Join educators Megan Bell and Meagan Lyons as they share their journey transitioning from traditional grading to standards-based grading (SBG) at Borah High School. Through a voluntary pilot program, 50% of the school is now participating in SBG, focusing on shifting the conversation between students and teachers from task completion to mastery of concepts. In this session, the two educators will explore the challenges they faced and their strategies to build trust with teachers, students, and families to ensure a smooth transition.
Key Takeaways: - Understand the necessary steps to prepare for and implement a standards-based grading pilot program. - Learn how teachers and students shifted from task completion to mastery-focused conversations using student work as evidence. - Explore the role that technology plays in supporting this transition and how it can be used to enhance grading and assessment practices.
Discover how districts, technical schools and community colleges are using creative approaches including AI, AR, and VR to engage and inspire students. This session will demonstrate how students research, learn, and experience a variety of concepts and the associated career pathways in STEM, Health Science, Advanced Manufacturing, Agri-Science, Transportation and more. Based on this exploration, students are able to develop plans for post-secondary study and/or earn valuable certifications. Leaders from Mountain Home School District will share their implementation story.
zSpace is the leading evidence-based augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR) platform providing innovative hands-on, experiential learning to improve achievement in science, math, and career and technical education credentialing.A comprehensive solution consisting of Windows-based AR/VR... Read More →
Wednesday February 5, 2025 10:15am - 11:00am MST
110BBoise Centre West - 850 W Front St, Boise, ID 83702
Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, etc. can save teachers mountains of time. But how do you use them well? It's not just about generating lessons, but also the follow-up prompts that allow those lessons to be better. It's not just about quickly creating materials for class, but also how to do so in order to build your students' ability to view such materials with a skeptical eye. It's not just about possible accommodations for your students with challenges, but also how you can help students build their confidence. In this hands-on session, we'll look at these and other deeper approaches to making these tools work for us.
Rushton Hurley is a former high school teacher, former principal of an online high school, author of three books on learning and schools, and founder and executive director of an educational nonprofit. Rushton has spoken to and trained over 100,000 teachers and school leaders around... Read More →
Wednesday February 5, 2025 1:45pm - 2:30pm MST
110BBoise Centre West - 850 W Front St, Boise, ID 83702
You know students might use it to cheat. You are probably aware that it can save you thunderous amounts of time. But do you know how generative AI can turn a mid-range student into an academically confident and much more mature teen? Or how it can help a student who has trouble paying attention? In this session, we'll do a hands-on exploration using ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, or whichever generative AI tool you prefer so that you can bring these academic hacks to students who can use them to significantly ramp up their learning game.
Rushton Hurley is a former high school teacher, former principal of an online high school, author of three books on learning and schools, and founder and executive director of an educational nonprofit. Rushton has spoken to and trained over 100,000 teachers and school leaders around... Read More →
Wednesday February 5, 2025 3:15pm - 4:00pm MST
110BBoise Centre West - 850 W Front St, Boise, ID 83702
Research has shown that instructional coaching is instrumental in the success of any change initiative. The coach provides support and professional learning for teachers, advocates for best instructional practices, and supports their principals as they lead change initiatives. In other words - instructional coaches are superheroes, skilled at various tasks and often asked to move mountains. In this session, we invite you to explore how to take your coaching to the next level as you reflect on your coaching practice and cultivate your leadership skills. Whether you're a seasoned coach or just starting your journey, you'll leave with strategies to empower the teachers you serve and gain deeper insights into your unique strengths.
Nancy Mangum is an experienced educator, author, and co-founder of Leading EDge Learning. Passionate about enhancing educational experiences for all students, she specializes in designing professional learning for teachers, coaches and administrators and collaborating closely with... Read More →
Thursday February 6, 2025 8:00am - 9:30am MST
110BBoise Centre West - 850 W Front St, Boise, ID 83702
In the complex landscape of educational data management, Google Vault emerges as a critical tool for archiving, eDiscovery, and compliance. This session will offer a comprehensive exploration of how Google Vault should be effectively utilized in educational settings. Attendees will learn to navigate Vault's functionalities, from setting retention policies to managing best practice workflows with data, ensuring their institution's data management aligns with compliance standards. Key takeaways from this session include:
-In-Depth Understanding of Google Vault: Gain a solid grasp of what Google Vault is, its significance within the Google Education ecosystem, and how it can be leveraged to manage educational data effectively. -Retention Policies and eDiscovery Expertise: Learn how to establish and implement effective retention policies, and how to conduct thorough eDiscovery processes within Google Vault, essential skills for managing institutional data. -Navigating Compliance in Education: Understand the specific compliance requirements related to data management in education, and how Google Vault can help meet these requirements, ensuring that your institution's data practices are both effective and compliant.
Children are increasingly interacting with resources online, often outside of controlled environments in which teachers can curate, guide, and scaffold how they access information. Developing search literacy skills and effective strategies for locating and utilizing information on the internet has become essential. Each step of the search process (choice of search tool, task definition, query formulation, search result evaluation, etc.) presents specific challenges for children that adults do not often face, so additional scaffolding and support is needed to provide children with the tools they need to become better searchers. In this workshop, we will explore the obstacles encountered by children at each of these steps in the search process and discuss strategies for addressing these aspects across different search tools. We highlight the importance of learning to search and the necessity of providing tools that empower children to determine what is appropriate for them and their unique and individual information needs.
Department Chair and Professor, Boise State University
Jerry Alan Fails is a Professor and the Chair of the Department of Computer Science at Boise State University in Boise, Idaho. He has been researching and designing technologies with and for children using participatory design methods for more than twenty years.
Google Workspace for Education and ChromeOS are the power couple of productivity, we'll cover all the latest and greatest features of these two must-have tools, so you can work smarter, not harder.
Google for Education is a solution built for learning and designed for the classroom that includes Chromebooks, Google Classroom, and Workspace programs to engage students
The hands-on workshop will run 3 hours for K-12 educators interested in implementing similar STEM activities into their teaching curriculum. Each will pick up a drone kit to build their small educational drone from scratch. The workshop organizer will provide the essential parts and components for coding exercises. The K-12 STEM educators will develop their own drone from scratch and a step-by-step building instruction will be provided by the instructor. The electronic version of the manual will also be provided, and technical issues/problems will be solved by interacting with the instructor at the IETA venue. The basic coding exercise using Arduino IDE and MIT Scratch will take place to control motors, adjust power to lift a drone from the ground, and discuss the fine-tuning methods for a safe flight. Understanding the instructor's federal regulations and safety guidelines is another avenue for all participants to fly their own drones safely and legally in the public domain. Each participant must bring their own laptop computer (preferably, Windows OS) equipped with a USB port. The workshop tuition is FREE for on-site registered personnel (Max 20 people) while an additional cost will be charged if the attendees want to keep their drones after workshop.
Dr. Jae Ryu is a Professor at the University of Idaho. His research interest is to advance environmental monitoring using Unmanned Aerial System (UAS, a.k.a drone). Dr. Ryu is currently hosting Idaho/Interstate Drone League (iDrone) to engage students through an immerse experimental... Read More →
Friday February 7, 2025 8:30am - 10:00am MST
110BBoise Centre West - 850 W Front St, Boise, ID 83702
This session will provide an overview of a variety of user-friendly websites and technology tools that are designed to support educators, particularly those who are new to teaching. However, the tools and resources discussed will also be valuable for experienced teachers looking to expand their digital toolkit and explore new ways to enhance their teaching practices. Participants will discover easy-to-use platforms that can streamline lesson planning, foster student engagement, and improve classroom organization. Whether you're seeking innovative approaches to instruction or efficient ways to manage daily tasks, this session will equip you with practical solutions that can be immediately implemented in the classroom.
8th Grade Science/ISTA Region 5 Representative, American Falls School District #381
Jamie has been teaching science in southeast Idaho for the past 10 years. She has taught 6th and 8th grades at William Thomas Middle School in American Falls. She is currently a region representative of the Idaho Science Teaching Association. When she is not in the classroom, Jamie... Read More →
Friday February 7, 2025 1:00pm - 1:45pm MST
110BBoise Centre West - 850 W Front St, Boise, ID 83702
Explore how artificial intelligence (AI) is shaping the future of education. This session highlights AI's opportunities and challenges, shares lessons learned from IDLA's AI integration journey, and provides practical strategies for responsibly implementing AI tools. Join the discussion to exchange ideas, identify resources, and address barriers to adoption while balancing innovation with ethical considerations.
Takeaways:
Practical AI applications for teachers and students.
Steps to evaluate and choose the right AI tools.
Strategies for addressing challenges like privacy, equity, and over-reliance on AI.
I’m Ashlee Kolar, the EdTech Engineer at IDLA. I like to think of myself as the teacher on the tech team—I know a little bit about a lot and enjoy helping anyone who needs support in implementing and troubleshooting technology so it works for them. My days are never dull as I... Read More →
Friday February 7, 2025 2:00pm - 2:45pm MST
110BBoise Centre West - 850 W Front St, Boise, ID 83702