Virtual WSUNER ‘Learn Local’ Conference expected to draw educators March 5-6

The WSUNER “Learn Local” Conference in 2020 drew hundreds of educators from over 20 school districts to Wright State.

Social justice, educational technologies and bringing calmness to the classroom will be the focus of the first virtual WSUNER “Learn Local” Conference hosted by the Wright State University College of Education and Human Services.

The conference — for local educators, administrators, organizations and the Wright State community — will be held Saturday, March 6, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

A separate Social Justice Fair will be held Friday, March 5, from 5 to 7 p.m.

The conference and the fair will both be held online and are free. The conference schedule and registration information are available on the College of Education and Human Services website.

“These unique professional-development events offer opportunities for networking and provide interactive sessions on topics that will offer ideas on how to improve your effectiveness and productivity,” said Amy Elston, instructor and assistant director of the Office of Partnerships and Field Experiences in the College of Education and Human Services.

The college is part of the National Network for Education Renewal and offers the conference to emphasize the value of education and appreciation for educators.

The College of Education and Human Services has nine P–12 partner districts that encourage participation and continue to provide many presenters and attendees for the conference. In the past, the conference has attracted nearly 300 educators from over 20 school districts.

The Social Justice Fair will highlight the accomplishments of secondary students, Wright State students and their teachers. Students will informally share their work, such as creative or informational writing, reading, inquiry, technology, multi-genre or other social justice-related projects.

Participants at the fair will also hear from critically acclaimed novelist and teacher Jaime Adoff, a guest speaker sponsored by the Office of Latinx, Asian and Native American Affairs at Wright State University. Adoff is the author of young adult novels such as “Jimi and Me,” “The Death of Jayson Porter” and “Names Will Never Hurt Me.”

The “Learn Local” conference session titled “More Calm, Less Chaos: Creating Trauma-Informed SEL Classrooms,” features Amanda Deeter, social emotional learning specialist, Jessica Davies, director of social emotional learning, and Jackie Renegado, SEL supervisor with the Montgomery County Educational Service Center.

The session will focus on brain-based strategies that facilitate stress management, build strong social emotional and academic skills, and increase positive behavior in the classroom.

The conference session titled “Leveraging Educational Technologies to Help Students Learn” will feature Wright State’s Sheri Stover, director of the Instructional Design for Digital Learning Program, and Noah Schroeder, associate professors of Educational Technology and Instructional Design.

The session will bring together the science of how people learn with educational technologies, focusing on how to use these technologies to facilitate evidence-based practices in online and in-person settings.