CultivatED is the professional development (PD) program of Legacy Traditional Schools.
Beginning in 2017, CultivatEd has grown to become our biggest yearly professional development opportunity for teachers

Overview

We have an incredible line-up of presenters from our own Legacy Traditional School teachers. We will be covering subthemes of:

• Bridging the Gap
• Data-Driven Instruction
• Beyond the Curriculum
• Using Technology
• Social Emotional Support
• Classroom Culture

When:

Friday, Sept. 3

Where:

This year, CultivatED is going to be a virtual event. You may attend from your home and attendance will be taken virtually.

Schedule

Session Overview

Welcome | Announcements
8 – 8:15 a.m.

Please use the meeting link from the Keynote Speaker below for the Welcome and Announcements session.

Keynote Speaker
8:15 – 9 a.m. 

Emmanuel “Manny” Ohonme is the Co-Founder, President and CEO of Samaritan’s Feet International, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that shares hope with those in need by washing their feet and giving them a new pair of shoes. Manny grew up in Nigeria and received his first pair of tennis shoes at the age of nine from a “Good Samaritan” visiting his country. Those shoes became a symbol of hope as Manny earned a college basketball scholarship in the U.S. and later started a career in technology. But, Manny never forgot the children of his homeland or the “Good Samaritan.” In 2003, Manny and his wife, Tracie, founded Samaritan’s Feet and have distributed more than 8 million pairs of shoes in 108 countries and over 450 U.S. cities.
Meeting link

Breakout Session 1
9:15 – 10 a.m.

Brain Benefits
By: Steve Brazier from North Chandler
Recent advances in brain-scanning technology and research have greatly expanded our understanding of how the brain works. Learn the basics of neurology and how to use it to our advantage in building skills, knowledge, and habits. Anybody can be good at anything if you know the most effective processes to make it happen.
Meeting Link

Bridging Learning Gaps
By: Jasmyne Johnson from Queen Creek
This presentation will give a jump start on going beyond the curriculum. The goal is to give a model for teachers to follow that does not complicate the interventions and enrichments put in place. This presentation will give teachers a framework, categories of idea’s to pull from and teach about free, easy to find, and quality resources that will provide students with the support they need. These interventions only take 5-15 minutes and do not have to be done by the teacher alone. But through a class effort, building a learning culture, and providing students with resources they will use to learn!
Meeting Link

Impact of Classroom Management on Class and School Culture
By: Thomas Margherita from Laveen
Classroom management is the focal point of what drives a successful classroom and campus. The “vibe” we bring to the school every day directly relates to the students and our performance. In this presentation, we will discuss classroom management, strategies, and most importantly mental health of the teacher.
Meeting Link

Incorporating Science and Engineering Practices into Daily Science Instruction
By: Lindsay Tanner from Vertex
Science education is moving from just “knowing science” to “doing science!” In this session, we will dive into how we can start incorporating the science and engineering practices into our daily science lessons to not only engage our students in science concepts but also prepare them for AZSci. The practices that are embedded in every single one of our science standards also tie in closely with each step of the Science and Engineering Fair! This session is aimed towards 6-8 grade science teachers but is also applicable to K-5 science teachers.
Meeting Link

Using Schoology Assessments for Guided Explorations
By: Louis Alfieri from Vertex
Schoology’s puzzle pieces, although labeled as assessments, can be used to format many educational experiences with stronger instructional techniques than pages or slides. These repurposed assessments can benefit students who miss key components of a lesson or project because of absences. The added benefit is that they can track students’ progress through the materials, deliver student responses in a timely manner for the teacher to review, and award them points as is appropriate for the class.
Meeting Link

Structuring Intervention Time
By: Amanda Newton from Avondale
I&E time is such an important piece of classroom instruction, but it takes a lot of research and preparation! I will be sharing some effective strategies I used last year to group my students effectively, manage and engage the rest of the students in a meaningful way, and helpful tips on how to plan and prep your intervention activities without adding hours to your workload.
Meeting Link

Social and Emotional Learning for Teachers
By: Kelly Montaño and Mariah Western from Vertex
Teaching is a demanding job! Research shows that cultivating social and emotional skills can help lessen burnout and increase job satisfaction in teachers. In addition, these skills can also help improve relationships with students, leading to higher academic achievement. In this session, we will analyze your Personal SEL Reflection results to gain insight into your areas of strength and growth to help you be the best teacher you can be! If you haven’t already taken CASEL’s Personal SEL Reflection, please take it before you attend this session.
Meeting Link

Breakout Session 2
10:15 – 11 a.m.

Maximizing your Time
By: Cindy Jones from Chandler
Being able to maximize the time we have with our students will help go beyond our curriculum – developing strategies to avoid teacher burnout and focus on what really matters. With that 40-Hour Work Week, we can start Rethinking how we use our TIME and how to better utilize/maximize the time we have with our students and staff to develop what goes beyond the CURRICULUM.
Meeting Link

Teaching Without a Worksheet
By: Stephanie Martinez from Vertex
Copy machine out again? Teaching is an art that doesn’t require packets. Explore how to make teaching subjects that have a bad reputation more engaging without using worksheets.
Meeting Link

Educator Aspiring Leaders
By: Larissa Cuda & Suzanne Smailagic from Vertex
Educator Aspiring Leaders is a program dedicated to building leadership capacity in teachers, instructional coaches, and student support coaches. This program will officially kick off during the 2022-23 school year, but the Legacy Leadership Coaches are offering a preview of this program during CultivatED for interested parties. Those joining the preview session will have the opportunity to continue to participate in the Educator Aspiring Leaders “Preview” throughout the 2021-22 school year.
Meeting Link 

Dalcroze, Suzuki, Orff, Kodaly
By: Katie Gant from Vertex
Do, Re, Mi and Ti-ka Ti-ka Ta! Building your music teaching toolkit doesn’t have to be complicated. There are several music education philosophies, but which one is the best? We will compare and contrast these philosophies and discover new ways to engage your students in the music classroom.
Meeting Link

Reading and Math Rotations for Intervention and Extension
By: Tonia Pack from Queen Creek
Are you looking for some ideas on how to launch your Intervention and Enrichment (I&E) block in math and reading? In this class, you will learn how to organize your 30-minute sessions to help students succeed while building on foundational skills, reviewing previously taught material, and/or providing extension activities. We will focus on creating a rotation schedule for students, how to use data to drive instruction, and how to plan engaging rotation activities.
Meeting Link

Making Your CTM Work For You
By: Tamela Harris from Vertex
How can my time spent in my CTM improve my instructional practice? Find out how in this presentation by coming with prepared questions related to your weekly CTM and perhaps gaps of knowledge on how to core Kate what goes on in the CTM and your classroom’s everyday instructional practices.
Meeting Link

Media and the Impact on a Child’s Mind
By: Vincent Dalke from Mesa
Screen time and media consumption are two things that no other generation really had to deal with in regard to educating children. Children have many secondary influencers that are becoming primary due to sometimes a mere lack of understanding. Not knowing what is really happening biologically to a child’s brain when it is developing and what can be done easily to assist their social and emotional wellbeing is the problem at hand. We as educators must first be versed in this matter to then be able to give guidance when it is needed.
Meeting Link

Breakout Session 3
12:15 – 1 p.m.

ELA/Math Differentiation Make & Take
By: Kresta Huston from Queen Creek
Stuck on resources? Running out of time? Join me for a few make-and-take-center ideas!
Meeting Link

Responding to Literature through Thinking Maps
By: Christina Kosednar from Vertex
How do you create a brain-friendly learning environment where teachers can visually see each student’s learning, differentiate instruction, and help students develop and access higher-order thinking skills? Well…the answer is based on decades of brain research! Thinking Maps are a common visual language that provides insight as to how new learning is encoded and what the brain likes to pay attention to. In this presentation, we will focus on how to use Thinking Maps when responding to literature. You will learn how to differentiate learning through all disciplines by activating cognitive processes that enable authentic learning. These maps will help students encode new ideas so that they can remember them effortlessly and make connections that support deep comprehension and critical and creative thinking.
Meeting Link

Incorporating Student Movement in Art Class
By: Carolyn Bogusz from Phoenix
We all know that art is fun, but it can be intimidating to have movement in a class where supplies can get spilled or artwork can be damaged. However, there are some great ways to incorporate movement into your lessons. We will look at different ways to get students moving across all grade bands with fun lessons that help build to build student engagement and retention. Build deeper understanding and appreciation with these techniques.
Meeting Link

Scaffolding in Music Class: Building the Foundation
By: Judy Brady from Gilbert
A lot of students lost their musical foundation of basic reading, rhythms, and sounds over the course of the pandemic. We as teachers can use scaffolding in our lessons to help students achieve mastery over their basic skills to gain success for all students in our classrooms in less time, no matter the grade or topic!
Meeting Link

Using Google Workspace in the Classroom
By: Janet Hernandez from Vertex
2020 has shown us the need for more technology use in the classroom. Not just for students but for teachers as well. Using Google Drive in Schoology will enable teachers to create templates of assignments for students. This will proactively create a copy for each student. We’ll explore how this works! How does this benefit the teacher? Less paperwork, more organization, and an opportunity to apply technology use in the classroom. How does this benefit the student? They’ll learn and apply how to use Google Workspace and become more tech-savvy. How does Google Workspace help? Teachers will have an opportunity to create unique assignments using a Google application. Examples will be discussed!
Meeting Link

Rigor and What It Means
By: Candice Pistolesi from Vertex
I will be presenting on rigor. The different levels of rigor, (procedural, conceptual, application) and how teachers can align their standards to rigor and then use DOK to chose what type of activities they want to do in order to determine if students have shown mastery. Rigor is often referred to as “make something harder” when that is not what it is.
Meeting Link

Understand Executive Functioning in Students
By: Taylene Lozier from Mesa
Have you ever heard of executive functioning? Do your students seem like they have too many tabs open in their brains at times? Do you notice an inability to selectively focus on the task at hand in your classroom? Do you have students that struggle with impulse control? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this session is one to consider. Participants will learn what executive functioning is and is not as well as targeted support strategies that will benefit all students in the class.
Meeting Link

Breakout Session 4
1 – 1:45 p.m.

Exploring STEM Passion Projects
By: Mari Westerhausen from Queen Creek
Are your RISE students bored in your class? Not enough time to plan for enrichment materials to keep them busy? Here’s a session that will help you tap their passion for exploring a STEM world of possibilities.
Meeting Link

Classroom Tips and Tricks
By: Ashlee Gibson from Queen Creek
Work Smarter, Not Harder! Need some tips to help make your teaching life easier? To help your day run smoother? If you want some tips, some simple, some a little bougie, then this presentation is for you!
Meeting Link

Classroom Management – Preparation for a Positive Learning Environment
By: Keith Duty from Glendale
I will present on classroom management. I will stress how classroom management starts with preparation before the day begins. After this, I will show how you set expectations before students enter the classroom. Next, I will talk about how good pacing is vital to management. I will break down different techniques to pacing, including timers, cold calling, call and response, and others. Lastly, I will speak about fairness and follow through.
Meeting Link

Strategic Instruction Model (SIM)
By: Tani Wade & Kimberly McCarthy from Northwest Tucson
Learning Strategies– Sentence Writing and Paraphrasing
Meeting Link

Clever in the Classroom
By: Lynne Peters from Glendale
You’ll learn to access all of your apps via Clever Portal, which gives students, teachers, and staff a personalized page to securely log in to all their digital resources. Think of Clever Portal as your digital classroom: where you and students can find all of your apps, along with any other resource you want to add.
Meeting Link

Cloze Approach to Reading Instruction
By: Ella Haley-Danley and Alexis Harper from Vertex
This presentation will provide teachers with a research-based strategy to measure reading comprehension. The cloze approach to reading is effective in supporting reading comprehension as well as an intervention in the MTSS process. Come learn more on how to use this effective and flexible technique!
Meeting Link 

Effective Student Self-assessment
By: Christopher Turner from Laveen
Student self-assessment is the first step in goal setting. When a student self-assesses with a rubric, they begin to see where they want to go. It is important to involve students in critical reflection. Student self-assessment can reveal what other strategies can never reveal (strengths, weaknesses, attitudes, and effort).
Meeting Link