Engaging Distracted, Reluctant, Unmotivated Students

Professional Learning Event for Teachers, Coaches, and Instructional Leaders

February 26-27, 2026
Austin, Texas

Join expert facilitators from The McREL Institute for this 2-day professional learning session at Education Service Center Region 13 to learn how to design and deliver lessons that spark student curiosity and sustain their motivation to learn. Together, we’ll explore:

• What brain science tells us about what it takes to grab and hold our mental attention in a distracted world.
• Ways to introduce new lessons and units of study that will ignite students’ curiosity, make learning feel more relevant to their lives and goals, and fuel their desire to learn more.
• How and when to use specific instructional strategies that align with the first phases of learning and memory.

You’ll leave the session with 12.00 CPE credits and a toolkit of practical instructional strategies and resources you can use right away in your classroom/school.

Coaching for Best First Tier 1 Instruction

Professional Learning Event for Instructional Coaches and Leaders

June 1-2, 2026
Austin, Texas

Instructional coaches and leaders, save your seat now for this engaging 2-day professional learning retreat with Bryan Goodwin and Jim Knight to gain insights, strategies, and resources you can use to help your teachers consistently deliver high-quality best first instruction—also known as Tier 1 or universal instruction—for all students.

You’ll explore insights and strategies from McREL’s The New Classroom Instruction That Works and get key resources from Jim Knight’s Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching.

You’ll leave the session with 12.00 CPE credits and a toolkit of practical tools and resources you can use right away in your work with teachers.

Getting Students Interested In and Committed to Learning

Phases 1 & 2 of the 6-Phase Model of Student Learning

Professional Learning Event for Teachers, Coaches, and Instructional Leaders

June 22-23, 2026
Austin, Texas

Today’s teachers must be increasingly adept at capturing students’ attention at the start of a lesson or unit of study, breaking through the myriad other things churning through students’ minds in any given moment, and then generating students’ authentic interest in learning more. Join expert facilitators from McREL for this 2-day professional learning session on Phases 1 & 2 of our 6-Phase Model for Student Learning to learn and explore:

• What brain science tells us about what it takes to grab and hold our mental attention in a distracted world.
• How and when to use specific strategies from The New Classroom Instruction That Works aligned to this phase of learning: Cognitive Interest Cues, and Student Goal Setting & Monitoring.

You’ll leave the session with 12.00 CPE credits and a toolkit of practical instructional strategies and resources you can use right away in your classroom/school.

Helping Students Focus on and Make Sense of Their Learning

Phases 3 & 4 of the 6-Phase Model of Student Learning

Professional Learning Event for Teachers, Coaches, and Instructional Leaders

July 27-28, 2026
Austin, Texas

Our students live in a world of distractions that fracture their attention spans. So, what are the brain-based best practices for helping them focus on what they’re learning, engaging  with new information actively in their minds, making sense of it, and connecting it with prior knowledge? Join expert facilitators from McREL for this 2-day professional learning session on Phases 3 & 4 of our 6-Phase Model for Student Learning to learn and explore:

• What brain science tells us about the limitations of “working” memory.
• How to help distracted students sustain interest and focus on learning in the classroom.
• Ways to help students make sense of what they’re learning, connecting current information and ideas with things they’ve previously learned.
• How and when to use specific strategies from The New Classroom Instruction That Works aligned to this phase of learning: Vocabulary Instruction, Strategy Instruction & Modeling, Visualizations & Concrete Examples, High-level Questions & Student Explanations, Guided Initial Application with Formative Feedback, and Peer-assisted Consolidation of Learning.

You’ll leave the session with 12.00 CPE credits and a toolkit of practical instructional strategies and resources you can use right away in your classroom/school.

Helping Students Extend and Apply Their Learning

Phases 5 & 6 of the 6-Phase Model of Student Learning

Professional Learning Event for Teachers, Coaches, and Instructional Leaders

August 10-11, 2026
Austin, Texas

For new knowledge to really stick and be useful throughout life, students must engage in deep learning—arranging what they’ve learned into larger, coherent patterns and models that they can use to better understand the world around them and be able to apply their knowledge in a variety of future situations. Join expert facilitators from McREL for this 2-day professional learning session on Phases 5 & 6 of our 6-Phase Model for Student Learning to learn and explore:

• What brain science tells us about why students forget most of what they learn and the importance of reflective practice, mental schema, metacognition, and retrieval hooks.
• How and when to use specific strategies from The New Classroom Instruction That Works aligned to this phase of learning: Retrieval Practice; Spaced, Mixed Independent Practice; Targeted, Scaffolded Support; Cognitive Writing; Guided Investigations; and Structured Problem Solving.

You’ll leave the session with 12.00 CPE credits and a toolkit of practical instructional strategies and resources you can use right away in your classroom/school.