Thursday, February 20
8:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Cost per person: $199
By advance registration only.
Add $30 fee if you are not attending the conference.
All pre-conference workshops will be offered LIVE in San Francisco only. There is no virtual option.
1. Better Learning Through Structured Teaching: A Framework For the Graduate Release of Responsibility
In this workshop, Douglas Fisher will dig deeper into the hows and whys of the gradual release of responsibility instructional framework. To gradually release responsibility is to equip students with what they need to be engaged and self-directed learners. On a day-to-day level, it means delivering lessons purposefully planned to incorporate four essential and interrelated instructional phases: Focused Instruction; Guided Instruction; Collaborative Learning; and Independent Learning. You will learn tips and tools for classroom implementation, including checklists for planning and assessment; advice on feedback, homework, group work, differentiated instruction and blended learning; answers to frequently asked questions; and examples that align to standards. No matter what year level or subject you teach, this workshop will guide you one how to help students expand their capacity for successful and long-lasting learning.
Douglas B. Fisher, PhD, Chair, Department of Educational Leadership, San Diego State University; Classroom Teacher, Health Sciences High and Middle College; Co-Author, Welcome to Teaching (2024), Helping Students to Drive Their Learning (2023), How Scaffolding Works (2023), and Better Learning Through Structured Teaching: A Framework For the Gradual Release of Responsibility (2021)
2. Awe in Education: Creating Learning Environments That Inspire, Motivate, and Heal
Join Drs. Amy Eva and Vicki Zakrzewski from the Greater Good Science Center's Education team in exploring how to apply the cutting-edge science of awe in classrooms and schools. Learn how awe enhances academic learning, motivation, and student and teacher well-being—and how you can create inspiring educational environments, filled with curiosity, discovery, and "awesome" possibility. You will learn about the eight wonders of awe, explore how awe benefits our brains and bodies, and find real-life examples and practices to help you bring more inspiration, meaning, and purpose to your students.
Vicki Zakrzewski, PhD, Education Director, Greater Good Science Center, University of California, Berkeley; Former Teacher and School Administrator and Vicki Zakrzewski, PhD, Associate Education Director; Education Content Specialist, Greater Good Science Center, University of California, Berkeley; Former Teacher; Author, Teaching With Hope: Reducing Burnout and Deepen Your Well-Being (2024); Co-Author, Surviving Teacher Burnout: A Weekly Guide to Build Resilience, Deal With Emotional Exhaustion, and Stay Inspired in the Classroom (2022) and "The Mindful Teacher: Translating Research into Daily Well-Being" (2016, The Clearing House)
3. Building Hope and Resilience in Ourselves and Our Students
Explore the essential elements of hope, mindset, grit, and resilience in this transformative workshop. Learn how these interconnected qualities empower individuals to overcome challenges and thrive in a changing world, and gain practical strategies for helping others—children, friends, colleagues—develop this extraordinary strength.
Kevin D. Washburn, EdD, Educator; Experienced Teacher from Elementary and Graduate Classrooms; Executive Director of Clerestory Learning; Cofounder/Co-owner of Make Way for Books; Developer of the Architecture of Learning instructional design model, the Foundations & Frameworks instructional reading program, and the Writer’s Stylus instructional writing program; Author, Uprise: Building Resilience in Ourselves and Others (2024) and The Architecture of Learning: Designing Instruction for the Learning Brain (2010)
