Browse all EmpowerED professional learning sessions. All sessions are free.
Topic / Strand
Specials teachers—including art, music, PE, STEM, and library educators—play an important role in ensuring students with IEPs have meaningful access to learning. In this interactive session, participants will build their understanding of the IEP process and, most importantly, what an IEP means for their day-to-day practice. Participants will learn how to identify and implement accommodations and modifications, understand their responsibilities as members of a student’s educational team, and make practical adjustments without lowering expectations. Through real-world scenarios and collaborative problem-solving, educators will leave with strategies they can immediately use to create inclusive, accessible, and engaging learning experiences for students with diverse needs.
From group chats and social media to AI and the information they consume online, students are constantly making decisions in digital spaces. How do we help them make those decisions thoughtfully? In this session, educators will explore practical ways to weave digital citizenship into K–12 learning, with a focus on critical thinking, online communication, privacy, and responsible technology and AI use.
Join West40 Literacy Specialist, Dr. Erika Lukasik, and West40 Early Childhood Specialist, Diane Schoenheider and other Early Childhood Professionals in the region on a deep dive into effective literacy instruction through an exploration of the Illinois Comprehensive Literacy Plan. In the session, we’ll study each component of literacy, how it shows up in early childhood classrooms, and evidence-based instructional practices that support student learning. Then, you will apply your learning to real life scenarios. You will be able to interact with other people in similar roles to connect, collaborate, and co-plan.
Paraprofessionals play a powerful role in helping multilingual learners feel safe, valued, and confident at school. In this interactive session, participants will learn how students acquire an additional language and explore practical ways to support, not over support, their participation, language development, and independence. We will also briefly examine the legal foundations of multilingual learner services, what ACCESS measures and why it matters, and strategies paras can begin using immediately to strengthen students’ belonging and success.
This classroom process gives students the opportunity to access content area information, build on academic language skills, and oracy, especially beneficial for language learners. It can be thought of as a “replacement for the lecture approach.”
We talk a lot about student trauma in special education. This session talks about yours. Special education is one of the most demanding, under-resourced, and emotionally complex fields in education. The professionals who show up every day for students with disabilities carry an extraordinary weight — navigating systems that are often broken, advocating in rooms where they are outnumbered, and pouring themselves into students whose needs are profound and whose progress is rarely linear. This session does not add to that weight. It invites you to put some of it down. Because here is what we do not talk about enough — the person doing all of that carrying has a story too. Your trauma is not your fault. But without awareness, it can quietly become the climate of your classroom. Let us be clear about what this session is and what it is not. This is not therapy. There is no pressure to share, no requirement to disclose, and no expectation that you have it all figured out. What this session offers is something rarer — a safe, honest space to listen, reflect, and if you choose, to be seen. You will hear a real story. You will unpack what trauma actually looks like when it walks into a workplace, into a classroom, into a special education setting where the stakes are already high and the margin for error feels impossibly thin. You will explore — at your own pace and in your own way — how unexamined experiences can quietly shape the way we respond, the environment we create, and the students we are trying to reach. Through storytelling, guided self-reflection, and grounded de-escalation principles, this one-hour session meets participants exactly where they are. Not to assign blame. Not to minimize the very real systemic challenges of special education. But to hand staff the one tool no IEP can provide — self-awareness. Because when the adult in the room feels safer within themselves, the room itself becomes safer for everyone in it. Participants will leave with: A compassionate understanding of how personal story influences professional responses Practical self-regulation tools to use before and during high-stakes moments A renewed sense of purpose rooted in awareness, accountability, and grace for themselves and their students
Families are essential partners in student success. This session focuses on how support staff can strengthen family-school relationships through approachable, service-minded communication. Participants can explore what families value most, reflect on their role in creating a welcoming atmosphere, and practice strategies that foster trust and belonging within the school community. Key Focus Areas: Parent and family priorities in a school setting Communication practices that build confidence and connection Approaches that foster engagement and a welcoming environment