Professional Development

Customized Professional Development

We translate the science of learning into evidence-based programs that promote equity, effectively address diversity, develop teaching and learning excellence and foster student wellbeing. We customize your PD based on our areas of expertise below, allowing you to select the focus, duration of the program, desired date, and format (in-person or virtual)

What Our Programs Achieve

Equity: best "in class" resources for everyone in your class
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An education succeeds when teaching and learning are synonymous. This requires us to teach our students to learn effectively. Through research we know 1) learning is a science that must be taught and 2) when we fail to do so, students rely on the least effect strategies to learn. This may be magnified for low-income students who do not have the resources to obtain specialized support outside of the classroom. Equity is achieved when every single student, regardless of socio-economic status, is taught to learn effectively. Their success in school and life is dependent on their ability to learn.

Diversity: optimize how you personalize
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Learning is a cognitive process. Cognition is malleable. Every single student has a unique cognitive profile which is affected by their behaviors and life experiences, including their emotions. Teachers must be trained to identify differences in cognition, emotion and behavior between their students while equipping them with evidence-based techniques to effectively personalize their instruction for their diverse learners.

Excellence: make teaching and learning synonymous
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Decades of scientific research reveal the principles of human learning that lead to academic performance. Unfortunately, research also reveals how uncommon training on the science of learning is. This is because the departments of education that train our teachers to teach are decoupled from the departments of cognitive science that specialize in understanding how humans learn. We close this gap by synthesizing and translating research on human learning into application-ready programs that are science and evidence-based. This enhances excellence in teaching and learning.

Wellbeing: tools for a whole child approach
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Our brains are changing constantly and shaped by our life experiences, which in turn affect our ability to learn. Therefore, while learning is a cognitive process, it is interconnected to our emotions and behaviors. To enable the success of our learners and educators, we must develop a keen understanding of how adversity can affects us and equip our educators with tools that foster the emotions, relationships and behaviors essential to learning.

Customized PD Options

Debunk Myths & Embrace Learning Science

Students become sophisticated learners when we teach them in a way that fosters learning while developing their ability to learn independently. Learn the core tenets of a sophisticated learner and how to design your lessons to ensure students learn optimally.

♦ The characteristics of true learning success.

♦ Teaching methods that foster learning success.

♦ A framework for successful learning that is rooted in cognitive science.

♦ The differences between a traditional education and one based on learning science.

♦ The definition of a sophisticated learner and benefits for learning outcomes.

Capture Student
Attention

Attention is a core cognitive skill that plays a critical role in learning. While students are often told to “pay attention,” they are rarely taught how. Learn how to capture, keep, and gauge your students’ attention.


♦ The 3 core cognitive skills essential for processing information.

♦ How to identify a weakness in these skills.

♦ 4 types of attention Common causes of inattention.

♦ Strategies to capture your students’ attention.

Address Processing
Speed

Processing speed refers to a learner’s ability to perceive, integrate, and respond to visual, auditory, or motor information. Learn how to discern and tailor your teaching to accommodate variations in processing speeds within your classroom.

♦ The critical role processing speed plays in learning.

♦  Common symptoms of slow and fast processing speed on learning.

♦  Teaching methods and modifications that support the variety of processing speeds that exist in any given classroom.

♦ The relationship between processing speed and emotional wellbeing.

Leverage Working
Memory

It is difficult to identify a learning task that does not rely on working memory, the ability to mentally juggle information. Become well versed in the ins and outs of working memory and learn classroom strategies that support and strengthen it.

♦ The characteristics and limitations of working memory, the bridge to learning.

♦ How to arrange the content you are teaching to enhance working memory and reduce cognitive overload.

♦ Strategies that students can use to optimize working memory.

♦  Classroom strategies to optimize how your students’ process information.

♦ The science of effective multimedia learning and methods to improve teaching.

Support Executive Function for All

Executive function skills predict academic and career success. Learn meaningful strategies to support your students’ acquisition of executive function and how to recognize and address Executive Dysfunction.

♦ The role of executive function skills in managing the learning process as well as their developmental process.

♦ A framework for executive function skills as they relate to goal-directed behaviors.

♦ Recognizing and addressing symptoms of executive dysfunction.

♦ Classroom strategies to support motivation, planning, emotional regulation, processing regulation, self-monitoring, and self-regulation.

Encoding Techniques (Amassing Knowledge)

Studies show students rely on ineffective strategies to learn resulting in superficial learning. Learn how to foster your student’s ability to acquire knowledge using proven techniques that facilitate the encoding of new information.

♦ The architecture of human memory and its importance to learning success.

♦ How to deliver information in a way that supports learning and memory.

♦ Commonly held illusions, misbeliefs, and memory myths that inhibit learning.

♦ 8 evidence-based memory techniques that help students encode information.

Retrieval Strategies (Teaching for Mastery)

Traditional instruction is focused on getting information into students’ brains. Compelling research reveals that pulling information out of the brain enhances learning. Learn how to incorporate retrieval practice into your teaching.

♦ The role of retrieval practice in forming durable and deep learning.

♦ 4 evidence-based retrieval strategies.

♦ Classroom strategies for integrating retrieval strategies into curriculum and lesson plans.

♦ How to activate prior knowledge.

Foster Metacognition

Teaching metacognitive reflection is an effective strategy to accelerate student achievement. Learn how to provide students with practical strategies that foster metacognitive awareness and create the foundation for learning independently, effectively and efficiently.

♦ The role of metacognition in learning success and lifelong learning.

♦ How to measure your student’s metacognitive skills.

♦ Classroom strategies to develop your students’ ability to monitor and manage their own learning behaviors.

♦ How to capitalize on mistakes to promote learning success.

Provide Effective
Feedback

Research suggests effective feedback, formative assessments and peer-based learning are among the most effective ways a student can learn information. Learn how to integrate and apply these concepts into your classroom.




♦ Defining the components of effective feedback and types of feedback.

♦ How to use feedback to bolster self-esteem and encourage higher-level thinking.

♦ How to use formative assessment masterfully.

♦ How to harness the power of peer-based feedback and learning in your classroom.

♦ How to leverage feedback to foster metacognitive awareness and learning success.

Teach for Belonging I (Emotions & Relationships)

Understand how childhood adversity and trauma affect cognition and learning. Learn how to foster positive emotions and behaviors that increase student engagement, effort and learning outcomes. Develop a better understanding of the interdependencies between cognition, emotion and behaviors to better support your students.

♦ The impact of emotions on cognition and learning.

♦ 5 core competencies of Social-Emotional Learning.

♦ 6 essential components of Positive Education.

♦ 8 principles of Trauma-Sensitive Education 3 student mindsets: Growth, Belonging, and Purpose/Relevance.

♦ Classroom strategies to support positive emotions, engagement and positive relationships in learning.

Teach for Belonging II (Engagement & Motivation)

Student engagement often decreases with every year of schooling. Yet, student learning requires their engagement and motivation. Learn what research reveals about the most effective ways for teachers to foster student motivation and engagement in the classroom.



♦ The science behind engagement and motivation.

♦ How to engage students including the 3 dimensions of engagement.

♦ How to tap into intrinsic motivation including Self-Determination Theory.

♦ Classroom strategies and methods that engage and motivate students.

Personalize for Cognitive Diversity

Learning is a cognitive process. Every classroom is cognitively diverse. Learn how to associate learning difficulties to cognitive skills as well as refine your approach to how you teach through appropriate strategies to support their areas of difficulty.




♦ How to understand cognitive diversity – often referred to as neurodiversity or neurodivergence.

♦ Signs and accommodations for the most common learning differences in classrooms today including dyslexia, autism, twice-exceptional, non-verbal learning disabilities, and emotional and behavioral disorders.

♦ How to target and strengthen cognitive skills to improve learning ability.

Our Process

Step 1: Select

Browse and pick the topics that best aligns with your teaching community.

Step 2: Customize

Schedule a meeting with COGx team to discuss the session details and your preferences.

Step 3: Participate

COGx team will organize the session at your organization (in-person/virtual)

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