Empower EDU

Today, digital affordances invite all learners to build new knowledge as content can be easily differentiated, translated, and crafted to meet diverse learning needs. But it’s not only about adjusting text complexity; it’s also about positioning students as powerful learners who are curious, ask questions, know how to seek content to meet their needs, and are able to embark on a learning adventure that leads to deep comprehension and agency. Through layered access, multimodal and multilingual resources, and strategic instruction, educators can engage ALL young people in a learning journey that is authentic, significant, and relevant, as students create, collaborate, and connect around a curriculum rooted in thinking. And when students have the tools and time to pursue their interests, to demonstrate learning in a format that is meaningful to them, they see that learning can, and should be, joyful.

As literacy evolves, we say YES to both the enduring power of print—books, interactive read-alouds, and time-honored practices—and the possibilities of digital texts, multimodal storytelling, and creative tools that expand thinking and understanding. In this session, Kristin will share thinking strategies to enhance comprehension, communication, and critical thinking across print and digital texts. She’ll provide ready-to-use lessons that personalize learning, build background knowledge, grow vocabulary, and support deeper reading. She’ll show you how to tap students’ natural curiosity with print and digital resources, resulting in learners who are inspired and empowered to develop expansive literacy skills for today’s world.

What if the biggest barrier to learner agency isn't student behavior, but the systems we've built around classroom management and compliance? In this session, participants will explore how motivation-driven design can shift classroom culture from control to true engagement. Drawing on Daniel Pink's Drive (a Book about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation) and the groundwater approach to thinking, attendees will examine how traditional reward-and-punishment structures undermine learners' agency. We then explore what to do instead.

Here is the canva link to the presentation.

Generative AI can produce essays, presentations, and projects in seconds—but how do we ensure students still engage in meaningful learning?

In this hands-on session, educators will redesign lessons and assignments to prioritize critical thinking, creativity, and authentic student engagement in an AI-rich world. Participants will explore how tools like Gemini can either bypass learning or support deeper understanding, depending on how tasks are designed. Bring a laptop and a lesson you are ready to rethink.

We will discuss and review different strategies for slowly incorporating agency into your instruction in order to promote more self-directed learning in your classroom.