Teacher Workshops

Creating World Class Communicators for the Millennium, K-12
Learn strategies and techniques to build an effective public speaking curriculum or a club that helps students build confidence progressively through research, drafting, planning, preparation and presentation. Activities focus on tips for creating numerous speaking situations from impromptu to informative-inspirational speeches to panel discussions, debating and evaluation of speeches.
SHAILA ABDULKADER (KOYA), International Schools Group, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia

Fostering Inclusive Classrooms. 6-12
With personalized teaching and learning becoming all the more important, fostering inclusive classrooms constitutes an essential starting point for relationships of trust to emerge. The learning environment thus grows into an inclusive space where individual differences and gifts are highlighted as inalienable aspects of social cohesion and diversity.
EVDOXIA ADELFOPOULOU & APOSTOLOS ROFAELAS, Pinewood International School of Thessaloniki, Greece

Ethos Education through Collaborative Leadership, K-12
Ethos education, founded on service, can enrich students and educators with character development, global citizenship, leadership skills, and meaningful community bonds. A passion for service among teachers and administrators can empower students and unite an entire school community! Strategies to engage students, both face-to-face and through an online platform, will be shared. Please bring a laptop/tablet.
CHRISTINA BAKOYANNIS & SEVI KONIOSSIS, American Community Schools of Athens, Greece

Practice-Driven Instruction: Using the NGSS Science & Engineering Practices to Guide Learning, K-12
Using all three dimensions (DCIs, SEPs, and CCCs) of the Next Generation Science Standards in every lesson can be intimidating. Via an engineering challenge, learn how to use science and engineering practices to drive instruction. Discover a way to group the NGSS Science and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts so students and teachers gain clarity.
LAUREN BOWERS, American School of Dubai, UAE

Every child learns math his/her own way as children have different learning styles and tackle learning from different perspectives. Children are offered learning experiences and contexts through which they discover their own learning, uncover new concepts, and articulate their thinking and reasoning. The Eight Mathematical Practices are promoted and reflected in their learning.
RANIA EL CHAAR, American Community School Beirut, Lebanon

Fostering Social Emotional Development for Students and Parents: The Love and Logic Classroom, K-12
Learn how the Love and Logic Parenting Program can create stronger partnerships with your parent community. You will learn how to: use the language of Love and Logic in the classroom and with parents to develop and foster a common understanding of best practices for child social and emotional development.
SOOFIA FAROOQ, American International School Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Develop interdisciplinary activities using Experiential Theatre to teach a multitude of different subjects in all grades and improve basic lesson plans. After an overview of the method, you will view demonstrations for third grade science and high school history. We will also develop our own group experiential lesson plan. Please bring a laptop/tablet.
RODRICK FREITAS, The American International School of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

For students to demonstrate mastery/proficiency, they must understand the underlying components of the learning targets. In this workshop, practice unpacking learning targets, which will allow your students to effectively self-assess, monitor, and plan their own path to higher levels of mastery/proficiency. Please bring a laptop/tablet.
SAMANTHA PETREE & MARGARET McCARRON, American School of Bombay, Mumbai, India

Increasing Student Engagement Using Game-Based Learning, 6-12
Have you tried to gamify your classroom? Do you incorporate game-based learning into your curriculum? This presentation is geared to show you how to incorporate a game-based learning platform to increase student engagement in your classrooms. You will participate in an actual gaming experience!
MELACYN TURNER, American School of Doha, Qatar

Making "Making" Accessible & Assessable, K-12
How do we connect Genius hour projects and the Maker Movement to standards, and how do we assess them? Experience learning activities to guide students in self-directed project-based learning, design thinking and using standards to assess such a project. Using our “STAR Planner”, a focus on service learning and how to leverage technology will be shared.
WILLIAM YUNG, Riffa Views International School, Manama, Bahrain

Setting Learning on Fire through Project-Based Learning in Mathematics, K-12
Let’s discover how Project-Based Learning can be applied in Middle School Math to develop students as critical thinkers and autonomous learners. The process of research, inquiry, exploration, experimentation, creativity, analysis, and evaluation will be showcased to demonstrate how it can inspire students to discover a deeper conceptual understanding in mathematics.
DORA ANDRIKOPOULOS, American Community Schools of Athens, Greece

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Students as Classroom Hackers: Creating a Culture of Learning for All, E-12+
Have you ever had students whose behaviors keep them and others from learning? Join us as we discuss how behavior is an indicator of effective professional practice. Participants will engage various activities that address bias, status and develop an equitable learning environment where each student can learn and thrive.
CALLIE BUSHMILLER, Riffa Views International School, Manama, Bahrain

Using Tools to Reflect on Our Teaching, K-12
Explore resources and tools to develop a comprehensive reflection sheet for a lesson. Tools include formal evaluation forms, schools’ core values and mission statement, standards, and curriculum resources. Participants will work and elaborate on their unit of choice and align their reflection sheets with the assessments and data collected.
RANIA GEDEON & NERMEEN SAKKAL, The American International School of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Gamification and Student Motivation, K-12
Gamification is about changing the learning environment and activities into a game. You will learn the educational approaches to motivate students to learning by implementing game designs. The goal is to promote learning, deepen student understanding and maximize enjoyment. Join the game and discover the excitement! Please bring a laptop/tablet.
TIFFANY HARRIS, Qatar Foundation Schools, Doha, Qatar

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A Journey Through Experimental Design in a Science Classroom, 5-8
Explore teaching strategies to expand students’ learning and skills through experimental design, with a focus on developing effective, rich questions to promote student interest and content complexity. A complete unit plan on designing experiments and writing a full lab report will be shared, and you will perform hands-on science-based activities. Please bring a laptop/tablet.
SEZIN SAGLAM KARACAL, American International School Kuwait, Salmiya

Differentiated Strategies for the Secondary Classroom, 6-12
Examine the importance of inclusion and differentiation through case studies and discuss the neurological need of learners to feel safe in order to truly learn. Take away practical strategies to use with secondary students while working through a differentiation process. Although not a requirement, you are encouraged to bring a lesson to differentiate.
AMANDA LESTER, International Schools Group, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia

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EdTech Integration: Engaging Students in Meaningful Learning, K-5
How effective is technology used in your classroom? Explore how to pair learning tasks with technologies to avoid it becoming ‘more work’. Educators can expect to reflect and collaborate over ways to integrate EdTech, sample different technologies and leave with strategies to implement in their own practice. Please bring a laptop/tablet and download a QR code scanner onto your device.
AKIELA MANROE-CLARKE, American International School Kuwait, Salmiya

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Tips & Tricks to Improve Student Writing, 4-8
You will be exposed to four basic procedures that help students hone their writing. These processes will assist students in identifying the topic, audience, purpose, and develop strategies to facilitate elaboration in a written piece. This workshop will also allow you to “practice” these methods during the session.
MICHELLE MAY, The Universal American School, Khaldiya, Kuwait

Teaching Social Emotional Skills Through Visual Art, 1-5
This workshop aims at enhancing your abilities to help students use visual art to make sense of their world. Using five core social-emotional skills that students must possess, you will learn about the interventions and competencies that can be applied in art class through interactive discussions, table-top exercises, and concrete examples.
NELLY MOUSSA, American Community School Beirut, Lebanon

PBL the Change..., 9-12
This workshop will highlight the development and implementation of a cross-curricular (World History and English) Project-Based Learning unit focused on Social Change in Mumbai. Additionally, the session includes results of a two-year Action Research project to examine the possible impact of the unit on both student achievement and engagement.
LUCAS WAYNE, American School of Bombay, Mumbai, India

NEW WORKSHOP!
Assessment Toolkit: How to Design an Assessment to Best Measure Intended Learnings for Students
Explore strategies to create the “right” assessment tool to best measure intended learning objectives. Examine the six types of assessments and practice matching them to learning objectives before creating an assessment for an upcoming unit of study in your own classroom.
LEIGH ANNE TOLER, American Community School Beirut, Lebanon

Dramatizing a Language Lesson, 9-12
Learn how to help students transform a language lesson or unit into a drama scene and enact it, to find a solution for a local or international problem. All students, even shy ones, will be 100 percent engaged in a learning atmosphere of fun, using the four skills of language and increasing problem-solving abilities.
AMEER AHMED, Cairo American College, Egypt

Empowering Innovations, 4-12
Future jobs are in high demand for skilled individuals in various disciplines. Coding and Engineering Design can be effectively blended together in order to target skills such as computational thinking, testing and implementing possible solutions, persistence, resilience, and collaboration. Learners come out with innovative solutions to real-life problems.
SIMON BARAKAT & MARCELLE KAIROUZ, American Community School Beirut, Lebanon

'Open Session': How to build collective empathy among your students, 4-12
Take part in an “Open Session”, a time to share problems and concerns (and joys!) and for the group to give clarifications, support, and wisdom to help guide peers to make good decisions or deal with difficult situations. This is great for advisory groups or individual classes (or even groups of adults).
KRISTA BOU HAIDAR, American School of Doha, Qatar

21st Century Culture for 21st Century Outcomes, K-12
Our profession has taken up the challenge of educating for 21st Century skills. But what if developing those skills depended most on cultures of psychological safety for teachers and students? Let’s discuss one possible road map to building a 21st Century culture.
RONNIE CALDWELL, International Schools Group, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia

Self-reported Student Engagement Data, 3-12
Discover effective ways to collect and use student self-reported engagement data. Moving beyond observable indicators allows educators to measure cognitive and emotional engagement. Using systematic student self-reported data in combination with other forms can support the creation of individual pathways to respond to the diversity of learners in the classroom. Please bring a laptop/tablet.
TARA FERREL & DIANA SOULE, American School of Bombay, Mumbai, India

An Interdisciplinary Approach to Promote Visible Thinking Using Data, 6-12
Non-mathematics teachers will gain insights into approaches to analyze data taken from real world examples. We will use graphical displays to help students develop their critical thinking skills while introducing a thinking routine. Learn to explore variability in samples and draw conclusions with a common-sense approach to statistical thinking.
JULIA KAMERON, The American International School of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Tangible Listening Lessons for Learning, K-12
This workshop is an overview of how listening is different from hearing. We will discuss the different ways we listen, provide strategies to overcome the roadblocks to listening, and role play reflective listening techniques to enhance interpersonal relationships among students and colleagues. Let’s learn to listen!
PATTY KLENNERT, American School of Doha, Qatar

Enough with the stickers and points! Let's shift our gaze to the effective ways we can inspire and lead students, instead of merely “managing" them. Implement research-based thinking routines and build a positive culture that motivates and empowers all learners.
MACI NAZZARINI, Riffa Views International School, Manama, Bahrain

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Project Based Learning: Authentic learning for students with real-world impact, 6-12
Engage students in their learning! Today's success demands the ability to solve real world problems and situations. Join us for a practical Project Based Learning workshop. Our session will provide the tools to begin this process, or if you are already a PBL facilitator, to refine your practice.
SAM ABRAMS & MICHELE GADDY, Qatar Foundation Schools, Doha

Circle Solutions - for Student Wellbeing, K-12
Developed by Sue Roffey, Circle Solutions is a framework and pedagogy for social and emotional learning to ensure that it addresses issues of concern for kids from a safe, strengths and solutions-focused approach. An annotated circle will be led by trainers with ideas for practical, immediate use in classrooms.
BONNIE GREENE & LeeANN KASAL, Cairo American College, Egypt

The Big E Comes Home: NESA Virtual Science and Engineering Fair, 5-8
Come learn how your Grades 5-8 classes can participate in the NVSEF. Learn how to adapt your local science or engineering fairs to our hybrid physical/online event. This project is also ideal for schools that have been running science fairs, maker fairs, invention conventions and engineering design classes. Please bring a laptop/tablet.
VALYA LEATON, American International School Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, & BRIAN WRIGHT, American School of Doha, Qatar

21st Century Classroom: Using Data to Drive Instruction, 1-5 (MAP testing grades)
As schools move toward standard-based grading, assessing and collecting data is important to show whether students have mastered concepts and standards. The focus of this PD is using the data we gather to drive instruction. The data is from MAP and/or other standards-based (common) assessments administered by classroom teachers. Please bring a laptop/tablet.
LEON LEE, The American International School of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Creating Culturally Responsive Classrooms, K-12
This workshop will introduce Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Critical Pedagogy as a foundation for deconstructing and redesigning curriculum rooted in social justice. We will discuss how issues of power and privilege have shaped a master narrative in education. Explore examples and resources to develop a Culturally Responsive framework in your classroom.
ELLEN MONTGOMERY, American School of Doha, Qatar

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A Personalized Approach to Language Learning, K-12
This presentation gives an overview of how to differentiate for English Language Learners with varying proficiencies in the same classroom. Individualized language learning will be discussed, as well as how to create personalized language learning plans. Participants will have templates for creating individualized language learning plans and progress monitoring forms. Please bring a laptop/tablet.
MEGHAN MURPHY & SAMANTHA PETREE, American School of Bombay, Mumbai, India

The Differentiated Classroom: Adjusting Learning Environments in Early Years, K-2
The workshop is an introduction to creating an inclusive classroom environment to promote student success in the early years. We will look at flexible seating, sensory manipulatives, and techniques for developing student capacity.
SINAE VanHAASTERT, American International School Kuwait, Salmiya

Living the Mission Through Project Based Instruction, 6-12
Centered on coupling disciplinary content with project-based instruction, this session aims to help teachers explore their mission through an interactive workshop. Participants will leave with a rough draft of a classroom project that leverages their school's mission in relation to standards-based assessment.
MARISSA WICKERSHEIM & LORA HAWKINS, American School of Kuwait, Hawalli

Breathing Life into Nonfiction Through Journalism Storytelling, 6-12
Nonfiction has a reputation for not being “high interest” enough for students. This workshop’s goal is to help teachers realize the power of journalism storytelling as a nonfiction study. Allegedly, journalism is a dying business, but in truth journalism may be in its greatest (and most accessible) form yet.
RILEY WORTH, International Schools Group, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia+

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