Learning & The Brain

The Teaching Whole Learners Conference

November 14-16, 2026
Boston

Join Bryan Goodwin, deputy executive director of the McREL Institute at Region 13, at this conference focused on applying science to create social, engaged, thriving, curious, critical thinkers. Bryan’s session will be focused on ways to spark student curiosity for learning, through the cultivation of mystery, engagement, and purpose in the classroom.

Sharing Rural Solutions

The Texas Rural Schools Conference

February 19-20, 2026
Georgetown, Texas

Join Bryan Goodwin, deputy executive director of the McREL Institute at Region 13, for his keynote session at the Texas Rural Schools spring conference. The conference is an opportunity to collaborate with fellow educators who work in rural schools to share successful strategies for this unique educational setting and engage with high interest topics centered around findings from the Rural School Task Force. Leave with innovative tools and strategies for immediate application on your campus or in your district.

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.

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.