2026 Educators Conference Highlights

Adam Current, Twin Lakes School Corporation

13 1/2 Evidence-Based Reading Comprehension Strategies

In this session participants adapted interventions from Jane Oakhill’s Understanding and Teaching Reaching Comprehension along with Natalie Wexler’s The Knowledge Gap. Teachers also receive materials with tips and tricks and step-by-step guides, along with resources for once the conference ends.

Graciela Miranda, Pike High School and Megan Johnson, Central Elementary – Plainfield

The Anti-Burnout Toolkit for College and High School Students

This interactive session explored the realities of teaching across grade levels, shared early signs of burnout, and reflected on habits that support long-term success. Through discussion and real classroom examples, attendees gained tools they can use in their future classrooms.

KIPP Indy Staff

Practical Classroom Strategies for Language Development

This session equipped educators with practical, low-prep strategies to strengthen language development while maximizing academic outcomes and engagement. The strategies were organized across three levels: word/phrase, sentence, and discourse.

Participants explored multisyllabic word repetition and word walls, interactive sentence structures such as call-and-response and pair/share, and discourse tools like NVD and ABS to move students from casual to academic language.

Cassandra Williams, Education Innovation 360

Diving into Data: What are the 8 Types of Data We Can Collect?

In this session, attendees reviewed some ways to capture data to allow for more informed practices. These strategies will help teachers identify blind spots as well as tips to track and monitor data prior to classroom observations.

Dr. Patrick Jones, Exponentia Prime & Allie McGinn Paramount Schools of Excellence

Puzzles, Power and Possibility: Building Teacher Ambassadors for Advanced Math

In this interactive session, teachers experienced the power of problem solving through games, puzzles, and rich thinking exercises. Participants engaged as learners, reflected as educators, and left with strategies to support unique teachers in serving unique students, while becoming ambassadors for advanced math opportunities for all learners.

Lillian Barkes & Sabina Oxlaj, Listen to Our Future

Behavior Success

This session reimagined behavior management through the Behavior Success Model. A holistic, proactive framework developed over 10 years with educators, youth professionals, and youth voices. Participants learned practical, empathy-driven strategies that foster positive behavior, uphold high expectations, and create environments where individuals feel valued, understood, and motivated. This training equipped participants to shift from managing behavior to supporting lasting success.

Holly Hathaway Thompson, Circle City Prep

MLL Scholars Are All Our Scholars

Attendees at this session discussed, collaborated, and had a little fun in order to glean some best practices for working with MLLs.

The best part? What is good for MLLs is good for ALL scholars!

Kelin Mark, Park Tudor & Thomas Williams

Introduction to Classroom Culture

This workshop challenged educators to rethink family engagement by intentionally and strategically engaging fathers as allies in student success and classroom culture.

By the end of this session, educators left with a new lens on father engagement, actionable classroom-level strategies, and a deeper understanding of how engaging fathers can transform not only student outcomes, but the culture of learning itself.

Jane Kim, KindEd

Cultivating Capacity for AI in Education

As artificial intelligence rapidly enters classrooms, schools face pressure to adopt AI tools faster than they can understand their impact. This session looked at a  balanced, research-informed approach grounded in child development and lessons from technology adoption accelerated by COVID. 

Graciela Miranda, Pike High School

Honoring Multilingual Families: Moving from Participation to Engagement

Participants reflected on how traditional school practices often prioritize attendance and compliance, while overlooking the cultural, linguistic, and experiential assets multilingual families bring to their children’s education. Through collaborative activities and real-world scenarios, educators and school leaders explored how power, language, and access shape family-school relationships and identify practical shifts from counting involvement to building authentic partnerships.

Katina Hale & Keisha Nickolson

Every Kid Deserves a Champion

Every Kid Deserves A Champion emphasized the critical role relationships play in student success. This session invited educators to reflect on how trust, consistency, and high expectations create safe, supportive learning environments. Educators gained practical strategies for building meaningful connections, especially with students who are hardest to reach. The session reinforced that every child deserves an adult who believes in them and never gives up.

Jodi Denton, Emily Hoppel, Stacy Knoop

Teaching the Brain, Not Just the Lesson: The Science of Learning

In this engaging session attendees dove into a selection of research studies that explored widely held beliefs about teaching and learning. Participants examined which ideas are supported by evidence—and which ones might need rethinking.