April 2025

It is not easy to get in front of a group of your peers and colleagues and present something you are passionate about at a conference, but it is so incredibly important. We all close our doors and “make it work;” that is what teachers do. But I have never learned so much as when I get to be in my colleagues’ classrooms. So a conference session is an opportunity to open your door to colleagues and spread ideas on what is working for you and your students! 

So, what makes a great conference session, anyway? It has got to have a takeaway! I always like to start by answering, “What will the teacher’s takeaway be? What can a person who attends this conference session start doing differently tomorrow?” However, this takeaway is not always a functional takeaway; sometimes it is the opportunity for reflection that we rarely give ourselves.

Now, if we were looking at the recipe for a great conference session… In my opinion, a great conference session should include answers to the following: What? Why? How?

Session Recipe Step 1: Decide Your What 

When deciding on what to present, some questions that have helped me include the following:

1. What do I wish I knew before that would have helped me? Will it help others? How can I share it? 
2. What is something that is hard to do, that I have found a way to make work for me? 
3. What is something that has made a huge change in my teaching or my students’ learning that might help others?
4. What do I get asked questions about all of the time, that I have some ideas for? 
5. What is something I am very passionate about and wish more people knew about, or were talking about? 
6. What is something that is really popular right now that people are trying out? 
7. What best/good practices are people struggling to implement? What are some ideas?  

Session Recipe Step 2: Share Your Why

I like to also be able to share why this topic is important. As a result, I always try to include information not only from my own experiences but also from current and relevant research on math teaching and education. It is one thing to say, “This is important.” It is another thing to say, “This is important, as evidenced by _____.” So including quotes from readings, or opportunities and time for participants to read a brief passage, assures them that what I am saying is based on something beyond my personal experience. 

Session Recipe Step 3: Answer the question, How Will You Engage Teachers? 

Then you need to figure out how to make this information engaging for adult learners. 

1. I know what made math content engaging in my classroom: Study Team and Teaching Strategies, Math Language Routines, and EXPERIENCES! It is important for participants of a conference session to experience what it is you are trying to describe, not just for you to talk about it. If they can experience it, they can make it happen in their own classroom. Maybe you have a plethora of ideas you want to share—try using the Jigsaw or Carousel Study Team and Teaching Strategy to provide opportunities to explore these ideas. Maybe you have this great team-building activity—have participants do the activity in teams. 
2. It is also helpful to give participants time to reflect and process. As a result, it might be useful to build in some individual reflection time, or a Turn and Talk. 
3. Think about venues! Do you want participants sitting the whole time? I know my students and participants do not like that. Even if they groan a little bit when I ask them to move, we know it gets our brains activated. So try to incorporate strategies to get them to move, or working at a VNPS or whiteboard space. Balance the use of table teams, partners, VNPSs, computers/technology, strategies, and independent time. 

Final Tip: Bring Teachers to the Table

Once you have your session all cooked up, you have to draw participants in at the conference. A catchy, cute, or super clear name and description always helps. I highly recommend using AI to generate some different ideas that fit the vibe you are going for. “Come up with a [cute/smart/catchy/clear] conference session name in 5 to 8 words that describes this content: _____,” or, “Describe this conference session in 4 sentences or less.” 

I hope to see you submit a conference session to help your colleagues continue to grow and thrive!