3.9: From InnovatED to Innovated - Teacher Takeaways

What happens when teachers lead the learning—and actually make it stick?

In this episode, we tap into the energy of InnovateEd, our first teacher-led conference, and turn those moments into practical moves you can try right away. From strategies that blend playful rigor with real thinking, to simple protocols that bring student ideas to the surface, this conversation is all about keeping powerful ideas alive long after the session ends.

Join the conversation together with guests Melanie Larsen, Amelia Turner, and Stephanie Dean to learn what made the learning land, why teacher voice matters more than ever, and how small shifts—done well—can transform the classroom. If you’ve ever left a great professional learning session wondering how to make it stick, this one’s for you.

Pick one idea. Try it within 72 hours. Then pass it on. 

Transcript

Welcome And Conference Purpose

Speaker 1 0:01

Hello and welcome to Straight Chalk, a podcast for busy educators. My name's Belinda Benner Ordoñez, and I am an instructional specialist in St. Lucie Public Schools. Today we're capturing the energy of a conference where teachers didn't just attend the learning, they led it. This episode from Innovate Ed to Innovated Teacher Takeaways spotlights Innovate Ed, our very first teacher-led conference, built around one simple idea. Some of the best professional learning centers around being created with teachers, by teachers, and for teachers. It was a day grounded in practical strategies, honest conversations, and classroom-tested ideas designed to help us innovate, educate, and elevate. With Innovate Ed being so recent, taking place only about two weeks ago, April 11th, I thought it would be exciting and timely to gather reflections from the individuals who made Innovate Ed possible, both presenters and teacher attendees. Together, we'll explore what stood out, what's worth repeating, and which ideas are most ready to move from intention to our classroom practice. However, before we dive in, I'd like to start with quick introductions. Please share your name, your role, and your connection to Innovate Ed, presenter, attendee, or both. And I'd love for you to share what I'm calling a spark moment, one thing big or small, that recently reminded you of the work that you do and why it matters. So let's begin with you, Melanie, as a presenter.

Speaker 2 1:22

Yes, hi, I'm Melanie Larson. I presented a session called Brainbusters. I'm currently an eighth grade teacher at Palm Point. I teach history. I'm also the drama director for sixth grade through eighth grade. I have experience teaching pre-K through eight, and I was also an instructional coach for a number of years. I was really honored when I was asked to be a presenter at this year's Innovate Ed conference, sharing some of my favorite strategies to boost rigor in the classroom. And as for my spark moment, well, not to be cliche, but I do find that teaching gives me at least a small spark in some way every day, those moments where the class is so engaged, they groan when I tell them that it's time to pack up, the period is over. But I take the greatest fulfillment from seeing my past and present students reaching their goals and following their dreams, be it my history kiddos going on to the state level of history day in a few weeks, or my eighth graders presenting their career projects to their families, or my drama students landing the lead roles in their high school productions, or choosing to study musical theater as their college major because they fell in love with it when they were in middle school with me. So I am always immensely proud to be a part of their stories, just as they will always be a part of mine. I love it.

Speaker 1 2:31

And thank you for being here with us, Melanie. So, Stephanie, you're with us too. Tell us about yourself.

Speaker 3 2:36

Yes, hello. I am Stephanie Dean and I teach fourth grade math and science at St. Lucie Elementary School. I'm actually new to the district in the teaching um capacity. And so I was excited when I heard that this um training or this um opportunity had come up. And so one of the spark moments that I have with my students is when one of the kids would say, Oh, I get it now. And then they're ready and they're eager to share with the other kids. And I just love it because now their thought process or their attitude towards learning has now shifted. And they're not moaning and groaning because they have to be there learning. They're really excited about it because they caught on and they want to share.

Speaker 1 3:22

So um I love that. That it involves your students. That's great. It's because we're teachers, right? That's when our students are shining, it makes us happy. So I love that you shared that. Yes. And Amelia.

Speaker 3:32

Hi, I'm Amelia Turner, and I am a seventh and eighth grade ELA teacher at Forest Grove Middle School. And I was an attendee at the conference, which I was um excited and very motivated after that experience. So um it was an awesome, awesome conference. I enjoyed it. And my um Spark moment actually today was one of them. I um had students working in groups that were doing a rally coach, and just to see them actually implement the same things that, you know, that I teach them to do, like the things that I would have been doing when I'm going around and um telling them what they should be doing with their activity, they were doing that for each other. So that was quite um, you know, an aha moment for me.

What Makes PD Actually Work

Presenter Lens On Brainbusters

Speaker 1 4:23

That's wonderful. And I I want to thank you again for all of you being here and taking your time. I know it's a busy time of year. So thank you. And sharing with listeners all about the conference and turning conference reflections into concrete takeaways, starting with the presenter lens, and then we're going to shift into teacher attendee that experience. We know research on effective professional learning from Desamone, Darling Hammond, and Heyler Gardner, and many others consistently highlights learning experiences that are relevant to daily practice, active rather than sit and get, collaborative and connected to clear steps. At Innovate Ed, teachers had a wide range of sessions to choose from, such as Making Learning Stick, Leadership in Me, OneNote Jigsaws, Elevating Thinking Classrooms in Math, Test Prep Strategy, Student Data Ownership. There were so many more. There truly was something for everyone. And so I thought we'd start off with Melanie as a presenter. Can you initially share some of your thoughts about the conference just as a whole?

Speaker 2 5:18

Um, absolutely. Uh as I said, I was really honored to be asked to do this. In my current role as a classroom teacher, I don't necessarily get the opportunity to lead professional development as often as I used to when I was an instructional coach. But I really enjoy doing that type of work with teachers because it's not only getting to share best practices, but it's really collaborative because you have the opportunity to converse with each other, see what other people are doing in other locations. And then, you know, you're sharing your best strategies, but you're also learning from your learners.

Speaker 1 5:47

So I also wanted to ask when you were designing it, what were those specific takeaways that you wanted participants to leave your session with? And what did you notice during your session through those questions and conversations or engagement that suggested that the learning was actually landing with your participants?

Clump Game For Rigor And Joy

Speaker 2 6:05

When it came time to prepare my session, I really approached it the same way I do my regular lesson planning, but of course to a different audience. I've always had a really simple teaching philosophy. I want learning to feel purposeful and positive. Um, in other words, if I don't want to be there, why would I ever expect my students to? So building from that, I enjoy the creative lesson planning process. And I always try to find that way to make it feel relevant, but also fun. So the session at the conference was about how to sneak in those rigorous learning tasks within a fun framework. And I jokingly likened it to when you try to sneak cauliflower into the mashed potatoes, um, you know that cauliflower is good for you, but it isn't always so enjoyable to, you know, to take down. So I presented four different rigor activities that were disguised as somewhat like games. And the best way to present that to my my teacher audience was to have them be the students and actually do the activities with me. So we learned by doing. We intentionally practiced each strategy. We discussed how it could be applied to different ages and disciplines. Uh we played the game I created called Clump, which had everyone up and moving and interacting with the content and each other. Every participant has a card with a concept on it, and all the concepts are loosely connected to a main theme. In our session, I just picked the theme vacation with cards like ocean, surfing, shopping, Florida, theme park, Los Angeles, New York City, et cetera. Concepts that I knew were friendly, common ground that I could model the strategy with. So in my history classroom, I use it for unit review. The directions are really easy. While music plays, participants freely wander around. They make note of everyone else's card. And when the music stops, they must clump together in groups of two to six and be prepared to explain the thread that connects their cards together. Um and it repeats. And over several rounds, they're not allowed to make the same clump with exactly the same people. They have to make it different every time. So you can see how the rigor is increasing because they're having to dig deeper to find those connections between the concepts. And when we're using it with our own content, some of the connections are very obvious and others become a little bit more abstract or obscure. So they have to get a little more creative and really dig deep with that analysis skill. And even though this was, you know, the first main activity we played, it worked beautifully as both an icebreaker. You know, we were all strangers when we started, but by round two, round three, we were grabbing each other to like come make a clump with me. It was really great. Um, so it was an awesome example of really injecting the rigor with fun, which is exactly what I was hoping for. And that's kind of why I wanted to launch with that game. And I noticed the math teachers in the room immediately saw the possibility of replacing words with number concepts. And the group discussion started swaying into how the game could meet students wherever they were in their ability level. So everybody could participate. It truly was working for all students, an A for all. And both of those aha's, those were definitely highlights for me where I could see, yes, the strategy is something that others are, you know, seeing the worth of this just like I do with my own students.

Speaker 1 9:05

And I have to say it did get harder as it was, as the rounds went on, we were finding those connections even more complex. And I love the way you used content that was easily accessible to start with, that made us all feel comfortable. So I love that you could also then apply that to no matter what subject you taught. So I I think that was a great activity that a lot of people that were at the session had not heard of before. So I love that you introduced us all to that.

Speaker 2 9:27

We shifted into hexagonal thinking, which provoked really thoughtful discussions between the partners as they reasoned different ways to make connections between the concepts. They tried out would you rather and justified corners, which are both knowledge utilization type activities that really sparked those great conversations. And participants noticed they had a way of swaying each other's thinking when their argument was particularly compelling. And again, I think they almost forgot at some point that they were teachers to take the strategy back because they were so engaged in the activity themselves. But it was evident to me that they were having fun, but they were also making that connection and their minds were whirling with ideas. They asked awesome questions, they linked it back to what they're doing in their own classrooms and what they could do with these new strategies with their students.

Hexagonal Thinking And Deep Talk

Speaker 1 10:14

Yeah, and I have to say, I was in that session. I don't know if Stephanie or Amelia was, but I was your producer in the room. And I have to say, it was one of the most engaging sessions I'd seen. So I enjoyed the gamification element as a professional designer myself. So it was awesome to be a part of that and watch you lead that in your sessions. Those design choices, as we've been talking about, you mentioned fun. I mean, when we go into professional learning, we try to make it fun for our learners while they're learning as well. Those design choices often reveal themselves in how participants think aloud, question and wrestle with ideas in the moment. Those design choices show up in the way the room responds, what participants say and do, and what they wrestle with. So, what part of your session do you feel are generated the strongest participant thinking or interaction? What did you do or ask that helped make that happen?

Speaker 2 11:03

So, again, we moved right in from clump into hexagonal thinking, which is often a way that I link the two in my classroom because where clump is, you know, a little bit more movement engaged and, you know, more fun with them grabbing each other, hexagonal thinking really tasks them with not only making one connection, but having to make sure every side of a concept connects to each other. And I noticed that the participants at first were a little unsure, they thought they were doing it wrong until they had the opportunity to look and see that everybody was making the connections in different ways. And that is okay because the point of getting deeper with your content is about you know it so well that you can reason out, you can justify what it is that you're trying to prove with those connections. And those conversations, as I was listening into my participants, were particularly enlightening to me because I see the same thing with my eighth grade history students. I know they know the content because of how deep and what, you know, the quality of their conversations. Um, and when we were debriefing that particular activity, some of them mentioned, you know, I've heard of this strategy many times, but I guess I feel like I was doing it wrong with my students. And um, they had that aha again. So that was really powerful for me.

Attendee Lens And Immediate Wins

Speaker 1 12:15

Absolutely. I'd like to shift the conversation a little to the teacher attendee lens now. So when I'm in the audience, I'm listening through a classroom filter, thinking about tomorrow morning, that first five minutes of class, the question I'll ask or a routine I I could refine. Sometimes it's a quick turn and talk protocol that immediately clicks, other times it's student data strategy that sparks planning on the spot. But first off, I'd like to capture your thoughts, those attendees, so Melanie and Stephanie, that went to Innovate Air, the teacher-led conference. How was the experience as a whole?

Speaker 3 12:45

I'll start. The experience for me was actually um enlightening because being new to the district in the classroom, you know, you're kind of unsure when you're first starting out in a new district on what's expected to be seen in the classroom. And so I was looking for something that was gonna help me really get started. I mean, I literally just got in the classroom, started in March. So I was like, oh my goodness, I'm in the classroom, you know, where am I gonna do? What am I gonna, how am I gonna do it? And so the experience for me was really enlightening because it taught me some things that I can kind of like utilize now. Um, even in the short time that I've been in the classroom, especially when you're trying to get math students to like think. Um, they just want to do the problem part, they want to advertise, multiply, divide. They don't want to do any critical thinking um when it comes to that. So I was leaning in towards what I can use now. Um, is it gonna take a lot of time to implement? Um something to get my kids really liking and enjoying being in the classroom because I was new, you know, so late in the year. For me, it was it was such a great experience. And I was excited to go from session to session and learn multiple things that I can implement.

Speaker 1 14:03

It's wonderful that you were able to come. I'm glad you came. And really the get was for us to make it relevant and actionable in the classroom. So thanks for sharing that. And what about you, Amelia? What are some of your thoughts about the Innovate Ed Teacher-led conference?

Speaker 14:17

Yes, it was enlightening for me as well. And I also wanted to concur on what you said about Melanie's session being the most engaging. It certainly was the most engaging. Oh, thank you so much. You're welcome that I attended and actually came back to the classroom and put all four into practice already. I've done the I've done the clump, I did the four corners, and you know, just been trying to implement all four of them. And I even asked a student, I said, um, well, how did you like that activity after we did Clump? And they were like, oh miss, it made me have to think too hard. Um it was certainly rigorous. It um definitely took them to the next level with having to really process the information and understand it. So I mainly did it with terms, the academic terms that they should be familiar with, uh, figurative language and so forth. So um, yeah, it's been an enlightening experience. All of the sessions, actually, the test prep, I brought that information back to my students, shared that with them, and the leadership in me session. Um, I learned a lot from that too. And actually, I lead the National Junior Honor Society, and we've been studying that same book, Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. So it was um nice to see that being taught to the teachers as well to really implement that in the classroom and train their students to be leaders.

Sessions To Borrow This Week

Speaker 1 15:51

That's wonderful. And I'm glad that you were all able to attend and it gave you something turnkey that you could go back to your students and use the next day, the next week. I'm happy to hear that. And so for both of you as attendees, as you moved from session to session at Innovate Ed, what did you lean into because it felt most relevant? Is there anything else that stood out that might be applicable to your classroom or your role?

Speaker 16:14

I wish I could have attended more sessions because we only had three. So yes, those those three sessions were awesome.

Speaker 1 16:21

And and this year, you know, with anything starting up for the first time, it was something that we had to have enough presenters. And so we, the teacher leaders who are involved in this process of designing this conference with us in talent development, it was a matter of having people volunteer to do it, and then they had to vet all the presenters um and their presentation. So hopefully it's gonna get bigger and better from here on out. So you'll have more choices. That's the plan.

Speaker 3 16:46

I actually went to the elevating um thinking classrooms because I had seen the colleague use it, but I wasn't quite sure. You know, how the setup was supposed to be and exactly how to use it. So I went to that um session and it was amazing as well to be able to see how you can have the kids up and moving and you know, thinking and collaborating, and then actually, you know, kids love to write on whiteboards. So the fact that they're able to white write on the whiteboard on the wall, I think it's going to be engaging for them. I'm in a process now of trying to get, you know, my materials together so that I can implement that, especially as we go into our two-week review before the last PM. So I'm I'm looking to implement that soon. And I also went to Melanie's training. That one was amazing as well. I love it. The clumpy. So I'm gonna try and use that strategy with the vocabulary for math and have the kids, you know, use that to find the vocabulary words that are associated with a particular skill or math strategy that we're working on. So everything was awesome, and everything was like quick takeaways, things that you can implement right away. Nothing was too hard where you're gonna have to do a lot of work with it. But I I love the fact that it was um easy takeaways.

Making Takeaways Stick In Real Life

Speaker 1 18:07

And that's the often thing that we do find. Sometimes we have low-tech options, high-tech options, and everything in between. So things that can be quick to do, um, to start up or set up with students, there's not a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes. And once you've done it once, you've got a template that you can reuse for other content. Um, I think I I saw a lot of that in the sessions I was in monitoring that day. So I'm glad that you found them useful too. That I can use this feeling, right, is powerful. But we also know real life shows up far. So if we pause and reflect on staying power, let's name what it takes to make a takeaway stick. We know from research that professional learning is more than likely to transfer when it's both useful and engaging, when it connects intellectually and emotionally. So thinking beyond strategies alone, let's reflect on what truly re-energized you as a professional. What's one moment from the conference that re-energized your thinking, something you heard, saw, or tried that you're still reflecting on? And that's for our two attendees.

Speaker 3 19:04

For me, it was the engaging portion. You know, this time of year, kids are like squirrely and they're kind of giving up. Some of them they're not much motivated, you know, don't have a lot of motivation. So being able to implement things that are getting them up, getting them moving, getting them involved so they don't have to just sit and listen. I really like um that part of the training as well.

Speaker 1 19:28

And Amelia, anything that you're still thinking or still reflecting on from the conferences, how you can maybe infuse some of that within your own processes?

Speaker 19:37

The clump activity was really my favorite. Um, again, just energizing the class. Um, the same idea there that Stephanie just shared. You know, at the this time of year, the kids seem to start getting easily distracted. So that is a quick and easy way to get them engaged and to get them to think on a higher level of thinking. So I think it's quite appropriate for this time of the year as they prepare for the PM3. So I'm really um sold on the clump strategy.

Why Teacher-Led Learning Matters

Speaker 1 20:13

Yeah. And I love too that we we saw strategies that were a lot of movement, which was wonderful. As you said, it gets them engaged, it gets them up, it gets them moving. Um, you know, and then other simple things as well. That whole thinking classroom idea, getting up on a whiteboard, making those mistakes on something that's erasable. Lilia Dahl, who talks about thinking classroom in his research, talks about that. Like that's why those whiteboards are such a great tool because it's not such a threatening situation where you write it on paper that's permanent. You make a quick mistake, you you can erase it and start again. So I think it provides students with that level of comfortability and safety that they can make those mistakes and errors when they're learning, and and we want that. And I love the fact that you talked about using clump and the hexagonal thinking in ways to enrich your content. It can be used to review, as we've mentioned. It's a great time to review right now. So I love the fact that you found value in that. Before we close, I want to come back to the heart of what made our very first ever Innovate Ed conference what it was, which was elevating teacher voice. So for people like Melanie who presented, we wanted to give them opportunities to do that and then celebrate that shared experience with attendees such as for you, you know, Amelia and Stephanie, and creating professional learning that did feel authentic and energizing. So if you had to name it, what was the best thing about Innovate Ed for you? And looking ahead, what are your thoughts about being part of this experience again next year, whether as an attendee or possibly even a presenter?

Speaker 21:40

Well, I would certainly be excited about another session for doing this again next year as an attendee presenter. Um we could talk about that. And we'll see how the year goes.

Speaker 1 21:54

You never know.

Speaker 21:57

What I enjoyed about this was a fact. That it was teacher led. So it's actually teachers that are in the classroom that's sharing ideas that they have actually seen, used, and seen that they are effective, that they work. And, you know, so it's it's practical tools that we can actually take back out to the classroom and put it into practice immediately. So that's my biggest takeaway from a conference.

Speaker 1 22:28

And we have so much talent right here in our school district. Teachers across the district, we're trying to do more and more of that through learning expeditions that we host every month. Again, that's getting inside a classroom and having teachers share their best strategies. So that as well as innovate ed, I think are great ways that teachers can showcase just the talent that we have existing right here in our very district. Yes.

Speaker 3 22:50

Well, I would definitely attend again um next year. And I'm gonna yes, I'm gonna encourage some of my colleagues to attend as well. I was kind of sad when I looked around and I was like, oh, I'm not anywhere for my school. I thought I was gonna see more people, but yes, I would definitely attend again next year and um bring along some people with me. But my takeaway, I'm gonna piggyback off of um Amelia. I think the fact that it was teacher-led, we were like students in their classrooms, and we were able to walk through what the activity would look like. And so it's something that they tried, like she said, and proven and not something that was just, oh, I researched this, let me just give this to them. But it's something that they actually use and see that at work, and we were able to participate as the students to see how it could work in our classroom as well. So that was my biggest takeaway.

Speaker 1 23:42

I love it. And finally, Melanie, what were you spun up?

Speaker 2 23:45

Absolutely. Um, before I share that though, you started our conversation asking us about a spark moment. And I have to say, listening to Amelia and Stephanie share how they were able to take some of those strategies back and use them with their kids and their kids' response to them. Definitely a big spark moment for me, right there. So thank you so much, ladies, for sharing that feedback. I really appreciate it. Um, and as as far as the conference goes, I I really enjoy networking with people from the district office, but also from other schools because we're so often, you know, we're insular to our own schools or isolated here with just the people we see every day and they're wonderful. But it it's so nice to be able to see and hear what other people are doing in other locations. Um, and then as a presenter, I I can tell you I was supportive throughout the entire process. They approached me, I want to say, at the end of October about this. So it wasn't something that was sprung on me. I had plenty of months to prepare. There were always people available to get help from them. You know, they looked over our presentations and offered feedback. So again, I just was really well prepared to lead my session. Um, and then as a fellow educator, I just really appreciate, like I said, having the opportunity to talk to people from other schools. And I would 100% definitely want to participate again next year. And I'm always willing to present. I really enjoy it. Well, obviously, people love you, so you have to come back.

Speaker 1 25:04

So I want to thank everyone for being my guest on the podcast this month from innovated to innovative teacher takeaways and being willing to reflect in real time. And thank you to everyone listening for staying in the work with us. And here's the real challenge: don't let this episode turn into a list of good ideas that live quietly in your notes. Choose one takeaway and move it to action within the next 72 hours. A question you'll test, a protocol you'll try, a resource you'll adapt, or a conversation you'll initiate. Momentum matters. And if you're listening from outside St. Lucie Public Schools, take what translates teacher-led learning, protected time to collaborate, and intentional follow-through that supports implementation that could be school-wide or district-wide. Because the power of Innovate Ed isn't the event itself, it's what changes because of it. If today's conversation sparks something, share the episode with a colleague and tell us what you're putting into motion. So until next time, keep it teacher-led, keep it student-centered, and keep moving from inspired to innovated. So again, thank you so much, Amelia, Stephanie, Melanie, for being here. Until next year's Innovate Ed conference. Enjoy the rest of your school year and your summer. Thank you, and you like once again. Thank you for listening to Straight Shore Podcast for Busy Educators. And be sure you share this podcast with a friend and tune in again next month for more from anywhere you get your podcasts.