EPS Summer Extravaganza

Creating a positive classroom culture is essential for student engagement and achievement. In this session, educators will explore practical strategies to build a classroom environment grounded in respect, safety, affirmation, and academic excellence. Participants will reflect on current practices, analyze real-world scenarios, and walk away with actionable tools and a personalized culture action plan. Join us to strengthen the foundation that makes rigorous and joyful learning possible.

Starting next year, every student will begin their day in the general education setting—an exciting shift toward belonging and meaningful engagement for all. In this session, you'll hear directly from general education teachers who’ve successfully created purposeful experiences for students with moderate academic and adaptive needs. Discover practical strategies to foster independence, build strong peer relationships, and make every moment count in your classroom.
Following the whole-group discussion, attendees will break into grade-level teams to explore age-appropriate strategies and share practical ideas.

Changing the world doesn’t always mean grand gestures. As educators, small consistent actions—like showing up, building relationships, and modeling integrity—are world-changing. That same principle applies in personal life, reminding fellow educators that the quiet acts of love and responsibility matter deeply.
I hope to focus on three areas:
1. Helping in the kitchen-“The classroom sink.” I want participants to gain knowledge and ideas that inspire daily habits that build classroom culture, emotional safety, and trust. (Discuss and share micro-practices that make a huge difference). Share personal practices and anecdotes.
2. “Do your own dishes-how to avoid teacher burnout.” Self-care, boundaries, and reclaiming personal identity outside of teaching. (Discuss and model self-respect and balance that teaches self- resilience. Share personal stories how I have learned this principle with 6 of my own children, working full-time, and completing a Master's Degree). Participants will create their own personal “dishes list”—daily actions that restore peace, pride, and power.
3. “Getting my kids to do the dishes”- Creating a legacy. Share stories of impactful teachers that have changed my life and the lives of my family. Discuss the hidden impacts of showing up everyday. Participants will write a legacy letter and set goals. Leave with a 30-Day Dishes Challenge handout that is a calendar-style sheet with one small, doable action each day (e.g., write a sticky note of appreciation, go tech-free for 30 minutes, smile at your toughest student, take a deep breath before replying).
Conversation prompts on tables: “What’s one small act that changed your life?”
“The student I teach for…”
“In 20 years, I want to be remembered for…”
“This is why I keep showing up…”

Format-a blend of reflective and practical strategies and discussions.

Students enter our classrooms with a wide range of learning styles, needs, and skills. In this course, participants will learn how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) concepts aim to support the diverse needs of all students by minimizing barriers in the curriculum and maximizing student outcomes.  Attendees will explore the UDL tools available in the Read&Write extension that support reading, writing, note-taking, studying, and learning. Participants will learn how to use the OrbitNote extension to convert PDFs into accessible digital documents that students can annotate while using the literacy and learning supports.  In addition, attendees will learn how to determine what, if any, reading accommodations work best for their students using the uPAR.  Participants will leave with practical strategies for making learning accessible and engaging for ALL students.

Bring a charged device. 

This session provides a comprehensive overview of Google Classroom for educators at all experience levels. Participants will learn how to create and manage classes, post assignments, communicate with students, and use grading tools. Those already familiar with the platform will also discover advanced tips and time-saving features to enhance their current practice. Bring a charged device. 

Is your data analysis process a tyrannosaurus wreck? Too often, we are data rich, but information poor. Join us to learn how to sift through your school English Language Proficiency data to unearth a treasure trove of information which can be used to guide programming and instruction.   This data dig will walk administrators through their own data to uncover how data can be mined in a meaningful way. Participants will reflect on data and backward plan ways to address strengths and weaknesses.

Participants need to bring a charged device. 

Join me to learn about or get new ideas for your Brain Smart Start! It's expected in all EPS classrooms, so what is it and how do I make them engaging? No slidedeck needed! Conscious Discipline's Brain Smart Start is where classroom connections begin and classroom management is maintained. Let's talk about the who, what, when, where, and why of it!

Feeling overwhelmed by stacks of district documents and the constant search for what to teach next? This hands-on workshop is your solution! Explicitly designed for self-contained elementary teachers, "Pacing Power-Up" will transform your planning process by allowing you to consolidate all district-provided pacing information into one dynamic, easy-to-use Google Sheet.

Why You Should Attend
1.) Reclaim Your Time: Stop sifting through multiple resources. Create a single, centralized digital pacing guide that you can access anywhere.
2.) Boost Your Organization: Gain clarity and confidence in your instructional flow for the entire school year, ensuring all standards and curriculum components are covered efficiently.
3.) Empower Your Planning: Learn practical strategies for organizing standards, units, resources, and assessment timelines in a digital format, tailored to the unique needs of a self-contained classroom.

What You Will Learn & Do
In this interactive session, you will learn the step-by-step process for:
1.) Deconstructing District Pacing: Identifying key info from existing district pacing guides.
2.) Building Your Digital Hub: Setting up a personalized Google Sheet template to house all your pacing details, including standards, topics, suggested activities, and assessment windows.
3.) Customizing for Your Classroom: Tailor your digital pacing guide to reflect your students' needs and classroom rhythm.

What You Will Take Away
You will leave with:
1. A foundational, personalized Google Sheet digital pacing guide template that you can immediately implement.
2. The skills and confidence to maintain and adapt your digital pacing guide throughout the year. It can also be updated easily for future years.

Bonus: If time allows, we will introduce strategies for integrating digital lesson planning directly into your new pacing guide, further streamlining your workflow.

This session will be structured with direct instruction, guided practice, and collaborative work, ensuring you leave with tangible progress on your digital pacing journey. No advanced Google Sheets knowledge is required. Please bring your Chromebook. I will provide printed copies of district pacing guides during the session.

Bring the forest to your K–5 classroom with Explore Your Environment, Project Learning Tree’s K–8 activity guide! This hands-on workshop focuses on engaging, age-appropriate lessons that build science, ELA, and math skills while encouraging students to explore the natural world. Aligned with academic standards, these flexible activities can be used indoors or outdoors—and they’re easy to plug into what you're already teaching. Participants will receive the full EYE guide and leave with practical tools and fresh ideas to spark curiosity, support inquiry, and bring learning to life outside the textbook.

Are you ready to upgrade your lesson planning game? In this interactive session, you’ll explore cutting-edge AI tools that can streamline your workload, boost creativity, and increase student engagement. From generating differentiated materials in seconds to building interactive activities and feedback tools, you’ll see how AI can enhance—not replace—your teaching.

Participants need to bring a charged device. 

This interactive session empowers educators to cultivate a positive classroom culture through intentional practices.  Participants will explore strategies to enhance student connection, establish consistent routines, and align classroom practices with school-wide expectations.  You will receive a structured guide for developing a personalized plans and a resource list for further learning.

Curious about AI but not sure where to start? This session is designed especially for elementary educators who want to understand what artificial intelligence is—and what it isn’t. We’ll explore beginner-friendly tools that can support your teaching and spark student creativity. Walk away with practical ideas and a better understanding of how AI can fit into your classroom in safe, age-appropriate ways. Bring a charged device. 

Imagine a classroom where conflicts become opportunities, emotions are tools for connection, and discipline is rooted in compassion rather than control. Conscious Discipline isn’t just a behavior management strategy—it’s a transformational approach to teaching and leading with intention. In this workshop, you’ll discover how to create a safe, connected environment where both adults and children thrive.

Are you tired of manually calculating student proficiency and struggling to visualize your grade level essential skills data? This hands-on workshop is designed for elementary-grade teams ready to revolutionize their data tracking and collaborative planning! You'll learn to build and utilize a dynamic Google Sheet dashboard that automatically calculates student proficiency based on your essential skills rubric scores (1-3).

Why Your Team Should Attend:
1. Effortless Proficiency Tracking: Say goodbye to manual calculations! Our template automatically updates proficiency percentages, providing you with an instant, clear view of your grade level progress on essential skills.
2. Streamlined Standards-Based Grading: Acquire a powerful tool to enhance your standards-based grading efforts. This dashboard delivers concrete data to inform instruction and reporting and functions as an invaluable reference document, simplifying the grade logging process into systems like Infinite Campus.
3. Empowered Collaborative Planning: Centralize your data to promote more effective team meetings. Teams can easily analyze trends, pinpoint areas of need, and strategically plan Common Formative Assessments (CFAs) for the entire year, ensuring focused instruction and interventions.

In this interactive session, your grade level team will:
1. Understand Data Points: Identify essential skills and the relevant data points needed for effective tracking using a 1-3 rubric score.
2. Build Your Team Dashboard: Work collaboratively to customize a Google Sheet template to input student scores and automatically calculate proficiency across your essential skills.
3. Strategic CFA Planning: Utilize the dashboard to collaboratively decide upon and map out future Common Formative Assessments, aligning them with areas of greatest need and curriculum progression.

You will leave with:
1. A ready-to-use, collaborative Google Sheet proficiency dashboard tailored to your grade-level team's essential skills data.
2. A clear understanding of interpreting proficiency data to drive instructional decisions.
3. A roadmap for planning future Common Formative Assessments based on real-time student needs.

This session will blend guided instruction with dedicated teamwork time. Please bring your Chromebook and come prepared to collaborate with your grade-level colleagues if possible. Familiarity with your grade-level essential skills and assessment rubrics is recommended.

Bring the forest to your middle school classroom with Explore Your Environment, Project Learning Tree’s K–8 activity guide! This hands-on workshop focuses on engaging, age-appropriate lessons that build science, ELA, and math skills while encouraging students to explore the natural world. Aligned with academic standards, these flexible activities can be used indoors or outdoors—and they’re easy to plug into what you're already teaching. Participants will receive the full EYE guide and leave with practical tools and fresh ideas to spark curiosity, support inquiry, and bring learning to life outside the textbook.

This session will show you all the features of our reading curriculum.  We will model how to implement this in the classroom.  You will have time to explore with the trainers and ask any questions you might have while actively using the dashboard and curriculum materials.  This will give you a better understanding and plan for our reading, language and writing curriculum.  Bring a charged device.

Are you new to our district? Come learn all that you can about our ELA Curriculum. Not only will you learn where to find things, you will see a lesson modeled for you! Bring a charged device.