Event details
- What: Professional Development Conference for K–12 Educators
- Title: It’s Our Time: Creating an Equitable and Inclusive Classroom for All
- When: March 19, 2022, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
- Location: Zoom
- Cost: Free of charge
- Sponsor: Seattle Pacific University School of Education
- Clock hours (5) will be offered for this event (Fee: $15 plus transcript fee). Directions for registering for SPU Clock Hours (link will expire on March 19th at 11:59 p.m.)
- Recording: This event will be recorded.
You will receive a confirmation email when your registration is approved.
Agenda and speakers
9:10 –10 a.m. Keynote Speaker
Keynote Presentation: Inclusive Learning in Divided Times
Speaker: W. Tali Hairston, MAGL (PhD Candidate 2022)
Director of Organizing, Advocacy, and Development for the Presbytery of Seattle and Principal Owner of Equitable Development LLC. Tail Hairston specializes in education research, strategic facilitation, and equity-inclusive environments. He was the first director of SPU’s John Perkins Center for Reconciliation, Leadership Training, and Community Development.
The goal of the keynote address will be to discuss how educators shape the culture of inclusive learning environments by creating moments of unlearning and relearning. In particular, Hairston will explore what diversity, equity, inclusion, and access looks like in these divided times — the deepening of unlearning and relearning in ways that impact how students relate learning and identity.
10–10:15 a.m. Break
10:15–11:30 a.m. Concurrent Session 1
Session: Answering the question: "Can you help me with my tie?" — Supporting queer students in public schools
Speaker: Christopher T. F. Hanson, PhD
Assistant Professor of Music
Director of Music Education and Orchestral Activities
Pronouns: He / Him / His (what is this?)
Seattle Pacific University - Music Department
Dr. Hanson offers practical strategies for supporting queer students in public schools, based on personal and professional testimonies, SEL standards, state and federal antidiscrimination laws, and educational theory and practice. Dr. Hanson will provide published resources and facilitate dialog on queer issues for students, teachers, and public schools promoting equity and advocacy for all students.
Session: Technology Resources That Impact Students
Speaker: Deanna Bush
Language Arts and History Teacher
Marcus Whitman Middle School
Speaker: Jennie M. Carr
Associate Professor of Education
Bridgewater College
Speaker: Alfonso González
Grade Five and Six STEM Teacher
Chimacum Elementary School
Looking to expand your use of technology resources that impact students? Participants in this session have an opportunity to hear from three practicing educators on various technology resources that have the potential to motivate, engage, and enrich.
Participants working with students from all grades and disciplines are invited to attend.
Session: Translanguaging in the Classroom: A Liberatory Approach to Education
Speaker: Stephanie Norman
Dual Language Instructional Coach for Seattle Public Schools
In this session we will explore the theory of translanguaging, why it is beneficial for multilingual students and how to embrace it as a mindset. We will also hear from educators about their experience with translanguaging in the classroom with students.
11:30–12 p.m. Lunch break
12–1:15 p.m. Concurrent Session 2
Session: Black Students with or without Disabilities Have The Right to Learn
Speaker: Hope Perry
House Administrator: Establishing a culture where all students feel safe at school
The session is about educators learning to teach black students with/without disabilities while also seeing them as individuals. Educators will have the opportunity to learn the negative connotation that is associated with black students with disabilities. Moreover, educators will collaborate with each other to learn and create strategies where black students will feel safe.
Session: Creating Equitable Systems for All Students Through a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)
Speaker: Justyn Poulos
Director of MTSS
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI)
Participants will become familiar with the core components of Washington’s MTSS framework and implementation supports. Student outcome data from schools implementing with fidelity and additional resources for future learning will be shared.
Session: Expanding the Color Line Through STEM
Speaker: Dr. Demetricia Hodges
CTE/STEM Teacher with Clover Park School District
This session will focus on how cultivating safe, inclusive, culturally relevant learning communities of excellence can help improve all students’ sense of belonging and engagement in STEM courses, especially students of color--Black, Brown, and Indengious student scholars. It is imperative that students of color "see, hear, feel" and experience high quality STEM courses that are intentionally personally relevant, rigorous, and related to future industry career aspirations and trends. In doing so, I assert that we can help expand the Color Line through STEM, thus improving equitable life outcomes for students of color, increasing opportunities for authentic culturally relevant and responsive industry innovations, and removing systemic barriers in STEM career fields.
1:15–1:30 p.m. Break
1:30–2:45 p.m. Concurrent Session 3
Session: Blended Learning for a Trauma Impacted Learning Community
Speaker: Conrado Julian
Dean of Students at Lochburn Middle School in the Cloverpark School District, where he is responsible for discipline, culture, and student support.
Speaker: Elizabeth Buffington
Lecturer and University Supervisor
School of Teacher Education — SDSU
Through discussion and self-reflection, the Blended Learning for a Trauma Impacted Learning Community presentation will discuss the impact of generational trauma on students. Research shows that classroom discipline is reduced when the reallocation of power in the classroom is nurtured through blended learning approaches. A solution-based perspective will be presented to discuss the positive influence of teacher awareness of student needs; the use of relational pedagogy; and intentional planning for instruction.
Session: Conversations with Children: Let's Talk About Race and Racism
Speaker: Jamie Cho
Jamie Cho (she/her) is faculty at Bellevue College in the Early Learning and Teacher Education Program (ELTE). She holds a PhD in special education from University of California-Berkeley and has worked in the field of education as an early interventionist, inclusion specialist, teacher educator, parent educator, consultant, and researcher. She lives in Bellevue, Washington, with her husband and three children, ages 13, 10, and 7.
This conversation will center on race and how to talk with children and answer their questions about racial differences and racism. Children’s understanding of racial categories develops early and is influenced by the narratives offered by the adults in their lives. It is vital that adults are having conversations with children as they try to make sense of what they are observing in their family, neighborhoods, schools, and communities. Through these conversations, teachers and families have the power to raise a generation of critical thinkers who strive for social justice and equity.
Session: Empowering English Learners in the Classroom through Culturally Inclusive Social-Emotional Teaching Practices
Speaker: Munyi Shea, PhD / Professor of Counselor Education; Director of Doctoral Programs
Speaker: Wing Shuen Lau, MA / Doctoral Student; Graduate Assistant
This presentation will discuss the relevance of social-emotional learning to linguistically diverse children and illustrate a culturally responsive teaching approach to integrate SEL practices into the classroom. Through interactive activities, attendees, and presenters will share knowledge on inclusive practices to strengthen English learners’ academic and emotional resilience, as well as their school and community engagement.
2:45 p.m. Closing remarks
Jorge Preciado, PhD
Associate Professor of Teacher Education | Chair of Special Education
206-281-2794 | preciadoj@spu.edu