We often discuss engagement and students' active role in learning. If you looked at the classroom of the 50s, you would see desks in rows, a teacher in the front of the room doing most of the talking, books out on the desks, and students consuming the lesson. Should schools in 2023 follow this same model? The answer should be a resounding, very loud NO. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. In many of today’s classrooms, we continue to teach by delivering information that students are expected to consume. We can change this! This session will focus on tools and strategies to create active thinkers and learners.

Matt Joseph is currently the Director of Evaluation, Supervision, Mentoring and Hiring in Brockton Public Schools. He is the CEO of X-Factor EDU and the author of several books. He has held many positions in education from classroom teacher to principal; this has given him insight into how best to support teaching and learning. He writes articles for national publications and is a frequent speaker at state and national educational events as well as the president-elect of MASCD.

Teachers and students alike may be feeling the pressure of having to properly prepare for spring testing. In this session, we will take a look at the different assessment types, plus test-taking strategies that will make students more comfortable in taking them. Let's grow our approach to testing so we can foster learning and showcase student knowledge.

Explore the three domains of digital learning: wellness, competency, and creativity as a framework to design instruction, demonstrate learning, and assess understanding. Create authentic opportunities to capture student voice, make thinking visible, build student agency, and reimagine what post-pandemic publishing looks like. Participants will use resources and collaboration to rebuild intentional, engaged, student-centered, and social-emotionally guided learning. This session looks at the components of digital citizenship as a wellness model, identifying tools and strategies to amplify all voices, provide authentic choices, and ensure that all learners are empowered to create their own content.

As a Digital Learning Coach in Walpole, Massachusetts, Jed Stefanowicz provides job-embedded professional development and instructional coaching for academic technology. Through conferences, workshops, and coaching, Jed aims to engage and build staff/student digital learning capacity, keeping the focus on practice over product. As a 25 year elementary educator, speaker, blogger, and current Massachusetts Teach Plus Policy Fellow, Jed shares his passion for effective tech integration to transform teaching and learning, creating engaging and equitable digital learning environments and experiences that activate, innovate, and motivate digital learning. He is the Author of “Take AIM at Digital Learning: Activate, Innovate, Motivate” and “Impact to Influence”.