2026 MSAA Summer Institute

Your students are already using AI. Some are using it well. Most are not. And most schools have not yet decided what to do about that. This session gives curriculum leaders and administrators a practical roadmap for building AI literacy into their schools, from classroom instruction that teaches students how AI actually works to responsible use frameworks that are enforceable and age-appropriate. You will also walk away with a handful of AI use cases built specifically for teachers and instructional leaders, tools you can bring back Monday and use immediately. This is not a theoretical conversation about the future of education. It is a working session about what you can do right now to make sure your students, your teachers, and your school are ready.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that "kids don't read anymore."  Phones, social media, and video games have a monopoly on freetime. We see the impact of this in students' gaps in background knowledge, poor understanding of sentence structure and syntax, lacking stamina when given academic reading, and a shortage of empathy for experiences beyond the students own.  

Fostering a love of reading cannot fall solely on the ELA teacher.  It's going to take more than a 20 year old Caldecott winning novel to tear our cherubs away from Tik Tok.

So, what is a school leader to do?  

The Crazy Reading Ladies have a few ideas.  We'll explore the pros and cons of graphic novels, the importance of accessibility, and representation in classroom libraries.  We'll share whole school ideas that will get kids excited about books.  We'll share community level partnerships that get adults involved.  These plug and play ideas will have an immediate impact on the literacy culture of your school.