Building Thinking Classrooms Conference 2026 has ended

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Building Thinking Classrooms Conference 2026

Emily Weller

DeKalb CUSD 428

Instructional Coach

DeKalb, IL

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About me

I have been in elementary education for 20 years. I spent 4 years teaching 1st grade, 6 years teaching 3rd grade, and this is my 11th year as an instructional coach. During my instructional coach years we have implemented CCSS, 1:1 devices for grades 3-12, and have collaborated with staff about supports for their curriculum, classrooms and students.

1:00pm EDT

Early Bird Conference Registration Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Main Entrance

7:15am EDT

Breakfast - Day 1 Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Cafeteria

8:15am EDT

Conference Opening Keynote w/ Rydell Harrison Shubert Theatre - Main Theater

9:35am EDT

Building Better Behaviors: Conversation and Collaboration on Classroom Management Strategies Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Room 301

10:50am EDT

Designing a Schoolwide BTC Approach: Tasks, Tools, and Teacher Support Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Room 328

11:50am EDT

Lunch - Day 1 Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale - Ballroom 2nd Floor

1:20pm EDT

Before Studenting: Building Thinking Classrooms with Our Youngest Learners Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Black Box 118 Grading for Growth: How we Grade in a Thinking Classroom Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Lecture Hall 111

2:35pm EDT

From One Classroom to Many: Supporting Teachers with Systems for Sustainable BTC Growth Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Room 236

7:15am EDT

Breakfast - Day 2 Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Cafeteria

8:00am EDT

BTC Beyond the Math Classroom Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Room 240 Thinking Tasks for Little Learners: Building Mathematical Thinking in PK-2 Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Room 202 Coaching That Builds Thinking Classrooms: Using Thin-Sliced Tasks to Support Teacher Concept Development and Student Understanding Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Room 328 Less Helping, More Thinking: Teacher Moves That Build Confident Problem Solvers Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Room 239 Leading Thinking Classrooms: Steps to rolling out BTC with teachers Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Black Box 118 Integrating Basic Fact Fluency Practice in a Thinking Classroom Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Room 405

9:15am EDT

Making Thinking Visible: The BTC Note-Making Routine Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Black Box 118

10:30am EDT

BTC Meets NGSS: Leveraging Practices to Promote Student Thinking Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Room 404 Building a Social Studies Thinking Classroom Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Room 303 Lighting the Way: Growing Thinking Classrooms from a Single Spark to a Districtwide Movement Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Room 326

11:55am EDT

Lunch - Day 2 Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale - Ballroom 2nd Floor

1:00pm EDT

Developing Number Sense in a Thinking Classroom Shubert Theatre - Cabaret Slice, Slice Baby: Grade 6-8 Thin Slicing Secrets Revealed Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Room 202 Bite-Sized BTC: A Tweak a Week Toolkit for Instructional Leaders and Coaches Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Room 240 Designing Spaces for Thinking: Transform Your Math Classroom Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Room 236

2:15pm EDT

Book Signing w/ Peter Liljedahl Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Gymnasium Sticking to the Keys - Practices that Unlock Student Thinking Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School - Room 332

3:30pm EDT

Conference Closing Keynote w/ Peter Liljedahl: Beyond Thinking: The Broader Impact of Building Thinking Classrooms Shubert Theatre - Main Theater