Early Career Teaching Institute: Full Schedule

Welcome to ECTI 2026! You will be able to register for individual workshop sessions on Monday during our intention setting session.

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8:45am CDT

Living the Questions: The Essential Role of Inquiry in Strengthening Educational Practice

Wednesday July 29, 2026 8:45am - 10:15am CDT

Discovery Building: Orchard View - Room 3280

On a daily basis, in our schools, we exist in a space of contradictions. On the one hand, a world of precision and certainty: scopes and sequences, lesson plans, learning targets, SMART goals, benchmarks, outcomes, educator effectiveness measures. On the other hand, a dynamic world of the human community with ever-changing conditions and a high need to be flexible, adaptive, and responsive to what arises in the moment. Navigating the inherent tensions of these contradictions requires us to be in the practices of paying attention and asking questions: Being able to question ourselves is essential to bringing awareness to how our mindsets, emotions, and actions impact our students and colleagues. Being able to question our teaching practices is essential to gaining insight into what works, why, and for whom, which builds our skillfulness and efficacy. Being able to question the educational systems and structures in which we work is essential to engaging in the advocacy needed to create more just and equitable learning spaces for ALL students. In short, practices that support inquiry and reflection are essential for our individual and collective wellbeing and critical for professional growth and honing our craftsmanship as educators. In this highly interactive workshop, participants will engage in a variety of practices that support awareness, insight, reflection and connection, drawn from the Madison Metropolitan School District’s Classroom Action Research (CAR) year-long community of practice group focused on “Engaged Mindfulness and Educational Justice”. Using the Classroom Action Research design process, participants will develop a personally meaningful question about their professional practice and design the beginnings of a plan for how they would engage with this question during the upcoming school year. At the end of the session, information about a 2026-2027 Classroom Action Research professional learning program for early career teachers, (hosted by the Madison Metropolitan School District), will be shared and participants will learn how to sign up - to build community, reflect on their work, and earn continuing education credit in the year ahead.

In this session, you will:

Experience supportive interpersonal connections that strengthen collective wellbeing.

Explore a variety of practices that nurture inquiry and reflection and assess what might be of greatest personal meaning and benefit.

Generate ideas for how to weave inquiry and reflection experiences into your ongoing professional practice.

Presenters

erica Kruger

School Counselor & Mindfulness in MMSD Coordinator, Madison Metropolitan School District

erica Kruger (she, her) has been orbiting in educational spaces for the past 25 years - learning, unlearning, re-learning, dreaming, and discovering something new every day. Since becoming a school counselor in 2004, erica has worked at both the middle and high school levels... Read More →

Wednesday July 29, 2026 8:45am - 10:15am CDT
Discovery Building: Orchard View - Room 3280 330 N Orchard St, Madison, WI 53715, USA

Workshop

Pedagogy & Learning Design Inquiry & Curiosity
Professional Practice Professional Learning, Reflective Practice

10:30am CDT

Cultivating a Curious Classroom

Wednesday July 29, 2026 10:30am - 12:00pm CDT

Discovery Building: Room 1260

Participants will learn about research on the significance of being curious educators as well as inspiring curiosity among our students and staff. We will also discuss practical ways to bring curiosity to life in our school communities.

In this session, you will:

Understand the significance of curiosity in our educational communities.

Consider ways to inspire curiosity among students, staff, and ourselves as educators.

Presenters

Hilary Nguyen

Instructional Coach, Sauk Trail Elementary School

Duy Nguyen

Wednesday July 29, 2026 10:30am - 12:00pm CDT
Discovery Building: Room 1260 330 N Orchard St, Madison, WI 53715, USA