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Kate's Workshops
One workshop will be repeated, depending on interest.
From Neurons to Knowledge: The Science and Code of How Students Learn
From Neurons to Knowledge: The Science and Code of How Students Learn
This interactive workshop invites educators to explore the neuroscience of learning through hands-on, computationally rich experiences that blend science, coding, and classroom practice. Participants will connect core ideas from cognitive neuroscience - attention, memory, and feedback - to practical classroom strategies and simple coding projects.
We’ll begin with the brain itself, modeling neurons and neural networks to visualize how learning forms physical connections - illustrating the principle that “neurons that fire together, wire together.” Through tactile activities, participants will experience how repetition, feedback, and retrieval strengthen understanding.
Next, educators will bring these neural concepts to life through Scratch coding, designing simple simulations that show how neurons communicate and adapt. The process of coding mirrors how the brain learns: identifying patterns, receiving feedback, and refining through iteration.
Finally, participants explore memory and metacognition by creating a coded “memory game” that models how practice and feedback strengthen recall, and will engage in a collaborative challenge inspired by mirror neurons and social learning.
Tteachers will leave with classroom-ready strategies - and a deeper understanding of how coding and neuroscience converge to show that learning is a dynamic, feedback-driven process of growth and connection.
The Innovator’s Mindset in Action: Computational Thinking as a Framework for Creativity, Leadership, and Change
The Innovator’s Mindset in Action: Computational Thinking as a Framework for Creativity, Leadership, and Change
Innovation isn’t just about doing new things - it’s about thinking in entirely new ways. This workshop invites participants to explore how computational thinking and creative design intersect to spark innovation for both teachers and students. Grounded in George Couros’s The Innovator’s Mindset and the PRADA framework (Pattern Recognition, Abstraction, Decomposition, and Algorithms), participants will learn how to cultivate classrooms where innovation becomes a culture rather than a one-time event.
Participants then unpack howPRADA aligns with Couros’s Eight Characteristics of the Innovator’s Mindset - including empathy, reflection, risk-taking, and curiosity - connecting mindset to method.
Through a series of short Computational Thinking Labs, we’ll practice applying PRADA to real classroom challenges, uncovering patterns, breaking down problems, and designing creative solutions. We’ll also use Canva as a design and collaboration tool, visualizing our thinking through digital storyboards and prototypes.
In the final design sprint, small teams apply PRADA to a real challenge and create an Innovation Canvas - a digital artifact that captures their process and solution. Participants leave with this shareable product and a repeatable structure for helping students (and colleagues) think like innovators.
Rise & Shine: The Science Behind Sourdough (and other Fermented Foods)
Rise & Shine: The Science Behind Sourdough (and other Fermented Foods)
What happens when bread becomes a biology experiment? In this hands-on workshop, teachers will experience the Sourdough for Science program — a citizen science investigation that brings microbial ecology to life through food. Participants will grow their own sourdough starter from a dried sample, explore how microbial communities change over time, and uncover how something as familiar as bread can model complex biological systems like succession, homeostasis, and interdependence.
Together, we’ll connect the science of sourdough to the art of teaching. Participants will use aroma wheels to describe and categorize scents, analyze pH, and height data to track microbial growth, and engage in guided literacy and data-driven activities that integrate science, culture, and creativity. Through reflective discussion and a design sprint, teachers will plan how to adapt Sourdough for Science for their own classrooms - whether as a short demonstration or a two-week student-led investigation.
By the end of the session, each participant will leave with an active sourdough starter, a clear plan for classroom implementation, and new ideas for connecting STEM, sensory learning, and global food traditions. This workshop blends inquiry, collaboration, and flavor - showing how something as simple as flour and water can spark curiosity, deepen scientific understanding, and nourish the innovator’s mindset in every learner.
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