NOTE: Due to high demand, the conference is now sold out of general admittance on-site in San Francisco. We are now only accepting OVERFLOW registrations for in-person orders.

In-person attendees registering at this time will view keynotes on Thursday and Friday in the OVERFLOW room via a live stream. Concurrent session and Saturday keynote attendance will not be affected. Please call 857-444-1500 x1 if you have any questions.

Virtual registration is still open as well.


BOOSTING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN A DISTRESSED, DISTRACTED WORLD


As a result of the pandemic, stress, and digital distractions, students are less engaged, focused, and motivated than prior to COVID. A 2021 EdWeek Research Center survey found that student motivation and morale are significantly lower than they were prior to the pandemic with 87% of teachers reporting less student motivation. A 2023 Gradient Learning Poll found 80% of teachers concerned about their students’ engagement in the classroom. Research by Gloria Mark at the University of California, Irvine, has found that our focused attention spans have dropped from an average of 2.5 minutes 20 years ago to only 47 seconds by 2021. 

This interdisciplinary conference will bring neuroscientists, psychologists, researchers, and educators together to explore the science of attention, focus, and motivation and the impacts of stress, exercise, mindfulness, and technology on student engagement. Discover ways to increase student motivation and focus, reduce digital distractions, and boost learning.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter (@learningandtheb / #LatB67) for conference updates and news.

This conference will be presented as a hybrid conference. You can either attend in person or participate virtually. Click here for more details.
 

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Educators, Parents
Curriculum, Staff Developers
Speech-Language Pathologists
PreK-12 Teachers, Administrators
Learning Specialists, Special Educators
Psychologists, School Psychologists, Counselors
Early Childhood Educators, Professionals
Superintendents, Principals, School Heads
Classroom, Reading, Technology Teachers
Social Workers, School Counselors
College, University Professors
 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  • Motivating reading, math, and STEM learning
  • Helping students find focus in a distracting, digital world
  • The science of motivation and engaging disengaged learners
  • Ways to develop kids' metacognition and self-reflection skills
  • Our decreasing attention spans and the impact of digital devices
  • How movement increases motivation and mindfulness improves focus
  • The effects of stress, boredom, and social belonging on engagement
  • Growth mindsets and engaging the brain in students and teachers
  • Managing multitasking and promoting purpose in adolescents
  • Helping children with ADHD and attention problems to focus

Featured Speakers

Mindsets: Fulfilling the Potential of Students—and Teachers

Carol S. Dweck, PhD

Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology, Stanford University, Courtesy Professor of Education, Stanford Graduate School of Education; One of the World's Leading Researchers on motivation and mindsets; Author, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (2006); Co-Author, "Mindsets and Mental Health" (2023, Nature Mental Health), "Teacher Mindsets Help Explain Where a Growth-Mindset Intervention Does and Doesn't Work" (2022, Psychological Science), "Motivation: A Valuation Systems Perspective" (2019, Emotion in the Mind and Body), Academic Tenacity: Mindsets and Skills That Promote Long-Term Learning (2014), and Self-Theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development (2000)

The Joy of Movement: The Power of Exercise for Self-Development, Connections, and Courage

Kelly M. McGonigal, PhD

Health Psychologist; Award-Winning Psychology Lecturer, Stanford University; Invited Lecturer, Stanford University School of Medicine; Creator, Stanford Compassion Cultivation Training, Stanford Center for Compassion and Altruism; Recipient of the Walter J. Gores Award, Stanford University’s highest teaching honor; Author, The Joy of Movement: How Exercise Helps Us Find Happiness, Hope, Connections, and Courage (2019), The Upside of Stress (2016), and The Willpower Instinct (2011)

The Distracted Mind: Improve Student Attention Through Technology

Adam Gazzaley, MD, PhD

Director, Neuroscape; Professor of Neurology, Physiology and Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco; Co-Founder and Chief Science Advisor, Akili Interactive Labs; Creator of VR games, such as NeuroRacer, and the Glass Brain, a 3D brain visualization that combines neuroimaging technologies of MRI and EEG to display personalized, real-time brain activity while learning; Host, PBS special "The Distracted Mind with Dr. Adam Gazzaley"; Co-Author, “Enhancing Attention in Children Using an Integrated Cognitive-Physical Video Game” (2023) and The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World (2016)

Peak Mind: Finding Your Focus and Owning Your Attention

Amishi P. Jha, PhD

Professor of Psychology; Director, Amishi Jha Lab, Division of Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Miami; Director and Co-Founder of Contemplative Neuroscience for the Mindfulness Research and Practice Initiative; Presenter of the TED Talk on “How to Tame Your Wandering Mind,” which had more than 5 million views; Author, Peak Mind: Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention, Invest 12 Minutes a Day (2021); Co-Author, “The Frequency of Mind Wandering Increases Over Time During Ongoing Task Performance” (2023, PsyArXiv) and “Does Intensive Mindfulness Training Strengthen Sustained Attention? Examining Individual Differences in Mind Wandering During the Sustained Attention to Response Task” (2022, OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine)

The Science and Profession of Teaching

David B. Daniel, PhD

Conference Chair: Professor of Psychology, James Madison University; Former Executive Director and Founding Board Member, International Mind, Brain, and Education Society; Former Managing Editor, Mind, Brain, and Education Journal; Winner of the 2013 L&B/IMBES “Transforming Education Through Neuroscience” Award; Recognized as in the “Top 1% of Educational Researchers Influencing Public Debate” in the US; Co-Author, “Toward an Ecological Science of Teaching” (2021, Canadian Psychology), “Educational Neuroscience: Are We There Yet?” (2019, Wiley Handbook on Education) and “Promising Principles: Translating the Science of Learning to Educational Practice” (2012, Applied Research in Memory and Cognition)

The Secret to Motivation: The First Step to Changing a Child’s Perspective Is to Understand It

Tommie Mabry, PhD

Chief Executive Officer, Tommie Mabry Company; Former Director of Enrollment, Tougaloo College; Former Teacher at the same school he had been expelled from numerous times as a student, who overcame obstacles and his troubled past, and knows what it's like to feel disengaged in school; Author, Perspective: The Secret to Student Motivation and Success (2022), Little Tommie’s Four B’s (2019), If Tommie Can Do It, We Can Do It (2015), and A Dark Journey to a Light Future (2012)

Bright Kids Who Couldn’t Care Less: Rekindling Your Student’s Motivation

Ellen B. Braaten, PhD

Associate Professor of Psychology, Harvard Medical School; Executive Director of the Learning and Emotional Assessment Program (LEAP), Massachusetts General Hospital; Co-Director of the Clay Center for Healthy Young Minds; Author, Bright Kids Who Couldn’t Care Less: How to Rekindle Your Child’s Motivation (2023); Co-Author, Bright Kids Who Can’t Keep Up: Help Your Child Overcome Slow Processing Speed and Success in a Fast-Paced World (2014)

Attention Span: Restoring Focus and Balance in A Distracting, Digital Age

Gloria J. Mark, PhD

Chancellor's Professor of Informatics, University of California, Irvine; Researcher on the impact of digital media on people’s lives and our decreasing attention span; Author, Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness, and Productivity (2023); Co-Author, “Understanding Smartphone Usage in College Classrooms” (2019, Computers & Education)

The ABCs of Being Engaged: Creating Schools That Promote Student Wellness, Belonging, and Full Engagement

Denise C. Pope, PhD

Senior Lecturer, Graduate School of Education, Stanford University; Co-Founder, Challenge Success; Co-Host, “School's In”, Sirius XM radio; Author, “Doing School”: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students (2001); Co-Author, “A Caring Climate That Promotes Belonging and Engagement” (2022, PHI DELTA KAPPAN), “Easing the Stress at Pressure-Cooker Schools" (2019, PHI DELTA KAPPAN), and Overloaded and Underprepared: Strategies for Stronger Schools and Healthy, Successful Kids (2015)

The Science of Motivation and How to Get Things Done

Ayelet Fishbach, PhD

The Jeffrey Breakenridge Keller Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing, Booth School of Business, University of Chicago; Past President of the Society for the Science of Motivation and the International Social Cognition Network; Winner of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology’s Best Dissertation Award and Career Trajectory Award, the Society of Consumer Psychology’s Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, and the Fulbright Educational Foundation Award; Author, Get It Done: Surprising Lessons From the Science of Motivation (2022)

1) TEACHING ENGAGED BRAINS: THE SCIENCE OF MOTIVATING KIDS IN A DISENGAGED AGE

The Science of Motivation and How to Get Things Done

Ayelet Fishbach, PhD

The Jeffrey Breakenridge Keller Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing, Booth School of Business, University of Chicago; Past President of the Society for the Science of Motivation and the International Social Cognition Network; Winner of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology’s Best Dissertation Award and Career Trajectory Award, the Society of Consumer Psychology’s Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, and the Fulbright Educational Foundation Award; Author, Get It Done: Surprising Lessons From the Science of Motivation (2022)

Mindsets: Fulfilling the Potential of Students—and Teachers

Carol S. Dweck, PhD

Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology, Stanford University, Courtesy Professor of Education, Stanford Graduate School of Education; One of the World's Leading Researchers on motivation and mindsets; Author, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (2006); Co-Author, "Mindsets and Mental Health" (2023, Nature Mental Health), "Teacher Mindsets Help Explain Where a Growth-Mindset Intervention Does and Doesn't Work" (2022, Psychological Science), "Motivation: A Valuation Systems Perspective" (2019, Emotion in the Mind and Body), Academic Tenacity: Mindsets and Skills That Promote Long-Term Learning (2014), and Self-Theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development (2000)

The Secret to Motivation: The First Step to Changing a Child’s Perspective Is to Understand It

Tommie Mabry, PhD

Chief Executive Officer, Tommie Mabry Company; Former Director of Enrollment, Tougaloo College; Former Teacher at the same school he had been expelled from numerous times as a student, who overcame obstacles and his troubled past, and knows what it's like to feel disengaged in school; Author, Perspective: The Secret to Student Motivation and Success (2022), Little Tommie’s Four B’s (2019), If Tommie Can Do It, We Can Do It (2015), and A Dark Journey to a Light Future (2012)

What Are We Doing to Our Adolescents: Driving Our Youth Away From School

Jacquelynne S. Eccles, PhD

Distinguished Professor of Education, School of Education, University of California, Irvine; Former Chair of the Advisory Committee for the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Directorate at the National Science Foundation and Chair of the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Pathways through Middle Childhood; Co-Author, “Components of Engagement in Saying-Is-Believing Exercises” (2023, Current Psychology), “Situated Expectancy-Value Theory, Dimensions of Engagement, and Academic Outcomes” (2022, Handbook of Research on Student Engagement), “Achievement Motivation: What We Know and Where We Are Going” (2021, Annual Review of Developmental Psychology), and Handbook of Research on Schools, Schooling, and Human Development (2010)

On Task: How the Brain Gets Things Done

David T. Badre, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences' Brown University; Affiliate, Carney Institute for Brain Science; Member of the Editorial Boards for Psychological Science, Cognitive Science, Behavioral Neuroscience, and eLife; Recipient of several awards, including an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship in Neuroscience, the James S. McDonnell Scholar Award in Understanding Human Cognition, and the Cognitive Neuroscience Society Young Investigator Award; Author, On Task: How Our Brain Gets Things Done (2022); Co-Author, “The Value of Proactive Goal Setting and Choice in 3‐To 7‐Year‐Olds' Use Of Working Memory Gating Strategies in a Naturalistic Task” (2021, Developmental Science) and “Neural Systems Underlying the Learning of Cognitive Effort Costs” (2021, Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience)

Dopamine Fasting: Finding Balance and Motivation in a Digital Age

Anna Lembke, MD

Professor of Psychiatry, Stanford University; Chief, Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic, Stanford University School of Medicine; Internationally-recognized leader in addiction medicine treatment and education; Featured in the Netflix Documentary, The Social Dilemma; Author, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence (2021)

Problems With and Solutions for Intrinsic Motivation

Andrew C. Watson, MEd

Classroom Teacher; Founder/President of Translate the Brain, a professional development consultancy; Author, The Goldilocks Map: A Classroom Teacher’s Quest to Evaluate ‘Brain-Based’ Teaching Advice (2021), Learning Grows: The Science of Motivation for the Classroom Teacher (2019), and Learning Begins: A Teacher's Guide to the Learning Brain (2017); Blogger, Learning & the Brain Blog

Beyond Gamification: Unveiling the Secrets of Student Engagement and Motivation

Christopher S. Bennett, BA

Award-winning Game Designer; Invited Lecturer, Stanford University Graduate School of Education; Founder/Director, Game Design Thinking; Founder, Game Design Thinking Research Group; Advisor, Kinjo EdTech Company; Learning and Engagement Advisor, Digital Media Academy; Author, "The Four Phases of Games and Interest" (2023, Stanford Blog), "How Games Can Boost Your Learning" (2023, Stanford Blog)

2) ATTENTIVE BRAINS: FINDING FOCUS IN A DISTRACTED, DIGITAL AGE

The Distracted Mind: Improve Student Attention Through Technology

Adam Gazzaley, MD, PhD

Director, Neuroscape; Professor of Neurology, Physiology and Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco; Co-Founder and Chief Science Advisor, Akili Interactive Labs; Creator of VR games, such as NeuroRacer, and the Glass Brain, a 3D brain visualization that combines neuroimaging technologies of MRI and EEG to display personalized, real-time brain activity while learning; Host, PBS special "The Distracted Mind with Dr. Adam Gazzaley"; Co-Author, “Enhancing Attention in Children Using an Integrated Cognitive-Physical Video Game” (2023) and The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World (2016)

Attention Span: Restoring Focus and Balance in A Distracting, Digital Age

Gloria J. Mark, PhD

Chancellor's Professor of Informatics, University of California, Irvine; Researcher on the impact of digital media on people’s lives and our decreasing attention span; Author, Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness, and Productivity (2023); Co-Author, “Understanding Smartphone Usage in College Classrooms” (2019, Computers & Education)

Peak Mind: Finding Your Focus and Owning Your Attention

Amishi P. Jha, PhD

Professor of Psychology; Director, Amishi Jha Lab, Division of Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Miami; Director and Co-Founder of Contemplative Neuroscience for the Mindfulness Research and Practice Initiative; Presenter of the TED Talk on “How to Tame Your Wandering Mind,” which had more than 5 million views; Author, Peak Mind: Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention, Invest 12 Minutes a Day (2021); Co-Author, “The Frequency of Mind Wandering Increases Over Time During Ongoing Task Performance” (2023, PsyArXiv) and “Does Intensive Mindfulness Training Strengthen Sustained Attention? Examining Individual Differences in Mind Wandering During the Sustained Attention to Response Task” (2022, OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine)

The Neuroscience of Attention: Why We Can't Focus, How We Can Predict It, and Ways to Focus Better

Monica D. Rosenberg, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Chicago; Principal Investigator, Cognition, Attention, Brain Lab; Co-Author, “Differences in the Functional Brain Architecture of Sustained Attention and Working Memory in Youth and Adults” (2022, Plos Biology), “A Brain-Based General Measure of Attention” (2022, Nature Human Behaviour), “Effects of the Physical and Social Environment on Youth Cognitive Performance” (2022, Developmental Psychobiology), and “Predicting Attention Across Time And Contexts With Functional Brain Connectivity” (2021, Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences)

The Focused Mind: Winning With ADHD

Sarah R. Cheyette, MD

Pediatric Neurologist, Palo Alto Medical Foundation; Named “Top Doctor” for the past five years in San Francisco Magazine; Author, ADHD & Me: A Simple and Easy Way to Understand ADHD--and Embrace It! (2021); Co-Author, Winning with ADHD: A Playbook for Teens and Young Adults With Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (2019) and ADHD & The Focused Mind: A Guide to Giving Your ADHD Child Focus, Discipline & Self-Confidence (2016)

The Impact of Attention Problems on Children's Academic Achievement and Efforts to Improve Children's Attention Skills

David L. Rabiner, PhD

Associate Dean, Trinity College of Arts and Sciences; Associate Director of the Center for Child and Family Policy; Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University; Co-Author, “Investigating Teacher and Student Effects of the Incredible Years Classroom Management Program in Early Elementary School” (2018, School Psychology), “Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Interaction Between Socioeconomic Status and Parental History of ADHD Determines Prevalence” (2018, Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines), and “Attention Problems and Academic Achievement: Do Persistent and Earlier-Emerging Problems Have More Adverse Long-Term Effects?” (2016, Attention Disorders)

Distracted Juggling: How the Brain Sifts Distractions to Stay on Task

Jarrod A. Lewis-Peacock, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Institute of Neuroscience; Principal Investigator, Lewis-Peacock Lab, The University of Texas at Austin; Courtesy Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Dell Medical School; Visiting Research Fellow, MRC Cognitive and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge University; Co-Author, "Prioritizing Sharpens Working Memories But Does Not Protect Them From Distraction" (2022, Experimental Psychology) and "Distraction in Visual Working Memory: Resistance Is Not Futile" (2021, Trends in Cognitive Science)

Training Compassionate Attention Through Contemplative Practice: Evidence, Issues, and Models From the Scientific Investigation of Intensive Meditation

Clifford D. Saron, PhD

Research Scientist, Neuroscientist, Center for Mind and Brain and MIND Institute, University of California, Davis; Principal Investigator, The Saron Lab; Faculty Member, Mind and Life Summer Research Institutes, Co-Author, “Modulation of Event-Related Potentials of Visual Discrimination by Meditation Training and Sustained Attention” (2019, Cognitive Neuroscience), “Meditation Training Influences Mind Wandering and Mindless Reading” (2016, Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice), “Real-time fMRI Links Subjective Experience With Brain Activity During Focused Attention” (2013, Neuroimage)

Students With ADHD and Attention Problems: A Guide to Mindfulness and Self-Regulation

Varleisha D. (Gibbs) Lyons, PhD, OTD, MS, OTR/L, ASDCS, FAOTA

Vice President, Practice Engagement and Capacity Building, The American Occupational Therapy Association; Former Associate Professor and Director of Inaugural Masters of Occupational Therapy Program, Wesley College; Author, Self-Regulation and Mindfulness: Over 82 Exercises & Worksheets for Sensory Processing Disorder, ADHD, & Autism Spectrum Disorder (2017); Co-Author, Trauma Treatment in Action (2021) and Raising Kids with Sensory Processing Disorders (2020, 2nd Edition)

3) MOTIVATED BRAINS: ENGAGING MINDSETS, & METAGOGNITION FOR ACHIEVEMENT

Body, Mind, and Spirit: How to Actively Engage Students in All Three Levels for Meaningful Learning

Gravity Goldberg, EdD

Educational Consultant; Former Assistant Professor of Education, Iona College; Former Instructor and Staff Developer, Teachers College, Columbia University; Author, Teach Like Yourself (2018) and Mindsets and Moves: Strategies That Help Readers Take Charge (2015); Co-Author, Active Learning: 40 Teaching Methods to Engage Students in Every and Subject (2023), What Do I Teach Readers Tomorrow? (2017), and Conferring With Readers (2007)

Metacognitive Principles: Key Concepts Every Teacher (and Student) Should Know

Jared Cooney Horvath, PhD, MEd

Educational Neuroscientist; Former Lecturer and Science of Learning Research Scientist, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne; Director, LME Global; Director, The Science of Learning Group; Honorary Research Fellow, St. Vincent's Hospital; Author, Stop Talking, Start Influencing: 12 Insights From Brain Science to Make Your Message Stick (2019); Co-Author, 10 Things Schools Get Wrong (2020), Learning Analytics in the Classroom (2018), and From Laboratory to Classroom: Translating Science of Learning for Teachers (2016)

Developing a Strategic Mindset That Supports Better Metacognition, Learning, and Achievement

Patricia Chen, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education; Director, Motivation and Self-Regulation Lab, University of Texas at Austin; Co-Author, “A Strategic Mindset for Learning and Life” (2023, Applying the Science of Learning), “Real-World Effectiveness of a Social-Psychological Intervention Translated From Controlled Trials to Classrooms” (2022, Nature Publishing Group (NPI) Science of Learning), “Fanning the Flames of Passion: A Develop Mindset Predicts Strategy-Use Intentions to Cultivate Passion” (2021, Frontiers in Psychology), “Changing Students’ Beliefs About Learning Can Unveil Their Potential” (2021, Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences), “A Strategic Mindset: An Orientation Toward Strategic Behavior During Goal Pursuit” (2020, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), and “Strategic Resource Use for Learning: A Self-Administered Intervention That Guides Self-Reflection on Effective Resource Use Enhances Academic Performance” (2017, Psychological Science)

Promoting Growth Mindsets in Today's Classrooms

Mary Cay Ricci, MS

Consultant; Central Office Administrator, Baltimore County and Prince Georges County Public Schools; Central Office Instructional Specialist, Montgomery County Public Schools; Author, Ready-to-Use Resources for Mindsets in the Classroom: Everything Educators Need for Building Growth Mindset Learning Communities (2020), Nothing You Can't Do!: The Secret Power of Growth Mindsets (2018), Create a Growth Mindset School: An Administrator's Guide to Leading a Growth Mindset Community (2018), and Mindsets in the Classroom (2017); Co-Author, Mindsets for Parents (2016)

Using Your Mindset GPS to Support Student Engagement in Learning

Chris S. Hulleman, PhD

Professor of Education and Public Policy, Curry School of Education; Founder and Director, Motivate Lab, University of Virginia; Co-Author, "The Cost of Being First: Belonging Uncertainty Predicts Math Motivation and Achievement in First-Generation, But Not Continuing-Generation Students" (2023, Learning and Individual Differences), “Belonging in STEM: Growth Mindset as a Filter of Contextual Cues” (2022, International Journal of Community Well-Being), “A Brief Social Belonging Intervention Improves Academic Outcomes for Minoritized High School Students” (2020, Motivation Science), and “The Promotion and Development of Interest: The Importance 0f Perceived Values” (2017, The Science of Interest)

Maximize the Power of Movement to Improve Student Motivation in Your Classroom

MaryAnn Brittingham, MS

Professional Development Consultant; Graduate Course Instructor, State University of New York at New Paltz; Co-Author, Transformative Teaching: Changing Today's Classrooms Culturally, Academically, and Emotionally (2015); Author, Motivating the Unmotivated (2008), Dealing With Difficult Parents: Powerful Strategies for Parent/Teacher Interactions (2005), and Respectful Discipline: Your Guide to Effective Classroom Management (2003)

Kathleen M. Kryza, MA

Master Teacher; CIO, Infinite Horizons; Co-Author, Transformative Teaching: Changing Today's Classrooms Culturally, Academically, and Emotionally (2015), Developing Growth Mindsets in the Inspiring Classroom (2011), Inspiring Elementary Learners (2008), Inspiring Middle and Secondary Learners (2007), and Differentiation for Real Classrooms (2009)

Mind Matters: The Neuroscience of Mindsets, Motivation, Mindfulness, and Metacognition

Janeen Antonelli, MA

Co-Founder and Chief Culture Coach, Thriving YOUniversity; Former Teacher, Principal, and County Office Administrator with expertise in reaching and teaching at-promise youth; Consultant; Professional Learning Designer and Facilitator

Joelle Hood, EdD

Co-Founder and Chief Empowerment Officer, Thriving YOUniversity; Certified Life Coach; Consultant; Professional Learning Designer and Facilitator; Former Principal; Former Senior Consultant, Collaborative Learning Solutions; Awarded Teacher of the Year and Principal of the Year; Passionately committed to empowering individuals and organizations to THRIVE

Liz Toruno, MEd

Lead Climate Coach, Thriving YOUniversity; Coordinator for Social Emotional Learning, Bakersfield City School District; Former Teacher, Behavioral Management Specialist, and District Administrator

4) DISENGAGED BRAINS: IMPACTS OF CONNECTIONS, MENTAL HEALTH, BOREDOM, & BELONGING

The ABCs of Being Engaged: Creating Schools That Promote Student Wellness, Belonging, and Full Engagement

Denise C. Pope, PhD

Senior Lecturer, Graduate School of Education, Stanford University; Co-Founder, Challenge Success; Co-Host, “School's In”, Sirius XM radio; Author, “Doing School”: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students (2001); Co-Author, “A Caring Climate That Promotes Belonging and Engagement” (2022, PHI DELTA KAPPAN), “Easing the Stress at Pressure-Cooker Schools" (2019, PHI DELTA KAPPAN), and Overloaded and Underprepared: Strategies for Stronger Schools and Healthy, Successful Kids (2015)

Bright Kids Who Couldn’t Care Less: Rekindling Your Student’s Motivation

Ellen B. Braaten, PhD

Associate Professor of Psychology, Harvard Medical School; Executive Director of the Learning and Emotional Assessment Program (LEAP), Massachusetts General Hospital; Co-Director of the Clay Center for Healthy Young Minds; Author, Bright Kids Who Couldn’t Care Less: How to Rekindle Your Child’s Motivation (2023); Co-Author, Bright Kids Who Can’t Keep Up: Help Your Child Overcome Slow Processing Speed and Success in a Fast-Paced World (2014)

Battling Boredom: Re-Motivating and Re-Engaging Students in Learning

Bryan K. Harris, EdD

Associate Professor, Arizona Christian University; Author, 17 Things Resilient Teachers Do: (And 4 Things They Hardly Ever Do) (2020), Retraining New Teachers (2015), and Battling Boredom (2010); Co-Author, The Resilient School Leader (2023, Routledge Eye on Education), Battling Boredom, Part 2 (2018), and 75 Quick and Easy Solutions to Common Classroom Disruptions (2013)

Bored in the Classroom and Beyond

James A. Danckert, PhD

Professor, Department of Psychology and the Cognitive Neuroscience Area Head, University of Waterloo; Cognitive Neuroscientist, Researcher, The Danckert Lab on Boredom; Co-Author, “Cognitive and Affective Predictors of Boredom Proneness” (2023, Cognition & Emotion), “Boredom in the COVID-19 Pandemic” (2022, Behavioral Sciences), “Boredom and Media Multitasking” (2022, Frontiers in Psychology), and Out of My Skull: The Psychology of Boredom (2020)

Promoting Student Engagement: Relationships, Purpose, and Belonging

Clayton R. Cook, PhD

Chief Development Officer, CharacterStrong; Scientist; Psychologist; Former Middle School Math Teacher; Former Professor and Researcher at University of Minnesota, University of Washington, and Louisiana State University, who studied well-being, resilience, social-emotional learning, and youth mental health; Co-Author, "PurposeFull People SEL and Character Education Program" (2023, School Mental Health), “Brief School-Based Interventions Targeting Student Mental Health and Well-Being” (2023, PsyArXiv), “Strategies to Enhance Affective Engagement” (2020, Student Engagement), and “Brief Teacher Training Improves Student Behavior and Student-Teacher Relationships in MIddle School” (2019, School Psychology)

A Practical Brain-Based Guide for Educators: Engage, De-Escalate, and Inspire Every Child to Learn

Kieran O'Mahony, PhD, FRGS, BcID

Co-Founder and Chief Learning Officer, Hue Learning; Emeritus, Founder and Research Scientist, Institute for Connecting Neuroscience with Teaching and Learning; Former Research Fellow and Learning Scientist in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Washington; Author, The Brain-Based Workbook: Regulate, Relate, Reason (2023), A Brain-Based Classroom Practical Guide (2023), The Brain-Based C;assroom (2020), and Brain-centric Design: The Surprising Neuroscience Behind Learning With Deep Understanding (2018)

Teach for Belonging: Engagement and Motivation

Javier Arguello, MPA, MBA

Founder and Executive Director, COGX, a research and development firm in applied cognitive science; Former Founding Director, FUNIDES, a think tank to advance social policy for modernizing education; Co-Author of a series of online graduate level courses on the science of learning for educators titled "Developing Sophisticated Learners"

Belonging: The Role of Social Connection in the Youth Mental Health Crisis

Dustin Bindreiff, EdD

Senior Education Consultant; Former Behavior and Mental Health Program Manager, Belmont- Redwood Shores School District; Former Special Education Coordinator, Nevada County Superintendent of Schools; Former Professional Learning Specialist, Mindsets Works; Author, “From On Edge to On Task: Exploring Elements of Trauma- Sensitive Schools” (2021, NASSP), “Giving Students the Keys to Control Their Own Learning Outcomes” (2018, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Blog), and “Mindsets Impact Perceptions of Student Behavior” (2016, Mindset Works Blog)

The Joy of Movement: The Power of Exercise for Self-Development, Connections, and Courage

Kelly M. McGonigal, PhD

Health Psychologist; Award-Winning Psychology Lecturer, Stanford University; Invited Lecturer, Stanford University School of Medicine; Creator, Stanford Compassion Cultivation Training, Stanford Center for Compassion and Altruism; Recipient of the Walter J. Gores Award, Stanford University’s highest teaching honor; Author, The Joy of Movement: How Exercise Helps Us Find Happiness, Hope, Connections, and Courage (2019), The Upside of Stress (2016), and The Willpower Instinct (2011)

5) TEACHING TEEN BRAINS: YOUTH, MULTITASKING & MOTIVATION

The Minds of Media Multitaskers: Attention, Learning, Memory, and the Brain in Multitaskers

Anthony D. Wagner, PhD

Lucie Stern Professor, Social Sciences; Deputy Director, Stanford Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute; Chair, Department of Psychology, Stanford University; Co-Author, “Mnemonic Bridging Across Events Relates to Individual-Differences in Sustained Attention in Younger and Older Adults” (2021, Psyarxiv), “Memory Failure Predicted by Attention Lapsing and Media Multitasking” (2020, Nature), and “Stress Impairs Episodic Retrieval by Disrupting Hippocampal and Cortical Mechanisms of Remembering” (2019, Cerebral Cortex)

Interventions and Implications of Adolescents' Growth Mindsets on Anxiety, Mental Health, and Academic Motivation

Jennifer L. Burnette, PhD

Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, North Carolina State University; Co-Author, “Growth Mindsets of Anxiety: Do the Benefits to Individual Flourishing Come With Societal Costs?” (2023, The Journal of Positive Psychology), “Growth Mindsets: Defining, Assessing, and Exploring Effects on Motivation for Entrepreneurs and Non-Entrepreneurs” (2023, Current Psychology), “A Systematic Review of Growth Mindset Intervention Implementation Strategies” (2023, Social and Personality Psychology Compass)

Motivating Students Through Purpose-Driven Learning

Heather R. Malin, PhD

Director of Research; Senior Researcher, Center on Adolescence, Stanford University; Author, Teaching for Purpose: Preparing Students for Lives of Meaning (2018); Co-Author, “A Longitudinal Study of US College Students Before and During the Covid-19 Pandemic” (2023, American College Health), and “Engaging Purpose in College: A Person-Centered Approach to Studying Purpose in Relation to College Experiences” (2022, Applied Developmental Science)

Five Tips for Healthy Screen Time and Focus for Middle and High School Students

Rebecca A. Branstetter, PhD

Licensed School Psychologist; Founder, The Thriving Students Collective; Contributor, Greater Good Science Center, University of California, Berkeley; Former Clinical Psychologist, UCSF Autism Clinic, University of California San Francisco; Creator, “How to Teach Executive Functioning” course to support neurodiverse learners; Author, The Thriving School Psychologist (2020), The Conscious Parent’s Guide to Executive Functioning Disorders (2016), The Conscious Parent’s Guide to ADHD (2015), and The Everything Parent’s Guide to Children With Executive Functioning Disorders (2013)

Rethinking the American High School Experience: Turning Student Stress and Boredom Into Purpose

Patrick Cook-Deegan, BA

Lecturer, Stanford University; Social Entrepreneur who has developed experiential education programs for mindfulness education (Inward Bound Mindfulness Education), wilderness education (Back to Earth), and social innovation (Brown University’s Social Innovation Initiative); Founder, Director, and CEO, Project Wayfinder - an educational organization funded by the Stanford University d.School to equip students and teachers with tools and skills to create purposeful lives; Former Fulbright Scholar; Author, Redesigning American High Schools for the 21st Century” (2016, Stanford Social Innovation Review

6) BELIEVING BRAINS: FOSTERING READING, MATH, SCIENCE, & TEACHER MINDSETS

Fostering Growth Mindset, Independence, and Curiosity in Readers

Gravity Goldberg, EdD

Educational Consultant; Former Assistant Professor of Education, Iona College; Former Instructor and Staff Developer, Teachers College, Columbia University; Author, Teach Like Yourself (2018) and Mindsets and Moves: Strategies That Help Readers Take Charge (2015); Co-Author, Active Learning: 40 Teaching Methods to Engage Students in Every and Subject (2023), What Do I Teach Readers Tomorrow? (2017), and Conferring With Readers (2007)

Reading Motivation: Understanding and Supporting Children's Willingness to Read

Joy D. Erickson, PhD

Assistant Professor, School of Education, Endicott College; President, North Eastern Philosophy of Education Society; Named the 2022 “Top Cited Author” by Reading Teacher Magazine; Author, “Young Children’s Perceptions of a Reading Intervention: A Longitudinal Case Study of Motivation and Engagement” (2023, Reading & Writing Quarterly) and Reading Motivation: A Guide to Understanding and Supporting Children`s Willingness to Read (2022)

Fostering Growth Mindsets in Math and STEM: Integrating Play, Experimentation, and Discourse to Improve Engagement

Kathy Liu Sun, PhD

Assistant Professor of Education; Director, Masters in Teaching and Teaching Credential Program, Santa Clara University; Former High School Teacher, San Jose Unified School District; Co-Author, “Females Don’t Need to Be Reluctant’: Employing Design Thinking to Harness Creative Confidence and Interest In STEAM” (2021, International Journal of Art and Design Education), “The Mindset Disconnect in Mathematics Teaching: A Qualitative Analysis of Classroom Instruction” (2019, Mathematics Behavior), and “The Role of Mathematics Teaching In Fostering Student Growth Mindset” (2018, Journal for Research in Mathematics Education)

Mindsets in STEM: The Role of Students' Perceptions of Teachers' and Peers' Mindsets on Motivation and Engagement

Katherine M. Muenks, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education, University of Texas at Austin; Principal Investigator, Learning and Motivational Beliefs (LAMB) Lab; Co-Author, “Family Context of Mindset Matters: Students’ Perceptions of Parent and Sibling Math Mindsets Predict Their Math Motivation, Behavior, and Affect” (2023, Applied Developmental Science), “Attending to Motivation During Vocabulary Interventions for Students With or At Risk For Learning Disabilities: A Review of the Literature” (2023, Topics in Language Disorders), and “An Exploratory Study of the Behaviors That Communicate Perceived Instructor Mindset Beliefs in College STEM Classrooms” (2022, Teacher and Teacher Education)

The Science and Profession of Teaching: What Evidence is Good Evidence for Teaching and Where Should It Come From?

David B. Daniel, PhD

Conference Chair: Professor of Psychology, James Madison University; Former Executive Director and Founding Board Member, International Mind, Brain, and Education Society; Former Managing Editor, Mind, Brain, and Education Journal; Winner of the 2013 L&B/IMBES “Transforming Education Through Neuroscience” Award; Recognized as in the “Top 1% of Educational Researchers Influencing Public Debate” in the US; Co-Author, “Toward an Ecological Science of Teaching” (2021, Canadian Psychology), “Educational Neuroscience: Are We There Yet?” (2019, Wiley Handbook on Education) and “Promising Principles: Translating the Science of Learning to Educational Practice” (2012, Applied Research in Memory and Cognition)