Durham Public Schools PL

Presenters: Brenda Blue | brenda_blue@dpsnc.net | K-5 Teaching and learning Coach
Location: Hillside High School Room 111
Description: The goal is to equip teachers with strategies to design and deliver lessons that purposefully increase student engagement and improve learning outcomes.
Subject Area(s): Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, ELA
Topic(s): Curriculum and Instruction, Equity, Explicit Teaching, Increased Rigor, Reading‚ Writing‚ Thinking‚ Speaking‚ Listening, Beginning Teachers, Culturally Responsive Practices, Differentiation/Scaffolding, English Learner Services, Exceptional Children, MTSS, Student-Centered Learning
Targeted Instructional Grades: 1st Grade, 3rd Grade, 5th Grade, 7th Grade, Kindergarten, 2nd Grade, 4th Grade, 6th Grade, 8th Grade
Targeted Roles: Instructional Assistants, Itinerant Teachers, Teachers

Presenters: Amanda Bowers | amanda_bowers@dpsnc.net | K-5 Science Specialist
Location: Hillside High School Room 200
Description: Join us for an engaging and interactive professional development session designed to deepen your understanding of the Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) outlined in the NC Essential Standards and the new K–12 Science Standards. In this 3-hour workshop, Durham educators will explore how to foster authentic scientific thinking and problem-solving by integrating SEPs into dynamic, cross-curricular learning experiences. Through hands-on activities, collaborative lesson design, and real-world examples, participants will: Analyze how SEPs support inquiry-based and equitable science instruction. Discover strategies to creatively integrate literacy, math, social studies, and the arts into science lessons. Explore student-centered approaches that build scientific reasoning, collaboration, and communication skills. Align interdisciplinary instruction with North Carolina’s science standards and local curriculum goals. Leave with ready-to-implement resources, lesson frameworks, and ideas to energize your classroom. Whether you're looking to enhance your current practices or reimagine your approach to science instruction, this session offers practical tools and inspiration to support all learners in becoming critical thinkers and innovative problem-solvers.
Subject Area(s): Science
Topic(s): Curriculum and Instruction, DPS Adopted Resources, Reading‚ Writing‚ Thinking‚ Speaking‚ Listening, Culturally Responsive Practices, Differentiation/Scaffolding, Outdoor Learning, Standards Aligned Instruction, Student-Centered Learning
Targeted Instructional Grades: 1st Grade, 3rd Grade, 5th Grade, Kindergarten, 2nd Grade, 4th Grade
Targeted Roles: Assistant Principals, Instructional Assistants, Principals, Specialists, Instructional Coaches, Interventionists, Teachers

Presenters: Delphia Daniels | delphia_daniels@dpsnc.net | Literacy Coach; Latoya Johnson | latoya_judd@dpsnc.net | Teaching and Learning Coach
Location: Hillside High School Room 105
Description: This session gives teachers tools to increase student engagement using five of Hattie’s highest-impact strategies. We’ll focus on helping students show their thinking in visible ways—through discussion, feedback, reflection, or peer teaching. Teachers will learn what covert engagement and overt engagement look like, and why both are important in every classroom. We’ll walk through each strategy with real examples, build understanding, and give teachers space to plan lessons using what they’ve learned. Activities like the “Apply It!” planning challenges will help teachers match engagement strategies to their own content. The session also includes a reflection and exit ticket to help teachers decide what to try first and what they might still have questions about. We’ll start by sparking curiosity and making connections to what teachers already do, then build new learning in a way that’s clear and usable. Strategies are modeled, discussed, and practiced with support—and teachers will leave with next steps they can use right away. Teachers will need access to the curriculum materials (HMH, ARC, Eureka2, etc.) for planning purposes.
Subject Area(s): Mathematics, Science, Social Studies
Topic(s): Curriculum and Instruction, Effective Feedback Strategies, Explicit Teaching
Targeted Instructional Grades: 1st Grade, 3rd Grade, 5th Grade, Kindergarten, 2nd Grade, 4th Grade
Targeted Roles: Teachers