DTAL Conference 2026

This professional development session focuses on the power of student goal setting as a way to build ownership and create future-ready learners. Teachers will explore practical strategies for helping students understand where they are in their learning by using clear learning targets and success criteria. Participants will learn how to guide students in setting specific, achievable goals and tracking their progress over time. By empowering students to reflect on their growth and take an active role in their learning journey, educators can foster motivation, independence, and lasting impact in the classroom and beyond.

Move beyond surface-level questioning by integrating AVID’s "Marking the Text" with Costa’s Levels of Inquiry and Gemini AI. In this hands-on session, participants will learn to guide students through three stages of inquiry: gathering information, processing data, and applying knowledge "beyond the book." We will demonstrate how students can transform "Inquiry Sparks" into sophisticated prompts for Gemini, using AI to refine their thinking and generate content-specific questions. Attendees will leave with a practical toolkit of opening moves and reflection strategies to elevate critical thinking in any secondary classroom.

This session unpacks what the latest evidence based reading research tells us about phonemic awareness: what it is, what it isn't, who actually needs explicit practice, and when a tool like Heggerty is warranted versus when it isn't. Designed for teachers and specialists across grade levels, participants will leave with a clearer decision-making framework for matching phonemic awareness support to the students who need it most.

This session provides middle and high school educators, instructional coaches, and district leaders with a research-based examination of artificial intelligence’s environmental footprint and systemic impacts. Current data from assorted stakeholders will provide attendees with a broader understanding of diverse perspectives. Participants will be empowered to identify strategies for engaging in respectful discourse with students, considering the environmentally conscious, highly creative, morally driven, and/or socially responsible learner. The session also examines the necessity of being prepared with various methods and tools to support student voice and decision-making.

How can PLCs move beyond routine meetings to become engines for instructional growth? In this session, elementary leaders will explore a practical PLC cycle designed to drive instructional impact. Participants will first examine the leadership framework that connects learning intentions with job-embedded coaching, collaborative PLC planning, classroom observation, and targeted feedback. We will then look at what this cycle looks like in action within language arts PLCs, math PLCs, and special education team meetings. Attendees will leave with a replicable approach for building high-impact PLCs that strengthen teacher clarity, collective efficacy, and support future-ready learners.

Do you want to spark creativity in your language arts instruction? Do your students love the idea of creating generative AI pictures? Do they want to express themselves, what makes them special? Do you want tasks tied directly to curriculum that allows for student creativity? Adobe Express guided tasks are the answer. In this session, we will look at real Adobe Express activities used in 3rd grade classrooms to extend and remediate students, understand specific content focused vocabulary, and take your language arts instruction to the next level.

Designed for district coaches and school administrators, this session explores strategies FOR COACHES to enhance teacher clarity through learning intentions, success criteria, and actionable feedback. Participants will learn to maximize student understanding by managing cognitive load and establishing relevance. Drive student ownership through intentional, visible learning journeys.

In this engaging, practitioner-focused session, Virginia Beach educators will explore how artificial intelligence can be used as a thought-partner that supports educator thinking and planning to deepen learning and amplify student engagement in middle school classrooms. Designed for instructional coaches, teachers, and school leaders, the session will model practical, responsible uses of AI to support lesson design, differentiation, formative assessment, and reflective practice. Along with specific prompt examples, participants will use the RADAR strategy to create their own prompts. They will leave with concrete strategies they can apply immediately to increase rigor, relevance, and student voice—all while using professional judgment and discernment.