CCEA Plus 2025 Surf's Up! Riding the Waves of Opportunity

In this workshop, we will look at the foundational aspects of behavior and how childhood experiences can shape a person’s behavior and academic success. The experiences that happen in early childhood have an impact on our brains, and we will go through just enough neurobiology so that you can impress your friends and coworkers who did not attend this workshop. We will see what is going on in the brain when a person experiences trauma, particularly at a young age. These behavioral changes apply to both students and adults! 

In this workshop, we will pick up where Part 1 left off and explore how we can help correct behavior that comes from childhood trauma. This is the “good news” half of the presentation. The neurobiological changes we saw in Part 1 are not life sentences! The brain changes, and we can help even our most challenging students (and coworkers) to respond in more prosocial ways. This workshop will have both long-term strategies for creating a campus that can change kids as well as immediate, “try this on Monday” strategies to survive until the end of the school year. 

Student engagement can be particularly challenging in an alternative high school setting, where students may have experienced academic struggles, personal obstacles, or disengagement in traditional classrooms. This session equips educators with research-backed strategies to combat apathy and foster intrinsic motivation, helping students take ownership of their learning. By exploring the psychology behind disengagement, educators will gain practical tools to create a classroom environment that promotes curiosity, relevance, and student agency. Through interactive discussions, collaborative activities, and real-world video examples, participants will discover strategies tailored to the unique needs of alternative high school students. The session will focus on building teacher credibility and trust, helping students connect their learning to personal goals and real-world relevance, and promoting student voice, choice, and autonomy in the classroom. Educators will also learn how to increase student effort, resilience, and self-efficacy while strengthening teacher-student relationships and peer connections to create a supportive learning community. More than just a set of quick fixes, this session emphasizes authentic communication and connection, equipping educators with sustainable engagement strategies that empower students to stay invested in their education. Attendees will leave with actionable techniques they can immediately implement to cultivate a more engaging and student-centered learning environment.

Discover how educational leaders across California use creative approaches including AI, AR, and VR to engage and inspire students.  This session will demonstrate how students research, learn, and experience a variety of concepts and the associated career pathways in STEM, Health Science, Advanced Manufacturing, Agri-Science, Transportation and more.  Based on this exploration, students are able to develop plans for post-secondary study and/or earn valuable certifications. Learning Objectives: - Understand the AI/AR/VR landscape and its role in supporting STEM curriculum and CTE certifications - Discover clinical evidence supporting learning gains with AR/VR - Consider funding sources for the integration of new technology