2027 TransformEd: Teaching & Learning Conference: Full Schedule

3:30pm EST

Creating a Plan for Student-Led Learning Through Inquiry Based Approaches & Reflections

Tuesday February 9, 2027 3:30pm - 4:15pm EST

Encouraging young students to take responsibility in the process of learning begins with conversation rooted in asking rather than telling. Provide a path for them to connect to learning and resources to which they can speak and share collaboratively with peers and parents. Help guide goals, objectives, and feedback for continued learning. This session provides an opportunity for teachers to gain insight into successful strategies that shape independence and build learners who understand the goals for producing, transferring, and leading their own learning.

Speakers

Andrew Delscamp

Teacher, Christ Church Episcopal School

Katie Evans

Third Grade Teacher, Christ Church Episcopal School

Elizabeth Williams

Lower School Teacher and Team Leader, Christ Church Episcopal School

Elizabeth serves as a fourth-grade teacher leader and is a participant in the Daniel Mickel Master Teacher Instructional Leadership Cohort. Elizabeth is currently focused on student agency relative to math fluency in the lower grades. We, as a team, have discovered the power of student... Read More →

Tuesday February 9, 2027 3:30pm - 4:15pm EST

Breakout Session

3:30pm EST

Future-Proofing Schools in the Age of Agentic AI

Tuesday February 9, 2027 3:30pm - 4:15pm EST

Speakers

Jared Colley

Chief Innovation Officer, Mount Vernon School

Tuesday February 9, 2027 3:30pm - 4:15pm EST

Breakout Session

3:30pm EST

Student Disengagement as Design Feedback

Tuesday February 9, 2027 3:30pm - 4:15pm EST

Speakers

Laura Porosoff

Tuesday February 9, 2027 3:30pm - 4:15pm EST

Breakout Session

3:30pm EST

What Are We Building? Designing Early Learning Experiences and Environments That Shape the Brain

Tuesday February 9, 2027 3:30pm - 4:15pm EST

Research from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University tells us that brain architecture is shaped over time by genetics, relationships, experiences, and environments. Because brain development is especially rapid during the early years, educators have a powerful opportunity and responsibility to build strong foundations for future learning and well-being.

In this interactive session, educators and school leaders will examine how everyday interactions, instructional choices, and classroom environments shape young children’s developing brains. Participants will explore how to design deep, complex, collaborative learning experiences and environments that foster belonging, connection, beauty, independence, and exploration.

Drawing on research, reflection, and real-world examples, participants will evaluate their current practices and leave with a practical framework and actionable strategies to strengthen relationships, deepen thinking, cultivate curiosity, and prepare young children for future learning.

Speakers

Sheree Du Preez

Head of Early Elementary, Trinity School

Sheree Du Preez, Ed.S., is an experienced educator and school leader whose career spans schools in the United States, West Africa, and the Middle East. She has served in a variety of teaching and leadership roles, including head of school, lower school head, and director of teaching and... Read More →

Tuesday February 9, 2027 3:30pm - 4:15pm EST

Breakout Session

4:45pm EST

Creativity Is a Teachable Skill!

Tuesday February 9, 2027 4:45pm - 5:30pm EST

Creativity is often viewed as something reserved for artists and musicians, but, in reality, it is one of the most valuable skills students can develop. This session will explore why creativity is a form of intelligence that strengthens critical thinking, problem-solving, innovation, and resilience across every discipline. Discover practical, classroom-ready strategies that intentionally develop creative thinking in students, regardless of your subject area. Experience engaging exercises that encourage divergent thinking, collaboration, and thoughtful risk-taking, and leave with adaptable resources that can be implemented immediately.

Speakers

Daniel Hilton

Anisha Lewis

Director of Fine Arts, Mount Pisgah Christian School

Anisha Lewis serves as the director of fine arts at Mount Pisgah Christian School in Johns Creek, GA, where she leads a comprehensive PK3–12 fine arts program and teaches middle and upper school band. She is passionate about creating innovative arts experiences that foster creativity... Read More →

Tuesday February 9, 2027 4:45pm - 5:30pm EST

Breakout Session

4:45pm EST

Rethinking Assessment In the Age of AI

Tuesday February 9, 2027 4:45pm - 5:30pm EST

We are at a turning point in education, where artificial intelligence is reshaping the classroom. Students are reading less, and the temptation to rely on AI as a shortcut is growing. At the same time, teachers are often working in isolation and need meaningful data to assess student growth.

We must respond with urgency and intention. Rather than resisting AI, we can use it as a tool to enhance instruction, increase efficiency, and improve student outcomes.

In this session, discover strategies and resources used to rethink assessment practices, including AI prompts that have been helpful, as well as resources/articles to think through the philosophical and pedagogical implications of active AI use in the classroom. We'll discuss how to shift a school’s culture around AI use, both for students and for faculty.

Speakers

Sarah Hubert

Upper School English Teacher, Christ Church Episcopal School

Sarah has been an upper school English teacher at Christ Church Episcopal School for nine years. She collaborates with her team to create and implement effective lesson plans, applying the best pedagogical practices for our students. She actively learns about AI Literacy in order... Read More →

Tuesday February 9, 2027 4:45pm - 5:30pm EST

Breakout Session

4:45pm EST

Rooms that Teach: Learning via Embodied Cognition

Tuesday February 9, 2027 4:45pm - 5:30pm EST

Explore how embodied cognition research and John Dewey's philosophy of experience converge to reshape instructional design in elementary classrooms and libraries. Examine spatial layout, tactile engagement, and movement-based routines as engines of deeper, more personal learning, not peripheral management choices. Investigate the difference between learning done to students and learning done with them, using real classroom and library spaces as working case studies. Practice translating abstract concepts into embodied, hands-on routines that build metacognitive awareness and visible thinking. Leave with a framework for auditing your own instructional space through an embodied-cognition lens, plus concrete strategies for redesigning instruction, so students physically participate in constructing meaning rather than passively receiving it. Ideal for teachers, librarians, and instructional coaches ready to rethink how bodies, spaces, and minds work together in learning.

Speakers

Megan Cramer

Teaching & Learning Specialist, The Galloway School

Megan Cramer is currently a specialist in the Center for Teaching and Learning at The Galloway School, having previously served as director of fine arts and the upper learning theater teacher. In her current role, Megan consults and advises faculty and administration on curriculum... Read More →

Trey Veazey

Early Learning Librarian, The Galloway School

Trey Veazey is the early learning librarian for Sims Library at The Galloway School, where his daily goals include inciting joy through a variety of methods and means. Away from the stacks, you can usually find him cheering for Ole Miss, championing public libraries, writing a steady... Read More →

Tuesday February 9, 2027 4:45pm - 5:30pm EST

Breakout Session

4:45pm EST

The Lifelong Language of Competency-Based Learning

Tuesday February 9, 2027 4:45pm - 5:30pm EST

When it comes to giving academic feedback, how do schools craft and share an assessment “language” that reduces perfectionism, increases agency, and fosters growth in students, teachers, and families?

At Durham Academy Middle School, we have ceased using traditional grades and transformed our teaching and learning to a competency-based approach that focuses on skills and growth over perfection. We’ll share how the vocabulary and systems we use for this model prepare our students to succeed even as we send them to an upper school with letter grades. Of course, there have been hard lessons we’ve learned as well, particularly when it comes to finding a learning management system that worked for us. We’ll pass those insights along too.

Participants in the session will leave with the big picture of why a focus on skills and proficiency helps students improve their metacognitive learning skills and how competency-based rubric design helps students and teachers keep skills and progress at the center of their practice. We will provide strategies for teachers to implement small and meaningful changes in their assessment approach, changes that can be used both in traditional numerical grading and competency-based assessment systems. Finally, we’ll show the ways that adopting competency-based language for even a few years can benefit students through graduation and beyond.

Speakers

Melissa Mack

Director of Digital Learning & Innovation, Durham Academy

Melissa Mack has been an educator for nearly 20 years. Throughout those years, she has taught math, science, social studies, language arts, computer science, and STEAM by Design. In her current role as director of digital learning & innovation at Durham Academy, she serves as a coach... Read More →

Ginny Robinson

Assistant Middle School Director for Academics, English/Language Arts Teacher, Durham Academy

Ginny Robinson is an English/Language Arts teacher and assistant middle school director at Durham Academy. Always inspired and guided by her time in her classroom, she partners with teachers and other administrators to craft experiences and assessments that celebrate progress and... Read More →

Tuesday February 9, 2027 4:45pm - 5:30pm EST

Breakout Session

10:30am EST

Decisions by Design, Not by Demand

Wednesday February 10, 2027 10:30am - 11:30am EST

Anticipate learner variability by designing flexible pathways rooted in Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Provide multiple means of engagement, representation, and action to dismantle systemic barriers before they interrupt the learning process. Cultivate deep conceptual understanding by pivoting away from rote memorization toward core, transferable ideas. Master actionable strategies to engineer inquiry-based challenges that force students to anchor facts to overarching disciplinary frameworks. Activate visible thinking routines to make internal cognitive processes explicit, structured, and highly collaborative. Acquire dynamic protocols to easily document and assess how student ideas evolve. Leave equipped to transform hidden thinking into an accessible ecosystem, empowering independent, expert learners who actively own their conceptual growth.

Speakers

Carine Bouton

Instructional Coach and Language Learning Leader, Atlanta International School

With more than 25 years of dedicated experience in education, Carine is a passionate educator and leader committed to fostering student growth and a deep love for languages. Her extensive teaching career spans from 3K to grade 5, specializing in teaching French and immersing young... Read More →

Irene Soteres

Teacher/Coordinator, Atlanta International School

Irene Soteres is an educator and leader with over two decades of teaching experience. A native of Atlanta, she holds a BA in Education from Oglethorpe University and an M.Ed from Georgia State University. Irene is fluent in English and Greek. Presently, Irene teaches fifth grade... Read More →

Wednesday February 10, 2027 10:30am - 11:30am EST

Breakout Session

10:30am EST

Designing Learning That Lasts

Wednesday February 10, 2027 10:30am - 11:30am EST

Explore how transformational learning experiences can be intentionally designed, not just delivered. Apply the Learning Design Framework, developed through the collaborative work of the Fine Arts Leadership Consortium (FALC), a network of independent school Fine Arts Directors from across Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Discover how instructional practices long honed in arts classrooms (creation, connection, critique, reflection, public demonstration, and transfer) can strengthen student agency, meaningful assessment, interdisciplinary learning, and real-world application in every classroom. Analyze examples from independent schools, redesign a learning experience with colleagues, participate in a collaborative gallery walk, and leave with a practical planning toolkit and adaptable strategies that can be implemented immediately across grade levels and disciplines.

Speakers

Heidi Domescik

Director of Fine Arts, Holy Innocents' Episcopal School

Heidi Domescik serves as director of fine arts at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School. Heidi oversees PS-12 curriculum and faculty for the four strands of the fine and performing arts at HIES including theatre, visual arts, music and media literacy (film, print journalism, yearbook... Read More →

Brion Kennedy

Director of Performing Arts, The Harpeth Hall School

Brion Kennedy started his journey in arts education in 2010. From 2010 to 2021, Brion oversaw the guitar program and served as the fine arts department chair at St. Pius X Catholic High School in Atlanta, GA. In 2021, Brion stepped into the role as the director of performing... Read More →

Wednesday February 10, 2027 10:30am - 11:30am EST

Breakout Session

10:30am EST

Empowering Student Voice in Math

Wednesday February 10, 2027 10:30am - 11:30am EST

Explore how teachers' discretionary power shapes both their own professional growth and students' opportunities to imagine in math. This session blends reflective metacognition with practical strategies, helping participants examine where they exercise choice, where they default to compliance, and how those decisions impact student agency. Walk away with actionable tools to foster radical imagination for yourself and your students.

Speakers

EmmaJulia Jones-Siegel

Middle School Math Department Chair and Teacher, The Ensworth School

EmmaJulia Jones-Siegel is the middle school math department chair and sixth and eighth grade math teacher at The Ensworth School in Nashville, TN, currently in her tenth year of teaching. Previously, she taught and held leadership roles within Metro Nashville Public Schools. EmmaJulia... Read More →

Wednesday February 10, 2027 10:30am - 11:30am EST

Breakout Session

10:30am EST

Want Better Discussions? Teach Attention Management

Wednesday February 10, 2027 10:30am - 11:30am EST

Speakers

Liza Garonzik

Founder/CEO, REAL Discussion

Wednesday February 10, 2027 10:30am - 11:30am EST

Breakout Session

1:30pm EST

Defeating Outsourcing: Redesigning Curriculum With Metacognition and AI

Wednesday February 10, 2027 1:30pm - 2:30pm EST

Review work from Randolph School teachers in History, Science, English, and World Language classrooms who redesigned curriculum to incorporate a 4-level integration spectrum and ROLE Model to teach students to be more mindful of how to prompt engineer and use AI effectively.

-Audit and categorize current assignments using the 4-level AI Integration Spectrum to protect foundational thinking.
-Equip students with the hands-on ROLE Model to teach them how to prompt intentionally and evaluate AI outputs critically.
-Embed process-based, accountability strategies directly into assessments and grading process to protect cognitive processes.
-Walk away with turnkey lessons and practical design templates to redesign curriculum in any secondary classroom.

Leave this interactive workshop ready to shift your students from passive consumers to metacognitive co-pilots, ensuring the core thinking in your classroom stays distinctly human.

Build new systems and frameworks at your school to give teachers actionable support to manage AI challenges.

Speakers

Whitney Andrews

Middle School Dean of Academics, Randolph School

Whitney Andrews is the middle school dean of academics at Randolph School in Huntsville, AL, where she has served as a teacher and department chair since 2010. She is the designer of Randolph’s Middle School Success Workshop Program, a structured executive functioning and study... Read More →

Wednesday February 10, 2027 1:30pm - 2:30pm EST

Breakout Session

1:30pm EST

Experiential Learning In an AI World

Wednesday February 10, 2027 1:30pm - 2:30pm EST

In this session, we will explore how experiential learning can help students build deeper thinking in an AI-supported classroom. We will look at how authentic tasks create opportunities for students to make decisions, test ideas, explain their reasoning, revise through feedback, and apply learning in new situations. The session will introduce judgment, synthesis, reasoning, and transfer as key markers for designing and assessing meaningful student work. Participants will use a practical framework to rethink an assignment so the learning process becomes more visible, measurable, and connected to real cognitive development. Educators will leave with a clear tool for designing experiences that move students beyond polished products and toward demonstrated thinking.

Speakers

Dr. Davon Miles

Faculty Fellow in the College of Education, Belmont University

Dr. Davon Miles is a Faculty Fellow in the College of Education at Belmont University. He brings 10 years of experience across K–12 education, higher education, and instructional design, with professional work spanning both the United States and China. His experience includes serving... Read More →

Wednesday February 10, 2027 1:30pm - 2:30pm EST

Breakout Session

1:30pm EST

Leveraging Brain Science for Device-Altered Classrooms

Wednesday February 10, 2027 1:30pm - 2:30pm EST

Today’s students are showing up differently. Fueled by smart technology, schools face unprecedented spikes in student inattentiveness, emotional dysregulation, and learning differences. Designing for neurodiversity is no longer the exception; it must be the baseline for all learners.

This interactive session bridges the cultural insights of Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation with the practical Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) science of Glenn Whitman's Neuroteach. We will examine what is physically happening to children’s developing brains in a device-driven world and pivot immediately to solutions.

Attendees will explore concrete instructional and classroom management shifts to address dysregulation at the core level. Finally, we will discuss how embedding opportunities for healthy, low-stakes risk-taking inside and outside the classroom can rebuild student confidence, agency, and resilience.

Speakers

Jennifer Baccus

Erin Cole

Associate Head of Lower School, Ravenscroft School

Erin Cole is the associate head of lower school at Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, NC. With over 15 years of experience spanning classroom teaching, intervention, and academic leadership, Erin is a relentless pursuer of joyful, messy learning and a passionate advocate for creating... Read More →

Wednesday February 10, 2027 1:30pm - 2:30pm EST

Breakout Session

1:30pm EST

Tracing Human Learning: An AI-Age Workshop

Wednesday February 10, 2027 1:30pm - 2:30pm EST

When AI can generate summaries, explanations, drafts, feedback, reflections, and polished products, teachers need learning designs that value the human learning behind the product. In this hands-on workshop, participants will use a cross-disciplinary TRACE protocol for human learning: Target the learning aim, Retain human learning moves, Apply support intentionally, Capture meaningful evidence, and Explain choices and growth, to redesign tasks around student agency, metacognition, ethical support, and meaningful evidence of understanding.

Participants will work through classroom AI-use scenarios, classify them as support, substitute, or dependent, and redesign a task or assessment from their own context. The session will emphasize that the goal is not to collect more artifacts or move assessment toward surveillance. The goal is to identify which human learning moves deserve attention as the sites of learning.

Participants will leave with a redesign template, an AI-use decision protocol, assessment guidance, and reflection/disclosure language adaptable across disciplines.

Speakers

Hannah Chapple

Dean of Studies, The Weber School

Hannah Chapple serves as dean of studies at The Weber School in Atlanta, GA, where she supports curriculum strategy, faculty development, mentorship, academic program design, and schoolwide instructional improvement. Her work focuses on helping schools turn ambitious educational goals... Read More →

Wednesday February 10, 2027 1:30pm - 2:30pm EST

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