Learn & Connect at Engage New York!

Arrive at HANSA Workspace, register, and grab a coffee before the first session begins at 13:30!

Kognity’s Professional Learning Community offers a collaborative space to bring your real questions—not perfect solutions—and explore ideas with peers. Together we will create a reflective, action-oriented experience within a supportive group that understands your challenges, helps you tackle them, and empowers you to make meaningful shifts in your classroom practice. 

This session will explore how to listen for evidence of understanding and use classroom talk as assessment. We will focus on:

• Well-designed discussion moments reveal misconceptions and conceptual connections
• Intentional follow-up questions help transform everyday talk into formative assessment data
• Verbal explanations can be as valuable as written work when assessing student understanding
• What evidence of understanding can I gather from student talk that I might miss on paper?
• How can I plan discussion moments with assessment in mind?
• Plan one discussion question per lesson with the goal of listening for reasoning, not just correctness
  

This session is designed for High School Science educators.

This session focuses on the central role of phenomena in three-dimensional teaching. Teachers will learn how to identify compelling, real-world phenomena that can serve as the anchor for a unit or lesson. The session will model how to use a phenomenon to engage students in a “storyline” of scientific inquiry, where they ask questions, collect and analyze data, and build explanations. Participants will walk away with a clear understanding of the difference between a phenomena-based and a topic-based lesson.

Learning Outcomes: Teachers will be  able to identify and select high quality phenomena, design a coherent “storyline”, and formulate effective questions that engage students and align with the core ideas of NGSS.

Grace Boersma, the Professional Learning Specialist at Kognity, has over 8 years of experience as a high school chemistry teacher. With a degree in chemistry and sociology and a master’s in Secondary Education, she is passionate about helping teachers create engaging, inquiry-based learning experiences. Grace has received numerous accolades, including the Michigan Science Teachers Association Science Teacher of the Year award.

In this session, Melanie Snow will explore how students can transfer their knowledge to new contexts, and how teachers can leverage Kognity’s data analysis tools to inform effective test preparation. Together, we’ll look at ways to turn insights into action, ensuring students are not only learning but truly understanding.

Together, we’ll examine how to turn classroom insights into actionable strategies — ensuring students are not just learning content, but applying and understanding it with confidence.

Melanie Snow is a former high school science teacher who currently works as a Curriculum and Learning Designer at Kognity. She has spent the past 2 decades in science education as both a teacher and researcher with a focus in NGSS. She holds a Ph.D. in Learning Sciences from the University of Illinois-Chicago, an MEd. in Science Education from Georgia State University, and a BS in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Unwind with a complimentary happy hour and connect with fellow science educators. Continue the conversation, exchange ideas, and build meaningful professional relationships at Tappo Restaurant.