Presented by Codi Conway, Heather Bowman, and Jill Hibbard on December 17, 2024
This webinar on word recognition explores essential components like phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and sight recognition. Participants will delve into the research-based practices that underpin effective word recognition, enabling students to move from basic phonics to fluent reading. Through the webinar, attendees will learn structured techniques that help students recognize words quickly and accurately, which later provides a strong foundation for reading comprehension. This session is ideal for teachers looking to deepen their understanding and improve literacy instruction in alignment with Science of Reading research.

Presented by Matt Thomann on November 19, 2024
In this presentation, we explore John Gottman's "4 Horsemen," rebranded as "Team Toxins," to address common communication pitfalls among coworkers. These toxins—criticism, defensiveness, contempt, and stonewalling—often surface during times of adversity and growth. By identifying and addressing these behaviors, educators can navigate conflict more effectively, foster healthier professional relationships, and build a stronger, more collaborative school environment.

Presented by Kevin Spainhour on November 14, 2024
This webinar will help participants identify and engage with numerous stakeholders to positively impact schools. Register to learn assessment strategies, tactics for engagement, and keys to positive changes in your school.

Presented by Dr. Neil Lesinski on November 12, 2024.
A learning organization thrives on psychological safety and accountability, where individuals feel comfortable sharing ideas and making mistakes while still being held to a high standard in the pursuit of high-performance outcomes. Building this culture requires fostering open communication, active listening, and empathy. This webinar will teach you how to develop a safe space for learning and growth that will enhance innovation, problem-solving, and overall performance through increased accountability and shared responsibility.

Presented by Brenda Yoho on October 24, 2024
With over two decades of experience as an educator and various school settings in positions, Brenda Yoho has cultivated a profound philosophy of education known as Two Rules. This philosophy serves as a foundation for fostering building wide support for social, emotional learning and mental health needs of students. Through the years of implementation, she witnessed the transformative impact of prioritizing these essential aspects of education contributing to a positive, nurturing, learning and solution-focused school environment.

Presented by Daniel Perry on October 8, 2024
Discover how psychological safety is the cornerstone of high-performing teams. This session will delve into the essential components of psychological safety, its impact on individuals and teams, and the crucial role of leadership in fostering a learning culture focused on impactful, continuous improvement.

Presented by Lauren Schoenberger on September 24, 2024.

Every day, students are hit with social media posts, comments from friends, changing tech trends, and a variety of pressures. Schools try to support student well-being and address social media and tech to foster productive learning environments, but it’s easy to make mistakes.

In this webinar presentation, The Social Institute will guide educators in cultivating modern life skills in their students for sustained success. Attendees will learn actionable strategies to build a systemic approach to contemporary life skills that also addresses one of the biggest influences on students: social media.

Evan Tingley presented this webinar on September 17, 2024
As leaders and colleagues, how much more would we get done if we weren’t always walking the delicate balance of honest feedback and emotional capacity to accept it? This professional development will help guide when and how we both give and receive feedback as well as developing a common interest around a championship vision both in the boardroom and the classroom.

Presented by Shantal Saldana on September 12, 2024
This session will allow participants to learn how mental health literacy offers an upstream, foundational approach to addressing youth mental health. Many schools implement social-emotional learning and then jump to suicide prevention. This leaves a significant gap in education and understanding of mental health. Mental health literacy can fill that gap so students are more receptive to intervention and supportive of their peers experiencing mental distress. Bridging SEL and suicide prevention allows students to take the knowledge they gained and expand it to promote conversations, reduce stigma, encourage good mental health and promote help seeking.

Presented by Andrew Marotta on September 10, 2024

Why do some people just stand out? Some just have that glow? Oh, they’re just born with that magnetic personality or that special talent. They’re so lucky that they can just ____(fill in the blank.) NO-they work at! They practice their skills. They learn from others. They work at bringing value and positive impact to others.

Join Andrew on this fun journey of exploring, dissecting, and diving deep into the strategies and intentional actions of being THAT one that people want to work with & be around. Andrew breaks down these topics and more in this session:

Connecting through stories.
Bring positive energy to the workplace.
Capitalizing on simple moments that can become important breakthroughs.
Taking care of yourself to bring your best self to your family and work.
Listening and being present for others.

Presented by Aubrey Durkin of the SLD Support Project on May 14, 2024


Characteristics of students with dyscalculia of all grade levels will be discussed. The content in the presentation will center on assisting students who have not mastered foundational math skills. Brain science behind the research will be explored and explained. Best practices for students struggling in math will be highlighted.

Presented by Dr. Clavon Byrd on April 25, 2024

Let’s take a comprehensive look at effective family engagement strategies based on Mapp’s Dual Capacity Building Framework. Participants in this webinar will review philosophies and practical strategies aimed at enhancing relationships between families and schools where collaboration and trust are imperative, ultimately leading toward improved student outcomes. Don’t miss this opportunity to elevate your approach to partnerships with your students’ families!

Presented by Andrew Marotta on April 18, 2024

Want to have better, stronger relationships with your stakeholders? Tired of getting/feeling ‘beat-up?’ Want to improve your public speaking and communication skills? Have people coming at you way too hard and not sure how to handle it and want some effective strategies? Feel like you are being too reactive instead of more proactive in your relationships? Come join Andrew Marotta and be part of the fun, interactive, and thought-provoking workshop The Partnership: Building better relationships through proactive and intentional actions.

Presented by Lindsey Hall and Sheila Greenwood on April 9, 2024

This webinar explores the whys and hows of having difficult conversations. The level of importance of this topic is very high because the consequences of avoiding tough conversations can have long-lasting and sometimes devastating effects on school districts. We will discuss how to start those conversations, develop open and honest communication patterns and provide a desired end-result of collegiality, teamwork and engagement.

Presented by Dr. Johnita Porter on April 2, 2024

Join this session to learn about The Virtual Educator Network (The VEN). The VEN is a virtual, interactive, and transformative experience for educators throughout the country. This research based model provides unparalleled support and offers an innovative PD experience to help educators thrive, ultimately ensuring a more restful and fulfilling professional journey, and successful outcomes for students.

Presented by Dr. Christopher Graves on March 28, 2024

Racial discrimination in schools in the U.S. has resulted in a disproportionate number of Black students receiving exclusionary and punitive consequences, in which they are more likely to end up part of the School-to-Prison Pipeline and less likely to graduate. In many situations, school leaders have found ways to both reduce the number of suspensions for their Black students and also the disparity in consequences between students of different racial backgrounds. This presentation will share themes that emerged from interviews with these successful school leaders, to be used as recommendations and reflections for consideration in your own school context.

Presented by Dr. Jack Singer on March 27, 2024.

During these difficult times, many educational professionals are struggling with a ton of unexpected stressors, such as unprecedented and unpredictable world events, trying to balance their work with their family’s needs, and dealing with the lingering new challenges in the classroom since the Pandemic. Burnout among educational professionals can easily rear its ugly head under these circumstances. In this career-saving webinar, Dr. Jack Singer will provide you with specific exercises for re-wiring your brain for maximum resilience and well-being.

Presented by Joyce Debrah on March 26, 2024

Applying MTSS to system-wide improvement is key to implementing sustainable practices in schools and school districts. Various stakeholders can use the MTSS framework, which is data-driven, to facilitate continuous improvement of systems and structures. Additionally, MTSS as a framework can determine professional learning as it relates to adults' and students' academic, behavioral, and social and emotional needs.

Presented by Andrew Marotta on March 11, 2024

Andrew Marotta is the leader of the Surviving & Thriving movement. Andrew is an energizing & impactful speaker, author, and school leader. He lives the words on his logo & strives to positively #IMPACT all he meets. A master storyteller, Andrew engages his audiences and fellow leaders with authentic and heartfelt stories, memorable props, and collaborative, fun, &, thought-provoking activities.
In High Performace Under Pressure, Andrew dives deep into powerful stories and experiences from his time as a Division One men’s college basketball official. He will take you through the ups and downs, successes and failures, and the journey of trying to be the best you can be under the spotlight and intense scrutiny.
Take-a-ways from the session are:
- How to be your best when it matters most.
- Next play--get the next one right.
- Empower: Be the mentor you wanted to have when you started.
- How to ‘make the right call’ in the toughest situations--and come out thriving.
- Our true job description: absorb chaos, create calm, and provide hope.

Presented by Kierra Pickens on March 5, 2024

As culture plays a role in the way we navigate the world, interact with one other and foster innovation on a larger scale. This webinar will be focused on understanding the 4 dimensions of cultural intelligence (metacognitive, cognitive, motivational and behavioral). Individuals will be able to assess and discover areas for improving levels of CQ. Educators and leaders will learn ways to employ culturally competent strategies in the classroom and school system.

Join Alison Maley (IPA Legislative Director) and Arlin Peebles (ELN Director) to hear about the new changes coming to Illinois state-mandated training and how to use Ed Leaders Network (ELN) to simplify the process. With the passing of HB 3690 many of the required training has moved to a five-year cycle instead of annual and bi-annual. ELN will be able to offer all of these courses on-demand and have expiration dates set so that educators will receive email notifications when it is time to complete the training again. The best news is that ELN is free to public school educators in the state of Illinois so you can achieve all of this efficiency at no cost.

Presented by Dr. Tinaya York on February 27, 2024

The state of Illinois has a new comprehensive literacy plan. What does this mean for school leaders? This webinar is designed to give administrators the information they need to understand what is in the Illinois Comprehensive Literacy Plan and help them identify the key leadership moves they may need to make to lead the literacy work in their schools.

Presented by Dr. Tinaya York on February 20, 2024.

The state of Illinois has a new comprehensive literacy plan. What does this mean for school leaders? This webinar is designed to give administrators the information they need to understand what is in the Illinois Comprehensive Literacy Plan and help them identify the key leadership moves they may need to make to lead the literacy work in their schools.

Live webinar presented by Justin Baeder on February 13, 2024.

This webinar will explore how to schedule time for classroom visits and deal with interruptions when "blocking off time" isn't working out. We will look at the three roles for differentiated feedback conversations that change teacher practice. We will also examine how to maximize teachers' intrinsic motivation with evidence-driven, open-ended questions. I will share best practices and case studies for building a long-term habit of visiting classrooms 500 times a year. Finally, we will cover the walkthrough myths and misconceptions that hold leaders back from having the greatest possible impact.

Presented on February 6, 2024, by Andrea Jenkins.

Anonymous social media accounts, passive-aggressive texts, and hurtful comments. Bullying in the modern world is more complicated than ever- and can have a direct impact on student academic performance. But there's hope: 57% of bullying incidents stop within 10 seconds when another person speaks up, according to a recent study by Cyberbullying.org. In this session, we’ll explore ways to strengthen your school culture, student well-being, and academic success by helping students take a stance against the ever-evolving world of cyberbullying.

Presented by Andrew Marotta on January 24, 2024.

Want to be a better leader? Want to be a more effective school administrator? Looking for something fresh and different? New to administration? Experienced yet need a reboot? Meet Andrew Marotta!

In this webinar, Andrew will invigorate you, challenge you, and inspire you. He will share stories, tips, hacks, and experiences from his 20 years as a building leader. This high-energy, enthusiastic presentation will be interactive, reflective, and purposeful for you, to help you in your role as a school leader. No one promised you that the job would be easy; but Andrew will help you make it more manageable, fun, and rewarding.

In this transformative session, Andrew will focus on: the power of storytelling, having more energy & enthusiasm, providing meaningful feedback, and how to better take care of your own well-being, while doing your best to serve others. You will grow and connect through different interactive and engaging activities. Andrew will look to move your emotions & stir your soul in this powerful webinar.

Presented by Carolyn Strong on January 23, 2024.

At its inception in 2010, Ighodaro and Wiggins defined curriculum violence as, “the deliberate manipulation of academic programming which compromises the intellectual or psychological well-being of learners.” Over the years we have come to know that intent matters very little when gauging the impact that curriculum violence has on learners. In this webinar, we will unpack how curriculum violence serves to create additional harm to marginalized groups within what should be the safety and sanctity of classrooms.

Presented by Devon LaRosa and Jennifer Cheatham on November 28, 2023

In this talk we will explore Dr. Jen Cheatham's newest work on equity-focused entry planning and determine what intentional moves leaders can make to support their schools' respective equity journey; by moving from passive conversations to purposeful and intentional actions that lift up students, family, and the school community. The conversation will leave leaders with actionable next steps to continue and sustain their work.

Presented by Ann Reynolds on 11/14/23.

This webinar will provide additional techniques for managing a classroom. Some specific information will be shared in handling particularly difficult students and underperforming classes. Multiple techniques will be shared to restart or re-engage students and classes.

Presented by Andrea Jenkins on 11/9/23

From ChatGPT to Snapchat’s My AI, new artificial intelligence (AI) is making its way into our students' lives. And AI isn’t only changing students' experiences online, but it's revolutionizing the classroom experience too. Are you ready to learn how to use AI to take your classroom experience to the next level? Get ready for an interactive session where you'll learn practical ways to integrate AI tools, like ChatGPT and others, into your professional career for even greater success and ease.

Presented by Jordan Galerkin on 10/26/23

Looking to increase parent engagement at your school? Join Ed Leaders Network and Track it Forward for an informative webinar on ways to improve your parent engagement program and promote volunteerism among parents. This webinar will explore effective strategies to promote engagement using real-world examples and data.

In this webinar, you will learn:
- Top problems schools face when it comes to parent engagement
- Strategies to create a more engaging parent volunteer program
- How tools like Track it Forward can improve parent volunteer program efficiency

Presented by Lesley Rivers on 10/25/23

Social-emotional learning (SEL) provides youth with the skills they need to be healthy, happy humans. At this webinar, titled Youth and Self, attendees will understand the core SEL competencies and how they can create an environment that allow youth to understand, explore, and affirm their identities. We will hear from a panel of experts who work closely with diverse youth and will share strategies that help their youth understand their cultural, racial, and gender identities. Walk away with activities and ideas you can immediately incorporate into your classroom.

Presented by Barbara Marler on 10/3/23

This webinar is designed to orient participants to a framework that will help to modernize their EL program design. Participants will learn about an effective action plan to facilitate teamwork that is organized around three essential activities: discover, design, and deliver. Participants will also gain a greater appreciation of the importance of pairing legal parameters and evidence-based best practices to better meet unique and local needs. Finally, participants will examine practices that build consensus toward recommendations for change while staying mindful of perceptions and appearances from multiple vantage points.

Presented by Ben Sondergroth on September 21, 2023

As technology continues to reshape the educational landscape, this session delves into the transformative impact of AI within school environments, exploring its potential benefits, challenges, and the crucial task of developing comprehensive policies to ensure responsible and equitable AI integration. Discover how AI is revolutionizing teaching methods, personalizing learning experiences, streamlining administrative tasks, and shaping the future of education. Whether you're an educator, administrator, policymaker, or simply curious about the future of education, this webinar offers a unique opportunity to explore the dynamic synergy between AI and schools. Prepare to gain a deeper understanding of AI's potential to enhance education and equip the next generation for success in an increasingly interconnected world.

Presented by Melissa Hinshaw on 9/19/2023

This webinar will explore best assessment practices for advanced learners with a focus on achievement measures (benefits and limitations); measuring learning readiness (for programming and instruction) as well as growth (in programs and over time).

Presented by Gwen Badgerow on 9/12/23

Based on the work of mediation experts, experts in negotiation, and experts in conflict resolution, the techniques presented here are time-tested, simple, and familiar. Takeaways will include a teacher-friendly hand-out (easily printable for quick reference) in a table format. This table lists each clinically tested technique used by experts in the mediation field to de-escalate conflicts. In addition, alongside each technique are language samples to use as models when struggling to find the right words to use when emotions are running high combined with “do’s” vs.“don'ts” that can help or hurt the outcomes. Taken from 30 years of experience in education, high stakes decision making, IEP meetings, and policy discussions, Gwen draws from her background working with parents and educators to give relevant examples of the complex emotions we feel when stakes are high, perceptions and beliefs differ and difficult decisions must be made.