PZ PGH Learning and Thinking that Make a Difference (Oct 2026): Full Schedule

8:00am PDT

Friday October 2, 2026 8:00am - 8:30am PDT

Friday October 2, 2026 8:00am - 8:30am PDT
Grable Gallery - MuseumLab 1st Floor 6 Allegheny Sq E Suite 101, Pittsburgh, PA 15212

Type 1

8:45am PDT

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Friday October 2, 2026 8:45am - 9:00am PDT

New Hazlett Theater: 1st Floor Museum Lab

Friday October 2, 2026 8:45am - 9:00am PDT
New Hazlett Theater: 1st Floor Museum Lab

Type 2

9:00am PDT

Plenary: Cultivating Meaningful Discourse in a Culture of Thinking through Language, Interaction, and Time

Friday October 2, 2026 9:00am - 10:00am PDT

New Hazlett Theater: 1st Floor Museum Lab

Creating a culture where thinking is visible, valued, and actively promoted requires far more than a well-aligned curriculum. While high-quality lessons is essential, the true story of learning is written in the real-time interactions between teachers and students. We often see a vast disparity in outcomes even when classrooms use the "same material"—the difference lies in the...
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Friday October 2, 2026 9:00am - 10:00am PDT
New Hazlett Theater: 1st Floor Museum Lab

Type 2

10:00am PDT

Break and Travel to 1st Interactive Workshop

Friday October 2, 2026 10:00am - 10:15am PDT

TBA

Friday October 2, 2026 10:00am - 10:15am PDT
TBA

Type 3

10:15am PDT

“Wait…But Why??" Centering Arts Integration Practices in Purpose

LIMITED

Friday October 2, 2026 10:15am - 12:00pm PDT

Learning Lab 1 - MuseumLab 1st Floor

Limited Capacity seats available

This workshop is for educators who are looking to reconnect to their sense of purpose - their “why” - for teaching. Using arts integration practices that can be applied to a variety of subjects and classrooms, this workshop will provide an opportunity for educators to engage in and deeply reflect on their role in the education system and consider how they want to contribute to or work against...
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Friday October 2, 2026 10:15am - 12:00pm PDT
Learning Lab 1 - MuseumLab 1st Floor

Interactive Workshop

Audience General Audience, Early Years Education, Primary/Elementary Grades, Middle School Grades, Upper/High School Grades, Higher Education, Administrators, Classroom Teachers, Non-Traditional Classroom Setting

10:15am PDT

Artful Movement & Meditation: Cultivating Agency through Nervous System Regulation

FULL

Friday October 2, 2026 10:15am - 12:00pm PDT

CoLab 18 Large Room

Limited Capacity full

Experience how nervous system regulation supports meaningful learning and understanding through this movement-based practice. Guided movement, meditation, breathwork, and artful mark-making invite participants to explore how shifts in the body influence attention and engagement.Participants will move through a cycle of experience, reflection, and discussion, using thinking routines from Project...
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Friday October 2, 2026 10:15am - 12:00pm PDT
CoLab 18 Large Room 100 South Commons, Suite 100 Pittsburgh, PA 15212

Interactive Workshop

Audience General Audience, Classroom Teachers, Non-Traditional Classroom Setting, Early Years Education, Primary/Elementary Grades, Middle School Grades, Upper/High School Grades

10:15am PDT

Artifact Investigation with Thinking Routines

LIMITED

Friday October 2, 2026 10:15am - 12:00pm PDT

MakeLab - MuseumLab 1st Floor

Limited Capacity seats available

If questions drive thinking and learning, how are we creating experiences and supporting conditions to ignite curiosity? Join us to explore the process of artifact analysis with the use of thinking routines. Collaborate with fellow historians to apply a design lens to history and reflect upon the power of these opportunities in our own instruction. Though the example in this workshop is with...
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Friday October 2, 2026 10:15am - 12:00pm PDT
MakeLab - MuseumLab 1st Floor

Interactive Workshop

Audience General Audience, Primary/Elementary Grades, Middle School Grades, Upper/High School Grades, Classroom Teachers, Non-Traditional Classroom Setting

10:15am PDT

Looking for Learning in the Wild

LIMITED

Friday October 2, 2026 10:15am - 12:00pm PDT

Learning Lab 2 - MuseumLab 1st Floor

Limited Capacity seats available

This interactive workshop invites educators to observe “learning in the wild” and discover the many ways thinking and learning are made visible in spaces beyond the classroom. Participants will engage with a transferable routine they can bring back to their own settings to help identify and interpret examples of thinking and learning in the environments around them.The session also emphasizes...
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Friday October 2, 2026 10:15am - 12:00pm PDT
Learning Lab 2 - MuseumLab 1st Floor

Interactive Workshop

Audience General Audience, Early Years Education, Primary/Elementary Grades, Upper/High School Grades, Higher Education, Middle School Grades, Administrators, Classroom Teachers, Non-Traditional Classroom Setting

10:15am PDT

Sail Your Ship: Making Inspiration and Identity Visible Through Color Symbol and Image

LIMITED

Friday October 2, 2026 10:15am - 12:00pm PDT

CoLab18 Side Room

Limited Capacity seats available

Who helped you become the educator you are today? And how can you help students discover the same for themselves? This session invites you to explore story, symbol, and identity through the Color Symbol Image routine. Through real world storytelling and personal reflection, you will design a meaningful artifact that represents your own journey. Walk away with a powerful, adaptable routine that...
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Friday October 2, 2026 10:15am - 12:00pm PDT
CoLab18 Side Room

Interactive Workshop

Audience General Audience, Primary/Elementary Grades, Middle School Grades, Upper/High School Grades, Administrators, Classroom Teachers, Non-Traditional Classroom Setting

10:15am PDT

The Power of Feedback: Using AI to Accelerate Learning and Revision

LIMITED

Friday October 2, 2026 10:15am - 12:00pm PDT

CoLab 18 Middle Room

Limited Capacity seats available

In this interactive session, participants will explore how educators are leveraging AI to provide timely, actionable feedback that strengthens student learning. Through real classroom examples, attendees will examine the impact of immediate feedback on student revision and growth.Participants will engage in the feedback process from both the student and teacher perspectives, experiencing how AI...
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Friday October 2, 2026 10:15am - 12:00pm PDT
CoLab 18 Middle Room 100 South Commons, Suite 100 Pittsburgh, PA 15212

Interactive Workshop

Audience General Audience, Middle School Grades, Primary/Elementary Grades, Upper/High School Grades, Higher Education, Administrators, Classroom Teachers

12:00pm PDT

Break and Travel to Lunch

Friday October 2, 2026 12:00pm - 12:15pm PDT

TBA

Friday October 2, 2026 12:00pm - 12:15pm PDT
TBA

Type 3

12:15pm PDT

Boxed Lunch (pickup in Grable Gallery and eat on campus)

Friday October 2, 2026 12:15pm - 12:45pm PDT

Grable Gallery - MuseumLab 1st Floor

Friday October 2, 2026 12:15pm - 12:45pm PDT
Grable Gallery - MuseumLab 1st Floor 6 Allegheny Sq E Suite 101, Pittsburgh, PA 15212

Type 3

12:45pm PDT

Break and Travel to 2nd Interactive Workshop

Friday October 2, 2026 12:45pm - 1:00pm PDT

TBA

Friday October 2, 2026 12:45pm - 1:00pm PDT
TBA

Type 3

1:00pm PDT

Examining Opportunities that Promote Powerful Thinking in the Classroom

FILLING

Friday October 2, 2026 1:00pm - 2:45pm PDT

CoLab 18 Large Room

Limited Capacity filling up

While designing units to meet curriculum goals is essential for schoolwide consistency, even the best-laid plans can sometimes feel like "work for work’s sake" to our students. To move beyond mere compliance, we must shift our focus from implementing programs to creating genuine learning opportunities. This session explores the design of powerful thinking opportunities in the classroom. We...
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Friday October 2, 2026 1:00pm - 2:45pm PDT
CoLab 18 Large Room 100 South Commons, Suite 100 Pittsburgh, PA 15212

Interactive Workshop

1:00pm PDT

From Instructional Practice to Systems Change: A Practical Framework for Educator Advocacy

LIMITED

Friday October 2, 2026 1:00pm - 2:45pm PDT

CoLab 18 Middle Room

Limited Capacity seats available

How do educators move from strong instructional practice to influencing the broader conditions that shape learning? This interactive workshop invites participants to explore the Activating Arts Learning framework, an arts learning theory of change grounded in Project Zero research, and to consider how it can inform systems change across diverse educational contexts.Participants will examine how...
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Friday October 2, 2026 1:00pm - 2:45pm PDT
CoLab 18 Middle Room 100 South Commons, Suite 100 Pittsburgh, PA 15212

Interactive Workshop

Audience General Audience, Primary/Elementary Grades, Middle School Grades, Upper/High School Grades, Administrators, Classroom Teachers, Non-Traditional Classroom Setting, Subject-Area Specific
Subject dance, media arts, music, theatre, visual arts

1:00pm PDT

More than a ‘Nice-to-Have’: Reimagining Play as a Tool for Equity and Deep Thinking

FULL

Friday October 2, 2026 1:00pm - 2:45pm PDT

Learning Lab 2 - MuseumLab 1st Floor

Limited Capacity full

This hands-on workshop invites educators to move beyond play as a "break" and re-examine it as a pedagogical tool for deep thinking and equity. Drawing on Project Zero frameworks—including Pedagogy of Play, Art | Play, and Agency by Design—participants will consider how we might think critically about play and its relationship to learning and equity in educational contexts. Practical questions...
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Friday October 2, 2026 1:00pm - 2:45pm PDT
Learning Lab 2 - MuseumLab 1st Floor

Interactive Workshop

Audience General Audience, Early Years Education, Primary/Elementary Grades, Middle School Grades, Upper/High School Grades, Administrators, Classroom Teachers, Non-Traditional Classroom Setting

1:00pm PDT

Practical Applications for Using Cultures of Thinking in Your Classroom

LIMITED

Friday October 2, 2026 1:00pm - 2:45pm PDT

TBA

Limited Capacity seats available

In this interactive presentation, participants will explore and practice evidence-based Cultures of Thinking strategies designed to deepen student learning and foster intellectual engagement. Through hands-on activities and real-world applications, educators will discover how to create classroom environments where thinking is visible, valued, and developed.

Friday October 2, 2026 1:00pm - 2:45pm PDT
TBA

Interactive Workshop

Audience Primary/Elementary Grades, General Audience, Classroom Teachers

1:00pm PDT

Schema, Scaffolds, and Sticky Ideas: Designing Documentation for Deep Thinking

FULL

Friday October 2, 2026 1:00pm - 2:45pm PDT

MakeLab - MuseumLab 1st Floor

Limited Capacity full

We ask students to take notes constantly, but we often teach it without understanding the scaffolding it requires. For many students, note-taking is copying, not thinking. This workshop reframes documentation as a visible thinking practice using Project Zero's Cultures of Thinking framework and thinking routines. What you'll do: Engage in hands-on activities including a schema-activation Buzz Word...
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Friday October 2, 2026 1:00pm - 2:45pm PDT
MakeLab - MuseumLab 1st Floor

Interactive Workshop

Audience General Audience, Primary/Elementary Grades, Middle School Grades, Upper/High School Grades, Classroom Teachers

2:45pm PDT

Break and Travel to Closing Plenary

Friday October 2, 2026 2:45pm - 3:00pm PDT

TBA

Friday October 2, 2026 2:45pm - 3:00pm PDT
TBA

Type 3

3:00pm PDT

Closing Plenary

Friday October 2, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm PDT

New Hazlett Theater: 1st Floor Museum Lab

Friday October 2, 2026 3:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
New Hazlett Theater: 1st Floor Museum Lab

Type 2

PZ PGH Learning and Thinking that Make a Difference (Oct 2026)

8:00am PDT

8:45am PDT

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10:15am PDT

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10:15am PDT

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12:00pm PDT

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12:45pm PDT

1:00pm PDT

1:00pm PDT

1:00pm PDT

1:00pm PDT

1:00pm PDT

2:45pm PDT

3:00pm PDT

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