The purpose of the session will be to share ways that classroom teachers have structured their reading blocks and designed experiences to engage reluctant upper elementary readers. Intended to increase a love of reading in students who may typically be hard to reach, this session will showcase proven methods that promote student choice. Participants will learn about how to entice readers to try new genres, encourage peer conversation about texts, develop morphological vocabulary skills, and think deeply about texts and their authors. A variety of culminating projects and their rubrics will be shared with participants.
Ever feel like data around usage of edtech tools in your district/school feels like a ""speed camera"" that tells you when something went wrong or how fast a student was moving but doesn't truly capture the quality of the drive? To truly impact student growth, we must shift our perspective and treat analytics as a real-time Instructional GPS. This session moves beyond simple ""login counts"" to show how data can provide real-time turn-by-turn directions for better teaching and learning and what's on the horizon for this through the rise of generative A.I..
We will explore how to navigate research-based metrics that measure whether an edtech tool is actually helping students learn, not just keeping them busy. We will also look at ""Compass Tools""—qualitative ways for administrators, coaches, and teachers to observe classroom tech use and see if it’s headed in the right direction. Finally, we will look toward the horizon to discuss how the next decade of data will help us predict roadblocks before students hit them, ensuring every learner not only reaches their destination, but continues new journeys.
