EL Education 2022 National Conference

Bishop is a 6th-grader at Kuumba Academy Charter School in Delaware. He was a student representative and speaker at the unveiling of the Ujima Learning Garden located in Wilmington, DE, standing alongside the Mayor of Delaware and other state representatives. Bishop enjoys chess, video games, basketball, riding his pocket motorcycle and playing golf.

Wyatt is a 6th-grader at Old Sturbridge Academy in Massachusetts. He enjoys sports like baseball and snowboarding and is also a musician who plays the guitar and piano. Wyatt loves to read and recently helped his school to write a book about untold stories from the past. The book was featured in his school’s Better World Day 2022 project, Lifting Every Voice.

Saniya is an 7th-grader at Kuumba Academy Charter School in Delaware. She is a student-athlete, a musician, an active member of My Sister’s Keeper, a mentoring group that inspires girls and women to reach their highest potential through community service and personal growth mentoring, and an aspiring actress and author who creates and tells stories that inspire all children to find power in their own unique stories and experiences.

Elijah is an 8th-grader at Old Sturbridge Academy in Massachusetts. He is a member of his school’s Leadership Crew, which is focused on elevating student voice during major events and decisions that impact the school.

Cayden Olson is a 5th-grader at Explore PreK-8 in Colorado. He is a Colorado native and enjoys the climate and mountain activities, such as camping. Cayden is passionate about science and competes yearly at the school’s science fair. He is especially interested in biology and zoology. He is considering running for Student Council this year to share his ideas on how his school can better support the students’ creativity and academic growth.

Clark Pittman is a 6th-grader at Explore PK-8 in Colorado. Clark loves spending time with her family, crafting stories and bracelets, and entertaining others with trivia, saxophone, and sass. Clark is a member of and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. She plans to start a GSA at her school this coming year and run for Student Council this year to uplift others’ voices and ideas to create a more inclusive and safe school.

Continuous improvement is an expectation of educational leaders. However, not all improvement leads to more equitable learning opportunities, particularly for minoritized students. When we improve unjust systems, we often only become more efficient at marginalization. In this session, we will think critically about what it means to improve and how we go about the business of leading improvement. To improve with equity, leaders must constantly assess who is involved and who will be impacted by improvement initiatives. This session will give you a tool to improve for and with equity by using improvement science as a methodology.

This highly interactive workshop will demonstrate how schools across the country teach and activate social-emotional skill-building in instructional formats, behavior supports, extracurricular activities, and social-emotional supports. You will discover how these practices ultimately enable students to access and deploy these skills and dispositions to support adaptive problem-solving in school, life, and the community.

From the sketches of Charles Darwin and Leonardo da Vinci to the physical models built by structural engineers, art plays an integral part in scientific exploration, discovery, and communication. From paper circuits to rock haikus, open your students’ minds to new and exciting possibilities in art and science by allowing them the opportunity to incorporate creativity into their scientific pursuits. This session will focus on creating science and engineering curricula that empower students to grapple with content while creatively expressing themselves.

Is there such a thing as being neurotypical, or are we all neurodiverse? In a session jam-packed with student voice, you will discover how a diverse school community ensures that all students’ needs are met in their Integrated Collaborative classrooms while cultivating understanding and compassion for one another in school and life.

This leadership session will focus on effective practices for promoting shared leadership within a school to develop a plan for professional learning to support educators and students in continuous improvement. You will dive deeply into the Plan, Do, Study, Act cycle, and discover how to drive positive change in your schools through shared leadership.

As we reflect upon the collective trauma caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we find ourselves in a unique opportunity to leverage Crew in both healing trauma and in fostering post-traumatic growth. By looking at the term "learning loss" through an equity lens, we can reframe it as "opportunity loss" and truly capitalize on the strength, genius, and funds of knowledge our students bring to our learning spaces.

Engaging in work that matters equips students with the skills needed to become effective learners and ethical people who act as vehicles of change in their communities. Powerful, engaging learning expeditions enable students to explore relevant topics and become leaders of their own learning. Through this session, you will learn to create an outline of a learning expedition that deepens student thinking via close examination and discussion of text, design thinking, and public presentation to authentic audiences.

For many of us, localizing the EL ELA modules is essential to our DEI work–a tangible way in which our students see themselves and their communities reflected in their school and classrooms. In this workshop, you will grapple with localizing one unit–whether it be a case study, fieldwork, or expert group text–and dive deeply into that unit's assessment and tasks to maintain grade-level rigor and focus on specific standards. Prepare to review related Core Practices, go on a Gallery Walk of models, and support one another on your journeys toward localizing the content-rich, culturally-affirming curriculum your students deserve.

Crew is a powerful tool to provide character and academic support for students while creating and nurturing strong interpersonal connections in school communities. In this session, you will discover how Glenwood Springs Middle School uses various Crew traditions throughout the school year to strengthen students’ sense of belonging. You’ll have opportunities to share and learn from one another while generating ideas to take back to your own schools and classrooms.