TRETC 2025: Full Schedule

9:15am EST

AI-Powered Tools for Enhancing Math Learning: Boosting Engagement Through Hybrid Tutoring, Goal Setting, and Parental Support

Monday January 20, 2025 9:15am - 10:00am EST

Middle School, Room 101

This session introduces AI-based tools designed to enhance middle school math homework through goal-setting, motivation, and parental involvement. Attendees will explore the Smart Homework Project, which showcases tools co-designed with students and parents to provide personalized support, helping students stay on track and empowering parents to assist with challenging homework. Additionally, the session will feature the PLUS Tutors program, which originated from the Personalized Learning² (PL²) project aimed at bridging opportunity gaps in the Pittsburgh region through math tutoring. By partnering with local afterschool programs, PLUS Tutors successfully reached underserved communities and doubled student math learning during the pandemic. Now focused on in-school math tutoring, PLUS Tutors currently reaches nearly 3,000 middle school students with 300 remote tutors. Attendees will experience an interactive demonstration of these tools and learn practical strategies for fostering stronger connections between home and school; the session will also explore opportunities for school partnerships to implement these AI tools in educational settings.

Learning Objectives:
1. Understand how AI-based tools can enhance middle school math homework by integrating goal-setting, motivation, and parental involvement to improve student engagement and achievement.
2. Explore practical strategies for incorporating AI-supported tools into school settings, empowering teachers to track student progress and enabling parents to assist with challenging homework tasks.
3. Learn about the PLUS Tutors program and its impact on bridging opportunity gaps through math tutoring, and identify ways to form school partnerships to implement similar AI tools in underserved communities.

Speakers

Conrad Borchers

PhD Student, Carnegie Mellon University

Erin Gatz

Head of Partnerships, Carnegie Mellon University

Monday January 20, 2025 9:15am - 10:00am EST
Middle School, Room 101

Session, Engage & Connect

Company Carnegie Mellon University
Audience Middle School Educators (6-8, High School Educators (9-12, Administrators
Subject AI for All (SEL), Integrating AI into the Classroom, EdTech for Equity

9:15am EST

ELLs in Your Content-Area Classroom: Empower them with Edtech (K-12)

Monday January 20, 2025 9:15am - 10:00am EST

Middle School, Room 105

Are you looking for practical ways to better support English Language Learners (ELLs) in your classroom?

This session will equip you with dynamic strategies and user-friendly, tech-based resources that will unlock ELL learning and engagement in your classroom.
As you explore new techniques, you will see how enhancing your existing routines and curriculum will empower your ELLs to thrive in the content-area classroom.

This session is designed for those in a content-area or grade-level (K-12) setting in which English Language Learners are students in classrooms alongside those who speak English as a primary language.

Objectives:

Learn general strategies to support ELLs in the classroom and about edtech tools that can be used in order to effectively implement such strategies.
Understand gain a basic familiarity with a few low-prep, high impact edtech tools that can be incorporated into any teacher’s routine to better support their ELLs.
Gain a better understanding of both the needs and capabilities of our English-Language Learners.

Speakers

Rachel McVeagh

Instructional Innovation Coordinator, Allegheny Intermediate Unit (transformED)

Monday January 20, 2025 9:15am - 10:00am EST
Middle School, Room 105

Session, Engage and Connect

Audience Elementary Educators (k-5), Middle School Educators (6-8, High School Educators (9-12, Administrators, Computer Science Educators, Appropriate for All, EdTech Leaders, All Grade Levels (K-12)
Subject EdTech for Equity

1:45pm EST

Connecting Communities through Cosmic Careers

Monday January 20, 2025 1:45pm - 2:30pm EST

Middle School, Room 101

Connecting Communities through Cosmic Careers: This panel discussion will focus on career opportunities in the space industry, virtual opportunities for partnerships to explore space careers, how to develop interactive activities for career exploration, and how to increase the impact of career connections by aligning experiences to standards and a common language. This session will bring together experienced three educators from the classroom, science museum, and business community to explain how they created a series of virtual interactive programs that impacted students across the United States using the RIASEC framework for career connections.

Objectives:

Attendees will learn about the vast array of career possibilities available to students in the region across the STEAM disciplines.
Attendees will explore virtual opportunities to explore space careers, and interactive activities designed for virtual instruction.
Attendees will explore how they can introduce their students to space careers while aligning to standards-based curricula.

Speakers

Norton Gusky

Educational Technology Broker, NLG-Consulting, LLC

For over 40 years I've been an educator - teacher, CTO, and now an educational technology broker. For more look at my website:https://nlg-consulting.net/about/

Mike Hennessy

Manager of Learning & Programs, Moonshot Museum

Monday January 20, 2025 1:45pm - 2:30pm EST
Middle School, Room 101

Session, Engage and Connect

Company Moonshot Museum
Audience Elementary Educators (K-5), Middle School Educators (6-8, High School Educators (9-12, Educators (9-12), All grade levels (k-12), Administrators
Subject Career Connections, Emerging Tech, Space Education, World of Work

1:45pm EST

Engaging Students Through AI Songwriting, Scratch Coding, and Makey Makey Activities

Monday January 20, 2025 1:45pm - 2:30pm EST

Middle School, Room 103

Learn how to take your students’ ideas and turn them into engaging songs to help concepts stick. Leveraging AI, teachers can now be song writers and creators. Music sticks in our heads longer than most information, so why not learn to use that to your advantage. Learn to create amazing lesson hooks, engaging activities, and more with some great AI apps.

Engage your students in creating virtual musical instruments, animations, and games with Scratch! Using Makey Makey, you can introduce them to interactive technology by turning everyday objects like fruit, aluminum foil, or even their own bodies into fun, hands-on controllers for their Scratch projects. Makey Makey lets students see the science behind conductors and insulators while exploring creativity and coding. It’s perfect for STEAM activities, sparking curiosity and making abstract concepts real through touch and play!

Objectives:
1. Discuss AI and different uses in the classroom
2. Learn to create music with Suno AI, and utilize different programs to help with lyrics.
3. Utilize whiteboard programs to collect ideas and collaborate on this process.
4. Audience will learn to code with Scratch
5. Audience will learn how to use Makey Makey
6. Audience will explore how to use Scratch and Makey Makey in their classrooms.

Speakers

Junko Yamamoto

Professor, Slippery Rock University

I used to be a high school Japanese teacher. I have been teaching at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania since 2005. I have taught instructional technology and world language teaching methodology. Hence, I like thinking about "What is a pedagogically sound use of technology in... Read More →

Matt Karabinos

6th grade teacher, Williamsburg Community School District

Monday January 20, 2025 1:45pm - 2:30pm EST
Middle School, Room 103

Session, Engage and Connect

Audience High School Educators (9-12, Middle School Educators (6-8, Elementary Educators (K-5), Appropriate for all Audiences
Subject Robotics & Coding, Computational Thinking Pathway, Integrating AI into the Classroom

TRETC 2025

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