Workshops

GOA is offering a series of synchronous, facilitated workshops for school-based teams. These workshops are each organized around a “how might we” question that teams may tackle and answer together. The topics were chosen based on inquiries we received over the course of working with thousands of educators this year.

The facilitated workshops are ideal for school-based teams who hope to learn together in a 60 minute block of time. Whereas our educator courses and programs are asynchronous, these workshops are a synchronous opportunity to learn together as a team facilitated by GOA.

A member of the GOA team will lead a 60 minute synchronous workshop for your school-based team. Each workshop will include a 15-20 minute presentation to ensure shared understanding and provide examples. The facilitator will create time for short Q & A. After the short Q & A, participants will complete a design activity, and then will share with their colleagues via a chosen tech tool. GOA will conclude the workshop by providing time for reflection and next steps for your team. GOA will record the workshop for colleagues who cannot attend. Please review additional details below for further information. PLEASE NOTE: Workshop dates and times customized to your calendar are available as time permits.

NEW! How Might We Design Assessments that Promote Equity, Integrity, and Rigor?

The transition to online and hybrid learning environments presents unique challenges when it comes to designing assessments. In online and hybrid environments, it becomes even more important to ensure that assessments faithfully capture what students know and can do. Assessments also need to offer students actionable information about where they are in their learning. This workshop explores how teachers can make decisions around assessment design to promote academic integrity, equity, and rigor. Teachers will work through a framework that will drive them to design versatile, “cheat-proof” assessments for learning that serve multiple audiences.

NEW! How Might We Design for Equity in Grading?

In this workshop, we’ll explore a framework for designing grading and reporting systems based on compassion, equity, and rigor. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has put into sharp relief pre-existing broken grading practices. What has become even more apparent in hybrid and online spaces is that grading systems that aren’t designed to support targeted outcomes can detract from the learning process and exacerbate inequities. Participants will develop a common language around bias-resistant grading practices and explore strategies grounded in GOA’s own work for applying grading for equity to hybrid and online learning settings.

NEW! How Might We Design for Inclusion?

Whether in-person, hybrid, or online, the learning environments we design and foster impact student learning and their sense of belonging. In this workshop, we will explore how to intentionally design inclusive and affirming learning environments that are rooted in antiracist principles. From visual representation to equitable participation, we will consider how we can leverage online platforms and tools to build and maintain learning environments of belonging and inclusion.

NEW! How Might We Design Synchronous Student-Centered Experiences?

Many students (and educators!) are spending a significant amount of time online in synchronous experiences. How do we make these synchronous experiences more student-centered? What are the specific ways of organizing synchronous experiences that allow for students to engage and connect? In this workshop, we’ll tease out best practices from the GOA network in designing synchronous time. From protocol-driven breakout rooms to designing equitable group work practices, this workshop is designed for elementary, middle, and high school teachers to design intentionally to promote student-centered learning in online synchronous environments. Using specific protocols, frameworks, and tools, synchronous experiences can drive student engagement, humanizing the online learning space and creating meaningful, connected learning experiences for students and teachers. We’ll go beyond emojis and ice breakers to talk about the ways in which teachers can make synchronous time a productive, inclusive learning space.

How Might We Design for Hybrid Blocks?

Hybrid learning combines online and in-person spaces to create a flexible learning environment. Using the “HyFlex” model as a guide, this workshop will show teachers how to prepare a single block that serves three types of students: those who are in person, those who will be joining synchronously online, and those who will need to engage asynchronously with the lesson. Participants will explore how to pace a hybrid block, how to encourage interaction and collaboration, and how to use technology to support learning for students and sustainability/efficiency for the teacher.

How Might We Humanize Online Spaces?

For learners to thrive, we need to first consider how we humanize learning experiences and design intentionally for presence and connection. Establishing and maintaining relationships is the foundation of a culturally responsive classroom. Small shifts offer big impacts in transforming online learning from a solitary, individual, teacher-driven experience to a connected, relational, student-driven community. From audio and video-based strategies to proactive design moves, this workshop offers specific ways teachers can humanize learning while promoting student agency across online, hybrid, and in-person contexts.

Participants must agree to be active participants and should expect to be engaged via both video and audio throughout the workshop. The workshop may be recorded by the school in the case of absent participants. For GOA member schools, each workshop is $1000. For non-member schools, each workshop is $1250.

Workshops should be scheduled at least three weeks in advance with GOA. GOA will host the workshop in Zoom and will send the recording to you of the workshop after it is over. We can accommodate a group size up to a total of 299 participants. We also can provide closed captioning for participants if interested.

Fill out the form below if you are interested in having GOA lead one of these workshops for your team. GOA’s professional learning team will be in touch to schedule a 30 minute pre-workshop call to cover logistics including confirmation of the date and time of the workshop. We will prioritize scheduling workshops for GOA member schools.