BREAKOUT SESSION SET #1
10:00AM - 10:45AM

Tackling Teacher Shortages with International Teacher Recruitment
Salon D

Take a look at the successful strategies that two CT districts have employed to tackle teacher shortages through international teacher recruitment.  

Windham will share its challenges and successes in the journey to recruit, hire and retain visiting international teachers for the dual purposes of cultural exchange and filling shortage area vacancies. 

Hartford will share its Paso a Paso strategy, developed  to ensure that each student has consistent access to effective teaching and racially and linguistically diverse educators.

Come listen, learn, and discuss the possibilities for your district.

Student Voice & Agency: Aligning to a Vision of a Global Citizen
Salon B

The Farmington School District is enacting its Vision of the Global Citizen through the power of student voice and agency within the PreK-12 instructional core. This identity affirming strategy creates an intersection of deep learning, equity and belonging through a learner-centered approach to instruction, curriculum development and student engaged assessment practices. 

Explore the importance of district-wide innovation that is aligned with student empowerment and agency in these post-pandemic times.

A Catalyst Team In Action
Salon C

Learn about Griswold’s District Catalyst Team, a professional learning community of teachers working together on innovative practices in the post-pandemic wake. Then cycle through “speed consulting rounds” that include such topics as virtual/augmented realities; blended learning structures; and the catalyst team ethos—connecting teachers to one another. This will be an interactive, hands-on experience, so bring a device of choice (smart phone, laptop or tablet.)

Portrait of the Graduate (for real) with Chat GPT and AI
Salon A

Chat GPT and emerging AI tools are challenging core assumptions about teaching and learning. One key takeaway is that high leverage skills (those often found in the portrait of the graduate) will become more important than ever as students navigate a future dominated by artificial intelligence. 

Matt Mervis from Ed Advance will provide a context for AI in education and illustrate how student learning can be enhanced with artificial intelligence while addressing the downside risks. We will look at specific strategies and unpack how schools can use AI to prepare students for a rapidly changing college and career landscape.

Innovative Birth to Age 8 Collaborative
Hartford Room

New London will share its new Birth to Age 8 Collaborative, launched with ESSER funds. Unique and innovative early childhood pathway options have been developed and added to the school calendar. These offer parents (and teachers) new choices in when and how children are learning. Multiple data collections are guiding next steps in programming and co-partnering with parents/caregivers.

Leadership Well-Being: An Innovation for District Improvement
Rocky Hill Room

Using a research-tested design to support individual and collective resourcefulness, the “Self-Leadership” approach has been used nationally and internationally to support individuals in navigating their personal and professional lives in order to achieve optimal outcomes. District leaders will hear case study examples and learn basic practices in order to enhance and sustain individual and collective resources for the 8C’s of calm, clarity, curiosity, compassion, confidence, courage, creativity and connection.

The ESSER Grant
Connecticut Room

ESSER dollars continue to fund innovative recovery investments across our state.  Refresh yourself on the basics of ESSER funding and have your questions answered.  Kathy Dempsey from the State Department of Education will be available to discuss your questions about this unprecedented grant to Connecticut and its public school districts.