Belonging is at the heart of learning—and an essential factor in improving attendance. This workshop will explore how educators can intentionally create schools and classrooms where every student feels welcome, known, valued, heard, supported, and needed. You will examine the connections among belonging, well-being, engagement, and academic learning and identify the everyday experiences that communicate belonging. Through reflection, discussion, and practical application, you will discover evidence-informed ways to strengthen relationships, increase meaningful student participation, build productive peer connections, and create conditions that encourage academic risk-taking. You will leave with practical strategies you can use immediately and a plan for making belonging a consistent feature of the student experience, as well as a tool to improve attendance.

Effective student-teacher relationships produce measurable outcomes: greater motivation, stronger academic achievement, increased resilience, and improved behavior. This workshop explores what happens in the brain when connection is present—and when it is missing—before turning to the practical work of building strong relationships, reconnecting with students who have disengaged, and sustaining these connections while keeping instruction at the center. The same science that helps explain why students disengage also reveals why staff disengage, and school leaders will discover practices that work in both directions. Leave with a research-backed set of practical strategies you can use in your schools and classrooms.

What students learn is shaped not only by instruction, but also by the beliefs, expectations, and environments that surround them. In this interactive workshop, you will explore how teacher thinking and teacher expectations influence student motivation, engagement, achievement, and identity. Drawing on the science of learning, you will examine how expectations become embedded in classroom practices and how student expectations of themselves and others affect learning outcomes. You will connect research on cognition, belonging, and motivation to the development of positive school culture and classroom climate, leaving with practical strategies to foster high expectations and creating supportive, learning-centered environments.

This interactive pre-conference workshop will give educators, leaders, and support staff the opportunity to learn more about the neuroscience behind behavior, brain-based strategies to reduce challenging behavior, and actionable structures and practices to help students feel safe, supported, valued, and ready to learn. This workshop draws from Dr. MacLeod’s work as an educator, leader, and inclusive change expert, as well as her book, From Behaving to Belonging: The Inclusive Art of Supporting Students Who Challenge Us. Take a dive into the inclusive mindset, heartset, and skillsets needed to move from behavior to belonging. 

How can we teach the skills of bridging and dialogue in our classrooms and schools? What strengths and qualities can we draw upon to communicate across differences? What protocols and practices best support constructive dialogue—and kinder, happier schools where everyone belongs? This workshop will explore aspirational ways of bringing people together in a spirit of connection, authentic listening, and healing. Together, you will reflect on three essential qualities and put them into practice: curiosity (“Tell me more; I want to understand”), intellectual humility (“I may be wrong, and I’m open to changing my thinking”), and empathy (“I feel with you—and your perspective”)