Join us for an engaging onboarding session designed to introduce educators to the powerful features of MagicSchool AI. This interactive workshop will guide participants through the platform's tools and functionalities, ensuring a smooth transition into integrating AI for educational purposes.
Engagement and collaboration go hand in hand as the essential elements of any effective instructional strategy. Learn how to adopt and adapt the Building Thinking Classrooms (BTC) strategies that have revolutionized mathematics instruction to the computer science classroom. Students strengthen their computational and algorithmic thinking while developing communication skills and building classroom community through the use of vertical whiteboards and collaborative coding platforms. Long gone are the days of solo coding. Teamwork is now as essential as technical prowess. BTC strategies make computer science accessible to a more diverse group of students, and instruction more equitable for students of all experience and ability levels.
Michael Ida, the 2023 Hawaii State Teacher of the Year, has taught math and computer science at Kalani High School for 29 years. He has served as math department chair, Academic Review Team member, and club advisor. A leader in various state and national organizations, Michael values... Read More →
Wednesday February 12, 2025 1:10pm - 2:10pm HST
Makiki Room
In this session, participants will engage by sharing our identity markers to better understand our unconscious bias. Participants will also read through classroom scenarios to consider how our biases, identities, and experiences shape our role in a computer science classroom as teachers, identify ways to recruit and retain students, and explore ways to differentiate instruction.
Leah is the 2025 Kauai Teacher of the Year and also an Amazon Future Engineers Teacher Ambassador and CSTA Equity Fellow. Throughout her various experiences, Leah has realized that for teachers to be effective, we need to identify with our own personal values, biases, identities... Read More →
Wednesday February 12, 2025 2:15pm - 3:15pm HST
Makiki Room
Participants will learn how to design and code their own Hawaiian video game through code.org’s Sprite lab Application. This “hand-on” workshop will introduce participants to Sprites and basic video game elements.
5th grade General education teacher, Kaunakakai School
Kawika Gonzales currently teaches at Kaunakakai School on Molokai. He has an Elementary Education degree and a Master of Science degree in Learning Design and Technology from the University of Hawaii. Throughout his years of teaching, Gonzales has been an innovator in integrating... Read More →
Thursday February 13, 2025 10:20am - 11:20am HST
Makiki Room
Note: To get the most out of this session, we highly recommend that you participate in the Getting Started with MagicSchool AI session on Wednesday at 10:20am OR completing the Level 1 MagicSchool Onboarding Certification beforehand. This will ensure you're fully prepared and can maximize your learning experience in this session.
Unlock the potential of culturally relevant computing through the MagicSchool platform. This session will explore strategies to create inclusive and engaging learning experiences that reflect diverse cultures and perspectives. Learn how to use MagicSchool to design activities and tools that connect with students' backgrounds, foster meaningful engagement, and promote equity in computer science education. Discover how culturally relevant computing can inspire students and empower them to see themselves as creators and innovators in technology.
CS has the potential to unlock creativity and future opportunities for students, yet it often feels inaccessible to both educators and learners. By integrating play-based, interactive experiences into CS education, we can make coding approachable and inspire students to see themselves as capable of thriving in future computing careers.
Join our session to learn how to design & code your own Unruly games for a variety of subjects. Using Unruly’s Play-Modify-Create progression, you will learn how CS can become cross-curricular and integrated into various classrooms throughout schools. In this session, you will experience how combining the power of play with CS makes it approachable and impactful for both students and teachers.
Technology Coordinator, 1SG Samuel K Solomon Elementary School
Judy is the Technology Coordinator at Solomon Elementary and has been an elementary educator for over 20 years. She enjoys working with technology and helping teachers implement it more effectively in their classrooms.