iNNovate 2026 NNPS: Full Schedule

9:45am EDT

Math in Motion: Engaging Strategies for Active Math Learning

Wednesday August 12, 2026 9:45am - 10:45am EDT

Limited Capacity seats available

Explore engaging strategies that promote collaboration, critical thinking, and meaningful mathematical conversations. This interactive session will provide participants with opportunities to experience student-centered learning while discovering practical approaches that encourage active participation, problem-solving, and deeper understanding in the mathematics classroom. Walk away with ideas you can immediately implement to elevate student engagement and learning.

This session is intended for Grades 6 - 12.

Speakers

Nichole Johnson

Teacher, Newport News Public Schools

My name is Nichole Johnson, and I have had the privilege of working as a secondary mathematics teacher at Denbigh High School. Throughout my teaching career, I have taken on various roles, including teaching students with special needs, serving as a secondary mathematics teacher... Read More →

Chanreathana Chhay-Ha

Wednesday August 12, 2026 9:45am - 10:45am EDT
B126

Middle School Staff, Formative Strategies/Tools | High School Staff, Formative Strategies/Tools

11:00am EDT

Seeing the Concept: Using Virtual Reality to Build Connections with Content

LIMITED

Wednesday August 12, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT

B126

Limited Capacity seats available

How can students better understand complex concepts before and during instruction? In this session, participants will explore how to use virtual reality through ClassVR and Eduverse to help learners visually experience abstract, unfamiliar, and complex concepts across content areas. Educators will focus on strategies that use VR to strengthen conceptual understanding, vocabulary development, and content connections in support of direct instruction. Participants will leave with practical lesson structures and examples for embedding VR as a purposeful instructional tool. Please bring a laptop; no prior VR experience is required.

This session would benefit educators who teach Grades 3–12 across all content areas, especially those who want to strengthen student understanding through visual and immersive learning experiences.

Speakers

Kristin Cosby

ITC, Newport News Public Schools

Wednesday August 12, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
B126

Elementary Staff, Planning for Student Engagement | Middle School Staff, Planning for Student Engagement | High School Staff, Planning for Student Engagement

1:15pm EDT

Lesson Design with a Plan in Mind: Differentiating Instruction to Meet the Needs of Gifted and Advanced Learners

LIMITED

Wednesday August 12, 2026 1:15pm - 2:15pm EDT

B126

Limited Capacity seats available

Gifted and advanced learners need more meaningful, intentional differentiation that promotes depth, complexity, and creativity. This engaging workshop equips educators with practical strategies to design lessons that challenge and inspire gifted students while remaining aligned with the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs).
Participants will explore how to intentionally plan lessons using a “plan in mind” approach that integrates differentiation from the start rather than as an afterthought. Through hands-on activities, collaborative discussion, and real classroom examples, educators will learn how to design instruction that fosters critical thinking, problem-solving, and student agency.
Please bring a copy of one of your lesson plans and a laptop.

This session would benefit K-12 teachers who teach gifted and advanced learners. This session would benefit new teachers with less than 3 years of experience.

Speakers

Wendy Morgan

Gifted Services Resource Teacher, Newport News Public Schools

I enjoy attending engaging sessions about brain-based learning, brain gym, creativity, inquiry learning, gifted learning, and STEM. I teach and work with K-5 gifted students and elementary and early childhood educators. I love learning through collaboration, visualization, and... Read More →

Kimberly Beckerdite

Supervisor of Gifted Services and Advanced Placement, Newport News Public Schools

I am the Supervisor of Gifted Services and Advanced Placement for NNPS. I work with students, teachers, and schools K-12 with advanced academic programs. My goal is to share strategies for differentiation, critical thinking, creative thinking, higher-order thinking and question... Read More →

Wednesday August 12, 2026 1:15pm - 2:15pm EDT
B126

Elementary Staff, Planning for Student Engagement | Middle School Staff, Planning for Student Engagement | High School Staff, Planning for Student Engagement

2:30pm EDT

The Alphabetic Principle: The What, Why, and How

LIMITED

Wednesday August 12, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm EDT

B126

Limited Capacity seats available

This session will explore the alphabetic principle through the lens of the science of reading, focusing on what it is, why it is essential for early literacy development, and how educators can provide instruction that leads to proficiency. Participants will examine student data to identify instructional needs and discuss evidence-based practices that support letter-sound correspondence, decoding, and encoding development.

This session is intended for Kindergarten and first grade teachers, reading specialists, interventionists, instructional assistants, and literacy support staff.

Speakers