NCTIES2025

In this session, participants will learn how to build culture, community, and communication using Canva and other tools to create engaging GIFs and videos that enhance their school’s messaging in a positive way.

The focus will be on designing attractive digital media to keep the school community informed about key events, programs, and student achievements, all while maintaining a consistent theme and branding.
Additionally, attendees will discover how to produce eye-catching images that will engage their audience, incorporating student-generated content to foster more community involvement. The session will also emphasize the importance of celebrating student accomplishments through video recaps and graphic campaigns.

We will be making our own GIFs in this session so come prepared to have some fun and learn new ways to celebrate your school's story that are sure to bring smiles and joy!

Join us for a "Crowdsourced Ideas Swap" where you'll collaborate with peers to explore ISTE standards and brainstorm practical classroom applications for EdTech tools. Using a shared digital space, participants will post and review each other’s ideas in a real-time “Gallery Walk.” Leave with a diverse toolkit of ISTE-aligned, tech-enhanced activities to implement in your classroom, fostering creativity, critical thinking, and digital skills.

Join us for an engaging session that will empower you to transform students from digital consumers to creators! Explore hands-on strategies and tools that align with ISTE Standards as you navigate the dynamic stages of consumption, curation, and creation. Collaborate with fellow educators to uncover innovative, student-centered approaches that foster critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity in the digital landscape. Together, we’ll focus on building sustainable practices that will have a lasting impact on student learning and engagement.

Explore innovative ways to infuse creativity into your teaching. Learn to design engaging lessons using storytelling, role-playing, and arts integration. Discover techniques to foster a creative classroom culture that encourages curiosity, risk-taking, and collaboration.

This interactive session is designed to empower secondary educators by combining the principles of the Science of Reading (SOR) with cutting-edge AI tools to support literacy instruction. Participants will actively engage in hands-on exploration, collaborative strategy-building, and reflective discussions to better understand how AI can enhance phonemic awareness, decoding, and reading comprehension for adolescent learners. Through the use of free AI tools such as ReadTheory, ChatGPT, School AI, Microsoft Reading Progress, and Immersive Reader, participants will leave with practical strategies that can be immediately implemented in their classrooms.

This session goes beyond explaining what AI is and how educators can use it. Instead, it focuses on giving students hands-on, developmentally appropriate experiences with AI at each grade band. Aligned with North Carolina DPI AI guidelines and ISTE standards, this interactive session will provide teachers with practical strategies for integrating AI into K-12 classrooms. Participants will explore age-specific examples, from engaging AI-driven storytelling apps in K-5 to data analysis projects for grades 6-8, and personalized learning pathways for grades 9-12. Educators will leave with a clear understanding of how to introduce AI concepts that are ethical, effective, and relevant to students' learning needs, equipping them with real-world skills for an AI-driven future.

Presenters will guide participants in collecting evidence needed for the Apple Distinguished Schools Application. Our high school is one of only about 17 Apple Distinguished Schools in NC.

How can we leverage technology to ignite real change in our schools, despite our past experiences rooted in traditional approaches? This session explores how shifting mindsets—beyond merely adopting new tech—has transformed districts involved with SparkNC, an initiative that empowers students to explore high-tech careers. We will discuss how overcoming resistance and fear of failure has transformed learning. Join us to reflect, engage, and gain fresh ideas for driving technological innovation!

Join the Mardi Gras celebration of middle grades engagement! In this festive, hands-on session, explore how free digital tools like Google Slides and Sheets, Nearpod, and Desmos Classroom can bring the excitement of learning to your classroom. Parade away with a personalized plan to elevate student participation.

Want to see Gamification at an extreme! Watch how entire units are transformed into Fantasy Stories through Storification. A unique take on Project-Based Learning when it meets Gamification in the classroom. [Create Avatars, Worlds, and Stories in this unique session.]