There has been a significant uptick in challenging behaviors among students since the pandemic (e.g., disruptive behavior, disengagement, negative peer interactions). These challenging behaviors have left many educators feeling outmatched and stressed. This pre-conference is designed to restore hope and confidence among educators by learning proven practices that have been shown to prevent challenging behaviors and promote academic engagement and success. Attendees will be provided with practical resources on low-burden, high-impact practices they can implement right away to address social, emotional, and behavioral barriers to student's academic success.

Chronic absenteeism poses a significant challenge to the education system, impacting student outcomes and overall school success. We strongly believe that a student can't benefit from something they don't receive. This breakout session addresses the attendance crisis by exploring effective strategies to create a school culture where students want to come vs. have to come and implementing systemic changes to combat absenteeism. Participants will delve into innovative approaches that combine both creating a sense of belonging for students and well-designed school systems to create a comprehensive solution.

Sometimes the adults in our buildings are the toughest audience. They are also the key to long-term change. Culture is the sum of the behaviors in your school or district - the behaviors of both students AND staff. Put a practical focus on effective behavior change through the thoughtful teaching of social and emotional learning, character development, and relationship-building. In this interactive and resource-packed session, you will learn a framework for purposeful culture change and will walk away with low-burden, high-impact strategies and tools to make an impact right now.

Being a school or district level leader can be challenging and isolating. What you do not need this time of year is more high level leadership theory. Instead, this pre-conference session will provide you only with practical strategies you could implement immediately. Need a system for leading your team more effectively? Need some new activities to use with your staff that increases engagement and strengthens their processing? Need a tool to help you accomplish tasks while building relationships more intentionally? This pre-con promises to leave you with practical strategies to help you level up your leadership this year.