Participants will work with grade and content level teams in these professional learning sessions to further understand the district’s focus areas.
Â
Restorative Practices (Advanced Session): This training will be an advanced session on restore practices. Prior restorative practice training is required. Working on school procedures and restorative frameworks.
Portrait of a Learner in the Art Classroom: This session will focus on elements of the Portrait of a Learner and building culture and climate that promotes high quality instruction.
AM: CREC’s Right Work: Portrait of a Learner High Quality Instruction PM: Visualizing and Verbalizing
Engaging Families Through PowerSchool and Effective Communication: The goals are to strengthen family-school partnerships through accessible communication and tech-based engagement and empower staff to confidently use PowerSchool as a tool for outreach, support, and transparency. The objective is to navigate key PowerSchool features that support family communication (e.g., attendance, grades, messaging tools). The outcome will be to increase the frequency and quality of communication with families through PowerSchool and build stronger, more trusting relationships with families through clear, respectful, and accessible communication.
Level Up Your Library: A Power-Packed Day for School Librarians: 1) Connecting through peer engagement, 2) AI Engineering for Innovation Instruction, 3) Understanding Connecticut's new Freedom to Read Law
Effective Strategies and Best Practices to Enhance Student Engagement and Achievement: ML teachers will come together to share effective strategies and best practices for high-quality instruction. This professional development will provide opportunities to exchange ideas, learn from colleagues, and explore approaches that enhance student engagement and achievement across all grade levels and content areas. By the end of the day, participants will leave with practical tools and fresh perspectives to strengthen their instructional practice.
Education Resource Inc-Therapies in the School 25th Annual Conference Webinar Series: Education Resource Inc-Therapies in the School 25th Annual Conference Webinar Series
PE and Health: During this session we will continue our work on ensuring that we provide instruction that aligns with our goals and with the current developments in the field of health and physical education.
Building our Best Practices - SSWs and Psychs: IEP Goal Development and Updates
MLL and ASHA for SLPs: Effective Strategies and Best Practices to Enhance Student Engagement and Achievement
Equitable Classrooms and Arts Integration: By engaging with current research on equitable classrooms and arts integration, teachers will identify action steps to implement equity focused curricular strategies and best practices for relevant and meaningful high quality arts integration teaching and learning experiences.
AI-Instructional tools- and the Right Work - Teachers will leave with new uses and ways to use AI, high quality instruction and feedback protocols.
Literacy How - Syntax - Learning syntax and sentence structure helps students clarify meaning within and between sentences. Studies show a close relationship between an individual’s syntactic awareness and reading comprehension; that is, as students learn to use more complex sentences in oral and written language, their ability to make sense of what they read increases as well.
Using data to inform instruction - Educators will: Preview the Portrait of a Learner and connections to high quality instruction. Analyze data from STAR assessment, IAB Block assessment, unit summative assessments to determine trends and instructional action steps. Identify all data points available that inform instruction. Introduce Google resources: Gemina and Notebook LM Collaboratively plan for Q2 with grade level colleagues.
Secondary Mathematics Instruction: Teachers will 1) Re-learn and apply the compare and connect math language routine 2) Learn to apply Notebook LM and Google Gemini for teacher and student use 3) Watch and reflect on the implications of the movie "Counted On" 4) Plan for upcoming lessons
K-12 Technology Education: please bring a computer
In Math session: - Develop success criteria for Numbers in Base Ten that focuses on students progressing through more sophisticated visual models - Apply Google Gemini to develop success criteria - Collaborate vertically within grade level bands to share the developed success criteria In ELA session: K - 2 teachers will: Review the why and how for the administration of the Dibels RAN, vocabulary and oral language subtests Practice instructional routines for oral language and fluency development Use data to pllan for skills block instruction 3-5 teachers will Review and calibrate the SBA block assessment protocol Apply backward design planning principles using the module assessments Use data to plan for ALL block instruction
AM: Growing Independence: Building Self-Help Skills Through High-Quality Early Learning. PM: PreK Potpourri Mini Workshops - AM - Self-help Skills Goals: To deepen teachers’ understanding of the importance of self-help skills in preschool development. To identify barriers that limit preschoolers’ opportunities to practice self-help skills in classrooms. To generate actionable strategies that increase children’s independence and confidence. To foster collaboration among PreK teachers and paras to share best practices and develop next steps for supporting young children's self help skills. PM - PreK Potpourri Mini Workshops Goals: Build Collective Expertise Promote Cross-Pollination of Ideas Highlight the Whole Child Approach To encourage teachers to take away at least one new idea or practice to try in their own classrooms, with a focus on broadening children’s learning opportunities.
School Counselor PD: Strengthening College and Career Readiness
Secondary Science and STEM PD: Science teachers will continue to engage with High Quality Instruction implementation in all science and STEM courses: analyzing student work, reflecting on teaching, and collaborating with colleagues. Additionally, teachers will have a short learning tool on AI use in the classroom.
Secondary Social Studies Professional Learning: Secondary Social Studies teachers will attend Cengage workshops to learn how the Gale Databases can be used to create, develop, and support: (1) Creating Custom Document-Based Questions, (2) Critical Thinking with Primary Sources, and (3) Argumentative Writing and Debate. Teachers will have opportunities to work collaboratively and develop writing assessments for their students, using the new strategies and resources presented in today's professional learning session.
Differentiation Strategies for Students on the Spectrum: This professional development session is designed to equip special education teachers with practical, evidence-based differentiation strategies to better support students on the autism spectrum. Participants will explore how to adjust instruction, materials, and classroom environments to meet a wide range of learning, communication, and sensory needs. Through case studies, collaborative discussions, and hands-on activities, teachers will strengthen their ability to design lessons that promote engagement, independence, and meaningful progress for every learner.
Restorative Practices (Advanced Session) - This training will be an advanced session on restore practices. Prior restorative practice training is required. Working on school procedures and restorative frameworks.
Coaching Conversation - This session is an opportunity for coaches to meet and continue the work with CREC's Right Work: high quality instruction, centering students, and our portrait of a learner. This session will provide updates to CREC's Right Work, including new language and visuals. It will also be an opportunity to work with the "teacher's playbook" and create some school-specific guides related to the playbook.