2026 Elevated Teaching Summit: Full Schedule

Vision

In Canyons School District, we believe that all stakeholders benefit from purposeful technology integration within the learning process, focusing on student achievement. Educational technology will be used to empower teachers, students, and other stakeholders to gain the knowledge and skills needed to adapt, create, consume, and connect responsibly and ethically with the broader world in preparation for meaningful life opportunities.

9:30am MDT

Congruence and Your Teaching Practice

Tuesday June 2, 2026 9:30am - 10:30am MDT

2214

During this reflective session, teachers will work to align their values with their teaching practice as one step towards protecting against burnout and demoralization.

Presenter

Bob Violano

instructional coach, Canyons School District

I am an instructional coach at Mount Jordan Middle School with a background in science education and physics teaching. After moving from Connecticut to Utah in 2008, I earned a Master’s in Secondary Education and a Master’s of Science in Physics Teaching from the University of... Read More →

Tuesday June 2, 2026 9:30am - 10:30am MDT
2214

Professional Learning & Educator Growth

Content Area Math, ELA, World Language/DLI, Social Studies, CTE, PE/Health, Special Education, Arts, Science
Audience Elementary Teachers, Middle School Teachers, High School Teachers, Admin Staff, Classroom Teachers, Counselors, Admin

10:40am MDT

Easy ways to infuse inquiry

Tuesday June 2, 2026 10:40am - 11:40am MDT

2214

This presentation gives AVID aligned strategies for infusing inquiry and collaboration into any lesson to increase student engagement and rigor.

Presenter

Jennifer Reese

Instructional Coach, Canyons School District

Megan Orton

4th grade teacher

Tuesday June 2, 2026 10:40am - 11:40am MDT
2214

Instructional Design & Planning

Audience Elementary Teachers, Classroom Teachers

12:40pm MDT

Restoring Power to the (Little) People: Elevating Student Choice to Demonstrate and Extend Learning

Tuesday June 2, 2026 12:40pm - 1:40pm MDT

2214

Multiple studies confirm that there is incredible power in giving students structured choices in how they access and demonstrate learning. Relinquishing ownership over what learners get out of their time with you can be scary - but it doesn't have to be! This session will explore strategies for increasing student choice in large and small ways, both to demonstrate learning and to extend it utilizing modality personalization and choice differentiation. Come ready to talk about choice boards, randomization, authentic assessment, and other strategies for putting students in the driver seat of their education. Appropriate for all content areas and grade levels.

Presenter

Nathaniel Ricks

Secondary Social Studies Teacher, Canyons School District

I teach 7th Grade Utah Studies at Draper Park Middle School. I've taught a number of the Social Studies subjects at public and charter schools in Utah and Colorado, as well as teaching World and US History survey courses at Pikes Peak Community College and BYU-Idaho. I like reading... Read More →

Tuesday June 2, 2026 12:40pm - 1:40pm MDT
2214

Instructional Design & Planning

Audience Elementary Teachers, Middle School Teachers, High School Teachers, Classroom Teachers

1:50pm MDT

Engaging and rigorous strategies to improve learning

Tuesday June 2, 2026 1:50pm - 3:00pm MDT

2214

We will present simple interactive collaborative strategies to increase engagement and rigor in classrooms everyday across all content areas

Presenter

Leigh Anstadt

Instructional Coach, Canyons School District

Zachary Van Dyke

Teacher

Tuesday June 2, 2026 1:50pm - 3:00pm MDT
2214

Instructional Priorities

Audience Classroom Teachers
Instructional Priority AVID, WISR, Multilingual Supports

9:10am MDT

Canva Reimagined: Unlock the Magic

Wednesday June 3, 2026 9:10am - 10:10am MDT

2214

Education is evolving, and it’s time to move beyond the static slide deck to embrace a dynamic, personalized learning environment. Join us for an immersive look into Canva’s Magic Studio, where we’ll explore how AI-powered tools like Magic Media and Magic Design can transform the K-12 experience by turning simple prompts into custom visuals and interactive lessons in seconds. Beyond the basics, we will dive into Magic Activities to instantly spark active learning, use Canva Sheets to visually organize classroom data, and even preview the "next level" of student creation with Code for me—a tool that allows students to build their own interactive games and apps without writing a single line of code. Discover how to empower your students to become creators, not just consumers, and unlock a world of magic that makes learning more engaging, personalized, and future-ready.

Presenter

Kayla Towner

Senior Product Trainer, UEN - Utah Education Network

Kayla Towner is a Senior Product Trainer at the Utah Education Network (UEN) and, first and foremost, a passionate educator. She loves spending time with her family—playing soccer ⚽️, reading books 📚, hiking 🥾, and adventuring across Utah 🏔️. Kayla is dedicated to... Read More →

Wednesday June 3, 2026 9:10am - 10:10am MDT
2214

Ed Tech Tool Canva

10:20am MDT

Student-Facing AI: Pedagogical Considerations for AI in the Classroom

Wednesday June 3, 2026 10:20am - 11:20am MDT

2214

AI is a powerful collaborator, but intentional pedagogy always comes first. This session is designed to provide educators with guiding principles for keeping the human element at the center of classroom artificial intelligence. We’ll focus strictly on student-facing use cases, shifting the conversation from what the technology can do to how it can meaningfully support student learning. We’ll begin by reviewing AI’s potential benefits and limitations before evaluating real-world examples of teachers purposefully integrating these tools. Additionally, we will examine the 4D Model to see how it can be used to cultivate true, human-centered AI fluency. Finally, we’ll discuss when AI is—and isn’t—the right tool for the job, examining practical heuristics to ensure technology always serves the student, not the other way around.

Presenter

Kayla Towner

Senior Product Trainer, UEN - Utah Education Network

Wednesday June 3, 2026 10:20am - 11:20am MDT
2214

Ed Tech Tool Artificial Intelligence (AI)

12:20pm MDT

AI: Canva: CREATE Session

Wednesday June 3, 2026 12:20pm - 1:35pm MDT

2214

Presenter

Kayla Towner

Senior Product Trainer, UEN - Utah Education Network

Emma Moss

Digital Teaching & Learning Specialist, Canyons School District

Emma Moss is a Digital Teaching and Learning Specialist and AI Project Co-Lead in Canyons School District, as well as the Artificial Intelligence for K-12 Program Director in Utah. She founded the Utah AI Collaborative and leads monthly meet-ups on AI and innovation in education... Read More →

Wednesday June 3, 2026 12:20pm - 1:35pm MDT
2214

Create Session