TEACHx 2026

As generative AI tools increasingly shape how students approach writing, instructors face a key pedagogical question: how do we preserve the cognitive processes essential to learning while still preparing students to use emerging technologies responsibly? This session explores a teaching approach that intentionally balances AI-assisted ideation with handwritten in-class journaling to cultivate deeper thinking, ownership, and academic voice. Rather than banning AI or fully embracing automation, this model sequences technology alongside deliberate moments of cognitive pause. Participants will examine how structured notebook journals—where students sit with an empty page before drafting—can foster metacognition, reduce performance anxiety, and strengthen confidence. The session will also demonstrate how AI can be productively integrated for brainstorming, outlining, and idea generation without replacing critical thinking. Attendees will engage in a brief reflective activity that mirrors the journaling practice and leave with adaptable prompts, timing strategies, and classroom frameworks that can be applied across disciplines. This presentation reframes uncertainty not as a barrier to learning, but as a skill that can be intentionally taught through pacing, structure, and pedagogical design.

A growing movement has challenged the accuracy and equity of commonly-used grading systems, leading to  practices like standards-based grading, specifications grading, and ungrading as possible alternatives. While promising pedagogically, these practices are often difficult to sustain in reality.  This talk will focus on the role of gradebooks and the way they may nudge us either to continue old practices and discourage adoption of new practices or to lean into more promising practices. The talk will follow the author’s personal experience with alternative grading systems and with a beta-version of a gradebook designed to support alternative grading rather than traditional grading. 

Encouraging a group of students who are strangers to support each other and work through the anxieties and insecurities of learning together can be a considerable challenge for educators. While there is a significant body of research that supports the effectiveness of collaborative learning, Kaendler, Wiedmann, Rummel and Spada have demonstrated that an instructor’s ability to facilitate “quality” interactions between students in collaborative work is crucial for the success of this method (Kaendler et al. 2015). When done well, collaborative learning teaches students’ emotional resilience as they face their own social insecurities and supports inclusive classrooms by centering the identities and experiences of individual students within collaborative relationships. In this workshop, we will work on our ability to foster collaborative classrooms by first experiencing and creating collaborative learning for ourselves. We will introduce and experience 15 different techniques, ranging from quick collaborative brainstorming to in-depth, long-term collaborative learning reflections. We will then work together to document and review our learning. Participants will leave the session having identified cooperative learning strategies to apply to their own teaching and with a plan to address any challenges they foresee in using these strategies in their classrooms.

Institutions do important work preparing students with relevant skills for the workforce, yet many students still struggle to gain access to professional opportunities. In a job market increasingly shaped by automation and AI-driven tools, students can apply more efficiently, but not necessarily more effectively. Access to opportunity continues to rely heavily on confidence, relationships, and social capital, areas that are often assumed rather than explicitly taught.


This interactive session explores the gap between workforce preparation and workforce access, focusing on how faculty and staff across roles can help students navigate uncertainty and enter professional spaces more confidently. Drawing from an academic career development perspective, the session invites participants to examine how relationships shaped their own career pathways—and how similar access is (or is not) made visible to students.


Through guided reflection and small-group activities, participants will explore the limitations of telling students "just network" without modeling it or providing opportunities to practice alongside them. Attendees will leave with practical, low-lift strategies they can embed into everyday teaching and interactions to help students translate skill development into real access and economic mobility.

Large-scale immigration enforcement initiatives do not stop at the targeted communities. They enter classrooms. This session presents findings from two qualitative studies examining how Operation Midway Blitz shaped educator well-being, instructional decision-making, and professional practice in Chicagoland schools. Drawing on focus groups with teacher candidates and interviews with practicing educators and community experts, the research explores how educators navigated political tension, emotional strain, and shifting student needs while sustaining instructional quality.
Participants describe changes in curriculum, classroom climate, family communication, and professional identity. They also identify the formal and informal supports that enabled them to continue teaching effectively in a climate of uncertainty.
Aligned with the conference theme of "Leading through Uncertainty", presenters will share a practical support framework for teacher preparation programs and school leaders to better equip educators during large-scale social and political disruption.
Attendees will leave with research-informed strategies for supporting educator well-being, strengthening trauma-informed practice, and preparing teachers to respond ethically and instructionally when policy enters the classroom.

Previous registration required, sponsored by Perusall

Loyal. Thoughtful. Compassionate. These are just some of the many characteristics of Generation Z, those born from 1995 to 2010. Despite some similarities with the Millennial Generation, Generation Z has a unique set of attributes, experiences, preferences, and expectations about how they communicate, learn, and engage with others. But, many of our structures, curriculum, environments, and pedagogies were developed with previous generations in mind, challenging us to re-conceptualize the way we design and deliver higher education for this generation.  
This session showcases the context within which members of Generation Z have come of age and what we need to know about Generation Z to best mentor, support, teach, and supervise them to leverage their potential for success. 
Major Themes: 

• Understanding Generations and Generational Research 

• Societal Influences Shaping Generation Z 

• Characteristics 

• Diversity 

• Motivations 

• Mental Wellbeing 

• Social Media Use 

• Communication Preferences 

• Learning Preferences 

• Aspirations 

• Social Issues and Concerns 

• Engagement and Creating Change 

 
Learning Outcomes: 

• Participants will be able to describe the context within which members of Generation Z have come of age. 

• Participants will be able to describe the characteristics, motivations, values, and preferences of the Generation Z cohort. 

• Participants will be able to differentiate between defining characteristics of Generation Z and those from older generations. 

The Inside–Out program at Cook County Jail is as exhilarating as it is intimidating. Faculty, students, and administrators operate within a carceral setting defined by near constant uncertainty, ongoing changes, and heightened stakes. This session explores how restorative justice—specifically the use of peace circles—can provide both stability and adaptability within prison and jail-based higher education. Peace circles not only satisfy the basic psychological needs of students (autonomy, relatedness, and competence), but also establish shared meaning and purpose. Drawing on a recent Inside Out class on nonviolence, we will explore how Paolo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed was woven into our restorative approach, motivating Inside and Outside students to become co-learners in their development of critical consciousness. Participants will gain practical insight into how peace circles are planned and implemented—both in content and in context—to seamlessly merge restorative justice and liberatory teaching.

Celebrate the instructors who went above and beyond to create engaging experiences for their students using Canvas!

As U.S. college classrooms grow increasingly diverse, Spanish as a Heritage Language (SHL) courses must be intentionally designed for accessibility, inclusion, and digital readiness. This 45-minute interactive presentation showcases the redesign of course materials, Canvas modules, and policies in an SHL track using Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Open Educational Resources (OER), and critical AI literacy.


Guided by UDL, the course integrates multimodal OER, scaffolded academic literacy supports, transparent assignment design, and flexible assessment options to address heritage learners’ uneven reading and writing development. The Canvas site was streamlined for clarity and accessibility, and policies were revised to emphasize flexibility, growth, and equity.


To prepare students for a rapidly evolving world, the course also incorporates structured, ethical engagement with generative AI tools. Drawing on digital competency guidance from UNESCO, students critically evaluate AI outputs, examine linguistic bias, and use AI as a tool for revision and rhetorical analysis.


Participants will engage in brief collaborative activities to redesign assignments and reflect on inclusive AI practices. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for implementing UDL principles, enhancing digital literacy, and creating more accessible, student-centered learning environments.

In a lecture hall full of glowing screens, the most "disruptive" technology I introduced was... paper. This talk explores my return to physical handouts in a large, required 200-level Computer Science course. I will share my surprisingly positive experience using this analog tool to combat distraction and promote active learning through guided note-taking, 'clear/muddy' reflections, and streamlined attendance.

Join us for a dynamic, multidisciplinary conversation with recipients of Northwestern’s University Teaching Awards, educators who exemplify excellence in undergraduate teaching. Building on Dr. Corey Seemiller’s keynote, we will explore how the attributes of today’s Gen Z learners may be reshaping our pedagogical and curricular approaches. We will highlight human‑centered uses of generative AI that deepen inquiry, strengthen feedback‑rich learning, and uphold academic integrity. Drawing from Northwestern’s Principles of Inclusive Teaching, panelists will share how they communicate sources of support for learning and cultivate a welcoming course climate, to respond compassionately to rising levels of student anxiety, stress, and cognitive overload that increasingly affect academic performance. We will close by sharing a moment of joy, a network of support, or a practice that sustains hope in a rapidly evolving teaching landscape. Hosted by the Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching and moderated by Senior Director Jennifer Keys.

We all think differently. As a neurodivergent educator in a diverse classroom, I know how difficult communication can be. Sometimes understanding each other practically or empathically can be challenging. What seems obvious to one person can be confusing to another. In this event, we will learn games that creatively demonstrate the different ways we communicate and more importantly, the MANY ways we can be misunderstood. I’ll teach you games that build skills in clearer and more inclusive communication with interpersonal dynamics. Content includes a focus on how language and images can be interpreted differently. You’ll learn each game just like my students but with insider tips. Then, you’ll rotate through up to seven playing stations for hands-on experiences. A packet will be included with game directions, variations, reflection questions, etc. Apply these innovative games to the arc of a course, a specific unit, a class period, or a 15-minute exercise.  All of these have been successfully integrated into my university courses, but can be applied at any level. Pedagogically, these activities promote UDL in conjunction with gamification. 

While the rise of AI is helping education in many ways, it is hindering in others.  After giving an exam, I used to provide the opportunity for students to make up some points by revisiting what they got wrong and writing about what went wrong and how to fix it.  Last year, it became blatantly obvious that the majority of the class was using AI to complete this, thus defeating the objective.  Since I think there is great value in revisiting mistakes, this year I administered an oral exam to make up points.  Students knew that I could ask anything related to the exam topics.  In this talk, we will describe the experience and what we learned in the process, from student attitudes to the administrative burden.

Let’s head into the forest, oh let’s explore! Theatre has the power to provide social and emotional connection, imaginative play, and laughter to children facing long-term illnesses. For undergraduate Theatre students, bringing theatre bedside to pediatric patients further instills skills in empathy, communication, and improvisation necessary for a thriving career in the arts. Situated within a course, what are the unique considerations to student learning and self-care in this work? Join our journey through the woods—thorns and all—as we bring the play Let’s Go Camping! to children’s hospitals in Chicago in Northwestern’s new course Bedside Pediatric Theatre, recipient of a 2025 Alumnae Award for Curriculum Innovation. Attendees will learn about how the course design integrated self-care practices, reflection, and university partnerships to provide a rich, meaningful, and nurturing learning experience for students.