Your students are seeking ways to impact the world around them. Connecting learning to real-world issues: Makes school more meaningful, Helps students see the relevance of history, civics, and literacy, Encourages long-term civic participation, Promotes fairness and inclusion, Ensures diverse perspectives are heard. Join us to workshop real-world strategies to help your students engage and advocate for the issues that are important to them.
In this interactive session, participants will explore how to design meaningful, standards-aligned learning experiences that empower students to create, capture, and reflect on their learning. Educators will actively engage with Seesaw’s multimodal tools to make student thinking visible, differentiate instruction, and strengthen home-school connections.
Participants will learn about the be engaged in examples of how to build arts integrated units while incorporating district provided curriculum, GLAD strategies, and student exposure to the arts. Participants will also be engaged in a conversation about how arts integration can benefit student engagement and inclusion.
This session explores how real-world scenarios can transform student engagement by connection personal finance concepts with Environmental STEM themes. Teachers will experience and design learning opportunities that center inquiry, student voice, and authentic decision-making. Through practical examples and collaborative planning, participants will see how financial literacy can extend beyond standalone courses and become a meaningful context for interdisciplinary learning. Educators will leave with adaptable strategies and ideas for integrating real-world, inquiry driven experiences that help students make relevant connections between content, their lives, and the future they are shaping.
My name is Priscilla Del Aguila. I am a National Board's Certified teacher with 11 years of Middle and High School school experience at Albuquerque Public Schools. Endorsed in Social Studies, TESOL, and Health. I work at Rio Grande High School, as the IMPAC and Personal Finance teacher... Read More →
Tuesday August 4, 2026 11:00am - 11:50am MDT 31 Santa Ana401 2nd St NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
Instructional breakdowns are rarely random. Many barriers to learning, such as language complexity, cognitive load, representation, insufficient background knowledge, and executive functioning demands, are predictable at the planning stage. This session introduces five universal barriers that impact access and engagement across content areas. Participants will explore why these barriers disproportionately affect students prioritized under the Yazzie-Martinez decision and how proactive lesson design can improve access and engagement for all learners. By reframing accommodations as proactive design decisions rather than reactive fixes, educators will learn a simple planning process to name the task, identify barriers, and intentionally design barrier removal. Practical examples across math, science, social studies, and ELA will demonstrate how this planning lens supports equitable access, strengthens inclusion, and reduces teacher workload.
Bridge the gap between how the brain processes new information and how it stores it for the long term. Teachers will explore the "Big 3" biological foundations—neuroplasticity, the amygdala, and dopamine—before diving into high-leverage cognitive strategies like retrieval practice and dual coding. Participants will leave with a clear understanding of the "forgetting curve" and a toolkit of low-stakes, actionable activities to ensure student learning "sticks" beyond the classroom door.
Explore how the use of NMOER, open pedagogy and authentic assessments can better prepare students for success in the age of AI. Authentic assessments offer meaningful opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning by incorporating reflections on their cultures, experiences, and strengths, moving beyond reliance on traditional testing. Tour NMOER for relevant instructional resources.
Erica Wheeler has worked as an educator in New Mexico for two decades. Currently, she is the Humanities Specialist with the New Mexico Public Education Department where she supports social studies instruction and fine arts programming. Ms. Wheeler helped write the recently enacted... Read More →
Tuesday August 4, 2026 11:00am - 12:20pm MDT 60 Chaco401 2nd St NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
How can we design experiential, project-based units for ELs that incorporate language and content skills? In this hands-on session, participants will explore numerous examples of project-based units specifically designed to support and engage high school EL students across different content areas. After discussing examples, participants will have the opportunity to brainstorm a project-based unit for their own classroom and receive feedback on their ideas. This session is targeted for HS educators, but the concepts covered are applicable for MS as well.
This session explores how culture—more than strategy alone—determines whether team structures truly work. Participants examine how inclusive practices, social‑emotional learning, and joy woven into daily routines create environments where all students feel seen, valued, and capable of taking academic risks.
Connection Circles are structured discussion routines that build belonging, communication, and engagement across classrooms, PLC teams, and athletic programs. In this hands on workshop, participants will experience a live Connection Circle and explore adaptable formats such as poll based reflection, Would You Rather prompts, and structured small group discussion. Participants will design a ready to use Connection Circle tailored to their classroom, PLC, or team setting. This session supports social emotional learning, inclusive participation, and student voice while providing practical strategies that can be implemented immediately to strengthen relationships and collaboration.
Attend this session and walk away with a better understanding of what Autism characteristics look like in your classroom and your campus. See and hear examples of these characteristics so that you can better understand evaluation reports and approach referrals with greater context for the evaluation process.
In this fast-paced, live-build session, discover how to transform traditional, solitary assignments into high-octane collaborative projects. Using Canva for Education, Kelly and a team of five students will take the stage to demonstrate how a single shared project can evolve from a blank canvas to a professional-grade video and digital portfolio in real-time. Witness the power of simultaneous collaboration: while one student scripts, another animates, a third curates b-roll, and others refine the aesthetic—all under the teacher’s real-time digital supervision. We will move beyond "group work" (where one person does all the typing) and into "synchronous production," where every student has a specialized role and a cursor on the screen.
Kelly Mitchell considers herself a life-long learner who is continually seeking new programs and apps to enhance student learning. Kelly is a passionate educator with 15 years teaching experience in elementary education and currently an EdTech Support Specialist.. In addition to teaching... Read More →
Tuesday August 4, 2026 12:00pm - 12:50pm MDT Kiva401 2nd St NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
The more open the experience, the deeper the learning! This session will share a variety of ways that standard Savvas Week 6 projects can be transformed into higher-level cognitive journeys. Bridge the gap between scripted curriculum and authentic, student-driven discovery that sticks.
In an era where AI can generate answers instantly, students are losing the ability to think deeply, read critically, and express original ideas. This session introduces "Thinking Is Critical", a practical classroom framework built around the "Read Think Write Connect" model.
As a 26 year Albuquerque Public Schools humanities teacher, I share classroom tested strategies that are structured, differentiated and engaging. This approach has received very positive feedback from APS teachers for its clarity, flexibility, and impact on student engagement. "Thinking Is Critical" is lively, thought provoking and relevant.
Participants will leave with eight ready to use activities, complete slide decks, differentiated readings at three levels, and a clear roadmap for strengthening critical thinking across content areas. The focus is on practical tools that can be implemented immediately to help students think more deeply in an age when thinking matters more than ever.
Twenty six years in the classroom has reinforced one lesson above all others: thinking is a skill that must be intentionally taught and practiced. My approach combines critical thinking, inquiry, and project based learning to help students become more curious, thoughtful, and independent... Read More →
Tuesday August 4, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm MDT Kiva401 2nd St NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
I am a National Board Certified Teacher with a Wilson level 1 certification and reading endorsement. Teaching literacy is my passion, ELA at Jefferson Middle School for 10 years and K-3 special ed at Osuna for 12 years. As part of my current work with the APS Mentor program, I encourage... Read More →
Tuesday August 4, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm MDT 15 Zuni401 2nd St NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
Discover how Minecraft Education can transform your classroom into a hub of inclusive, collaborative learning! In this hands-on workshop, you won't just learn about the platform; you'll jump into a blocky world to experience it yourself. We will explore how building in Minecraft supports the whole student academically and socially, perfectly aligning with APS's Culture of Care. You'll learn to design simple challenges that foster teamwork, critical thinking, and social-emotional growth for diverse learners. By the end of the session, you'll have a ready-to-use lesson plan and the confidence to let your students build, problem-solve, and collaborate together. Join us and learn how to level up your inclusive practices!
This session explores how model making can be used as a Creative Teaching Strategy (CTS) to support deeper thinking and understanding in English Language Arts. Participants will experience how students can construct visual and physical models to represent ideas, analyze texts, and make meaning beyond written responses. Model making provides an accessible entry point for all learners, including multilingual students, by allowing them to organize, interpret, and communicate their thinking in multiple ways. Through hands-on engagement, participants will explore how this strategy strengthens comprehension, supports academic language development, and increases student engagement. Practical applications and classroom connections will be provided to support immediate implementation across grade levels.
If you are hosting a student teacher this year, this session is for you! How do I tell my student teacher they need to improve? How do I help them with lesson plans? How do I step away? How do we both teach our students in a meaningful way? We will share insights on effectively working with a student teacher and facing these difficult conversations head on!
I can't wait to meet all of you at the conference! I've been working with Kathy and Ellen for over 30 years and am always inspired, entertained, and in awe of their work! I look forward to sharing Designing the Future with you, our new Middle School curriculum to guide young people to use their own gifts and passions to make the world a better place. See you soon... Read More →
Tuesday August 4, 2026 2:00pm - 2:50pm MDT 15 Zuni401 2nd St NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
This course will focus on creating safe and supportive spaces for LGBTQ+ students, staff, and families. This course, in conjunction with Safe Zone - Law & APS Policy will provide you with the requirement needed to get a Safe Zone lanyard or sign.
Student voice does not happen by accident. It grows when classrooms are designed with predictable structures that support clarity, participation, and timely feedback. This session focuses on practical, high leverage classroom structures that elevate student voice within strong Tier 1 instruction. Participants will explore how small instructional shifts can increase meaningful participation, strengthen belonging, and support inclusive practices aligned to APS priorities around Culture of Care and MLSS. Through modeling, structured collaboration, and guided lesson application, educators will refine an upcoming lesson and leave with ready to use structures they can implement immediately.
How might we transform a field trip into a powerful, student-centered learning experience? In this interactive workshop, educators will partner with the National Park Service education team from Valles Caldera National Preserve to explore and co-design a 6th Grade Academic Field Experience grounded in place-based learning, inquiry, and inclusive practices. Participants will step into the role of a student through a “mini field experience,” engaging with real images, data, and maps from Valles Caldera. Teachers will then work in teams to design a pre- or post-field experience that connects classroom learning to authentic investigations in math, science, literacy, and social studies. This session is also a recruitment opportunity for 6th grade, cross-content teams interested in helping co-design and pilot this experience during the 2026-2027 school year.
Hi, I'm Charlie Ciernia, a resource teacher supporting PreK-5 outdoor learning, nature journaling, and project-based learning. I'm one of the lead teachers for the Los Padillas Wildlife Sanctuary Signature Academic Field Experience, where students engage in hands-on, place-based... Read More →
Tuesday August 4, 2026 2:00pm - 2:50pm MDT 21 Jemez401 2nd St NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
