direction, and other hard-to-measure skills like "professionalism." Virtual Enterprises International co-created a comprehensive Career Readiness Framework with Deloitte that identified difficult-to-measure workplace competencies and developed an online formative assessment tool that currently enables more than 20,000 students from 400+ schools across the U.S. to measure their growth and development of those competencies. In this session, participants will discuss what it means for students to be career-ready and the power of technology-enabled self-reflection in supporting youth career development, at scale.
This session will be repeated:
Thursday, July 21
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM
Location: Tate Ballroom 7
Room Level: Vineyard Tower (Level 2)
Friday, July 22
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Location: Mustang 3
Room Level: Lone Star Tower (Level 3)

This presentation will describe how one school engaged their students in professional development opportunities to simulate the work environment. All of us at one time sit through conference presentations about various topics related to our fields. To give our students a leg up in the workforce, our academy within our school developed a student professional development program and brought professional development conferences to them! With many guest speakers eager to teach our students about what their job entails or real-life information related to their program areas, we have developed a twice-yearly program that helps our students really feel what it is like to be in the workforce.
This session will be repeated:
Wednesday, July 20
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Tate Ballroom 7
Room Level: Vineyard Tower (Level 2)
Thursday, July 21
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Location: Grapevine Ballroom BD: Table 15
Room Level: Ballroom Level (Level 3)

Trumbull Career and Technical Center continues to expand and evolve the 3E’s to create guiding principles for students, teachers and concentrators. In 2014, TCTC adopted the 3E model to support its career and technical education students. This included redesigning branding and career development activities to connect to Enrollment, Enlistment and Employment. This schoolwide focus gave direction to many activities like college fairs, expert panels and even classroom lessons. By asking students from Day 1, “What’s Your E,” students are set up to focus on the long term with consistent supports anchored in the 3Es. The 2020-2021 school year provided much evidence on how factors outside of school affect students' and teachers' daily school experiences. We found that many teachers needed more support and resources for Empathy, Equity and Efficacy in the classroom to empower themselves and their students to be successful. Because of this, we decided to anchor our professional development series for the year around providing education and support to our teachers. Now in 2021-2022, as our school expands by developing a ninth and 10th-grade program, the 3E’s continue with Engage, Explore and Empower. TCTC is inviting ninth- and 10th-grade students to experience CTE at lower grade levels and find their passion. These students will be hands-on in a variety of career fields while working on integrated academic content. As students continue through high school, they are empowered to choose a career path and become CTE concentrators ready to participate in all elements of a quality CTE program, work-based learning and eventually formal employment.
This session will be repeated:
Tuesday, July 19
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Location: Tate Ballroom 1
Room Level: Vineyard Tower (Level 2)
Wednesday, July 20
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Location: Mustang 2
Room Level: Lone Star Tower (Level 3)

As educators, we must tackle the learning losses experienced in 2020-2022, aka "the COVID cliff," and recommit to student success, renew our knowledge of effective interventions and reimagine an educational system without pandemic disruptions. When identifying supplemental supports, we need to ask, at what level are the students performing now? At what level do we want them to perform tomorrow? and How do we lessen gaps? Because ESSA requires school systems to study the effectiveness of programs supported with federal funds, the pressure on educational practitioners to research potential interventions can be daunting. This session will demystify the research process by showing participants how to identify critical issues, research effective interventions, budget for interventions, monitor student progress, modify the implementation of interventions that prove ineffective, and conduct ongoing progress monitoring of program effectiveness.
This session will be repeated:
Tuesday, July 19
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Mustang 2
Room Level: Lone Star Tower (Level 3)
Wednesday, July 20
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Grapevine Ballroom BD: Table 14
Room Level: Ballroom Level (Level 3)

Let's discuss how to balance engagement strategies in the classroom and human connection in a digital world. How do we engage learners for college and career readiness? How do we reach our underserved populations? How do we keep up with an evolving education sphere? Join me and let's explore how to hook your little digital natives from day one. Learn engagement strategies, how to manage a classroom with school-issued devices, and delve into relationships and rapport in a digital world. Let's embed technology, music, and passion in our noble profession! Lean into relevant content; we cannot and should not teach the way we did even 10 years ago. We'll explore how to keep up with the times and create a family classroom that is culturally inclusive.
This session will be repeated:
Wednesday, July 20
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM
Location: Mustang 2
Room Level: Lone Star Tower (Level 3)
Thursday, July 21
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Location: Grapevine Ballroom BD: Table 8
Room Level: Ballroom Level (Level 3)