Creating student ownership of learning outcomes through structured and consistent feedback. Will learn, discuss, practice, and debate classroom tracking that has worked, failed, and could possibly work at the secondary level.
In this session, you will hear a layman's perspective on the ever-growing range of negative behaviors that you will see in any given classroom, as well as the prescribed ways in which adults are expected--or obligated--to respond.
This professional development session is designed for beginners who want to learn the basics of using IXL in the classroom. Participants will receive an overview of what IXL is and how it supports student learning through personalized practice and real-time data. The session will highlight key features, including skill plans, diagnostic tools, and analytics, to help teachers monitor progress and target instruction. By the end, teachers will feel more confident navigating the platform and incorporating it into their daily instruction.
Brent Mischnick is a Digital Learning Specialist at ESC Region 11 in White Settlement, Texas. He is dedicated to helping educators use technology effectively to enhance student learning and prepare them for the future. Brent is committed to supporting the school districts within Region... Read More →
In this elementary-focused session, participants will explore how coherence in mathematics emerges through intentional connections among addition and subtraction problem types. Educators will examine common word problem structures—such as joining, separating, part-part-whole, and comparison—and how these problem types develop across grade levels. Using the progression outlined in the TEKS, participants will analyze how learning builds over time and how connecting new problem types to students’ prior experiences supports deeper understanding. The session will highlight models and representations that support student reasoning and help teachers plan instruction that tells a connected, meaningful story of addition and subtraction.
In this session, participants will examine how thoughtful task selection and purposeful questioning set the stage for meaningful student thinking and mathematical independence. Using a task-quality rubric, educators will analyze and select tasks that promote conceptual understanding and strategic reasoning rather than answer-getting. Participants will also explore questioning strategies that surface student thinking, press for clarity, and support students in making sense of mathematics on their own. By the end of the session, teachers will leave with tools and examples for designing learning experiences where students do the cognitive work and build confidence as problem solvers.
How can we support all students in thinking more deeply about social studies content? In this interactive session, educators will explore practical strategies for differentiating instruction through effective questioning, structured student dialogue, and short constructed responses. Participants will learn how to align questions and tasks to the TEKS while using student responses as formative data to guide instruction. Walk away with ready-to-use strategies that promote critical thinking, meaningful discussion, and greater student engagement in the social studies classroom.
I was in the classroom for 20 years teaching grades 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 8th. I've taught all subjects. I hold a bachelor's degree in education with a minor in English and a master's degree in educational leadership. I hold certificates for ESL, GT, and Principalship. My mission... Read More →
Instructional Content Specialist Elementary ELAR, Region 11
Kimberly Smith currently serves as an ESC Region 11 Elementary ELAR Instructional Content Specialist specializing in delivering creative, engaging, and research-based professional learning experiences. During her 28 years in education, she has served as an instructional coach, reading... Read More →
Let’s be honest - when behaviors are high and time is short, “Choose Love” can feel like one more thing on your plate. If you’ve ever thought, “This is great… but what about that kid?”—this session is for you. We’ll bridge the gap between behavior management and heart work by giving you simple, realistic ways to use Choose Love in your classroom—especially in the moments that feel the hardest. This isn’t about excusing behavior—it’s about understanding what’s driving it and responding in a way that actually leads to change. Structure and support don’t compete… they work together. Walk away with practical strategies that support regulation, improve behavior, and actually make your day-to-day feel more manageable.
This professional development session is designed for educators who want to take a deeper dive into IXL Analytics and better understand how to use data to drive instruction. Participants will explore IXL’s real-time reporting tools and learn how to interpret student performance data to identify strengths, gaps, and growth opportunities. The session will focus on key analytics features, including diagnostic insights, usage reports, and progress monitoring tools. By the end, teachers will feel more confident using IXL data to make informed instructional decisions and support student success.
Calling all Content K-8: Learn about Levels of Questioning from the Teacher and from the Student to optimize inquiry, levels of learning, and retention for all tiers. Learn how to differentiate your questioning so students will reach their potential. Also, learn how students can create levels of questions to increase their depth of understanding. Make Inquiry part of the culture in your classroom!
This professional development session is designed to help teachers build a strong foundation in what Content Language Supports (CLS) are and why they matter for student learning. Participants will explore how CLS appear within our online platforms and how they enhance access to academic content. The session will also focus on practical strategies for bringing CLS to life in the classroom, even in low-tech or no-tech settings. By the end, teachers will be equipped with concrete tools and ideas to effectively integrate CLS into daily instruction.
In this session, math teachers will dive into strategies that make learning more interactive, relevant, and accessible for all students. Through collaboration and real classroom examples, participants will explore ways to promote critical thinking, encourage student discourse, and connect math to real-world experiences. Special emphasis will be placed on using simple tools—like sticky notes—to increase student engagement through quick checks for understanding, collaborative problem-solving, and student voice. Teachers will walk away with practical, ready-to-use strategies that foster active participation and help all students feel confident and capable in mathematics.
Brent Mischnick is a Digital Learning Specialist at ESC Region 11 in White Settlement, Texas. He is dedicated to helping educators use technology effectively to enhance student learning and prepare them for the future. Brent is committed to supporting the school districts within Region... Read More →
This session focuses on how math language routines can strengthen student sense-making, communication, and perseverance. Participants will experience and practice routines that support students in articulating their thinking, listening to others, and refining ideas through discussion. Emphasis will be placed on how consistent use of these routines helps students persist through challenging tasks while deepening understanding. Teachers will leave with practical strategies for embedding language routines into daily instruction to create classrooms where mathematical reasoning is made visible and shared.
This session focuses on how problem-solving routines can strengthen student sense-making, communication, and perseverance in mathematics. Participants will experience and practice pairing Read-Draw-Write with routines such as Three Reads and numberless word problems to support students in making sense of problem situations before focusing on computation. Emphasis will be placed on how these routines help students slow down, attend to meaning, and use representations to articulate and refine their thinking. Participants will explore how consistent use of these paired routines supports students in persisting through challenging tasks while deepening conceptual understanding. Teachers will leave with practical strategies for embedding these routines into daily instruction to make student thinking visible and support meaningful mathematical reasoning.
This session will introduce teachers to a format for student led text based academic discussions they can use either as formative assessments or as end of unit summative assessments. These socratic discussions are highly engaging, and students learn so much from preparation and participation. We will walk you through materials, resources, preparation, facilitation and scoring, with materials and takeaways you can use all year.
This professional development session is designed to deepen teachers’ understanding of supplemental aids and their role in supporting student success. Participants will learn how supplemental aids are defined according to TEA and explore the research-based reasons they have a meaningful impact on learning. The session will highlight a variety of supplemental aids for both instruction and assessment across content areas. Teachers will also gain access to a curated Google Drive of ready-to-use resources for RLA, Math, and Science in grades K–5.
In today’s classrooms, teachers are often faced with a difficult challenge: how do we maintain grade-level rigor while still supporting struggling readers, multilingual learners, and students receiving special education services? This session introduces a practical, step-by-step instructional framework that scaffolds learning without lowering expectations. Participants will explore how to use structured supports, including anticipation guides, targeted annotation guides, collaborative reading, Harkness-style discussion, and a jigsaw short-constructed response writing protocol, to gradually release responsibility to students and build independence with complex texts and STAAR-aligned writing tasks. Attendees will see how these strategies reduce cognitive overload, increase engagement, and help all learners access rigorous academic standards. This highly interactive session explains models the full lesson cycle from start to finish, allowing participants to experience the strategies as students. Teachers will leave with ready-to-use tools such as annotation guides, sentence stems, structured discussion protocols, revision checklists, and writing scaffolds that can be implemented immediately in any secondary content classroom. Designed for general education, special education, and multilingual settings, this approach emphasizes accessibility, collaboration, and high-level thinking for every learner. By the end of the session, participants will confidently apply a system that maintains rigor, improves discourse and writing outcomes, and increases student independence across content areas.
In this session, we will focus on ways we can internalize our science curriculum to make lessons more engaging for students while still keeping instruction aligned with standards and rigorous.
Attendees can expect to identify, examine, and create simple, curriculum-based writing opportunities within the Studies Weekly materials. The session will focus on addressing the need to provide content-based writing within social studies.
Every classroom has students who seem hesitant, disengaged, or unmotivated to participate in learning activities. Engaging Reluctant Learners (K–4) is a hands-on, interactive training designed to equip educators with effective, research-based strategies to spark interest, build confidence, and foster active participation in even the most hesitant learners.
In the traditional classroom, the teacher often carries the heavy pack—doing the planning, the monitoring, and the reflecting. Project Goals shift that weight. This session equips teachers with the tools to help students "pack their own bags," navigate their own learning paths with goal setting, and reach the summit of their personal goals by putting it into their own hands through data-driven classrooms.
How can you challenge advanced and gifted learners without creating separate lessons or extra work? The answer lies in designing tasks that every student can enter, yet naturally promote deeper thinking for those ready to go further.In this interactive session, teachers will explore low-floor high-ceiling tasks, open-ended learning experiences that allow every student access while providing opportunities for increasingly complex thinking. These tasks support all learners while naturally extending depth, creativity, and rigor for advanced students. Participants will examine practical examples and learn how to embed critical and creative thinking into everyday lessons across grade levels and content areas.
Building Thinking Classrooms using engaging thinking tasks provides teachers the tools to construct a collaborative thinking culture in the classroom. At the start, beginning tasks are non-curricular and encourage the students to develop a culture of collaborative thinking. When later tasks become curricular, the students have developed a collaborative way of thinking so that everyone works together to solve problems.
Building Thinking Classrooms outlines 14 key concepts to create a more engaged student in math class. In this session, we will look at vertical learning, collaborative grouping, and handling questions in a way that puts the workload on the students.
Attendees can expect to locate and examine English Language Development scaffolds built into the Studies Weekly materials before exploring a variety of ways they can be seamlessly incorporated into different timeframes and instructional scenarios.
Kick off Discovery Education in your classroom with this beginner-level session! Learn how to access and navigate the platform, discover content, and begin using it to support your instruction. This session will serve as either an introduction or a refresh, so all experience levels are welcome!
Andy is the Digital Resources Consultant at ESC Region 11, supporting Discovery Education and other digital resources in the region. Prior to Region 11, he was an Ed Tech Specialist in Fort Worth ISD and a teacher/coach at several schools.
Get ready to turn your math classroom up to eleven by ditching the "unplugged" life and plugging into the free Desmos Graphing Calculator Audio Trace features. In this high-energy session, we’re moving beyond the textbook blues to explore how auditory feedback can transform your lessons into a sensory wall of sound that supports every learner in the arena. You’ll learn to shred through quadratic functions and interpret the gritty descent of a negative slope using your ears, pairing visual data with a "math-rock" soundtrack that makes abstract concepts tangible. Close your eyes and lean into the rhythm as we channel our inner René Descartes to compose a mathematical symphony, proving that when algebra meets the amplified stage, the results are nothing short of legendary.
Much of the conversation around gifted learners focuses on academic differentiation, which is essential for students to grow and flourish. However, supporting gifted students also requires an understanding of their affective development and the unique challenges they may experience. In this session, educators will explore characteristics such as asynchronous development, perfectionism, boredom, and heightened sensitivity. Participants will gain insight into how these traits may appear in the classroom and how they can influence learning, motivation, and behavior. Participants will leave with concrete tools to support gifted learners in ways that strengthen both their academic growth and overall well-being.
In this interactive workshop, educators will explore and apply AVID’s WICOR strategies to strengthen instructional rigor. Through collaborative and inquiry-based learning experiences, participants will explore, practice, and implement strategies that create rigorous learning environments and support college and career readiness for all students.
Today’s families look different than they did even a decade ago. Teachers are partnering with single parents, blended families, grandparents, guardians, and caregivers who often juggle demanding schedules and competing responsibilities. The Modern Family Playbook focuses on practical strategies for building positive relationships with families, strengthening communication, and creating meaningful connections between home and school. When families feel valued and informed, they are more likely to support classroom expectations, reinforce learning at home, and partner with teachers to ensure student success. In this training, educators will explore ways to create parent buy-in, strengthen student accountability, and bridge the curriculum between school and home. Participants will leave with actionable tools to build trust with families, communicate proactively, and empower parents to be partners in their child’s education.
Have you already kicked off Discovery Education in your classroom but need to start building a playbook for teaching with it? In this session, we will move beyond the basics and begin exploring content specific to your classroom, teaching strategies and supports to implement immediately, and the newest resources for college and career-readiness. You may want to attend the “Kicking Off” session prior to this, but it is not required.
Andy is the Digital Resources Consultant at ESC Region 11, supporting Discovery Education and other digital resources in the region. Prior to Region 11, he was an Ed Tech Specialist in Fort Worth ISD and a teacher/coach at several schools.
This session will provide educators with an introduction and overview of Savvas Realize. Participants will explore the platform’s essential features and leave with the confidence to navigate and utilize Savvas' features effectively throughout the school year.
Listen up, people! We've got a crisis on the floor, and the patient is the student mind flatlining under the pressure of math anxiety. We’re seeing a total systemic failure of confidence, and if we don’t identify the root causes now, we’re going to lose them. This session is your crash course in emergency intervention. We’re going in deep, using high-impact tools like “Which One Doesn’t Belong?” to jumpstart their natural curiosity and shock their mathematical thinking back to life. This isn't just a lesson—it's a rescue mission for every interventionist and teacher on the front lines. Grab your gear and get ready to trade self-doubt for a pulse of empowerment, because we’re not letting another student slip away on our watch.
