Professional Development Workshops

When we design lessons that anticipate the wide range of students we teach, engagement and achievement improve. What are the most effective practices for planning lessons that reach every learner? This workshop moves beyond a 'one-size-fits-all' approach, teaching a flexible yet structured framework for assembling the essential elements of instruction—from engaging students to developing scaffolds, and from learning targets to exit tickets. Teachers will explore a variety of real-life lesson designs that balance firm goals with flexible pathways; reflect on their current planning habits; and spend time polishing an upcoming lesson to foster greater student engagement, ownership, and success. 

Research shows that clear learning goals are one of the most powerful levers for student achievement—but only if students actually use them. This session moves beyond the 'posted objective' to help teachers design interactive learning targets that students can understand and connect with.

We will explore the anatomy of a learning target, incorporating standards-based rigor and transparent academic vocabulary. More importantly, we will share practical techniques for student interaction: how to have students annotate targets for key concepts, engage in 'prior-knowledge' shares, and use the target as a reflection tool throughout the lesson. Teachers will leave with a toolkit for creating focused goals that don't just guide lesson planning, but empower students to drive their own progress.

When students understand exactly what success looks like, they move from asking "Is this done?" to "How can I grow?" This session explores a practical framework for designing rubrics that foster ownership, agency and reflection in students. We will cover the five reasons rubrics build ownership and five ways to use them—including single-point rubrics and "split-grading" for group work. We will also explore AI tools as starting blocks and thought partners, letting the technology handle the first draft so you can focus your expertise on edits that make the criteria accessible and meaningful for your specific learners. Leave with a completed rubric that will guide your next assignment and empower students to take ownership of their progress.

What if you could move beyond "surviving" the school year and rediscover the energy and purpose that drew you to education? Teachers and leaders deserve to do more than just manage their workload; they deserve to thrive. This workshop invites a focus on what is within our locus of control, with strategies for shifting perspective on challenging situations, tips for good health that impact how we show up for our students, and kind yet firm peer accountability. While we often know how to be healthier and happier, we don’t always uphold the habits that lead us there. Peer support and mutual accountability are key elements in this session, because as the research makes clear, resilience is higher when the community is strong. The structure of this workshop is a combination of helpful content, individual reflection, and structured small-group conversations, all pointed toward cultivating resilience. Participants leave with a refreshed perspective on teaching and a toolkit of ways to take good care of themselves so that they find more joy in their work and show up as their best selves for their students. 

In an era of shrinking attention spans and rising student anxiety, traditional classroom management—based on compliance—is no longer enough. If you feel like you are working harder than your students to keep the lesson moving, it’s time to shift from being the "engine" of the classroom to the "architect" of student engagement and ownership. This session reframes "behavior challenges" as predictable responses to learning barriers. Using the UDL framework, we will explore how to balance firm learning goals with flexible, teacher-guided pathways that recruit student interest and build persistence. You will leave with a new lens for viewing student engagement and a new set of instructional moves that allow students to be invested in their learning within a structured, high-expectations environment. 

We often think of differentiation as a reactive process—adjusting a lesson after it’s planned to meet a specific student's needs. But what if we could design for that variability from the very beginning?

This workshop introduces a "UDL lens" to the work of differentiated instruction. Rather than reacting to student deficits, we will learn to proactively identify and remove barriers to learning. We will learn to create multiple pathways for students to engage with content, process ideas, and demonstrate learning. Participants will learn how to shift from being the provider of accommodations to the architect of an environment in which students navigate their education as “expert learners” who are resilient, reflective, and resourceful. (We’ll talk about how to cultivate these traits in our students, too!)

You will leave with a toolkit of ways to make your lessons accessible for every student, without the burnout of traditional differentiation.