Instruction

Erik M. Francis is an international author, educator, and presenter. He provides professional development on how to plan and provide engaging teaching and learning experiences that are academically rigorous, socially and emotionally supportive, standards-based, and student responsive.

Dr. Kapono Ciotti has worked internationally in educational change organizations and has trained teachers in over 100 schools and districts across four continents, impacting hundreds of thousands of students.

Edward P. Darrah is a licensed and certified professional counselor and is triple board-certified in counseling, school counseling, and telemental health. He serves as a mental health and performance counselor for Temple University athletics.

Dr. Amy Gaumer Erickson is an associate research professor at the University of Kansas whose practice-based research focuses on guiding educators to embed competency instruction within coursework and evaluate students’ social-emotional growth.

Dr. Ripley is currently teaching in the departments of elementary and secondary education at the University of Alberta and has over 35 years of experience at the elementary, junior high/middle school, high school, college, and university levels.

Brad Sever is an assistant principal at Carmel High School in Indiana. There, he has helped to create and sustain a successful instructional coaching program and grow the school’s International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.

Shawn W. McCusker has 25 years of experience as a teacher and leader and is currently the director of professional learning at Digital Promise, a nonprofit dedicated to closing the digital learning gap.

ChatGPT—one of the most valuable technology tools for teachers and learners—became widely available in the fall of 2022. Since then, artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT have taken education by storm. Teachers are using these tools to create new content, differentiate their instruction, identify strategies for teaching and reteaching concepts to their students, and work more efficiently and effectively. Just as important, students are using these tools to improve their understanding of complex ideas, identify new paths of learning in their areas of personal interest, and receive targeted feedback on their work. Because AI tools are changing how we work and learn, classroom teachers must reflect on their potential and understand their limitations.

Dr. Karen Johannesen Brock has been an educator and educational presenter for more than three decades. She has assisted more than 100 schools (K–12) and districts with implementing school improvement plans. Her work with schools and districts focuses on instructional coaching and design as well as professional learning plans, school-improvement plans, English learners and multilingual students, and literacy.

Jillayne Flanders the executive director of the Center for Educational Improvement, a nonprofit organization focused on supporting mindful and compassionate schools with heart-centered, trauma-informed practices. She has taught graduate classes at Westfield State University, supervised student teachers at Mount Holyoke College, and lectured at Boston University, Springfield College, Boston College, and Harvard Graduate School of Education.