Speaking a developing academic language requires immense emotional vulnerability, often causing Long-Term English Learners (LTELs) to opt for silence. This interactive session demonstrates how pairing robust linguistic scaffolds with intentional tSEL checkpoints creates a predictable, emotionally safe classroom climate. Participants will walk away with practical protocols that lower the affective filter, honor student identity, and build the collective trust necessary for academic risk-taking.

— Secondary Education

Discover how Social Emotional Learning and mathematics work together to support student success. In this interactive session, participants will explore the connection between CASEL’s competencies and the 8 Mathematical Practices, experience a sample math lesson that intentionally integrates SEL, and learn practical strategies for effectively implementing SEL standards in mathematics instruction. Participants will leave with actionable ideas for fostering both mathematical thinking and social emotional growth in their classrooms.

— Elementary Education

Fifty years of research with proven motivation results for kids of all ages, from all kinds of cultures! And the earliest days of the school year offer the most powerful window for getting it all started. We’ll focus on the whats, whys, and how to’s of starting the year with tSEL-focused practices that make a difference in both academic and social-emotional growth. With lots of practical examples, we’ll take an in-depth look at why students not only need effective competencies for tSEL success, but also why students’ sense of autonomy plays an essential role in fostering “intrinsic” motivation for transformative practices; and of course the importance of a sense of “belonging” in the group, which holds all our work together.

— Elementary Education, Secondary Education, Leadership

The rapidly changing digital world is reshaping our relationships and educational systems, making critical thinking essential for learning, deep reflection, and challenging the status quo. This session introduces MESD’s ‘Thinking Critically: Media Literacy and YOU’ toolkit, designed to strengthen media literacy and critical thinking skills for individuals and educators. This session will include a brief overview of the toolkit, highlighting the Transformative SEL (TSEL) content, followed by time for self-guided exploration of vetted, ready-to-use classroom resources.

— Elementary Education, Secondary Education, Leadership

Whether you’re a leader in the classroom or outside of it, the state of your nervous system is shaping the experience of those around you more than you realize. In this session, we’ll explore how state awareness and self-regulation form the foundation of grounded leadership, and why tending to ourselves first isn’t a luxury, but a prerequisite for supporting others. Leave with a deeper understanding of your own nervous system, and practical tools for building the inner capacity to lead from a grounded state.

— Elementary Education, Secondary Education, Leadership

This reflective, interactive workshop invites educators into a shared exploration of moral injury—the ethical tension that arises when we know what students need but face systemic barriers to meeting those needs. Through a guided activity and collective reflection, participants will connect with one another while cultivating greater agency and a renewed sense of purpose in their work. Grounded in the belief that naming our experiences matters, this session creates space for reflection, affirmation, and re-centering the meaning and possibility in our work.

— Leadership

Move into action by exploring the integration of racial equity, adult well-being, and student SEL. Deepening educator self-awareness, knowledge, and responsible decision-making creates the foundation for authentic, culturally responsive practices. Come ready to examine examples and utilize dedicated time to adapt these resources for application in your own role.

— Elementary Education, Secondary Education, Leadership

This session shares how SEL can be integrated into your daily routines and structures. These practices can be implemented immediately into your elementary classroom, are driven by the CASEL competencies and help students have autonomy, a sense of belonging and feel competent.

— Elementary Education, Secondary Education, Leadership

Secondary students may scoff at SEL lessons and research indicates that all students can continue developing skills that are core for college and career readiness. Look at building lessons for any content area with a lens that emphasizes transformational social and emotional learning to prepare for a successful transition out of K-12 education and into life. Use strategies teachers already know but with evidence-based intention to heighten engagement and increase learning.

— Secondary Education

This session will explore how educators can intentionally develop Transformative SEL (TSEL) skills through everyday academic instruction across content areas and grade levels. Participants will examine practical instructional strategies, planning processes, and classroom structures that build engagement, discourse, collaboration, problem solving, and learner agency while strengthening academic outcomes. Using examples from elementary and secondary classrooms, this session will help educators move beyond viewing SEL as a separate program and instead design experiences where academic and TSEL skill development happen together.

— Elementary Education, Secondary Education, Leadership

Educators are burning out, not because they don’t care enough, but because systems aren’t designed for them to thrive. In this interactive session, we’ll use Oregon’s Transformative SEL Framework to build personal resilience through the use and discovery of how the same social-emotional skills we teach students can help us as educators recognize secondary traumatic stress, build genuine belonging, and develop the agency to push for systemic change.

— Leadership