Come see us at NSTA Anaheim!
The inquiryHub team will be in Anaheim for NSTA, and would love to see you there. Register on the NSTA website.
Wednesday April 15, 2026
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Our work with educators demonstrates that compassion can be a powerful resource for maintaining hope, connecting with purpose, and sparking joy, even in difficult times. We invite you to join this workshop to develop perspectives and learn practices for mindfulness, kindness, and compassion for self and others that support emotional regulation and overall well-being. You will also engage in activities and practices to integrate compassion into your classroom and everyday life. Anchored in teaching about climate change, this workshop is relevant to any educator who has experienced uncertainty, overwhelm, or stress.
Presented by: Ashley Potvin, Bill Penuel, Paolo Calvadores, Johanna Brown, Colleen Lamotte
Thursday April 16, 2026
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Implementing high quality instructional materials (HQIM) in science at the district scale is one of the most important pathways to reaching students with NGSS aligned reforms. However, taking on a district curriculum adoption process can be daunting. Hear from a panel of district science leaders who have met this challenge head on in three very different contexts. You will learn about the components of various district contexts and the challenges and successes these leaders have met along the way. You will leave with insights you can apply to your own context, whatever stage of the process your district is in!
Presented by: Kate Henson, Liz Beans
Anaheim Convention Center 210 D
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Strong teacher-student and student-student relationships bring joy to teaching and improve student outcomes. Such relationships support sensemaking in science, since sensemaking is not just about individual knowledge building, but collaborative knowledge building that requires commitments to classroom community-building. But building such relationships takes time, and it requires intentional strategies. In this workshop, we will focus on strategies for building relationships centered on care. We will introduce a definition of care grounded in research on how to cultivate compassionate relationships in schools. We will simulate practices for establishing and revisiting community agreements focused on honoring the dignity of each person, valuing each student's contribution, and tending to strong emotions that arise in classrooms. We will also discuss strategies for repairing relationships when agreements break down, and meeting such moments with compassion for ourselves and students.
Presented by: Ashley Potvin
Location: Anaheim Convention Center 212 B
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In this workshop participants will engage with our innovative computational thinking curriculum unit. Our approach is grounded in phenomena, science storylines, coherence and student modeling. We have innovated upon these time tested NGSS teacher practices by incorporating computational thinking through physical computing (Micro:Bit). In our approach, students use programmable sensors to ask questions, define problems and engage in the rest of the science and engineering practices. The participants will experience these practices in student-hat so that they better understand the student experience and how to implement the units. Participants will write computer programs, collect/analyze data and connect investigations to place-based contexts. Participants will walk away with a co-designed, classroom ready toolkit of resources that they are ready to implement based on the workshop experience. No prior experience using sensor technologies or programming is needed.
Presented by: Greg Benedis-Grab
Location: Anaheim Convention Center 210 D
Friday April 17, 2026
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Maintaining our own well-being as educators depends on our skill in regulating our own emotions. That can be hard, since our students can push our buttons and express strong emotions themselves in the classroom. In this workshop, we’ll introduce contemplative practices that can help us develop a kind attention to emotions that arise for us in difficult circumstances. We’ll also introduce practices for meeting students’ emotions with compassion, practices that can be used both in solitude and in the midst of the bustle of the classroom. Third, we’ll introduce a protocol for engaging with our own and students’ emotions when they are presented with phenomena that are upsetting but central topics in science, such as those connected to the climate crisis. We’ll discuss productive ways to respond to a range of emotions from anger to despair in hearing about its impacts, as well as emotions of joy in hearing about actions of groups to help us thrive together in a changing climate.
Presented by: Ashley Potvin, Paolo Calvadores
Location: Anaheim Convention Center 212 B
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Implementing high quality instructional materials (HQIM) in science at the district scale is one of the most important pathways to reaching students with NGSS aligned reforms. However, taking on a district curriculum adoption process can be daunting. There are many factors and interested parties to consider. How can a district pilot HQIM and collect data that will inform a successful, sustaining adoption? In this workshop we will introduce a process to support district leaders in Improvement Oriented Curriculum Adoption. Participants will experience steps of the process including selecting pilot curricula, identifying aims, mapping the system and developing practical measures. District science leaders will leave with resources that prepare them to work within their own contents to lead their teachers in supporting students with standards aligned equitable instructional materials.
Presented by: Kate Henson
Location: Anaheim Convention Center 210 D
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More than 10 years after NGSS was rolled out, science curriculum in many contexts remains unaligned and lacks rigorous three-dimensional performance, especially at the high school level. This session will introduce educators to the NSTA matrices of NGSS dimensions, utilizing them to examine activities from different curriculum sources. Educators can apply this process in evaluating, developing, or adjusting curriculum to ensure that it meets the high bar of NGSS in all three dimensions, thus supporting equitable instruction for all students. This session is for anyone who will lead or participate in the evaluation of science curriculum materials, or anyone who wants to ensure their adopted or developed science curriculum aligns with NGSS.
Presented by: Liz Beans
Location: Anaheim Convention Center 210 D
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AI is reshaping what it means to learn and create. This session introduces Human-AI Teaming, a bold approach to learning where students don’t just use AI, they collaborate and think with it. Discover how AI as partner and provocateur can expand agency, equity, and the future of learning.
Presented by: Greg Benedis-Grab
Location: Anaheim Convention Center 210 D
Saturday April 18, 2026
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One of the greatest challenges we face as educators is acknowledging when things are difficult for us in the midst of a busy school day. But pausing and acknowledging our negative emotions like frustration, anger, and fear and honoring them can contribute to our own well-being and allow us to be our best selves to others. We will introduce practices of self-compassion and share stories from educators of how these practices have benefited them. Self-compassion involves acknowledging our own feelings, recognizing that we are not alone in having these feelings, and offering ourselves warmth and kindness as if we were a friend to ourselves. We will also share practices for cultivating compassion for our colleagues, both for those with whom we get along and those who push our buttons (i.e., those we find difficult). Finally, in this session we will introduce a dialogue practice for helping us deepen our connection with others and develop appreciation for our common humanity.
Presented by: Ashley Potvin, Paolo Calvadores
Location: Anaheim Convention Center 212 B
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Join us to explore how to use AI to assist in brainstorming NGSS-aligned phenomena that enhance 3D instruction and assessment and connect to students’ interests and identities. These tools come from the 5D assessment project, a collaboration between inquiryHub and BSCS Science Learning.
Presented by: Greg Benedis-Grab
Location: Anaheim Convention Center 210 D