WY TeacherCon 2026

This session blends two of the most influential and practical frameworks in education—Harry Wong’s work on procedures and classroom structure and Todd Whitaker’s insights on teacher professionalism and behavior—into a single, highly actionable workshop. Rather than offering abstract theory, the session provides teachers with concrete tools, ready-to-use checklists, and real classroom scenarios that they can immediately apply. Attendees will leave with a clear and refined plan for their first day of school, a personalized professional behavior self-check, and several high-leverage strategies proven to increase student engagement, reduce management issues, and strengthen classroom culture.

What makes this session uniquely valuable is its dual emphasis on both strong procedures and the daily professional habits that define great teaching. Teachers will engage in collaborative reflection, scenario-based problem-solving, and practical planning that connects directly to their own classrooms. This workshop is designed to give educators exactly what they need to start the year with confidence: clarity, structure, and research-backed strategies they can use on Day One. It is not another program to learn—it is a set of simple, powerful practices that help teachers start strong and stay strong all year long.

Compare or Contrast - Cause or Effect - Simple Description – Problem or Solution - A Sequence?… Oh MY! This session outlines practical strategies teachers can use in classrooms to help students identify the text structure to summarize its contents and enhance their understanding of the text and the subject matter.


Outcomes:

Explore four common text structures.
Practice practical instructional strategies for teaching text structure using discipline-specific text.
Employ a summarization protocol to support understanding subject matter.

Our session is interactive, collaborative, and hands-on, giving educators practical, ready-to-use classroom learning experiences they can implement immediately. What makes it unique is our focus on designing experiences that engage every learner, make content meaningful, and elevate instruction. Attendees leave with actionable strategies to transform lessons into memorable, high-impact learning.

High-impact instruction is one of the most powerful tools schools have to improve student achievement and strengthen school climate. This session introduces a practical 6-Step Instructional Framework that increases engagement, clarity, and student ownership of learning. Participants will explore how structured lesson design improves not only academic outcomes but also belonging, behavior, and classroom climate. Educators will leave with ready-to-implement strategies that align with MTSS Tier 1 core instruction and support Wyoming’s whole-child priorities.

Mixed Six tasks help teachers break down complex concepts and examine student understanding across multiple levels, rather than treating learning as a single progression from “right” to “wrong.” What makes this session unique is its focus on the design of thinking rather than the delivery of content. Mixed Six is presented as a reusable instructional design framework, not a subject-specific strategy. This session is intentionally practical. Participants will experience a Mixed Six task firsthand and leave with a clear, adaptable template they can use to design their own Mixed Six tasks in any subject area. Educators will gain a new way to think about cognitive demand and complexity—one that supports differentiation, deepens understanding, and can be immediately implemented in their own classrooms.

The Power of Positivity
There is growing evidence through research regarding the benefits of positivity and the costs of negativity. The fact is that positivity impacts results. A positive, united team is a powerful team that can become unstoppable, but it doesn't happen by accident! Being positive doesn't just make you better; it makes everyone around you better! Participants will leave with practical tools to support their own positivity and that of those around them based on the work and principles of Jon Gordon. We're not positive because life is easy; we are positive because life can be hard!

Cultivating Excellence: A Leadership Blueprint for Mentorship and Teacher Retention
Wyoming is facing a teacher attrition crisis, with 65% of educators reporting they would leave the classroom if given the opportunity. Retention is not about "happiness"—it is about efficacy. CCSD#1 has transformed this reality, achieving a 77% first-year retention rate through a structured mentorship ecosystem. Attendees will go beyond the "buddy system" to learn how to operationalize a mentorship program that treats the mentor/mentee pair as a critical Professional Learning Community (PLC) team.

By 2030, the global gaming industry will be worth over $600 billion—larger than the film and music industries combined. Yet, we still treat 'screen time' as a hurdle to learning rather than the finish line. What if the hours your students spend in Minecraft or Roblox weren't a waste of time, but an unrefined apprenticeship in systems thinking, Boolean logic, and collaborative project management?

How does the literal structure of Arithmetic inform Teachers' methods of teaching?
What is the literal structure of Arithmetic?
How does that help students understand not just basic Mathematics, but some higher level Maths?
How can we make the structure of Arithmetic understandable to the Teachers, show that they can make it understandable to the Students?
Many people approach Mathematics as a set of rules that need to be memorized. Having a clear understanding of why the "Rules" of Exponents work, because of how they are ties to Multiplication; and why Multiplication works, because it is ties to Addition; and why Addition works because it is tied to Counting, and Counting is where Arithmetic starts: explains the how one builds to the next in a logical order fashion- the structure of Arithmetic.
It is an opportunity to review things that Teachers understand, and show how they connect, as well as learning a few things not usually taught in the many college courses we endured to become educators. Most importantly, it has a visual, potentially hands on approach, we can use with students from Counting to Quantities to help them understand Mathematics.