Thrive24: Full Schedule

8:00am EST

Building Student and Teacher Resilience in Uncertain Times

Tuesday November 5, 2024 8:00am - 9:20am EST

Target Audience: Adminstrators, Teachers PK-5, Teachers 6-8 Teachers 9-12, Office Staff, Mental Health Professionals, Para Professionals, Specialists (Arts, Music, PE)

Stress, burnout, and compassion fatigue have peaked in education. As we navigate the ensuing changes to teaching and learning, it is critical as educators for us to nurture and build resilience and empathy for our students, our colleagues, and ourselves. How do we continue to build and sustain our own resiliency in these times of collective trauma and constant change? In this workshop, we will explore these topics and issues by taking a holistic approach to consider our teaching philosophies, and examine how organizational changes have affected our own practice and expectations. We will draw upon the research of experts such as Shawn Achor, Carol Dweck, Julia Torres, Brene Brown, Anita Cellucci, and Clint Smith. We will reflect on participants’ experiences, as you are experts in your educator roles. This workshop will offer a deep dive into proactively developing one’s own empowerment by building resilience and self-compassion in the face of current educational challenges.

Presenters

Kathleen Stoker

Educational Coordinator/Adjunct Professor

Tuesday November 5, 2024 8:00am - 9:20am EST
TBA

Culturally Responsive Practice, Mental Health; Social Emotional Learning; Student Services; Educator self-awareness/self-reflection

8:00am EST

Classroom Strategies to Foster Social-Emotional Learning

Tuesday November 5, 2024 8:00am - 9:20am EST

TBA

Target Audience: Teachers PK-5, Teachers 6-8

This session is intended to provide classroom educators with a background on social-emotional learning strategies to incorporate into their daily routines, in order to create safe and supportive learning environments for all students. Participants will learn about how trauma manifests itself in school-aged children, specific ways to structure their classrooms to promote the demonstration of age-appropriate coping skills, and how to respond to harmful language in the moment. Additionally, participants will also come away with an understanding of how they, as the adult in the classroom, set the tone, and how to practice self-regulation and mindfulness for themselves as well as their students.
Outcomes will include a list of specific strategies to incorporate, practice with mindfulness routines, and a planning template for organizing their classroom.

Presenters

Courtney Rau Rogers

Assistant Principal for Student Services, Newton Public Schools

Tuesday November 5, 2024 8:00am - 9:20am EST
TBA

Culturally Responsive Practice, Social Emotional Learning; Student Services

8:00am EST

Connecting with Students’ and Families’ Stories: Validating Community Cultural Wealth

Tuesday November 5, 2024 8:00am - 9:20am EST

TBA

Target Audience: Adminstrators, Teachers PK-5, Teachers 6-8 Teachers 9-12, Office Staff, Specialists (Arts, Music, PE)

Description: Culturally responsive educators teach to and through the strengths of their students by leveraging the ‘funds of knowledge’ and cultural gifts brought into the classroom. In this interactive session, participants will explore the Community Cultural Wealth Theory and identify strategies to connect with students and families by intentionally gathering their true stories to build authentic connections within the classroom and school community. When we validate and affirm our students’ and families’ stories by building off their strengths, we can provide opportunities where students and families can be seen as their authentic, cultural selves.

Objectives:
• Articulate foundational understanding of community cultural wealth.
• Identify ways to gather the stories about our students’ and families’ community cultural wealth to help maximize learning outcomes.

Guiding Question: Why is it important to gather the stories about our students’ and families’ community cultural wealth?

Presenters

Dr. Ingrid Twyman

Author, Consultant, Adjunct Professor, ElevatED Pedagogy

Dr. Ingrid Twyman, a Boston University alumni, is a culturally responsive educator with over 25 years experience as a middle-school teacher, principal, K-12 instructional coach, teacher residency director, adjunct professor, and consultant who spent much of her career working in partnership... Read More →

Tuesday November 5, 2024 8:00am - 9:20am EST
TBA

Culturally Responsive Practice, Educational Leadership; Multi-Lingual Learners; Social Emotional Learning; School Culture

8:00am EST

Racial Identity Development and the History of METCO Program

Tuesday November 5, 2024 8:00am - 9:20am EST

TBA

Target Audience: Teachers 6-8 Teachers 9-12, Para Professionals

The intended outcomes for educators is an in depth understanding of the Newton METCO Program, the unique narrative of the Newton METCO student, and how to teach about the Newton METCO program with cultural competency. Educators will be learning about their own unique, racial and cultural identity developments. Educators will learn about how to incorporate culturally responsive instruction into their teaching practices. We will emphasize how to build high quality relationships.

Presenters

Julian Turner

Newton Public Schools

Korrey Lacey-Buggs

Newton Public Schools

Tuesday November 5, 2024 8:00am - 9:20am EST
TBA

Culturally Responsive Practice, Social Studies/History; Social Emotional Learning

8:00am EST

Student Led Conferences: Powerful conversations about student learning

Tuesday November 5, 2024 8:00am - 9:20am EST

TBA

Target Audience: Adminstrators, Teachers 6-8 Special Educators

We will describe our experience with running student-led conferences in place of traditional parent-teacher conferences, including how we schedule them, prepare students, and communicate with parents. We will show excerpts from a sample conference and student planning materials. Attendees will leave with the tools to set up and run student-led conferences.

Presenters

Benjamin McGraw

6th Grade Teacher, Newton Public Schools

I've taught middle school since 1994; I came to Newton in 1998 and have worked on a collaborative and interdisciplinary 6th grade team at Oak Hill since 2003. My co-teacher at the time (Jonathan Roy) and I were finalists for MA Teacher of the Year in 2011. Floyd Butler joined me... Read More →

Floyd A Butler

6th Grade Teacher, Newton Public Schools

I moved to Boston in 2014 and I have worked on a collaborative and interdisciplinary 6th grade team at Oak Hill since 2016. I'm also the head coach of the Boys Varsity Soccer team at Newton South High School. The most challenging and fun part of my job as an educator, in both roles... Read More →

Tuesday November 5, 2024 8:00am - 9:20am EST
TBA

Culturally Responsive Practice, Reflection, Goal Setting, and Student Agency

8:00am EST

Better Serving Boys: Identity Work, Relationships, and Culturally Responsive Practice

Tuesday November 5, 2024 8:00am - 10:55am EST

TBA

Target Audience: Adminstrators, Teachers PK-5, Teachers 6-8 Teachers 9-12, Mental Health Professionals, Special Educators, Specialists (Arts, Music, PE)

Educators will engage in reflective practice to:
-Unpack elements of self and what contributes to their presence in schools
-Explore the reported boy crisis in modern social discourse
-Understand the impact of gender and racial bias in school settings with a focus on -adolescent brain structures
-Create conditions for students to see themselves in their learning/ community
-Identify supports and systems to engage with oppressive or disempowering practices when they arise in school settings.

Presenters

Malcolm Andrews

Telescope Networker

Dr. Jason Laroque

Associate Principal, Grades 6-8

Tuesday November 5, 2024 8:00am - 10:55am EST
TBA

Culturally Responsive Practice

8:00am EST

Cultivating a Pro Asian American Lens in NPS: Strengthening Our Practices to Support Our Asian American Students

Tuesday November 5, 2024 8:00am - 10:55am EST

TBA

Target Audience: Adminstrators, Teachers PK-5, Teachers 6-8 Teachers 9-12, Para Professionals, Special Educators, Specialists (Arts, Music, PE)

Drawing from educator and activist Tony Delarosa’s "Teaching the Invisible Race: Embodying a Pro Asian American Lens in School," this workshop will offer participants strategies and approaches to examine, expand, and make the cultural and historical context of our Asian American students even more visible to ourselves and in our classrooms. Participants will work to: 1) reflect on the connections between their own experiences and key moments in Asian American history; 2) continue to develop strategies and resources to center, support, and celebrate Asian American students in their classrooms and other spaces; 3) understand the ways in which K-12 educational structures may not support Asian American students as best they can and consider how to address those gaps; 4) articulate the connections Asian Americans have to broader movements of inter-racial solidarity and activism.

Presenters

Michele Leong

English teacher, Office of Human Rights, Newton Public Schools

Charlene Beh

English teacher and Leadership in a Diverse Society, Newton Public Schools

Tuesday November 5, 2024 8:00am - 10:55am EST
TBA

Culturally Responsive Practice

9:35am EST

Building Student and Teacher Resilience in Uncertain Times

Tuesday November 5, 2024 9:35am - 10:55am EST

TBA

Presenters

Kathleen Stoker

Educational Coordinator/Adjunct Professor

Tuesday November 5, 2024 9:35am - 10:55am EST
TBA

Culturally Responsive Practice, Mental Health; Social Emotional Learning; Student Services; Educator self-awareness/self-reflection

9:35am EST

Parent/Family Engagement Strategies to Support Student Wellbeing

Tuesday November 5, 2024 9:35am - 10:55am EST

TBA

Target Audience: Adminstrators, Teachers PK-5, Teachers 6-8 Teachers 9-12

This session will offer participants opportunities to explore and expand authentic and impactful methods for family engagement to support student wellbeing. We will review the importance of family engagement and how it is expressed in our school communities. We will discuss your school’s expectations for parent/family involvement in the context of cultural and linguistic responsiveness, district policies for discipline and communication, and the role of (formal or informal) family liaisons as bridge-builders. Next, we will collectively exchange practices that work and thought-partner around those that need work. Participants will leave the session with concrete steps for strengthening parent/family engagement strategies.

Presenters

Shai Fuxman

Director, Social, Emotional, and Behavioral (SEB) Academy, Education Development Center

Shai Fuxman, a behavioral health expert and senior research scientist, leads initiatives promoting the positive development of youth. He has extensive experience in social and emotional learning (SEL), school-based trauma-informed care, and substance misuse prevention. He also ha... Read More →

Tuesday November 5, 2024 9:35am - 10:55am EST
TBA

Culturally Responsive Practice

9:35am EST

Racial Identity Development and the History of METCO Program

Tuesday November 5, 2024 9:35am - 10:55am EST

TBA

Presenters

Julian Turner

Newton Public Schools

Korrey Lacey-Buggs

Newton Public Schools

Tuesday November 5, 2024 9:35am - 10:55am EST
TBA

Culturally Responsive Practice, Social Studies/History; Social Emotional Learning

9:35am EST

Working with Transgender and Gender Expansive Youth in Schools

Tuesday November 5, 2024 9:35am - 10:55am EST

TBA

Target Audience:

All educators in all subjects at all levels:
PK-12, Administrators, Office Staff, Mental Health Professionals, TAs/BTs, Special Educators, Specialists, Anyone who works at NPS.

This presentation will cover:

What is Gender?
Best practices when working with students who are transgender/gender expansive
What is non-binary?
What does it mean to transition socially?
How to promote an inclusive, safe environment where all students feel a sense of belonging
Affirming Classroom Activities
Social Identity Activity (If there is time)

Presenters

Asher Baron

School Adjustment Counselor, Newton Public Schools

Tuesday November 5, 2024 9:35am - 10:55am EST
TBA

Culturally Responsive Practice, Mental Health; Social Emotional Learning; Technology/Engineering, Inclusive Education

9:35am EST

Leveraging Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education to Unlock Students' Full Potential

Tuesday November 5, 2024 9:35am - 10:55am EST

TBA

Target Audience: Adminstrators, Teachers PK-5, Teachers 6-8 Teachers 9-12, Specialists (Arts, Music, PE)

What if embracing Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education (CRSE) was the key to unlocking students' full academic and personal potential? In order to combat the structural inequities at play in our current educational system which continue to marginalize students and family members based on race, social class, gender, language, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, ability, we must deepen our understanding of Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education. In this highly engaging session, participants will unpack the key principles of CRSE and explore their own cultural identity to determine how it influences our ability to enact a Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education for all students.

Objectives:
Articulate a foundational understanding of Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education (CRSE).

Develop awareness of cultural identity and how it influences our ability to provide a Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education (CRSE) for all students.

Guiding Question: Why is it important to understand our own cultural identities?

Presenters

Dr. Ingrid Twyman

Author, Consultant, Adjunct Professor, ElevatED Pedagogy

Tuesday November 5, 2024 9:35am - 10:55am EST
TBA

Culturally Responsive Practice Educational Leadership Social Emotional Learning

12:05pm EST

Antisemitism in Our Schools: Recognize it, Talk About It, Fight It

Tuesday November 5, 2024 12:05pm - 3:00pm EST

TBA

In the past several years, Antisemitic words and actions have increased 270% in the United States. Massachusetts has the 5th highest number of reported Antisemitic incidents in schools. The City of Newton and the Newton Public Schools are among the highest in the state of Antisemitic incidents. In this workshop we will explore the history of Antisemitism, its most pervasive tropes, and how these tropes are manifesting today. Participants will: engage in practices that allow them to confront our own biases, grow their capacity to have nuanced, informed conversations with students and colleagues, and consider how they might evaluate their pedagogy and practice through a more culturally responsive lens.

Presenters

Jennifer Tomaneng

Teacher, Newton Public Schools

Tuesday November 5, 2024 12:05pm - 3:00pm EST
TBA

Culturally Responsive Practice, Social Studies/History

12:05pm EST

Contemporary Applied Behavior Analysis: Culturally Responsive and Trauma-Informed Practices in ABA

Tuesday November 5, 2024 12:05pm - 3:00pm EST

TBA

Target Audience: Para Professionals, Behavior Techs, Special Educators

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is a natural science that involves the scientific approach to understanding behavior. There is substantial research supporting the use of the principles of ABA to help support behavior change and skill building with students. In the past decade, there has been significant changes to the application of ABA in applied settings. This workshop will discuss contemporary approaches of ABA that align with culturally responsive trauma-informed practices. Attendees will: 1) describe the importance of culturally responsive and trauma-informed ABA, 2) engage in self-assessment activities to better understand how their culture impacts their practice, 3) identify at least 5 ways they can alter their application of behavior analytic practices to be more culturally responsive and trauma informed.

Presenters

Lauren Beaulieu, PhD, BCBA-D, LABA

Behavior Analyst, Newton Public Schools

I have been a behavior analyst for over 20 years. I've worked in various settings including hospitals, group homes, preschools, in-homes, academia, and public schools, and I publish research on contemporary practices in behavior analysis in peer-reviewed journals. I am currently a... Read More →

Tuesday November 5, 2024 12:05pm - 3:00pm EST
TBA

Culturally Responsive Practice, Trauma informed behavior analysis

12:05pm EST

Culturally Responsive Teaching in the Athletic Fields

Tuesday November 5, 2024 12:05pm - 3:00pm EST

TBA

Target Audience: Athletic coaches, Trainers, Athletic Directors, Physical education teachers, Other athletic staff working directly with student-athletes

Introduction
. Culturally responsive teaching recognizes the importance of including students' cultural references in all aspects of learning, including the athletic fields. This workshop will focus on equipping coaches and athletic professionals with the skills and strategies needed to foster an inclusive, supportive, and culturally aware environment for student-athletes.:

Outcomes: By participating in this workshop, coaches and athletic staff will gain:
A deeper understanding of cultural dynamics in sports.
Practical strategies to foster an inclusive and respectful team environment.
Confidence to address biases, inequities, and challenges related to diversity on the field.
An actionable plan to incorporate culturally responsive practices into their coaching and athletic programs.

Workshop Format: The workshop will be highly interactive, using a combination of:
Presentations and theoretical concepts
Group discussions and brainstorming activities
Real-life scenarios and case studies
Role-playing exercises for practicing culturally responsive coaching techniques
Opportunities for reflection and self-assessment

Presenters

Patricia Gonzalez

Athletic Director, Newton South High School

Tuesday November 5, 2024 12:05pm - 3:00pm EST
TBA

Culturally Responsive Practice, Athletics

12:05pm EST

Ethics for School Psychologists

Tuesday November 5, 2024 12:05pm - 3:00pm EST

TBA

Target Audience: Mental Health Professionals

Required content for psychologist re-certification

Presenters

Jason Kaplan

Jason Kaplan, Ph.D., is the Chair and Associate Professor in the School Psychology Department at William James College. He is an MA-licensed psychologist and Health Service Provider (HSP), Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP), and MA MA-licensed school and Educational... Read More →

Tuesday November 5, 2024 12:05pm - 3:00pm EST
TBA

Culturally Responsive Practice

1:40pm EST

Being a White Ally

Tuesday November 5, 2024 1:40pm - 3:00pm EST

TBA

Target Audience: Adminstrators, Teachers PK-5, Teachers 6-8 Teachers 9-12, Office Staff, Para Professionals, Special Educators, Specialists (Arts, Music, PE)

Being a white ally means taking an active and supportive role in the fight against racism and social injustice, specifically by using one's privilege as a white person. We will discuss how to recognize and challenge systemic racism, and taking action while amplifying the voices and experiences of our students and colleagues of color.

Presenters

Alan Ripp

Curriculum Coordinator History/Social Sciences K-8, Newton Public Schools

Tuesday November 5, 2024 1:40pm - 3:00pm EST
TBA

Culturally Responsive Practice

1:40pm EST

Classroom Strategies to Foster Social-Emotional Learning

Tuesday November 5, 2024 1:40pm - 3:00pm EST

TBA

Presenters

Courtney Rau Rogers

Assistant Principal for Student Services, Newton Public Schools

Tuesday November 5, 2024 1:40pm - 3:00pm EST
TBA

Culturally Responsive Practice, Social Emotional Learning; Student Services

1:40pm EST

Each and Every: Unpacking Profiles, Posters, and Portraits of a Graduate to Reach Every Learner

Tuesday November 5, 2024 1:40pm - 3:00pm EST

TBA

Target Audience: Adminstrators, Teachers PK-5, Teachers 6-8 Teachers 9-12

Peel back the poster to operationalize Portrait of a Graduate visions into tangible outcomes for each and every student. Participants will gain strategies for operationalizing graduate profiles and learner competencies through targeted curricular, instructional, and pedagogical adjustments. Translate vision into practice by examining methods to align curriculum, instruction, and assessment with Portrait of a Graduate competencies that:

-Prioritize learner competencies through the exploration of approaches to shift from traditional, compliance-based curricula to those centered on essential skills and mindsets.

-Investigate systemic means to create a learning ecosystem that supports and showcases authentic demonstrations of learning.

-Promote deeper learning through techniques that capture and archive evidence of student growth in actionable and meaningful ways.

-Foster student agency with interactive instruments that promote student reflection and self-assessment, aligning personal growth with Portrait of a Graduate competencies.

-Integrate digital portfolios as a powerful tool for documenting, showcasing, and assessing student progress towards Portrait of a Graduate outcomes over time.

Presenters

Jed Stefanowicz

Director of Digital Learning, Nashoba Regional School District

Through conferences, workshops, district leadership, and instructional coaching, Jed Stefanowicz leads strategic transformation of teaching and learning through the use of digital tools and innovative practices. As Director of Digital Learning and Innovation for the Nashoba Regional... Read More →

Tuesday November 5, 2024 1:40pm - 3:00pm EST
TBA

Culturally Responsive Practice, Data and Research; Educational Leadership; Instructional Technology; Social Emotional Learning; Technology/Engineering; Universal Design for Learning