“Understanding or knowing our students is not something we achieve. It is something that we live.”
-Cornelius Minor
Small Shifts, Big Impact: Complimentary Spark Sessions by Roots ConnectED
Looking for immediate ways to increase student engagement?
Spark Sessions are 30-minute complimentary webinars designed to spark ideas, shifts, and changes in practice and mindset. When fueled - these sparks will support the development and sustainability of classrooms led by love, belonging, and a sense of community.
Educators everywhere are navigating rising demands, shrinking time, and growing student needs—while trying to stay grounded in purpose and impact. The good news? You don’t need to overhaul everything to make a difference.
Research shows that active engagement ≈ stronger academic outcomes. And small, intentional shifts in your language and approach can deeply affect how students connect with learning—cognitively, behaviorally, and emotionally.
That’s why we created Small Shifts, Big Impact— free Spark Sessions designed for real classrooms, real challenges, and real shifts you can make.
This isn’t theory—it’s practical, immediately usable, and rooted in what real teachers experience every day. Leave with tools you can use tomorrow—and impact that lasts all year.
Because at Roots ConnectED, we believe small shifts in practice lead to big, lasting change for students and school communities.
Open for Registration
So you can revisit the learning, and share with your friends and colleagues, we’ve made all Spark Session recordings available on our On-Demand Learning page.
February 12, 2026 4:30-5pm EST
4 Ways to Increase Choice and Independence
Choice isn’t just a nice add-on—it’s a structural lever that increases motivation, effort, and engagement. Research shows that when students have even small opportunities to make decisions about how they learn, their sense of ownership and persistence rises significantly. The result is not only stronger academic outcomes but a classroom where students feel trusted and capable.
In this 30-minute Spark Session, you’ll learn four simple, high-impact ways to build choice and independence into your daily practice—without losing structure, clarity, or instructional time. These shifts help students take more responsibility for their learning, expand their problem-solving, and participate more confidently. The outcome? Classrooms where students develop the skills to navigate learning with agency—and where belonging naturally grows as they experience themselves as valued contributors.
May 4, 2026 4:30-5pm EST
Moves That Get Every Learner Participating
Every educator wants a classroom where students lean in—where participation feels natural, shared, and safe. But participation doesn’t increase by chance; it increases by design. Research shows that when classrooms include predictable routines and intentional formats for sharing, participation rises across all student groups. Even small structural shifts can reduce social pressure, expand who feels ready to contribute, and create more balanced dialogue.
In this 30-minute Spark Session, we’ll explore simple, easy-to-implement participation structures that help move classrooms from a few voices to many. You’ll experience quick strategies that increase student engagement, amplify quieter voices, and make participation feel accessible for everyone. The outcome? A classroom where students feel more connected, confident, and willing to share—the natural byproduct of structures designed for equitable interaction.
Past Spark Sessions
March 3, 2026 4:30-5pm EST
Centering Joy in the Classroom: Small Shifts that Transform Learning
In many classrooms, joy becomes an afterthought. Curriculum often highlights struggle, rigor is framed as seriousness, and the pressure to cover content can eclipse the simple truth that students learn more when they feel good while learning. Yet research is clear: joy acts as an academic accelerator, not a distraction. Positive emotions expand students’ cognitive capacity, increase motivation, and strengthen their willingness to participate and take risks.
In this 30-minute Spark Session, we’ll explore simple, replicable strategies that intentionally build moments of joy into everyday instruction—from the way students enter the room to how they collaborate, reflect, and celebrate progress. These aren’t add-ons; they’re structural moves that make learning feel energizing, meaningful, and shared.
The outcome? A classroom climate where curiosity grows, students lean in, and learning feels alive—because joy has been designed into the experience, not left to chance.
May 7, 2026 4:30-5pm EST
3 Positive Ways to Engage Families (That Impact Students)
Family engagement often gets reduced to reminders, emails, or crisis communication—but meaningful connection comes from structures that build trust long before a problem arises. Research consistently shows that when families feel respected, informed, and invited into their child’s learning, students demonstrate stronger attendance, higher motivation, and greater social-emotional confidence (Deloitte; Beloved Community; Mindset Scholars Network).
In this 30-minute Spark Session, we’ll explore three positive, practical ways to engage families that directly improve student experiences. We will offer ideas that can be implemented by teachers in a classroom or done school-wide. The outcome? Families feel more connected and empowered, educators feel more supported, and students experience the ripple effect of a community working on their behalf.
January 22, 2026 3-3:30pm EST
Reflection as a Practice of Belonging
When students are invited to reflect—not just on content, but on themselves and their experiences—they begin to feel more seen, valued, and connected. In this 30-minute Spark Session, we’ll explore how embedding reflection into everyday practice can strengthen classroom relationships, affirm identity, and build a culture of belonging. These small moments of pause can transform how students relate to themselves and each other.
March 23, 2026 4:30-5pm EST
Assessment and Feedback That Builds Belonging
Assessment and feedback are often treated as the “end” of learning—a way to correct, grade, or measure. But the structures we use to assess and respond to student work can either narrow a student’s sense of identity, or expand it. Research shows that feedback emphasizing progress, strategy, and possibility, increases student motivation and persistence significantly (Mindset Scholars Network, 2017). Students who understand their growth, and see their effort recognized, feel more connected to the learning process—and to you.
In this 30-minute Spark Session, we’ll explore practical, easy-to-implement structures that reframe assessment as a tool for empowerment: feedback protocols that center student voice, routines that support self-assessment, and small design shifts that make expectations clearer and more accessible. These moves strengthen students’ sense of agency, clarity, and trust. The outcome? Classrooms where feedback builds confidence rather than anxiety—and where belonging grows naturally because students feel seen, supported, and capable.
What You’ll Gain from the Series
⚪ Boost Student Engagement
⚪ Create a Stronger Sense of Belonging
⚪ Recharge Your Passion
⚪ Overcome Burnout
Built for Busy Educators
Each webinar is:
✅ Just 30 minutes
✅ 100% free
✅ Designed to be immediately applicable
✅ Focused on everyday decisions that shape classroom culture