Tag: Summer Institutes 2026

This workshop is part of the four-day literacy institute, The Strategic Classroom: Bridging Literacy and Executive Function. Join us for this individual workshop, join the full institute, or mix and match days to build a personalized experience.

This session focuses on building student motivation and self-regulation to support sustained engagement and academic stamina. Participants will explore how classroom routines, task design, and teacher practices influence persistence and ownership of learning. You’ll leave with a toolkit of high-leverage strategies to support goal-setting, progress monitoring, and effort management- alongside digital tools like Habitaca, Tiimo, Streaks, Forest, and Moodnotes that help students monitor and manage their own learning. In the afternoon, in-person attendees will analyze a current lesson or unit and design embedded supports that strengthen student motivation and self-regulation for lasting, long-term impact

Learning Objectives:

• understand the connection between motivation, engagement, and self-regulation
• learn techniques to help students recognize their own learning needs and select appropriate strategies
• implement routines that build stamina, persistence, and goal-directed behavior
• evaluate and refine classroom practices to better support sustained engagement
• gain toolkit of engagement strategies to use in any lesson
• explore virtual tools like Habitaca, Tiimo, Streaks, Forest, and Moodnotes to help build student motivation, engagement, and self-regulation
• analyze and adjust a lesson plan that can be used to strengthen student independence and engagement

Date:       Thursday, July 9
Time:       9 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET Virtual attendance, 3 CTLE hours
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET In-Person attendance, 6 CTLE hours

This workshop is part of the four-day literacy institute, The Strategic Classroom: Bridging Literacy and Executive Function. Join us for this individual workshop, join the full institute, or mix and match days to build a personalized experience.

With a deepened understanding of cognitive load and comprehension from Days 1 and 2, this session turns to writing — equipping educators with structured supports that guide students confidently through every stage of the writing process. You’ll gain an understanding of both daily and long-term writing compositions and how scaffolds such as graphic organizers, explicit instruction routines, and teacher modeling techniques can support organization and clarity in writing.  Leave with an understanding of digital tools like SchoolAi, Trello, and Todoist can build student independence from brainstorming through publishing. In the afternoon, in-person attendees will plan a grade-level writing task complete with a structured organizer, modeled example, and guided practice plan ready for immediate classroom use.

Key Learning Objectives:

• understand how structured supports reduce cognitive load and increase student independence throughout the writing process
• learn and apply tools such as graphic organizers and outlines to support students in planning, organizing, and developing their ideas
• use explicit instruction and teacher modeling to demonstrate writing processes
• design scaffolded writing routines and practice opportunities that support students
• explore virtual tools like SchoolAi, Gemini, Todoist, and Trello to support planning and increase student independence
• plan targeted supports to address common student challenges, ensuring all learners can engage successfully in writing tasks

Date:       Wednesday, July 8
Time:       9 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET Virtual attendance
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET In-Person attendance
NYCTLE: 3 or 6 hours depending on attendance

This workshop is part of the four-day literacy institute, The Strategic Classroom: Bridging Literacy and Executive Function. Join us for this individual workshop, join the full institute, or mix and match days and half-days to build a personalized experience.

Building on Day 1’s executive functioning framework, this session takes a deeper look at how working memory impacts word reading and comprehension — and how cognitive load can mask true reading difficulty. You’ll gain a toolkit of before, during, and after reading scaffolds, including graphic organizers, annotation strategies, and discussion protocols, and questioning techniques to support students in managing complex texts while strengthening decoding and meaning-making.  Leave with an understanding of digital tools like Google NotebookLM, MindMeister, Immersive Reader, Quizlet, and SchoolAi to support every learner. In the afternoon, in-person attendees use a grade-level text to design and create classroom-ready graphic organizers and templates that maintain rigor while reducing cognitive overload.

Key Learning Objectives:

• understand the role of working memory in reading and how it affects both decoding and comprehension
• identify the cognitive load demands of complex texts
• learn and apply scaffolds that reduce cognitive overload before, during, and after reading tasks
• strengthen instructional approaches that support automaticity in word reading
• explore virtual tools like Google NotebookLM, MindMeister, Immersive Reader, Quizlet, and SchoolAi to support planning and increase student independence
• utilize templates to design reading experiences that support students’ cognitive capacity while maintaining rigor

This workshop is part of the four-day literacy institute, The Strategic Classroom: Bridging Literacy and Executive Function.  Join us for this individual workshop, join the full institute, or mix and match days to build a personalized experience. 

When educators put the right language routines and cognitive supports in place, students gain the tools to tackle challenging texts, sustain focus, and think flexibly on their own. This session connects executive functioning, oral language, and literacy to give you a research-grounded toolkit for building student independence. You’ll practice discussion moves that lead conversation about tasks, explore language supports that build cognitive flexibility — including sentence frames, revoicing techniques, contrastive routines, and think-alouds — and get hands-on time with virtual tools like Snorkl, Padlet, Canva, ChatGPT, and MentalUP. In the afternoon, you’ll analyze a grade-level text, anticipate barriers, and design ready-to-use scaffolds to bring back to your classroom.  

 Key Learning Objectives: 

• A clear framework for how executive functioning drives reading comprehension, task management, and student independence  
• Discussion moves that lead conversation about tasks, deepen thinking, and build cognitive flexibility during classroom talk  
• Language supports — including sentence frames, revoicing techniques, contrastive routines, and think-alouds — that make flexible thinking visible and repeatable for students  
• Practical experience with virtual tools that support planning, collaboration, and move to more student independence  
• Classroom-ready scaffolds and routines designed to promote self-regulation and independence across content areas 

Time:       9 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET Virtual attendance
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET In-Person attendance
NYCTLE: 3 or 6 hours depending on attendance

This workshop is part of a two-day institute, Foundations for Reading Success: Oral Language to Print. Join us for this individual workshop, join the full institute or mix and match days to build a personalized experience.

This session helps educators translate research into engaging, print-based classroom practices — connecting sounds to print through game-based activities for early reading approaches that support decoding and meaning-making, and developmentally appropriate approaches to building the gross and fine motor skills essential for early writing. Leave with a fully planned, print-based literacy activity that integrates phonological awareness, early reading, and writing, ready for immediate classroom implementation.

Key Learning Objectives:

• strengthen early foundational skills instruction by implementing routines that build sound–spelling knowledge, including letter identification
• apply phonemic awareness skills to print-based activities that support early reading development
• learn and implement early reading strategies that support decoding and meaning-making
• develop and practice instructional approaches that support early writing skills
• design integrated literacy activities that connect reading, writing, and play, including planning a print-based lesson that incorporates phonological awareness, early reading, and writing

Presenters: Kinjal Nicholls, MA; Dana Carr-Ford, MA, MsEd
Grades: PreK-2
Location: Hybrid
Credits: CTLE credits – 6 hours per full-day workshop, 3 hours per morning session

Participate in-person (9 a.m.–3 p.m. ET) on our Westchester Lower School campus or virtually (9 a.m.–12 p.m. ET)  Flexible options designed to fit your schedule.

This workshop is part of a two-day institute, Foundations for Reading Success: Oral Language to Print. Join us for this individual workshop, join the full institute or mix and match days and  to build a personalized experience.

Designed for early childhood educators, it equips participants with evidence-based strategies for building the foundational literacy skills young learners need to succeed. Deepen your understanding of how children develop oral language, vocabulary, and phonemic awareness, and walk away with practical instructional routines, print-rich environment strategies, and structured language practices that support the diverse needs of every learner in your classroom. In the afternoon, put learning into action by planning student-centered activities, including read alouds and games, using ready-to-use templates you can bring back to your classroom immediately.

Key Learning Objectives: 

• strengthen understanding of the role of oral language in early literacy and learn instructional routines that intentionally build students’ listening and speaking skills 

• learn and practice evidence-based approaches to vocabulary development 

• develop and practice instructional routines for phonemic awareness 

• learn effective teacher modeling and structured language scaffolds to demonstrate thinking, support student participation, and build students’ confidence using academic language 

• gain templates to plan read alouds and games to encourage and enhance oral language  

Presenters: Kinjal Nicholls, MA; Dana Carr-Ford, MA, MsEd
Grades: PreK-2
Location: Hybrid
Credits: CTLE credits – 6 hours per full-day workshop, 3 hours per morning session

Participate in-person (9 a.m.–3 p.m. ET) on our Westchester Lower School campus or virtually (9 a.m.–12 p.m. ET)  Flexible options designed to fit your schedule.