Deeper Learning 2026

What does it mean to be a deeper learning teacher—and how can we support each other in that journey? Participants will use our Deeper Learning Teaching & Classroom Framework—anchored in the domains of Conditions, Connection, and Pedagogy, along with the Growth Arcs (Sprouting → Rooted → Thriving)—to practice giving and receiving feedback that deepens practice rather than merely checking boxes.
Participants will analyze what deeper learning looks like across contexts and practice structured protocols for feedback. Whether newer to deeper learning or more advanced, participants will have differentiated entry points to explore and calibrate.
Takeaways include:
A set of feedback stems aligned to the framework.
An adaptable observation lens using Growth Arcs.
A feedback protocol to apply in their own school.

Our Framework draws on research and practitioners including Hammond, Immordino-Yang, Bransford, Hewlett Foundation, Ritchart, Berger, McTigue/Wiggins.

What does it take for every student to feel they truly matter? In this interactive session, inspired by the Odyssey Leadership Academy model, participants will engage in hands-on activities, reflective dialogue, and collaborative design to explore how belonging drives deeper learning. Together we’ll practice strategies for centering student voice, amplifying agency, and embedding equity into everyday learning. Through playful community-building and guided reflection, participants will experience the practices that foster mattering—connection, visibility, and care. By the end, you’ll leave with practical tools to cultivate classrooms and schools where belonging is not a byproduct, but the foundation of flourishing.

This session is for teachers, school leaders, and district teams seeking concrete, equity-centered strategies to create joyful, inclusive ecosystems of learning where every student is seen, valued, and essential.

Moving beyond the rhetoric of "student-centered learning," this interactive workshop provides participants with concrete strategies and frameworks for building sustainable teacher leadership systems that genuinely transform classroom instruction. Through a combination of collaborative reflection, authentic teacher testimonials, School District of South Milwaukee Principal led practical planning sessions, and expert consultation from Brian Delgado of Blue Dot Education, attendees will leave with actionable steps to create learning environments where students consistently engage in problem-solving, collaboration, and communication while mastering both academic and social-emotional learning competencies.

Note: This DL session also invites attendees from the National Summit on Improvement in Education to participate. Summit is a gathering and rallying point for a vibrant and diverse community of improvers who are working to create educational systems where all young people learn and thrive. In 2026, we're bringing together the powerful Deeper Learning and Improvement communities through select crossover sessions, culminating in a joint closing keynote. You are invited to dive deeper and make new connections at DL26. Check out our Summit and DL26 comparison to learn more.

High Tech High GSE’s Kaleidoscope framework supports educators in designing transformative learning experiences. However, designing for and with learners takes a lot of time and creative energy. This workshop introduces collaborative protocols for community-oriented projects and strategies for using the AI-companion to High Tech High’s Kaleidoscope Framework as a resource for lifting some of the cognitive weight of design.

Build a values-first story kit students will join: a clear story, tagline, and simple visual. Works for classroom projects, school culture efforts, or community partnerships. Learn a step-by-step process you can teach tomorrow to help students and staff communicate for impact. Leave with a completed workbook kit plus an elementary/middle/high adaptation guide.

In this hands-on workshop, educators and school leaders experience the Movement Communications Design Framework (MCDF) using a printed workbook and a simple peer-feedback protocol. You will move through four short sprints—Values, Storyboard, Visual Motif, and Tagline—then assemble your mini communications kit.

Bring a real initiative (class project, student-led effort, school-wide priority, or community campaign), or choose a ready-to-use prompt if you are starting from scratch.

This workshop explores how to create clear, standards-based learning targets that strengthen project-based learning and reflect a school’s mission. As a new administrator in a PBL-focused school, I quickly recognized the need to strengthen how learning connects meaningfully to both academic standards and the school’s mission. By intentionally aligning learning targets with the mission, we move beyond a statement posted on the wall to a living guide for instruction, assessment, and student growth. Participants will see how this approach deepens the impact of project-based learning, strengthens coherence across school practices, and solidifies the school’s identity as a mission-driven, PBL-centered community. In addition, I will co-present with a consultant who has been working with me to make this change at our school.  She will share an external perspective on how this process supports instructional alignment, as well as the challenges and opportunities it presents for schools and educators.

The Power of Play for Pupils is a workshop where we discuss, play games, and learn about the importance of how the developing mind reacts to play in classrooms. Together, we will learn why play it’s important to adolescent development and why play is important in school. This workshop is intended for all teachers, school leaders, and empowered students who are open to sharing with a group.

In this Workshop, educators become listeners, then learners, then makers. Drawing on a student-produced album as a primary text and hip hop’s own pedagogical traditions—sampling, the cipher, call and response, and storytelling as testimony—participants design lesson-ready structures for inviting their own students into authentic, safe, and culturally grounded conversations about mental health and wellbeing.  Hip hop has always been a technology for processing pain, building community, and speaking difficult truths out loud. This workshop asks: what if we let students show us how it’s done? No prior music production experience is needed. The only prerequisite is a willingness to listen.


* Tune In Speak Out is a student-produced album released through Another Level Records, the student-run label at the High School for Recording Arts (HSRA) in St. Paul, MN. Written, recorded, and produced by young people, the album documents the mental health realities facing their generation with candor, artistry, and care. It is not a curriculum about young people—it is a curriculum by them.