Sessions: Thursday Afternoon

3:30 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Affirming Cultural and Linguistic Identities in the Classroom—Part 2
Students need to see themselves reflected in the classroom, be able to learn about their peers, build relationships with one another, and connect with cultures and experiences that inspire their thinking and open their eyes to the world around them. In this session, educators will take part in a hands-on collaborative learning experience in which we research and engage in practices that leverage social emotional learning to affirm the cultural and linguistic identities of our students. Participants will leave inspired and motivated to create new opportunities for all students to engage meaningfully in their prekindergarten and elementary classrooms and school learning communities. Participants must attend both sessions to qualify for a certificate.
Presenters: Stephanie Byrd, prekindergarten inclusion teacher, Boston Public Schools; Lea Serena, second-grade teacher, Boston Public Schools

Closing the Relationship Gap: How to Address Invisible Barriers to Student Success
Invisible barriers prevent teachers and students from truly seeing each other, connecting, and building the relationships necessary for learning and growth to occur. Many classrooms across the nation suffer from the presence and impact of these invisible barriers that show up as implicit bias, stereotype threat, and stereotype consciousness. Closing this relationship gap is crucial to student success. This session will give specific steps teachers can take to close the relationship gap, restore fractured relations in the classroom and boost student success.
Presenter: Matthew E. Brandt, vice president, Innocent Technologies LLC

The Current Events Classroom: Teaching About Bias, Diversity and Social Justice—Part 2
Are discussions about the #MeToo movement making their way into your classroom? Do you want to discuss other news topics with your students, such as the Muslim ban, voting rights, immigration and “taking a knee,” but are not sure how to do it? Are you concerned that these discussions will backfire, leading to arguments, discord and less understanding? Young people—through overheard conversations and their social media feeds—constantly hear about controversial issues in the news, especially those that concern bias, hate and social justice. Using the Anti-Defamation League’s anti-bias framework, interactive strategies and curriculum content about current events, participants will gain confidence and skill in turning “teachable moments” into enriching classroom lessons and conversations. Participants must attend both sessions to qualify for a certificate.
Presenter: Michelle Magner, assistant education director, Anti-Defamation League (ADL)

Integrate Technology in the Classroom with Google’s Applied Digital Skills—Part 2
Come explore Google’s free digital literacy units—Applied Digital Skills—which are useful for every content area. This session will deliver an overview of the why, what and how to get it free for your middle and high school classroom. Then, participants will be guided through the helpful resources included with each of the Applied Digital Skills units with a series of collaborative challenges. This session will prepare you with the tools you need to integrate real-world-based digital learning into your classroom. (Participants will need to bring a laptop.) Participants must attend both sessions to qualify for a certificate.
Presenter: Bradley Lands, director of technology and innovation, The Langley School, McLean, Va.

Learning and Teaching About the U.S. Constitution
The Constitution is a living document that affects us every day. This session will highlight an interactive, free online course by the Center for Civic Education that allows educators to bring learning about the Constitution into their classrooms and enhance the teaching of the document with their students. 
Presenter: Maria Gallo, director of professional development and special programs, Center for Civic Education

Promoting the Achievement of ELLs by Increasing Family Engagement—Part 2
Looking for approaches you can use to develop effective home-school partnerships with families of English language learners? In this session, you will examine ways to increase familiarity with the diverse cultures of your community to better identify their needs, create a more welcoming school environment, and develop culturally responsive, two-way communications to strengthen meaningful engagement with diverse families. Participants must attend both sessions to qualify for a certificate.
Presenter: Susan Lafond, assistant in educational services, New York State United Teachers

Real-World Civic Engagement for Students: From the Classroom to the Community
Our young people are the future. That’s why it’s important to find ways to engage middle and high school students in civic life. Join the United Teachers of Dade in this union-created professional development to help students understand how decisions are made in civic life and how they can play a role in the decision-making process. Participants will learn ways students can collaborate to generate ideas about issues that impact their schools or communities and the steps they can take to effect change.
Presenters: Dwight Bullard, political director, New Florida Majority; Karla Hernandez-Mats, president, United Teachers of Dade (Miami, Fla.) and UTD Teaching Excellence Foundation

Research-Based Strategies for Effective Instruction—Part 2
You taught it, but your students didn’t seem to get it. Explore high-quality research that shows you how to create effective learning conditions in your classroom through the use of proven instructional and learner strategies. This session will engage participants around effective lesson planning and teaching, while providing insight on student motivation, checking for understanding and ensuring clarity. Participants will leave this session craving more of AFT’s Strategies for Student Success modules! Participants must attend both sessions to qualify for a certificate.
Presenters: Jerelle Hendon, operations support specialist, Birmingham (Ala.) City Schools; Tammy Jackson, career technology instructor, Birmingham City Schools

Social, Emotional and Academic Strategies for Building an Inclusive Classroom Community
Do you have any students who move through their school day without having a significant relationship with any adult? These “disconnected” kids need us to step in and be “their person.” If you want to do something about these children, attend this session to discover ways you can make a difference in your own classroom through social, emotional and academic strategies.
Presenter: Amber Chandler, National Board Certified ELA teacher, Frontier Middle School, Hamburg, N.Y.

Using Technology in Direct Instruction to Enhance Student Engagement
Direct instruction is a teacher-led strategy most effectively used to deliver new content knowledge. In this session, you will identify the steps used in creating a direct instruction lesson and identify low-tech and high-tech supports that will enhance student engagement during the use of a direct instruction strategy. Bring a lesson that has a lecture component so that you can use strategies learned in this session to enhance your lesson with QR Code, TodaysMeet, Poll Everywhere, Mentimeter and much more.
Presenter: Katherine Dorman, high school science teacher, Ponderosa High School, Douglas County (Colo.) Schools

Waves Aren't Just at the Beach: A Physical Science Design Challenge—Part 2
Gain knowledge in record keeping, classroom setup and classroom management while taking part in a physical science design challenge. You will be introduced to methods of teaching the fundamentals of waves and discover different ways for elementary and middle school students to demonstrate their knowledge of waves by building their own wave generators. This session is targeted at middle school, and we will show how such lessons can be adapted up or down. This session combines AFT’s Foundation course with science content developed by AFT’s Science Cadre. Participants must attend both sessions to qualify for a certificate. 
Presenters: Dan Reinhart, instructional coach, Toledo (Ohio) Public Schools; Dolores Samson, middle school science teacher, Larchmont Elementary School, Toledo, Ohio