Academic success increases when students are equipped to think, and much academic thinking aligns to fundamental cognitive actions that occur across academic disciplines. These “cognitive commands,” such as analyze, describe, and evaluate, can be explicitly taught and strengthened through intentional teacher planning and student practice. Participants in this session will break down processes for a variety of cognitive actions. Additionally, participants will analyze Advanced Placement (AP) Free Response Questions (FRQs) and explore a variety of resources available to teachers to improve student success in AP courses and exams. An overview of resources will include a guide for new AP teachers, a teacher guide for AP Classroom, a tour of AP Central, and on-demand video content. 

Want to get students thinking deeper and more visibly? Looking for students to prioritize thinking in an AI world? Jump into this hands on session dedicated to thinking routines! Experience a variety of practices designed to make thinking visible and spend time exploring the Project Zero Thinking Routines Toolkit to discover additional thinking routines for your classroom!

This course is designed to prepare teachers to take the ESL TExES 154 for ESL certification and develop a core set of competencies needed to teach Emergent bilingual students. We will dive into the ESL 154 test prep manual. The following topics will be covered: Language concepts and language acquisition, ESL instruction and assessments, Cultural awareness, and Family/Community involvement. Practice questions for the TExES exam will also be included in the session.

After completing this session, you should be able to:

• Identify RLA Research-Based Instructional Strategies (RBIS) and describe how they are supported by high-quality instructional materials (HQIM).
• Understand how the teacher competencies align with the best practices of HQIM implementation.
• Explain how your work in this program will develop these competencies and support effective HQIM implementation. 
• Describe the shifts in methods and examine strategies that will support successful implementation of HQIM. 

After completing this session, participants should be able to:

• Identify MATH Research-Based Instructional Strategies (RBIS) and describe how they are supported by high-quality instructional materials (HQIM).
• Understand how the teacher competencies align with the best practices of HQIM implementation.
• Explain how your work in this program will develop these competencies and support effective HQIM implementation. 
• Describe the shifts in methods and examine strategies that will support successful implementation of HQIM.