[This workshop will be offered in Session I ONLY. Space is limited. Pre-registration is required.]

As the value of higher education comes under question and the numbers of students majoring in the humanities and social sciences decline, what steps are universities taking to reclaim the import of a liberal arts education? How are colleges and universities seeking to reaffirm the singularity of the residential experience through efforts at experiential learning, project based learning and new interdisciplinary programs? Where within such efforts do online, flipped classes and new technologies figure? With a focus on changes underway at Stanford, this talk will consider important developments in the undergraduate curriculum. Harry J. Elam Jr. is Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at Stanford University. He received his AB from Harvard College in 1978 and his Ph.D. in Dramatic Arts from the University of California Berkeley in 1984.

Loving Learning, How Progressive Education Can Save America’s Schools “...provocative, educational, and full of wisdom and heart.” Deborah Meier In 2013, Tom Little, then Head of Park Day School in Oakland, set out on an adventure of a lifetime, visiting 43 independent and public schools across the country in search of the essence of progressive education in the 21st century. The lessons he learned in this 6-week tour are interwoven with his 60 years of experience as a student and educator in his just released book, Loving Learning. Tom brings to life an education for democracy and social justice that is intentional, inclusive and deeply informed by the learner, exploring both the roots of progressive education and how it is currently exemplified in some of America’s leading schools. In this session, we will look at the progressive ideas Tom explored in his life and his book, and reflect together on how we can assure that these values flourish in our own schools and classrooms.

From developing criteria for teacher effectiveness, to initiating a Teaching Fellows program, to offering monthly Teaching Seminars on diverse pedagogies, to supporting observation cohorts, Bay's leaders will demonstrate how the "growth from within" model has had an impact on teaching and learning--and has further "professionalized" this multifaceted and noble vocation. In this panel presentation, presenters will share the evolution of its professional development models and facilitate a dialogue about ways independent schools can implement these (and additional) tools within their existing structures.

Pooling ideas from traditional and innovative 'experts' on classroom discipline, we will show (via Youtube), discuss and analyze a variety of approaches to classroom management. As educators in three distinct classroom settings (Kindergarten, Elementary Jewish Studies and Middle School General Studies Math), we'll share the student challenges and successes we've experienced and facilitate interactive audience participation. Handouts will be provided!

Maybe you are thinking of establishing a school garden or kickstarting a green campaign for your school. Or perhaps you have an existing sustainability program, but you want to see it grow. If so, then this workshop is for you. San Domenico, a nationally recognized Green Ribbon School, has been working for more than a decade to transform itself into a sustainable community. We will share with you the steps we have taken to green our school and provide you with ideas and resources for how to green your facilities, establish a garden, work with student groups and/or administration, as well as integrate sustainability principles into the curriculum. After an initial introduction, we will break into groups to discuss whatever area is of most importance to you. We encourage you to share your own experience, discuss any challenges you may be facing and if you have come across any helpful resources or have stories of success, to share them.

When you outsource your network and system administrator duties, by definition you are giving the "keys to the kingdom" to someone not employed by the school. How do you choose the right company? How do you keep tabs on them? How much information is too much to share? How do you part ways with them if necessary. Come and join tech directors from across the Bay Area to share ideas in a round table discussion.

This round table discussion will provide an opportunity for school safety officers, administrators, and any other faculty/staff members to discuss issues and experiences with campus safety and security. The goal is to share resources, experiences, successes, and challenges in an effort to support other safe school communities and build a network of contacts for continuing dialogue. Each attendee will be asked to bring school safety and security procedures/plans to compare and share with others.

Does co-teaching positively affect student learning? Co-teaching takes a lot of time -- is it worth it? Three years ago, Hillbrook School launched a Resident Teacher Program adding open-minded, curious and passionate early career teachers to our faculty, which allowed us to increasingly focus our attention on co-teaching. Join our third grade teaching team and Director of Teaching & Learning as we share our story of moving from a traditional classroom model to a highly collaborative, team-based co-teaching approach. Do you have questions about co-teaching? So do we! Join us for a lively discussion.

Your Skin, Your Game� is designed for students in grades 7-12. This informative, entertaining and real-world presentation delivers an overview of executive function and a range of practical strategies students can apply, immediately. It illuminates the ways hand-held technologies impact self-regulation, and provides recommendations to limit these distractions. Funny, relevant, and energizing, Your Skin, Your Game lays the conceptual groundwork, so students understand their emerging executive function and can take action to improve their academics and organization.

According to statistics at San Francisco State University, the average age that a student now comes out is 15. More than ever middle school Gay -Straight Alliances allow students to actively learn how to support each other and make schools a safer place for all. We will discuss the reasons we started our GSA ten years ago and will talk about how it works and how to get all kinds of students engaged. Finally we will have several activities and ideas that support gay students, gay families, and straight allies.

What do today's tweens and teens really want and need to know for healthy sexual development? This workshop will look beyond anatomy and explore subjects and lesson plans that can enhance contemporary sexuality education. Topics include: love, gender/sexual identity, sex in the media, online responsibility, consent, healthy relationships and healthy goodbyes. There will be time for workshop participants to brainstorm and share innovative ideas to make sexuality education more relevant to our students.

Do you have 9th grade students who are struggling with the transition to high school? What structures would help facilitate a smoother transition for students and their families? This workshop will cover the range of challenges students face and the support structures utilized by a variety of schools. Workshop participants will be encouraged to share their experiences and collaborate to create innovative strategies to support these students.

This presentation will look at some of the research behind homework and how it affects our students. Time, achievement, equity, and student health will be discussed. This presentation will encourage participation by sharing best practices and ideas.

This session will provide an opportunity for Learning Specialists and Counselors to network, share ideas and information around supporting our students with special learning needs.

There is increasing evidence of the value of mindfulness in education. Perhaps you like the idea but don't quite know how to incorporate it in your classroom. This workshop will allow you to participate in a "mindful minute"� exercise and will give you instruction in how to lead a mindful minute on your own. The presenter will walk you through the process, give you language you can use, and explain how it can help your students. Come and relax as well as learn some new tools for teaching.

Our nation's current approach to bullying doesn't work, but even worse, it's bad for kids. From "Bully Language" to Zero Tolerance to the expanded definition of bullying, many of our policies and practices do more harm than good. In this workshop, we will deconstruct our approach and explore different ways to deal with childhood aggression in our schools.

Learn about ways to integrate the evidence-based practice of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) into school-based counseling. Workshop participants will receive an outline for assessing counseling situations that might benefit from EMDR, implementing EMDR-based techniques in schools, and information on when and where to refer to outside practitioners. (Note: this workshop will be an overview of EMDR techniques, not a comprehensive EMDR training.)

Learn how you as an educator can teach your student or your own child how to manage time and therefore stress on a daily basis. Beneficial tool for busy adults too!

Some families consume an inordinate amount of counseling, teaching and administrative time due to their high level of dysfunction. Parents can be more challenging to deal with than their children. Well intended interventions can backfire, creating more drama and conflict. A provocative case will be presented, and we will outline an empathetic structured conceptual framework for understanding such families, and the reactions they provoke in staff. Solutions for dealing effectively with such families will be offered.

Defining Mindful Meditation and explaining how it's used in classrooms K-8. Identifying research to support the use of mindfulness and meditation with children and adolescence. Sharing examples of Mindful Meditation drawings from K-8 students. Providing an opportunity for participants to experience Mindful Meditation and its effects. Discussing the positive effects of affirmations as a way to build self-esteem.

We are teaching a four session executive function curriculum to second graders designed to help bring awareness to and build skills in the executive function areas of mental flexibility, independent organization, and goal directed behaviors. Each session includes: 1. Presentation of one of the three executive function concepts with hands-on materials and discussion; 2. Linking the executive function concept to their existing curriculum; and 3. Completion of a novel in class activity that requires understanding and use of the executive function skills being taught. The fourth session is for wrap-up, review, and celebration.

Are you thinking of shifting your teaching practice to provide more authentic opportunities to capitalize on student interest while still ensuring you are hitting the essential skills needed? This is the workshop for you! Join us in learning about our journey to shift our teaching from teacher directed to teacher-facilitated and student-centered. You will learn the value of inquiry based observations, documentation and starting the process of shifting your practice.

In this interactive workshop, participants will become familiar with seven of Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences. Participants will learn what they can do to stimulate these intelligences in themselves and with their young students. We will briefly discuss several of the other intelligences that have been added to this theory since it was originally devised by Howard Gardner.

Developmentally, children ages 4-5 discover and seek new forms of power.  Learn and discuss effective and appropriate strategies that both meet the needs of this stage of growth and set clear boundaries that provide them with the safety and consistency they desire. We will learn the magic of saying "Yes" when meaning "No" and how to apply this skill daily to facilitate the needs of the teacher, parent/guardian and child. Further reading and additional resources will also be provided at the end of the workshop.

Our social-emotional learning prepares students for success in life while helping participants learn to: *Manage their emotions, and reduce stress *Improve focus and academic performance *Develop empathy and reduce bullying on a root cause level *Build emotional resilience and nurture positive perspectives *Identify and build on their strengths *Share their gifts to benefit their community

Today's parents are more engaged (and concerned) about their children's education than ever before. In this workshop, we look at so-called "overparenting" behaviors that can be very challenging for teachers and administrators. Then, we offer suggestions for practical strategies that can help establish productive communications and expectations, as well as a collection of resources schools can use for continuing parent education. The workshop presenters are two school heads currently leading PK-8 schools.

Join our Head of Lower School Stephanie Deitz, Second Grade Teacher Sara Lee, and Physical Education Teacher Michele Richards as we share our learning journey of bringing parents into our social and emotional curriculum. We develop partnerships with parents via parent coffees and book groups, we lead interactive role plays where parents gain hands on skills and common language for supporting their child's development, and train parents on how to volunteer on the playground and in the lunchroom.

What happens when three San Francisco Friends School teachers collaborate to enliven student portfolios by moving from binders to boxes? Come learn about our hands-on process that includes how to integrate documentation, increase student voice, choice, and autonomy, while expanding the definition of what can be included in a portfolio (i.e., 3D artifacts, multimedia, in addition to traditional paperwork). Hear about how this shift in portfolio structure can make student thinking visible, deepen reflective work and provide a window into the life of your classroom.

In any given class period or week of teaching academic subjects, how often do we fully engage our students' bodies and affects? Can students in academic classes experience the same level of kinesthetic and affective engagement they often do during P.E., theater, music, and dance class activities? In this participatory workshop, we will explore exercises that foster teachers' kinesthetic, spatial, and rhythmic awareness while learning structural strategies for crafting "whole-body" lessons that engage students cognitively, critically, creatively, and kinesthetically.

Join us and explore all types of programming opportunities for Primary grades. The focus will be on making these lessons meaningful for content area learning. From Social skills to math, there are so many K-5 learning opportunities in programming.

Presenters will share the experience of blending an AP-level English course while reducing seat time as the semester progresses. Participants will hear from both the classroom teacher and the academic tech director, who will follow their presentation with a group discussion about blending the humanities in independent schools. Finally, the session will conclude with a look at tools attendees can add to their blended learning toolkit. In the spirit of a professional learning community, participants will have the option to continue these thoughtful discussions, after the conference, with the group online.

Asking students to examine and share their burgeoning identities helps create a richer classroom and school community. Join three 7th and 8th English teachers as they share lesson plans that ask students to examine, explore, and express their identities. (The lessons include art, writing, discussion, and large-group simulations.) After analyzing themes of identity in literature, students take examples from their own lives to figure out what makes them who they are. We will share both the teaching process and our students' personal narratives that will hopefully inspire your own instruction.

What does it mean to be interdisciplinary? We founded the humanities curriculum at Sonoma Academy on the premise that interdisciplinary study has benefits both obvious and profound for students and teachers alike. But the unexpected and unintended benefits of our approach have proved just as meaningful. Having an interdisciplinary mindset affects the way you work together as a learning community, the way you approach problems, and the way you plan for the future. We will explain how we designed our curriculum, how it grew and changed in the face of challenges, how we have made connections with other departments and other schools, and how we have employed our interdisciplinary mindset to address school-wide issues.Additional Presenters: Brandon Spars and Colin McNamara

Balancing discipline with the common culture of care in independent schools, often finds faculty erring on the side of leniency and "likability." This workshop unpacks the myths of who bears responsibility for discipline and is an opportunity for faculty to openly dialogue about the difficulties they face daily concerning student accountability and conduct. Led by two Deans of Students with combined three decades of experience, participants will examine how when it comes to shaping moral, ethical, and conscientious students it truly does take a village.

Nor Cal Sustainability RoundTable Collaborative Open to all practitioners of high school sustainability initiatives! Purpose: Opportunity to sit with peers, exchange stories, discuss strategies, ask questions! RoundTable features: Everyone is a clinician, everyone is a student. All attendees encouraged to bring a "A Packet of Nuggets"---a compliation of sustainability gems from your work on sustainability. (Examples of sustainability work you have contributed to or worked on at your school. Resources that you have used in your program.) (Format inspired by the Annual Nor Cal Distance Coaches' Collaborative Roundtable at Crystal Springs High school every January.)

We know that environment is not neutral; every space invites and affords certain behaviors and types of thinking. As we move from a model of teacher-disseminator to teacher-facilitator, how do our classroom spaces need to also change? This session will briefly review the history of Learning Spaces at Hillbrook, starting with the iLab and moving to dozens of "agile classrooms" across grade levels and content areas. We will share the themes we are paying attention to in our redesigns. Finally, the session will introduce the program of teacher-research at Hillbrook and how it forms a feedback loop to our classroom redesigns.

Join the conversation with Head-Royce faculty, administrators, students and alumni, including Abby Falik, Head-Royce Alumna and Founder of Global Citizen Year. 

Over the past few years, "App Smashing"� has referred predominantly to creating content using various iOS and Android apps. I'd like to share how you can also "app smash" on a laptop/desktop using GAFE (Google Apps for Education) products and other online applications like Movenote, TimelineJS, Pear Deck, and Flippity. The resulting projects are terrific alternative assessments that demonstrate students' understanding of course content in an engaging medium.

A discussion of tried and true projects in upper elementary and middle school classrooms. We will present differentiation and integration of multiple subjects and highlight ways that all learners' needs can be met through collaboration and cross-curricular study.

Students create a sustainable campus by developing a model using Minecraft and Google Maps. The class works through an inquiry model to find what resources need to be recycled and reused. Previously, students worked through recycling all used water, generating electricity using bikes, and transferring sweat into water. All models were created on Minecraft and the plans were developed on Google Maps outlining the use of space.

This presentation, intended for middle school teachers, is about an interdisciplinary project between an English class and a French computer science class, which focused on students’ identity as related to the theme of coming of age in English literature novels. Participants will leave this workshop knowing how Scratch (software) can be used across subjects to teach science, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) via technology.

In this session, World Language teachers from Bentley's lower and middle schools seek to show K-12 foreign language teachers how to fill the cracks of their limited time with more comprehensible input. Teachers will leave this session with strategies for how to enhance current curriculum with more Comprehensible input. While this session is applicable to K-12 language study, emphasis will be on the early stages of language acquisition. Examples will be provided in French, Mandarin, and Spanish.

Durantes este taller vamos a explorar lo que es la enseñanza para la comprensión y que podemos hacer para impementarla en los salones de clase utilizando para esto "rutinas de aprendizaje visible" las cuales hacen visibles lo invisible. A través de este taller, conocerán la importancia de desarrollar habilidades de pensamiento en los estudiantes conociendo y practicando rutinas que les permitirán lograrlo. Este taller va a ser en español.

Last year, Marin Academy's English department and its two librarians planned an experiential research project tied to Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath." Working in small groups, students would narrate their own trip across the United States on a budget similar to that of the Joads. Needing to solve unexpected challenges that required online research skills, media literacy, cartographical literacy, and creative thinking and writing, students spent four class periods documenting their experience on a blog. Participant learning outcomes and take-aways: 1. Collaborative structures and strategies for teachers and librarians, 2. Project outlines, 3. Key challenges in lesson design and implementation, 4. Tools and resources used.

The Hamlin School will present its Global Citizenship program, explaining both process and ongoing progress. Participants will learn how Hamlin constructed a mission, vision and action items for the program; defined global citizenship outcomes; and tapped into the talent of their community to ensure school wide interest and ownership. Specifically, the presentation will walk participants through the five core strands of Hamlin's GCP program (Identity Formation, Environmental Stewardship, Multilingualism, Social Justice, and Global Awareness). The presentation will also offer plenty of ready-to-use resources, including Hamlin’s online platform, and tips on using social media for Global Citizenship.

Noted Bay Area librarian, storyteller, and author Walter M. Mayes will guide attendees through an amazing field of new titles for classroom use. Books that touch on all aspects of the curriculum will be included.

This is one of the last lessons of a 4-week unit of study on statistics that can replace or supplement the CC statistics unit for sixth grade. Students learn how to analyze data organized into a box and whisker plot, defining and demonstrating quartiles, and understanding how additional data added to data sets may affect computations of measures of central tendency. This lesson uses super relevant student generated data and was developed by a CC study team from Pajaro Valley Unified and myself.

Have you ever felt like Ben Stein from Ferris Bueller's Day Off? Or Tina Fey in Mean Girls? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone? Come to this session to learn how to increase student engagement in grades 6-12 by interweaving popular culture into your lessons. We will focus on ways to relate material to your students' interests without compromising the substance of your lessons. Attendees will leave with tested methods to implement pop culture engagement tools and strategies in their classroom the next day. Some examples include inquiry based problems using Taylor Swift or summative assessments involving Blue Steel or La Tigre.

This workshop will explore the benefit of enacting professional learning communities (PLCs) that are geared towards scaling up inquiry-based teaching and learning practices in secondary level math classrooms.

In light of the recent research about stereotype threat and the historic under-representation of girls and women in mathematics, this workshop will explore ways that teachers can make their classroom a more safe and equitable space for all learners. In this workshop, a 7th and 8th grade math teacher will present the ways that she has worked toward designing a classroom in which students feel confident in their abilities to take risks. Attendees will also share ways that they have also worked toward setting up all students in their classrooms and schools.

Participants will discuss course ideas, pedagogy, resources, and tools used in advanced-track and enrichment math classes. Other topics include independent study and supporting students who do math research.

A surprisingly rich collection of problems are solvable by simple applications of transformations, mostly rotations and reflections. These problems include Bottema's theorem (also known as Gamow's Pirate Treasure Problem), the Midline Theorem, Napoleon's theorem, Van Aubel's theorem, and Varignon's Theorem, to name a few. Activities are suited to investigations with Geogebra, Sketchpad, Cinderella, or any interactive geometry software.

A course called Geometry is often the beginning and the end of students' exposure to proof. In this session, participants will explore alternatives to what proof can look like throughout K-12, from "because statements"� to analyzing strategy games. Investigate problems is the context of a more social definition of proof, "the convincing of skeptical peers".

Learn how to make the most of google forms - entrance and exit slips, warm ups, comprehension checks, surveys, RSVPs, etc... In this session we will roll up our sleeves and try it out! We will other cover Flubaroo for easy grading and some general tips on how to get the most out of Google Apps and Extensions. *Please come with the updated version of Chrome. *Making Google Forms is easiest on a laptop, but students can complete them on an iPad.

In this presentation we will investigate methods and interactive inspirations for creating dance programming that is inclusive and supportive of boys participation. In considering our approach to gender in our classrooms, we have an opportunity to challenge and potentially transform perceived limitations in boy's access to self-expression, creative development and interpersonal connection.

Theater training is known to advance students' social emotional intelligence. Conversely, the development of social emotional skills promotes creativity and enables students to deliver outstanding performances. However, not all acting classes or productions intentionally interrelate the teaching of theater and SEL skills in the most growth-centered way possible. Hamlin’s drama teacher is excited to share with you how she has designed curricula for theater classes and production work in order to reap the full benefit of this symbiosis and to create constructive, positive mindsets for issues with casting, stage fright, ensemble building, and risk-taking in ways that benefit students far beyond success on the stage.

Both long-term and short-term effects of concussions have taken center stage in professional sports, media and interscholastic athletics threatening the future of contact sports. Every state has passed either a law requiring concussion education for athletes, education for coaches, rules governing return to athletics or all of the aforementioned. A middle and upper school concussion program should entail education of not only athletes but administrators, teachers, parents and community. This presentation will provide a framework for designing a concussion program with emphasis on successful models currently implemented.

The four-member PE team at The Hamlin School will present about its unique program that includes many different ways of moving, as well as maximizing the space at an urban school. You will hear about the program goals and various units and see video clips of the program.

This workshop has been moved to session 3-51A

STEM and STEAM are here to stay. Find out how to successfully integrate math, art and technology into your science curriculum. We will provide lesson plans and handouts for a variety of activities.

A reductionist view of chemistry, with suggested activities to encourage a first-principle understanding in your students; nurture an appreciation of chemistry; and combat the unfortunately negative impression many have about it. Answering the societal question: Why do so many people have a negative view of their High School Chemistry experience? I have come to the conclusion that a major cause for this is the teaching of Chemistry using Magical Thinking. This session will be designed to: 1. Provide teachers with activities they can use with their students. 2. Suggest language that teachers can use with their students. 3. Encourage the formation of a support group of local teachers. 4. Highlight those specific areas in which the teaching community most often falls back upon magical thinking. 5. Encourage the idea that going to first principles is not a waste of the students’ time, it provides framework. 6. Lead a revolution in Chemistry teaching.

As we move into the 21st century, Climate Change is gaining importance in the world and in science education. Dr. Bloch observed five exemplary K-12 classroom science teachers as they taught about climate change. The teachers used a range of teaching methodologies, but all presented climate change as a remote problem with simple solutions. In this workshop, Dr. Bloch will share what these teachers did, and will suggest ways to help students understand climate change as an local problem that may not be easily solved.

Come learn about GLIDE's Service Learning Program, which is a way to engage students, both intellectually and emotionally, with social issues and the communities affected by them (including their own). GLIDE pairs student groups from middle schools, high schools, colleges and community groups with facilitators who guide them in better understanding issues such as community, diversity, poverty and empathy. During this workshop, you will learn about the successful private-public partnership between Glide Memorial and Live Oak School in creating this curriculum. Participants will gain more understanding of our approach to service learning, which they can use in their own work.

We've all been there: the "who, what, when" trap that leaves us and our students awash in a sea of historical detail. Learn how a corny mnemonic (the best kind) helps students remember and practice the skills of historical thinking. You can also use this organizing principle to design lessons and assessments that focus on core skills and big-picture issues, teaching students to make use of detail rather than simply committing it to short-term memory. Especially useful for adapting to the new AP U.S. History curriculum.

Using Crane Brinton's stages of a revolution model help your students understand the phenomenon of revolutions by using primary sources, videos, songs, and political cartoons. The unit shown integrates critical thinking skills, research, oral presentation, and debate. Many resources will be provided and a wide variety of teaching methods demonstrated.

A workshop intended to identify, examine and clarify the most challenging content elements in the AP Economics curriculum. This is an opportunity to harness the intellectual horsepower of the AP Economics community in order to share the best practices for instructing the most complicated course material.

In this workshop, we will show how teachers can integrate gay and lesbian history into their courses in ways that are relevant for all students, not just students who identify as LGBTQ. We will also offer best practices for administrators on leading their schools and communities to support teaching LGBTQ history. The workshop will end with a discussion on developing strategies for teaching LGBTQ history at your school. For the past 6 years, the Athenian School has been offering a gay and lesbian history class as well as integrating LGBTQ history into our core history classes. The class has had a profound, positive impact on our school. Building from that success, we launched FAIR Classrooms, a project to help Independent schools and Public School systems integrate LGBTQ history into their curricula.

Explore an alternative to thesis-driven papers, while still preparing students for college research. The use of historical photos engages the students early, as they "dig"� to find historical context, create a Google Map, and develop a story arc about their characters. The project challenges them to write a historical narrative about a little-known figure of an era. Beginning with archival photos, and incorporating reference, books, journal articles, and websites, students collect information, demonstrating their knowledge through the use of "enhanced endnotes" that ground their stories in fact. Not only can this alternative research project be structured as a fun way to learn advanced research techniques, the stories can also be fun to read.

How might subject-based curricular goals and cultural competency be mutually enhanced through international collaborations based in the classroom? This presentation will examine the potential and challenges for curricula that connects students in our classrooms with students in one or more classrooms across the world through blended-learning technology and instruction. Teachers in both middle and upper school will share examples and lessons learned from these experiments in global curricula. Emphasis will be on core subjects and on designing collaborations for maximum impact.

Wondering what all the buzz is about? See first hand in this session how collaborative writing can be used to leverage the various skills in your classroom. Collaborative assignments, peer assessment, feedback - the uses are endless. Come learn how to do this in you class this school year. * This is a basic/entry level session. ** You should bring a device with you when you attend this session.

The presentation will be a hands-on workshop to introduce how the iPad can be used for technology integration in the classroom. Ideally, participants will have an iPad with the following apps: Notability, Numbers, and KeyNote; other apps that will be demonstrated are: SparkVue, TimeLapse, YouTube, Explain Everything, and Schoology.

How to use web 2.0 tools for authentic assessment in your curriculum. This workshop will provide examples of deploying these tools for creating alternative assessment environments for student projects. Additionally, the process of creating manageable and student-accessible rubrics will be discussed. This workshop will be part presentation, part participation and part discussion.

Using free augmented reality apps, any smart device can unlock kid-created multimedia to enrich student presentations. Our quick & easy method will guarantee big rewards at your next school event! In our presentation we will share lessons learned, tips and tricks, and future ideas for incorporating this exciting feature into school events.

Make your classroom tech use transform you and your students. Use the SAMR model to assess how technology is being integrated into your instructional activities. How do you move from enhancing learning to transforming learning. Come find out how to look at what you are doing in your classroom with technology. Learn how to transition to the next step using what you already do. There will be time after an initial presentation for participants to take a lesson they already do, and bump it up to the next level or two.

Have you ever thought about having your students create an identity or self-portrait art piece that is more than just showing him or herself on what they look like on the outside (the 10% above the iceberg)? Now, have you thought of this: a three-dimensional letter art piece, using their name and creating a self-image-identity piece that makes the connection to racial and social justice issues. This will be your opportunity to explore this for yourself and to bring it back to your schools. You do not need to be an art instructor. This can be done as part of your social studies, community service, ethics, SEL and more. We will explore the ways we we can draw out of our students what makes them unique, engaging, positive community members, while exploring "self" and thinking of how they can show their race, gender and identity and how they see themselves reflected in their school community.

The jargon is familiar to us all: Collaboration. Authentic assessment. Student-centered. Choice-based. Maker. STEAM. Cross-discipline. Best practice demands and parents expect students to learn both the hard and soft skills needed to navigate a rapidly changing world. There is a place where much of this "21st century" learning already takes place: The art room. In this interactive seminar, we'll unpack how to create meaningful, relevant and innovative curriculum around art. We'll cover how to collaborate across disciplines with skeptical colleagues, and turn anxious parents into eager ambassadors for change.

Wow your K - 2nd grade students with games and puzzles that motivate, engage, and deepen math understanding. Find fresh, new ways to engage all your learners in a variety of math topics. Plus, take home a packet filled with useful resources. Come ready to play and leave knowing how to help your students win big in the classroom.

[This workshop will be offered in Session II ONLY. Space is limited. Pre-registration is required.]

Mental health has become one of the most critical topics facing schools. Depression, anxiety, ADHD, lack of sleep and substance abuse are greatly impacting students. It's time to address this issue in a manner that engages students in a new way, gives them the tools they need to address their emotional development and create a positive mental health environment. Making mental health more approachable is vital for every aspect of a student's academic career. This session will outline the impetus for a mental health curriculum and provide best practices to normalize mental health. It will highlight how to help students understand their mental health and the barriers to why some don't seek help, steps to create effective coping mechanisms and how to help a friend in crisis. [A breakout session to follow-up this presentation will be offered in Session 3 - 08.]

Leading independent schools seems to grow in complexity almost annually. Whether it’s economic uncertainty, shifting demographics, intensified competition, an AP-dominated curriculum, hyper-anxious parents, distraught neighbors, or capital campaign demands, there is a constant flow of challenges that keeps the head’s job lively and, sometimes, stressful. At the same time, many heads undeniably continue to derive deep satisfaction from the work that they do, despite the ongoing pressures. Join CAIS Executive Director, Jim McManus, for this opportunity to have a conversation with head colleagues that will focus upon whatever considerations the participants want to explore.

When done well, a capstone project can become the hallmark of a students' academic experience in school. Woodland School, an independent K-8 school located in Portola Valley, California, has created a 8th grade capstone project that provides students with a yearlong, intensive cross curricular opportunity to research a topic of local and global significance. Woodland's Capstone Project has proved a highly successful initiative, as means to integrate global competence in the curriculum, while imparting 21st century skills to its students. This interactive workshop will present the Woodland Capstone as a model, highlighting the opportunities, challenges, and potential when imbedding a capstone. Participants will learn how to create a project that promotes academic and service learning experiences, including the key components of a successful program: a faculty-guided research paper; a plan for action of local and global impact; a community-wide presentation; and service at a local site or on a school trip abroad. The workshop will teach participants how to construct a capstone that fits their school context, leaving with a concrete action plan for future implementation.

What kind of professional development and evaluation system supports teachers to not only be the best teachers they can but to thrive as learners? In addition to presenting the core components of the Athenian School's new "360" professional development and evaluation program, this workshop will outline the process by which faculty participated in its development. Plenty of time will be allotted for participants to share their own best practices for ongoing professional growth and renewal.

Do you have an Honor Code, Honor Council, or an Honor Board? Is your school's discipline system working, and have you thought about implementing or have you already implemented a restorative justice model? The chair of the faculty-membered Honor Board and the past and present faculty chairs of the Honor Council will share how the Harker students, faculty, and administration are approaching the challenge of maintaining academic integrity at our upper school. After our presentation, we will continue with an interactive discussion (teachers, deans, administrators - all are welcome!) on what is working and what is not at all of our schools.

The end result is that schools need exceptional teachers; teachers who love teaching, who are compelled to find ways to access their students individually and as a group, who go above and beyond because it is just good teaching. Once excellence is an established norm, a framework must be in place to sustain performance and also be nimble enough to respond to the needs of all community members. Schools need exceptional leaders to provide the framework by which faculty may achieve the goal of excellence.

Design thinking is a human centered approach to innovation that transcends traditional boundaries of content and industry. Most schools have approached design thinking by building a physical space and then creating a program to fit the space built. Francis Parker took a different approach: first we crafted a vision around design thinking, then we made meaning of that vision with our community, and then we began implementing design thinking around our campus. Our final step will be to construct physical lab spaces on our campuses that support our vision and implementation plan. Join us on our implementation journey, and learn how to replicate a vision-oriented design thinking paradigm at your school.

True partnerships require a considerable amount of planning and should benefit all partners. Working together to build a strong partnership that diminishes the "us and them" conversation and creates a "we" dynamic. Learn how the partnership of an independent school, University and several community partners has made a difference in the lives of hundreds of youth from the independent school and youth living in the neighboring community.

Faculty evaluation is something that many schools struggle to get right. Either the process is too complicated and time-consuming, or the faculty distrust the process and they fail to take ownership over their own development. Perhaps we need to reframe our approach to faculty evaluation. Rather than a supervisor-driven improvement plan, we posit that the best way to help faculty take ownership over their development is by putting the teachers themselves in the driver's seat. In this session, we will discuss two different schools adopting this approach as well as the thinking behind their framework.

The design thinking methodology and surrounding mindset is directed toward administrators' needs in this hands-on introduction. Whether you are dealing with big picture curriculum design strategy, personnel or structural challenges, Edtech or good old fashioned fundraising imperatives, design thinking has something to offer. Administrators will be exposed to divergent and convergent thinking, user empathy/needs and prototyping among other buzz terms. To get a head start, pick up Rise of the DEO, Leadership by Design before the workshop.

Have you heard about Design Thinking and want to experience it? This workshop is your opportunity to learn a process for solving problems which changes the way you look at group work and is based on identifying needs and empathetic insights. Design Thinking can be used for anything from tackling systemic school change to implementation in the classroom. Expect to be part of a fun, fast-paced, hands-on training!

Practical suggestions for leaders to create effective spaces for inclusion and equity work within schools that led to culturally diversified communities, culturally relevant curriculum and culturally meaningful pedagogy.

During the past two years, Redwood Day School has implemented affinity group work with all students, K-8, and adults in our community. From kindergarten to eighth grade, student participate in small group conversations that focus on a variety of topics around identity. We will share how we designed our curriculum to allow participants to developmentally affinitize with others who may share a common identity, and explore different perspectives. This will be an interactive conversation.

Based on information gleaned from the National Civic Research Survey, educators enjoy and want to apply current events in their classrooms. As we build our skills in social-emotional education we can apply lessons of civics, culture, and history to developing student compassion and resiliency. Through this ADL presentation, participants will have an opportunity for peer sharing, but also gain access to concrete lesson plans that can support teachers in turning society_s "teachable moments" into enriching curricula. Topics include: integrating critical thinking and problem solving skills, developing empathy and creating action steps or projects for student engagement.

What does it look like for a school to be inclusive of all students regardless of gender? What characterizes truly inclusive practice? This workshop will build on the core concepts of gender to help participants consider how they will work strategically to develop a gender inclusive school or classroom. Introducing a framework for systematically approaching the effort, the workshop will explore structural (signage, student information systems, policies), interpersonal (communication strategies, responding to teachable moments) and instructional (lessons, activities and other resources) approaches for creating a school or classroom that accepts and celebrates all students.

In 2011, Gateway School (Santa Cruz, CA) initiated and implemented a mindfulness program with faculty, students, and families. In 2013, The Berkeley School (Berkeley, CA) began implementing regular mindfulness activities in the school day, and planning for the extension of our mindfulness program into the Middle School division. In this workshop we will tell the stories of both schools, and lessons we learned from the two implementations (one spearheaded by a single administrator, the other by a faculty committee): share strategies for building momentum in faculty and administration about the idea of mindfulness; review the pros and cons of various off-the-shelf and custom-made curricula; discuss the subtleties of marketing and communicating about mindfulness to skeptical families; share some of the favorite _kid-approved_ mindfulness activities from our schools; and assist participants in developing the loose outline of a mindfulness implementation plan for their sites.

Join us for a workshop that will share with students the many applications that the field of coding has in Language Arts, Math and Science. Learn how multiple centers help students explore the user experience, the story plot and the challenge of sequencing multiple steps.

A parent offered to build birdhouses with our first grade students. Come see where we went with this. Learn how to take an idea and develop it throughout the curriculum: Birds and math, birds and language arts, birds and science, birds and art, birds and music and more. See what first grade children were able to do and learn and by extension what is possible for your own children. Our classrooms became bird crazy in a wonderful way.

This workshop will provide a hands-on overview of apps and processes used to deepen and sustain project based learning in my history classroom. Key emphasis on sustain since many of things presented have saved my class both time and resources, making PBL even easier for any elementary through high school teachers, regardless of their tech experience.

Learn by Doing! This session will be a hands-on demonstration of the D-School Design Thinking method. Learn the design steps and discuss ideas on how to incorporate Design Thinking into your classes.

Bring your iPad to discover and explore Notability, Book Creator and iMovie! Understand the SAMR model and how it can act as a guide to successful tech integration. Student examples and class ideas to support teacher learning and relieve the stress of, "How do I get started?" Deep dive discovery of each of these apps! (Please load the apps before the conference: Notability, Book Creator [paid] and iMovie.)

Many teachers find success in teaching Shakespeare through active, performance-based activities. But what about teaching Shakespeare as literature? Is this an unprofitable approach, or are there strategies to make it not only effective but also powerful? There are a growing number of scholars who believe Shakespeare wrote as much for the stage as he did for the page _ that he wrote to delight playgoers as well as readers. Using condensed arguments from Lukas Erne's Shakespeare as Literary Dramatist, we will overview this thesis. Following, we will discuss the ways in which we have encountered successes and failures in teaching Shakespeare as literature, as performance, and as a confluence of the two.

Advertisements have everything an English teacher could want. Panasonic's use of a dinosaur in a living room can teach Robert Frost, while Schweppes' use of slow-motion bursting water balloons can teach persuasive essay structure. These ads provide students with a dynamic, engaging way to understand real-world applications of the literary concepts and skills we teach everyday, diversifying both the teaching and learning experience. Throughout this workshop, we will explore the various ways print and media ads function as literature; they can introduce or reinforce critical analysis as well as help to develop a wide range of student writing.

The most important essay your students will write will be the one they submit with their college application packet. The admissions essay plays an important role in the application process, and students need to learn the art of the personal essay before their senior year. This seminar will discuss how to teach memoirs and reflective essays that will meet admissions standards, focusing on generating and presenting anecdotes. We will also explore ways to develop voice, tone, and structure to create an effective piece. A variety of student samples will be provided.

This workshop represents an innovative and rigorous approach to teaching American Literature layered with Visual Art. Workshop attendees will walk away with best practices in interdisciplinary studies on the secondary level, finding new ways to connect concepts between disciplines. The workshop aims to promote an understanding of seminal works within their cultural and historical contexts. Sharing this curriculum, we offer other educators new ways of engaging and assessing student responses to quintessential American texts and works of art while helping students develop not only their critical reading and analytical writing capabilities, but their own voices through digital design, painting, collage and film as they unpack literary works and the concepts those works embody.

This session will support schools in answering three essential questions pertaining to teaching and learning. "What do we want students to learn?" "How will we know if they have learned it?" "How do we respond if they do not?" Specific topics discussed in this session include SMART Goal development, Learning Goals & Objectives, the Rigor-Relevance Instructional Framework, Aligning Assessment, and Professional Learning Community (PLC) structures and goals.

Join us for an open forum where teachers, counselors, and administrators will explore the following questions: How can we help Asian and Asian-American students struggling with the stresses (both real and perceived) of their academic and home environments? What cultural differences and biases should teachers, counselors, and administrators be sensitive to when trying to help Asian and Asian-American students in crisis? What assumptions might school staff make about Asian families that might hinder the counseling process? How can affinity groups advocate for these students and their families? At the same time, how can affinity groups help these families_especially immigrant families_to navigate the culture of independent schools? How can we create an active and engaged Asian community at an independent school when East Asians, South Asians, Southeast Asians, and multiracial families could all be labeled as "Asian" without necessarily identifying with each other? What resources can we share and what proactive steps can we take to support this fast-growing and profoundly diverse group of students?

The Middle East is one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented regions in the West. As educators, we have the opportunity to combat the current singular narrative Western media perpetuates about the region and its peoples; yet, since most of us weren't/aren't exposed to Middle Eastern curricula in our own educational backgrounds, we often don't know what to teach or where it would fit. When Middle Eastern curricula are taught at our schools, these lessons are mostly relegated to history class and taught through the lens of conflict. This workshop aims to address why it's imperative we include Middle Eastern curricula across disciplines (such as science, math and literature) and grade levels and to confront barriers (real or perceived) to including Middle Eastern curricula in our schools.

This workshop has been moved to session 1-36A.

Understanding Change Styles will help one understand the response to and consequences of change in a school community, whether big or small. Topics include: * understanding sources of conflict associated with change and the relationship between that conflict and preferred change style * recognizing and appreciating contributions that each change style offers to teams and to organizations * increasing productivity through awareness and effective response to change style differences * responding to the needs and styles of others in a way that enhances collaboration and builds team and/or organizational synergy * assessing environmental factors surrounding a change and selecting the most appropriate change response

In this workshop, participants will learn how to develop a program in which teachers provide their peers with non-evaluative instructional coaching in the areas of project-based learning, teaching for understanding, global education, and technology integration. Participants will have the opportunity to practice coaching conversations as well as choose from small group discussions on the topics of coaching, school-based "unconference" professional growth workshops, a growth-oriented faculty evaluation process, or celebrating individual and school progress.

This session will inspire you to design your own cross-disciplinary collaborations. Stretch your mind and discover the amazing possibilities for both the teacher and students collaboration can unfold. Explode your toolkit with concrete examples taken from the Hillbrook Sound Project - a collaboration of music, science and art. Participants will be led through the process of including three disciplines in one project, how to have productive meetings, a timeline of instruction, and concluding with an enjoyable collaboration activity.

We combined global education, social studies and character education to empower our fourth grade students to act as conscientious global citizens. We hope to share the specific language and approach we used to inspire our young students to form and voice their own opinions on complex issues of the greater world. We will also provide examples of our units, lesson plans, interdisciplinary activities, resources, and projects.

How do I make an easy rubric? How can I give feedback to my entire class without taking up my whole day? How can I get my class to actually listen to me??? Join a veteran teacher and her partner in crime as they share some of their tools from their tool box. Bring your questions and your ideas to this interactive workshop. Our goal is for you to come away with new tools that you can use tomorrow!

In this session you will learn how to use google forms and scripting to make self grading assessments. Whether short quizzes or regular exit tickets this feedback can help you assess whether your students have mastered the skills you have taught. NB: You should have a basic knowledge of Google Forms and a laptop with you when you attend this session.

The Language Department at San Francisco University High School would like to exchange ideas on teaching and learning at the Middle School and High School levels, explore what our Language programs entail, and discuss the 8th to 9th grade transition.

The real world exits just outside the walls of our classrooms, begging to come in, and our students need us to invite it in if they are to thrive in their future. See how community-oriented studio learning (real challenges with real people) and design thinking can form an effective project-based learning framework. Explore design thinking resources for educators, learn how to partner with local community organizations or a like-minded peer school or neighboring university, and design a community-oriented project for your school. Learn more at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR9Z78DDFPw

In this session, teachers will learn how to best develop authentic student leadership an accountability in a "more is more" world. Take your student club and student club leaders beyond the idea-generating, wheels spinning phase and construct experiences that will help them realize their ideas to full fruition. All to often student leaders are chosen or elected with very few tangible leadership skills; learn how to cultivate these necessary skills in the short and loong term.

Activities that promote problem solving, extend students' number sense and reinforce basic facts will be presented. Participants will leave the session with engaging activities that promote a growth mindset and can be immediately integrated into their classrooms. For the workshop to be successful, some audience participation is required.

Inquiry, Investigations and Explorations. What is it all about and how does it look in a math classroom? Come learn how to transform your classroom into a mathematics workshop where your learners are engaged in inquiry and worthwhile mathematical tasks that ask them to prove and communicate their thinking. Get exposure to several excellent math investigations and tasks that focus on the development of all eight Common Core State Standards for Mathematical Practice and leave with resources that you can implement immediately.

Wow your third through sixth grade students with games and puzzles that motivate, engage, and deepen math understanding. Find fresh, new ways to engage all your learners in a variety of math topics. Plus, take home a packet filled with useful resources. Come ready to play and leave knowing how to help your students win big in the classroom.

This workshop will explore child-friendly Balinese music using Orff instruments. Gamelan is a Balinese percussion orchestra made up of metallophones or bamboo xylophones. The instruments have a limited number of bars set up in different pentatonic scales, and the music uses cycles (repeating patterns and ostinati). While some of the melodies are easy enough for 1st graders, there are complex rhythmic patterns that can be layered on top of simpler parts to allow for differentiated instruction. This can be a good challenge for middle school students. In this workshop we will play instrumental songs on the Orff instruments as well as take a look at Balinese culture, including use of Gamelan with traditional dance, and the variety of types of Gamelan instruments.

The music program directors at Woodside Priory work to make music learning specifically link to what students are doing in other classes and disciplines. Creating meaningful and authentic experiences through music performance while specifically targeting learning objectives in other disciplines has enhanced student understanding, and helped strengthen the music program. This session will include a presentation of ideas (including successes and failures,) plans for the future, and time for discussion/brainstorming and collaboration from participants of all disciplines.

Children ranging from the most to the least musically inclined can benefit from the centuries-old practice of learning percussion. Through hands-on exercises, students build upon and develop simple rhythmic patterns into a tapestry of orchestrated polyrhythms. Along the path towards mastery students are exposed to myriad cultures throughout the world that employ music as a part of daily rituals that develop a sense of self, value of ones community, and recognition of one's role in helping the group to succeed. Instruments provided. This workshop is LOTS OF FUN!!!(The workshop is limited to a maximum of 24 people for this workshop, please. A music room or enclosed area away from other classrooms is preferable for this workshop; a video projector and internet access is plus.)

The music pedagogue, Dr. Bruce Mayhall, once said, "Developing familiarity with high quality, accessible, and viable choral literature is a dynamic, ongoing task for conductors". This presentation will provide strategies for picking quality choral repertoire for your choirs with various resources on how and where to find music.

Come play and experience a unique way to help all students succeed. Whether your students are gifted, challenged or anywhere in between, these high-energy games and exercises created using the performing arts of mime, mask and movement are fun, easy and effective for everyone from K-12. Your students will improve their collaboration skills and become more focused, confident, conscious and powerful students. Wear comfortable clothes for movement and be prepared to LOL.

Preparing for concerts is an essential part of a music teacher's job, but it does not have to mean setting aside one's music curriculum. This workshop will focus in song repertoire presented in school concerts that at the same time addressed music curriculum goals.

Connecting Cultures with Music K-5. Add joy to your multi-cultural studies with song and movement. Help children appreciate the musical world that connects them to other cultures. We will sing, clap, do simple rhythm activities, explore Dandia Ras (Indian stick dancing) Maori stick games and other stone passing games from around the world. Miscellaneous percussion and found sounds will also be utilized. This is not about budget. This is about the will to bring added enjoyment to both you and your students as you learn together to be “bridge builders' to our diverse world. Resources and a CD will be provided.

This is a hands on-course in which we will explore ways to approach broad, conceptually based inquiry questions through the medium of music. Participants will engage in active music making and improvisation and then discuss ways in which student directed inquiry can be approached in this manner. No musical experience is needed, and the ideas presented in this workshop can be applied to any curriculum.

A hands ons/problem solving approach to discovering the interconnectedness of the metric system will be presented based on principles that are embraced by the "Maker Movement". Beginning with a 1 meter long piece of tape, students experience and learn the basic prefixes of the metric system by building centimeter and millimeter rulers. They then go on to explore area and volume by building square decimeters, cubic meters, etc...a festival of making that will set the creative problem solving tone for your whole year of science exploration. This will be a very hands-on workshop. What will you MAKE???

This hands-on workshop will explore how robots can help you make your STEM lessons into learning experiences. Participants should come ready to learn and build.

Creativity is hard to define, much less assess. Building on my study of the academic research of creativity, including well-tested assessments of creativity, I have developed a very simple rubric that allows me to easily assess the creativity of student work. In this workshop, participants will look at how creativity is defined and assessed, before undertaking a creative task, and then assessing the creative work of other workshop participants.

The Modeling Method of teaching physics, chemistry, and middle school science is a practical, research-based, approach which has been proven to be highly effective at building students conceptual understanding. Full Modeling implementation requires practitioners invest several weeks in an extensive summer workshop. The purpose of this session is to share an example for how Modeling can be used to meaningfully construct understanding of density, proliferate Modeling best practices, and generate interest for the full workshops. When this session was run during an IISME summer fellowship teachers stated: "the workshop was a highlight of the whole summer" and that it was "awesome"!

The BIG IDEAS in AP BIOLOGY: Evolution, Cellular Processes, Genetics/Information Transfer,and Ecology. This will be a round-table discussion and sharing session on the new curriculum framework, new required course audit, new inquiry-based lab activities and new exam format and questions. Discussion will include how to write new style exam questions. Please bring a hand-out, inquiry-based lab activity or sample exam questions you have used this year which represent the changes in AP Biology. Share your best-practices. Have copies for other participants to take home - we'll all go home some new ideas, activities or exam questions!!!

What do play, scientific thinking, intuitive math, creativity and engagement have in common? Ask any teacher that has joined the "Maker Movement" in education and they can tell you. In this session you will be introduced to the story of Making in Education, a journey that has roots in the progressive education movements of the 20th century and has seen a resurgence with the advent of new child-friendly technologies. You will also be brought up to date on the latest research to support this type of learning in schools, hear about projects that have fostered community, problem solving and empathy. Discover the role of making and constructivist pedagogy as it shifts the child's position from consumer to creator of their education. Finally, we will discuss how and when to assess student growth, as well as define the role or vision for a Maker program at your school.

This workshop is designed primarily for science teachers and department chairs, and also for administrative staff with scheduling responsibilities and/or interests. How do the science classes we offer, and the order in which they are offered, support the learning of our students? How is this coordinated with the age and developmental stage of the students? At Head-Royce we teach science using the Physics first model. In addition to our more standard classes, we have a semester elective program that has some rather unique offerings. We want to share our timelines and offerings; our calendar and weekly schedule; the strengths and challenges of these choices. We would like to hear from others in a round-table format: what sequence are you using in your schools? How does your school calendar support this? What teaching modalities: Are your classes "flipped"? Project-based? We plan to brainstorm and develop one or more "best practices" for the scope and sequence of science classes offered in a school. If you have something you'd particularly like to discuss, please email [email protected] and we'll start the discussion using these prompts, and then open it up from there.

Engage your students in hands-on investigations and purposeful science writing, including cross disciplines with math and language arts. Increase scientific thinking with journals (writing, drawings, measurement) and graphic organizers. Learn more about the concepts and practices from the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Samples of students work and blacklines provided.

Albert Camus once wrote, "What I know most surely about morality and the duty of man I owe to sport." Sport provides an ideal springboard for philosophical inquiry and moral education. Due to its prominence in our culture and the inherently playful nature of sport and games, students greet ethical issues such as consent, moral duty, compliance, and moral relativism with great interest. This workshop highlights various approaches to examining ethics through the lens of sports, as well as examining sport ethically...and may just get attendees thinking a bit more deeply about the sporting experience and beyond as well.

For the past three years, in collaboration with Castilleja School's Bourn Idea Lab, we have developed new project-based curricula in three middle school history classes to bring hands-on learning, authentic design experiences, and diversified student work into the history classroom to engage students as active 21st century learners and budding historians. In 6th grade ancient history, students use 3D-printed replicas of Roman artifacts and laser cut cardboard blocks in an inquiry-based exploration of Roman architecture including the arch, amphitheater, colosseum, obelisk, and other ruins. In 7th grade, students study Leonardo da Vinci by building prototypes of his inventions, investigating how they work, and considering improvements to his designs. In 8th grade students participate in a range of making projects from creating 2D replicas of 18th Williamsburg buildings, constructing simple paper circuits as they study electricity and industrialization, and designing and building models of monuments to women leaders in 20th century US history.

The Holocaust is a daunting subject to teach, but through the media of art, poetry, collage and other projects, which allow students to explore their own reactions and inner commentaries, is a far easier method than full frontal lecturing. This workshop is geared to Middle School students in grades 6 and 8.

In this humanities / service / technology interdisciplinary project, middle school students partner with a local senior citizen to learn about how a significant historical event influenced that senior's life. Now in its fourth year, this has been an extremely powerful culminating project for 7th graders at Mark Day School, tying together both "hard" and "soft" skills that are essential to our mission. Students produce a high quality video oral history that is shared with the senior partners and their extended friends and family. This workshop will share the vision, logistics and process for folks curious to learn more about conducting or enhancing an oral history project with middle or high school students. Sample videos will be shared along with supporting materials.

Want to teach website evaluation through speed-dating, model disciplinary literacy with nerd jokes or experiment with Extreme Paraphrasing using The Onion? Make research skills an engaging part of your classroom through a series of lively, student-centered activities that build information literacy and can be easily integrated into your current curriculum. In this workshop, we will present a template that we have found to be effective in introducing and reinforcing key research skills in a 9th grade World History classroom prior to our major research assignment. In these low-stress lessons, students practice historical inquiry skills, learning how to answer questions using evidence, critically annotate sources, effectively paraphrase, and evaluate web sources through engaging lessons that tie into the curriculum and build on each other through the year.

If your school is considering a new 1:1 iPad program, this session could be right for you. Drawing from collective experience in launching our school's first 1:1 program in the fall of 2013, five sixth-grade teachers will present key challenges and successes in getting our grade's 1:1 program up and running. Our presentation will include an emphasis on the rollout process and management of student behavior within a changing digital school-scape. We will also share curricular highlights in Math, Language Arts, Science, History, and Digital Citizenship. This session will be part presentation and part Q & A panel.

Have you ever wanted to have one-on-one dialogue with students about their work but can't seem to coordinate times to meet with all of them OR provided a lot of feedback for students but are pretty sure they aren't reading it? The goal of this workshop is to provide educators insight into a web-based tool that will enhance student learning and student-teacher collaboration on assignments. Come to hear how you can use Kaizena, a Google Drive application that allows you and your students to record verbal feedback on specific components of student work and have that one-on-one dialogue from anywhere at any time! Additional features include rubric-based grading and automatic summaries, tagging of helpful external content and resources, and saved commentary for future use. Bring your laptop to set up this simple, extremely helpful tool.

This workshop will be an overview of a 7th grade technology class in which students become experienced game designers by practicing systems thinking, critique writing and integrating storytelling into different media. Students act as designers and play testers for a range of game design projects (board game, card game, video games) where they "fix" existing games or create new games. Design projects are also used to develop voice and storytelling skills through three-act narrative, social studies research, persuasive writing, and blogging. The course uses homemade resources and modified materials from the Institute of Play and Gamestar Mechanic. Workshop attendees will be provided with access to all project descriptions, student worksheets, project rubrics, blog writing prompts, student examples, and instructions for using Gamestar Mechanic in the classroom and at home. This is not a hands-on workshop.

The Bay Area BlendEd Consortium was founded by The Athenian School, The College Preparatory School, Lick-Wilmerding High School, Marin Academy, and The Urban School in order to jointly offer a set of blended classes combining face-to-face and online instruction. 2014-2015 is our first cycle of course offerings and it has gone very well thus far. In this session, the Consortium Site Coordinators will share our guiding principles and practices for blending the best of online learning, remarkable teacher-student connections, and Bay Area resources and then some of our teachers will present highlights from completed fall courses and the midstream spring courses. See http://www.blendedconsortium.org for more information about the BlendEd Consortium and our courses.

Announcing ATLIS: The Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools, a new national non-profit advocacy organization focused on supporting independent school technology department leaders, staff members, and aspiring administrators. Beginning at our inaugural conference this April in Foster City, ATLIS will provide networking opportunities, advance best practices, and host professional development on topics important to the various members of the tech office. In this session, a preview of our upcoming April conference, attendees will engage on pressing issues and emerging trends across systems, IT, and ed tech. Come learn, share, and connect!

This workshop will include a presentation of the process Mount Madonna School used to start a Makers' program on campus, including both finances and curriculum design. It will also include a presentation on activities that have been used at different grade levels (specifically 3rd-11th grade), the role of the teacher and classroom set-up for a "tinkering" mode of work, assessments and data on the first term of the program, and resources for activities, supplies, and equipment. There will also be a sample hands-on activity and time for discussion.

Learn how to use the Parrot AR quadcopter drone and MIT's Blockly visual programming language to create challenging and fun lessons for you students that teach logic, programming, math and more.

Are you tired of your students being passive consumers rather than active creators? Are you looking for authentic ways to engage your students in the natural world? So are we! At Marin Country Day School the art department has been experimenting with various ways for students to make their own materials sustainably. Come join us as we share some of the knowledge we have gleaned and make a little something to take home.

Limited materials can create endless possibilities for experimenting, failing, learning and re-building. Experience open-ended, collaborative, art-making with cardboard, lights, and paper. We will share techniques for working with the materials, as well as our experiences of letting kids loose with them. Some past projects have included a giant igloo, a tree that students could climb inside, a puppet theater and a Dia De Los Muertos altar. Sometimes the most mundane materials can be the most transformative! This is a hands-on, experiential workshop.

What do the frameworks of Making Learning Visible, Teaching for Understanding and Art Based Research have to do with Firepower? In this hands on workshop, you will each create an accordion book and discover the meaning and importance of Firepower in your classroom/studio. 

[This workshop will be offered in Session III ONLY. Space is limited. Pre-registration is required. ]

Boomers, GenXers, Millennials, GenZ -- Independent schools are filled with adults representing at least four generations. Millennials, in particular, get a bad rap from Boomers, and GenXers and are often saddled with stereotypes which they have a hard time shaking, no matter how hard they try. In this session, we'll explore generational differences and communication norms, and discuss effective ways we can communicate positively in inter-generational teams.

During the past five years, Hillbrook School has deepened its connection to the school's historical roots as a leader in innovation and best practices in JK-8 education. At the heart of this is a commitment to designing a collaborative culture of learning to create a highly individualized experience for students. At its best, collaboration breaks down curriculum boundaries, gives teachers opportunities to create, innovate and teach together, and inspires children to make a difference in the world. In this session, we will discuss what school structures support collaboration, what structures get in the way, and why we ask teachers to collaborate in the first place. Join Hillbrook School's Head of School, Lower School Head, Director of Teaching & Learning, and Director of Technology for a conversation about building a culture of collaboration and inquiry in schools.

How does a high school cultivate a curriculum that is both rigorous and progressive? This workshop will present the current work of a 24 person task force to investigate how best to systematically design, implement, and support more interdisciplinary and/or experiential courses in Athenian's college preparatory curriculum. We will discuss design thinking strategies utilized to create innovative new classes, strategies adopted to overcome structural and cultural challenges, and the creation of a website to archive the school's interdisciplinary and experiential education resources.

On my honor I will not lie, cheat or steal; honor codes are prolific but so too is academic dishonesty on even the most prestigious of independent school campuses. This workshop examines language around honor and ethics, looks at what practices help students internalize honor and honorable actions, and discusses best practices around what to do when students behave dishonorably. Student-led honor councils and student conduct review boards will be among the topics explored. Come dialogue about how to help students choose honor over immediate gratification.

Computerized adaptive assessments provide an opportunity for schools to improve the precision of assessment, use data immediately to inform instruction, and customize the learning experience for a wide range of learners. Our school moved from standardized testing of our 4th-8th grade students to computerized formative assessments including the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) and i-Ready, and both parents and teachers have appreciated measuring student_s academic growth with nationally normed data three times a year. We will discuss our shift, our parent education component, and how our faculty use data for planning curriculum and differentiating instruction.

Public interest in possible connections between how the brain works and education has increased steadily in recent years (Goswami, 2004). Yet, relating neuroscience research to classroom practice can be difficult. The challenge for educators is to make sense of nuanced neuroscience research. In this session, we will examine the strengths and pitfalls of applying neuroscience research in the classroom and suggest some criteria for how teachers may best evaluate research for themselves.

After School is an environment of structured and unstructured engagement where students relax and unwind from their day at school. Opportunities abound for growth in their relationships to themselves and others. This Round Table style workshop will focus on ways in which teachers can model and incorporate social-emotional intelligence learning into the extended day realm.

[This workshop is a follow up Session II Featured Speaker Ross Szabo's presentation.]

Workshop presenters will explore the impact of the Behind Happy Faces program. Participants will learn about implementation and guidelines to promote the program's success.

Giving students the tools they need to effectively deal with their mental health is vital for every aspect of their academic career. Behind Happy Faces is the first of its kind mental health curriculum. The program uses cutting edge educational videos and discussion guides to enhance the emotional development of young people. The program utilizes messaging that has been tested on over 1 million people, research from leading social psychologists, and content creators from the film and television industry, to produce this proactive and impactful educational program. This workshop will teach participants about the methods used in the Behind Happy Faces curriculum. It will empower professionals to reach students in an exciting, new manner that can truly alter their lives for the better. The program is constructed to maximize retention and improve students' emotional relationships to themselves and others. It is designed to deliver information in a short timeframe to meet young people where they are in the culture that they inhabit.

There is a wide variety of ways that for advisory time is allotted and utilized in our schools. How can we use short advisory blocks effectively to support the goal of building community in advisory? Come prepared to listen and share your favorite games and activities that help students feel seen, heard, and greeted in our advisory times.

Where are relevant social, cultural and equity issues discussed within the school program? Ideally, these are interwoven intentionally and regularly throughout the curricular experience of our students. After the 2011 PoCC, a small group of inspired students and their teacher established a family groups program modeled after the SDLC family groups in the Upper School at the Head-Royce School. This group responded to a perceived need for mixed grade level dialogue groups that were required by all, rather than just the few who would come to open lunchtime discussions. Our family groups meet once a month and are facilitated by a pair of trained seniors. We are currently in our third full year of the family groups program and continue to expand our community-building efforts.

This workshop has been moved to session 2-15A.

We will discuss how to use a developmental approach to spelling through programs like "Words Their Way" and "Word Journeys" in the K-2 classroom. We will share how to implement these seemingly complex programs with ease using strategies and tools we've developed.

GoReaderGo.com helps teachers, librarians and parents find and use great books with kids. We discuss the developmental continuum of reading skills and provide clear, age-appropriate advice, model specific reading strategies and offer recommendations for carefully selected books and reading-related resources from birth up to age eleven. We promote family literacy in ways that are fun, that matter and transform lives. We will present exemplary books for PreK through 5th grade and demonstrate how you can use these (and other) books to spark interest and create lifelong engaged readers.

This presentation focuses on how ECE teachers could design classroom environment and incorporate literacy and storybooks in daily teaching to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. The potential audiences of this presentation are Chines Early Childhood Education teachers, educators who are interesting in the practicing of diversity, equity and inclusion curriculum in Chinese bilingual school setting. Teaching resource, reference and handout will be provided.

Sacred Heart Schools Atherton and San Mateo County History Museum in Redwood City developed a partnership seven years ago that culminates each year with the 4th graders performing student written and produced plays for an afternoon in the museum's six main galleries. Learn how this partnership developed around the goals of both the museum and the fourth grade social studies curriculum using drama as the vehicle to bring the two together. Anyone interested in cross-curriculum project based learning will learn about the possibilities through partnership.

One of the hottest topics in education today: Project Based Learning. Come learn the basics you need to enliven your curriculum through projects and motivate your students. This session will be an introduction and leave you with a comprehensive set of resources to polish your skills and introduce your students to Problem Based Learning.

Design thinking is a form of problem solving where students create solutions to real world problems. Design thinking is a fantastic way to engage students in the common core standards through applying their understanding to authentic contexts that interest them. At this workshop, teachers will work in groups to develop design thinking units to use in their classrooms.

With the dizzying array of information resources, how are teachers and librarians to scaffold research projects through the elementary grades so that students have the best possible tools for higher level research? By looking closely at projects done by 2nd through 5th graders at Phillips Brooks School we will share our approach to integrating research skills into existing classroom instruction and projects as well as how we continue to learn how to effectively integrate technology.

Using the 4 Cs from 21st Century Skills, Project Zero's Visible Thinking, and Understanding By Design, my colleagues and I re-worked a Post Office unit that lacked depth and excitement and made it relevant to today's world and skills. In this workshop, I will present our process and offer planning tools and time for teachers to do similar work. Participants will benefit most if they bring a unit in need of an "extreme makeover."

Three Ring is an online portfolio where teachers and students can share work and reflections with parents throughout the year. See how the third grade teachers and students at San Francisco Friends School are using this app to keep parents informed, as well as encourage students and families to be more focused on academic work with a growth-mindset.

When reading literature (or subject-area content), students often have no idea how to make notes to themselves about what they are processing as they read. With this method, they learn the variety of ways they can--and should--interact with the text. Geared for English and language arts classes but translatable to subject area reading assignments, this system of annotating makes students more aware of the kinds of thinking that help them better understand their reading and determine what questions remain that should be brought up in class. They also come to see the ways OPERATICA makes their later assignments, such as essays on the literature, more straightforward. NOTE: a simplified version of this, which is covered in the workshop, works with students in grades 3-6.

Finding the balance between the digital world and the paper world seems to be our challenge of the day. We will present and discuss the incorporation of the iPad, its success and limitations, and how we have used student feedback to inform the process. We will focus most closely on our use of teacher-created iBooks as a tool for content delivery and will share what we have found to be effective strategies for enhancing student learning using a combination of high-tech and low-tech practices.

By looking at the origin of our names through the use of poetry and prose from different cultures, we learn how that establishes a sense of self. This is particularly effective as an opening activity as we begin to get to know our students. Students examine and analyze literature and then write their own pieces modeled after the literature. Resources will include Sandra Cisneros' "The House on Mango Street," Israeli poet Zeld's, "Every Person Has a Name," and student created "I am From" poems.

Utilizing Hip-Hop to teach humanities, through narratives introducing students to the idea of oral histories and exploring the connecting threads between disparate oral traditions and the development of Hip-Hop. This workshop will include an exploration of innovative Hip-Hop curriculum by Bay Area educator and artist, Professor A.L.I. called the "X-Factor" and explore ways in which students and instructors can explore empire, diaspora, cultural syncretism, black nationalism and many more themes through the language of Hip-Hop, while elucidating essential elements of Hip-Hop culture.

In an attempt to give an additional public purpose to my private school teaching, I have for the past few years taught literature classes at San Quentin prison. In this presentation, I will reflect upon my experience of teaching such works at The Odyssey, Othello, and The Color Purple to inmates, reflecting on what I learned about the inmates, those literary works, and myself.

Come join Meagan Andrews and Jessica Raza, two primary elementary teachers, as they share best practices for integrating iPad technology into Reader's Workshop. You will learn how they use technology to maximize teaching time, keep students engaged, promote student independence, and differentiate instruction for all learners. This will be a practical workshop that will include strategies for organizing and managing digital reading work stations.

Starting in 2010, we began the process of designing a community-wide character formation effort that sought to provide students, parents, teachers, school leadership, and board members with the language and skills to live the mission and values of our school. This session will focus on the process we used to develop a rich character formation program, the setbacks and victories we had along the way, built in accountability structures for school community members, integration into the academic curriculum, and data collection strategies to monitor effectiveness.

Practical tips for teachers wanting to explore differentiating their classroom, but find the thought to be overwhelming. Engage in this informal presentation with an experienced educator and long time classroom teacher who will outline his steps in differentiating his Middle School Humanities class in a sustainable way. Bring your thoughts, ideas, and questions.

All of us are overwhelmed by the demands of timely responses to emails, and we are all looking for more ways to save time for ourselves. Good communication is a two-way street, however, and we should look to save time for others as well. This talk will cover ways of more efficiently communicating internally, touching upon email etiquette. I will also touch upon some pointers for more effective communication with parents.

Has the college-level "Crisis in the Humanities" trickled down to the high school stage? Given "the demands of a high-tech economy" (Shchetko), are independent schools directing more attention and financial support toward STEM courses and initiatives, and if so, how does this trend affect how students and families view the humanities? How has increased access to digital devices and the Internet changed how students read, write, and think? Finally, how can Humanities departments adapt to the "brave new world" of 21st century learning? Join us for a round table discussion where teachers and administrators from all disciplines can share experiences, insights, and ideas. Source: Shchetko, Nick. "Obama calls for STEM-focused high schools in State of the Union."� Stemwire. 14 Feb. 2013. Web. 7 Nov. 2014.

In this presentation, you will come to appreciate the incredible power and variety of You Tube. Learn how to create your own You Tube Channel, find and organize all the content you want, and then begin to harness the power of You Tube to illicit deeper classroom conversation and understanding. But that's not all! Discover all of the tools and resources available via You Tube to enrich and diversify your channel, and ignite your students.

What does your school value, and how do you assess whether students are learning it? Most CAIS schools measure academic achievement using standardized tests, though we know "learning" and children comprise far more than these tests can capture. The Mission Skills Assessment (MSA) is a scientifically based inventory, developed in conjunction with Educational Testing Services (ETS), of six skills and attributes in middle school students: creativity, curiosity, teamwork, resilience, ethics, and time management. In this panel session, learn how educators at several CAIS schools have implemented the MSA, what they're learning in the process, and how they hope their focus on the mission skills will benefit their students and school communities.

KAPLA are ideal building blocks for children of all ages. KAPLA enhances a student's creativity, develops spatial awareness and encourages concentration, perserverence and patience. Used within a group, KAPLA develops social skills by stimulating children to interact with each other. A child goes through several phases of cognitive development. In each stage a child likes to play in a different manner and will develop different skills. Being a progressive game, KAPLA allows each child to play at his/her own level of difficulty. KAPLA grows with the child. KAPLA is an ideal game to play in a group. It stimulates teamwork and cooperation. Children will have to communicate with each other to decide on the subject of their project and work together while building their constructions. Each child will find his/her place within the group, as a leader, assistant or coordinator. COME PLAY WITH US AT CAIS! http://www.kaplaus.com/schools

Teachers from the Phillips Brooks School will share apps, techniques, and units of study that have motivated and transformed reluctant writers in their classrooms. Presenters will discuss iPad apps (Show Me, Explain Everything) to help writers get started, the role of music in encouraging students to write longer, in-depth pieces, and a historical fiction unit that leaves kids begging to write through recess. The goal of the presentation is to share successes and offer attendees step-by-step, actionable advice.

It is widely known that students with learning differences struggle with self-confidence as a result of lack of academic achievement brought about by their learning differences (Weiner & Dweck, 2001). For students with learning disabilities, a fine line is drawn between their lack of achievement brought about by their disabling condition and their lack of motivation to achieve. General education and special education teachers struggle to find ways to encourage students despite their challenges. Novice and preservice teachers' self-efficacy may diminishes over time because of reduced student outcomes (Boe, 2006). Using a pecha kucha, this presentation provides an insight into the different motivational constructs. The audience will leave with tools, which can be used to understand students' motivational constructs, and in turn inform their instruction and affect towards students. Additionally, the audience will gain insight into their own levels of motivation to understand how their own behavior in the classroom may impact student learning.

K-12 experienced teachers of Mandarin and Spanish will demonstrate creation and use of QR codes, online games and Google applications to motivate student learning. Simple, fun and efficient! Suitable for teachers of any language, including English. Attendees need Mac laptop, smart phone, google chrome and doc.

How can students learning a foreign language run a discussion in class? Are we not, as the teachers, meant to control the process by which they apply the target language? If one's students have not yet mastered the pluperfect subjunctive, how can they carry the weight of a discussion? This presentation will: 1. Examine the premise that the target language can be an essential mechanism by which students gain awareness of their intellectual potential and contribute to the creation of a community of learners. 2. Illustrate why training and assessing students to carry the conversation produces deep and meaningful learning. 4. Present strategies for immediate use in all levels. 3. Address how one, as the teacher, can establish a class dynamic where the students take responsibility for the conversation in the target language.

An adolescent of today lives in a visually stimulating, media-rich environment. From television, the movies, and various and ubiquitous online video resources, students observe the world mediated by the short video format. This presentation explores how to use short authentic video material to expose students to the language and culture of Francophone world. The presentation focuses on adapting video and using them to achieve the goals of the AP French Language and Culture course.

CAIS member schools may not always reflect the cultural and socioeconomic diversity of California or the U.S. as a whole. By reading books with protagonists from backgrounds other than their own, our students can gain a greater understanding of society and see how much they have in common with someone thought to be different. In this workshop, participants will learn how to engage students with books that will open their minds and make them want to read even more.

This workshop has been moved to session 1-44A

Sheena Tart-Zelvin (math) and Jill Randall (dance) from The Hamlin School will lead you through their two-part 6th grade lesson to explore solving multi-step linear equations through dance. Participants will experience the lesson firsthand by connecting the inverse order of operations to movement as well as see video clips of student work. The presentation will end with a discussion of STEAM and other ideas related to bringing together math, science, and the arts.

Join us for a hands-on investigation of teaching decimals for understanding. Learn to extend the multiplication concept from the manipulative-based understanding of whole numbers to the (similar!) world of numbers less than one. Investigate the potential of base-10 blocks to model flexible, authentic understanding in all students, based on the Singapore approach.

In this roundtable discussion, we will open up a dialogue between Bay Area middle and high school math teachers to discuss how we can collaborate more closely on our collective task of increasing math literacy among our youth.

Kids selling car insurance? Teachers causing car accidents during class? To help kids understand the basic ideas of insurance, we ran a simulation. In small groups, students took on the role of insurance companies, using math to help decide on strategies to sell policies to drivers with a variety of risk factors. We then ran a simulation to determine whether their drivers had accidents to determine the success of their policy writing strategies. During this session, you will experience this lesson first hand.

"Students who understand the learning objectives and assessment criteria and have opportunities to reflect on their work show greater improvement than those who do not"� -Fontana & Fernandes, 1994; Frederiksen & White, 1997. This workshop will share how our collaborative second grade team used student-engages assessments to encourage a growth mindset in math as well as improve student performance with math standards. Teachers will have the opportunity to hear about our year long journey and leave the workshop with a plan to support student driven assessment in their own classrooms. We will also provide an opportunity for attendees to brainstorm and share their ideas for student driven math assessment.

Composing music made of loops and other basic features of Garage Band can teach students about musical form even without fluency in reading music. By learning its more advanced features (automation, filters, MIDI files) or those features more associated with traditional composing (notation, playback, voice recording), students can create sophisticated music with Apple native technology. Learn how Garage Band is used as the core of creative offerings in MS, and how to begin with simpler technologies (some using iPad) in grades 4 and 5. This presentation will be of interest to musical colleagues. English and math colleagues are invited to join the discussion as well. The benefits of the structural content and the student-centered environment that performing arts classes can serve as a model for other disciplines.Attendees are encouraged to bring their own laptops/iPads.

How can we leverage the "Yes, and..." attitude to promote lifelong learning? Workshop leaders will provide strategies for navigating new technologies in the classroom with finesse by combining the synergy of technologists and improvisation. Participants will engage in hands on Improv exercises and understand how principles of improv can build a culture of life long learners. Find out how great improvisationalists can make great teachers and technologists.

What do dance and computer programming have in common? A lot more than you might think. Bentley School's K-8 Dance Teacher and K-8 Director of STEM Education will spend the workshop leading participants in an experiential demo lesson that bridges concepts and content across these two seemingly unrelated areas, as an example of how to bring together arts and technology. Participants will leave with a method and plan to integrate disciplines back at their school. We encourage you to come to the workshop with someone you want to collaborate with and be prepared to move!

Starting a running program for fitness in your school will yield benefits far beyond your PE classes. Find out how to start and maintain a running for fitness program that requires only 8-12 minutes a day. You will see a profound change in your students' everyday health and fitness, and an improvement in their academic success as well.

Have you ever implemented PE content standards to 21st century themes and skills in small spaces with few resources? What are 21st century themes and skills in PE? In fact, what kinds of activities/material do you use in your PE class to teach and assess, and how do you reflect and communicate to parents? I would like to share how I teach PE in the San Francisco urban setting and communicate to parents effectively.

Ten Day River video (7 min.) at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7koaCYGy320 In Ten Day River each child becomes the steward of a stretch "waterfront property" along a 30 foot, indoor miniature river featuring real, flowing water. A classroom of children then construct a mythic world together along the waters edge utilizing storytelling, drawing, design, architecture, engineering and a variety of art/craft media. Self-paced solo work in adjacent territories creates opportunities for unplanned social interaction, play and co-invention. More than 500 children have participated in this program developed by artist-educator Gregory Gavin and hosted primarily at the San Francisco School but also at Camp 510, Park Day School and The Museum of Children's Art in Oakland. In this presentation Gavin will focus on how "attention shifting" and "story driven desig" - two of 20 Ten Day River engagement strategies - might be adapted to a variety of subjects and classroom styles.

In this presentation, teachers and administrators will learn how nutrition and learning go hand in hand. The focus will be on: how food breaks down in the body, how sugar affects learning, the new MyPlate Initiative created by the USDA, and tips to give to students and parents. Handouts will be provided.

In this project, students use the Explain Everything iPad app to present their research done on a chosen element. Other Chemistry apps that can be used for student research of an element will also be presented. Furthermore, participants will be introduced to the Brushes app which can be used to create an artistic representation of a chosen element. The Explain Everything app along with the Brushes app make the student presentations fun and dynamic.

Are you looking to network with other environmental science teachers? Do you have some activities or labs that you have found to be successful in your teaching that you would like to share? Do you have questions or ideas about teaching this subject that you would like to discuss with others? If so, please join us for this round-table.

When students carry out labs, they generate data which they can use as a model to develop the concepts we want them to learn. A model has many formats other than lab data: diagrams, pictures, definitions. We can use models to present many of the concepts we teach to spark better student understanding. The POGIL (Process Oriented Guided Instructional Learning) project has developed curriculum materials, using models which help students construct their understanding. In this session, you will experience student centered, guided discovery, inquiry based learning using these materials and ideas.

Looking for some new inquiry-based field science projects to incorporate into the classroom? Do you want your students to contribute to a large research study? We will explore the many citizen science projects around the Bay and you will learn how your classroom can become apart of them. We will also talk about how one teacher has incorporated six different citizen science projects in her classroom in partnership with the National Park Service. This has enhanced her classroom and made room for more authentic learning.

The vision of the Julia Morgan School for Girls STEAM program is to empower girls to develop a passion for engineering, build self-confidence, and create a foundation for future learning, inspiring girls to become tomorrow's leaders in STEAM fields. Learn how JMSG created this new curriculum and tips for building STEAM units into your middle-school day. Learn how JMSG established STEAM-focused academic and enrichment opportunities for girls as well as our future vision.

The Branson Summer STEM Institute (BSSI) introduces a new model for deep summer STEM enrichment based on the secondary school campus. BSSI combines advanced core courses, labs, mentored research by scientists from local institutions and universities, guest talks, and off-campus excursions into a summer experience that engages students in advanced topics and original research in STEM fields. Students work and learn collaboratively while being mentored by a full spectrum of STEM proponents including teachers, college-age teaching assistants, graduate students, post-docs, and late-career professionals. BSSI 2014 served a dozen students from four schools with an incredible fiscal efficiency, costing an average of only $1500/student for 4 weeks of intensive 9AM-5PM programming.

For the past two years we have been teaching an interdisciplinary, project-based course on climate change. In this workshop, we will discuss our approach and experience. Specifically, we will address the following elements: 1.Planning and implementation; 2. Managing cross-disciplinary collaboration; 3.Teaching climate literacy: what do the students need to know to be informed and engaged citizens? 4. Creating climate activists 5. Revising curriculum based on lessons learned.

I've been involved in developing a new series of HTML-5-based physics simulations in collaboration with cK-12 Foundation. I'd like to present a sample of these and facilitate a conversation about best practices with regards to physics education technology. I'd also like to discuss involving students in numerical modeling and simulation directly via Excel and GlowScript. Ideally, workshop participants would have time to create simulations and begin envisioning lessons.

See how students in grades 8-12 at Schools of the Sacred Heart have engaged for the past three years in meaningful dialog with students in countries like Palestine, Mexico, India and Indonesia. The program uses technology in innovative ways to develop cultural awareness and bridge distances. Young people learn to respect, not shy away from, differences and gain understanding about one and another. Find out how to get your faculty and students involved.

Learn about the process and pitfalls of guiding a team of disparate faculty and dubious students through a year-long project based learning experience using our Museum of the American Teenager as a model. In our project, students honed their 21st century skills in a real-world context that eventually bridged departments and inspired community participation.

Could do better was the inane phrase which often appeared on the report cards of the rich and famous. This presentation will take a journey through some fascinating examples in which teachers and schools appeared to fail some of our most famous leaders, such as Winston Churchill and Woody Allen. The hoped-for outcome is that attendees will view comment writing in a whole new light.

Using the classroom as a think tank and the outside world as the lab, project-based classes put the direction of the class in the hands of the students. Teachers become facilitators and evaluation shifts from product to process, guiding students through failure in order to succeed. We will be discussing how we've implemented project-based classes and hope to have a discussion and brainstorming session about how others have been able to successfully implement similar structures. This workshop will be an exploration of the pedagogical approaches in Democracy in Action from The Athenian School and Field Study Photography and Bay Area History from the BlendEd Consortium.

This workshop will share strategies and best practices for teaching gender-related topics in a high school setting. Led by two seasoned high school educators, it will allow participants the opportunity to learn new ways to incorporate topics such as gender and feminism into their existing curriculum. This workshop will consist of a short presentation by the two session leaders and will also allow time for an open discussion and an opportunity to share interesting projects and strategies for developing course curriculum centered around gender related topics.

Halback and Smith collaborate to teach modern international issues through news articles and selected readings, in a semester-long seminar style senior elective that couples an introduction to public policy with advanced research skills that focus on evaluation of authority across formats. Students examine curated news stories to discern bias and perspective, and study existing policy proposals with an eye on developing their own solution to a real-world problem in a culminating research paper that incorporates scholarly journals, books, white papers, and infographics.

Explore the benefits of grounding a United States History course in local history to make otherwise abstract and distant national history more immediate, interesting, and relevant. Often overlooked, our surroundings can serve as a laboratory where students explore grand themes in a tangible setting. San Francisco's Presidio offers Bay Area schools a rich and rewarding opportunity to practice local history.

This presentation demonstrates how to use the popular cloud software "Evernote" for teaching students how to compile large amounts of research into organized pieces of writing. Gone are the days of the handwritten note card, but without guidance students often create expansive and unwieldy digital notes. Evernote provides a way for students to organize all of these notes, but with also with an ever-growing suite of additional features. And no, I don't work for Evernote!

With an almost infinite choice of online and print resources, how can teachers and librarians collaborate and create age-appropriate resources for their student's units of study? Workshop participants will learn about the unique collaboration between classroom teachers and the librarian at San Domenico School. This project-based learning model provides students with curriculum designed by various subject-area experts using a variety of digital and online tools that promotes the integration of technology and information-literacy. In a hands-on activity, small teams of participants will use iPads and the application, Book Creator, to design curriculum in their field of study. (If you have an iPad, please load the app, Book Creator, before the workshop. If you don't, we will pair you up with those that have an iPad).

Digital Citizenship instruction is key to creating 21st Century learners, but it can be challenging to find the time and space to explicitly teach it. This presentation will provide a variety of no tech, low tech and high tech ideas for integrating digital citizenship practice into a Language Arts/Social Studies curriculum in ways that are both meaningful and engaging for students and their teachers. Participants will receive online access to lesson plans, unit plans, and digital resources, and have the chance to share their own ideas with the group on an online bulletin board.

Tired of reinventing the wheel every time new technology arrives? Learn to use an iPad, an Apple TV and a computer to breathe new life into your already great curriculum. During this workshop you will learn about a variety of apps and programs that will enhance your teaching.

This presentation will focus the integration of technology, history, and geography to create meaningful learning experiences for students. Workshop participants will learn the basic tools available in Google Earth, a free program for viewing and mapping the planet we live on. We will explore the real learning experiences which arise for students when this tool is integrated into the curriculum. Participants will leave with some creative ideas of how to better use technology in projects with middle and high school students as well as the skill set needed to employ Google Earth meaningfully in their classroom. Please bring a laptop if you are able.

While Minecraft is an incredibly popular and highly engaging game, it is also an effective way to teach multiple student skills including grit and perseverance, problem-solving, collaboration, and oral and written communication. This presentation shares the use of Minecraft in 8th grade science and 7th grade history.

Curious to see how students from 5 local schools become adept at producing dynamic web sites in the course of just one blended, project-based semester? Then come and see highlights from the Bay Area BlendEd Consortium Web Design & Development elective. You will walk away with a much better sense of what this kind of learning looks and feels like for students and the teacher, through video highlights from virtual class conferences, 1-1 tutorial a-ha moments (student happy dance included), in-person meetings, and student-made screencasts outlining milestone projects from their portfolio. http://www.blendedconsortium.org/courses/web-design-development/

A 3D printer in your classroom is a fun, attention-grabbing addition. It’s also a dynamic tool that allows for the development of crucial important skills in the art classroom. We will share learning objectives, assessments, and instructional strategies used in teaching our course. Participants in this session will gain information from our class syllabus to our rubrics, as well as our thoughts on successes and setbacks in using a 3D printer in the classroom.

Coding is the language of the future. Teaching elementary students coding can help them to develop skills for overcoming difficulties throughout their academic lives. This workshop will introduce a variety of resources to get even your youngest students coding regardless of your technical background. Join Linda Rutherford and Alex Williams as they share their personal journey to bring coding into their first and second-grade classrooms.

Artists have been "making" forever. What are the implications of the Maker Movement in the context of art education? How do you balance aesthetics, innovation, and traditional skill building? What role do new technologies play in the contemporary art studio? Join in a discussion of these and related topics with other art educators. Please bring your ideas, experiences, and strategies to share!

Using the free iPad app Autodesk 123D Sculpt, students have demonstrated increased sensitivity to and awareness of social interactions when digitally "sculpting" a portraiture likeness of a neighboring student. Sitting in groups of three, students will observe the neighboring student to either their right or left, and attempt to portray the physical likeness of the subject's face, head and shoulders. Often, students avoid the potentially sensitive social activity of actually directing their gaze at a fellow student. Situating this observational process within a visual arts activity helps to increase social interactions among a diversity of students.

Are you interested in deepening the meaning and significance of all-school events and assemblies? Would you like to coordinate interactive, creative projects that invite learning in all subjects including visual art? Join us for this workshop on developing K-8, or even K-12 projects that celebrate the culture and connectedness of your school community. We encourage teachers from different divisions and disciplines to attend together. We will share projects we have done including earth building, repurposed fabric art, MLK day projects, and more. You will spend time brainstorming and forming concrete ideas that you can bring back to your school to create meaningful, collaborative, community building projects.