AGIS Conference 2026 Potsdam: Full Schedule

Working Together To Support Learning

1:15pm CEST

Empowering Student Agency Through Assessment

Saturday September 19, 2026 1:15pm - 2:15pm CEST

Presenters: Soha Saad and Yuni Santosa

This session explores the impact of teacher clarity on student engagement and achievement, particularly within an inquiry-based classroom where direction and agency must coexist. Participants will investigate practical approaches for co-constructing rubrics and checklists with students. The session focuses on how shared understanding enables students to self-assess with accuracy and set intentional learning goals. By involving students in defining success, the focus shifts from teacher-led assessment to student-led growth.

Target Participants

All PYP teachers across year levels and subject areas
Educators interested in assessment, differentiation, and student agency

Speakers

Soha Saad

PYP Coordinator, International School Ruhr

Yuni Santosa

PYP Coordinator, International School of Stuttgart

Saturday September 19, 2026 1:15pm - 2:15pm CEST
0.225 Am Luftschiffhafen 1, 14471 Potsdam

One-Hour Workshop

Audience Early Years learners aged 3-6; Elementary/Primary Learners aged 6-11
Subject Transdisciplinary (teaching pedagogy & Methodology)

1:15pm CEST

From Framework to Classroom: A Collaborative Session for Literacy Leaders and PYP Decision-Makers

Saturday September 19, 2026 1:15pm - 2:15pm CEST

0.217

When the IB released the updated PYP Language guidelines, we didn’t just create a new document. We set out to build a new culture.
Join our Language Coordinator and PYP Coordinator as they reveal the real story behind a year-long journey to design a living, breathing language continuum. Created for PYP coordinators and decision-makers, literacy leaders, and lower school pedagogical leaders, this session goes beyond theory to show what it actually takes to lead meaningful change. Get an inside look at our “navigation map,” from global inspiration to high-energy, and occasionally high-friction, collaboration that pushed our thinking forward. No glossing over the hard parts. We will share our “productive failures,” including timing missteps, jargon traps, and the lessons that made our work stronger, sharper, and more sustainable. Walk away with practical insights, honest reflections, and strategies you can use to bridge policy and practice in your own context.

Speakers

Caroline Fröhlich

Lower School Language Coordinator/ LS EAL Teacher, Thuringia International School

I am from California, married to a German and the mother of two bilingual girls. I came to Germany after teaching in public schools in California and I never imagined I would still be here. I have taught everything from Kindergarten to grade 5. Currently I am teaching English as an... Read More →

Nirali Parikh

PYP Coordinator/ LS Teacher, Thuringia International School

Saturday September 19, 2026 1:15pm - 2:15pm CEST
0.217 Am Luftschiffhafen 1, 14471 Potsdam

One-Hour Workshop

Audience Early Years learners aged 3-6; Elementary/Primary Learners aged 6-11
Subject Language Learning; Transdisciplinary (teaching pedagogy & Methodology)

2:30pm CEST

Developing Conceptual Thinkers

Saturday September 19, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm CEST

0.215

What does it mean for students to think conceptually? How can teachers foster conceptual thinking through intentional planning? In this session we will look at strategies teachers can use to introduce Specified and Additional concepts in Early Primary to Grade 5 — and intentionally revisit and embed them throughout the year. Through interactive activities, discussion, and reflection, participants will leave with practical ideas they can begin implementing in their classrooms right away and sustain across their units of inquiry.

Speakers

Erica Hirsch

PYP Coordinator, Heidelberg International School

To be added by speaker

Saturday September 19, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm CEST
0.215 Am Luftschiffhafen 1, 14471 Potsdam

One-Hour Workshop

2:30pm CEST

Talk for Writing – Supporting (lower primary) language learners to internalise high quality language structures through imitation, oral rehearsal, and innovation

Saturday September 19, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm CEST

0.217

The session will provide an overview of the Talk for Writing approach, including core texts, story mapping, oral rehearsal, and shared retelling to understand how language patterns are internalised before writing.

The session will model scaffolding techniques, vocabulary development, and opportunities for creativity within structured frameworks using examples from primary classrooms. Participants will reflect on classroom implementation, differentiation, and progression across KS1, leaving with example resources and clear next steps to embed Talk for Writing within their own practice to strengthen pupil confidence, engagement, and writing outcomes.

Speakers

Bryony Elms

Classroom teacher G1, Leipzig International School

An experienced teacher and leader specialising in Primary Education. Across my career I have held roles in academic leadership and curriculum coordination as well as teaching roles. Currently teaching in Grade 1 and serving as NEASC accreditation coordinator for our school. I also... Read More →

Saturday September 19, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm CEST
0.217 Am Luftschiffhafen 1, 14471 Potsdam

One-Hour Workshop

Audience Early Years learners aged 3-6; Elementary/Primary Learners aged 6-11
Subject Language Learning

4:00pm CEST

Building a Strong Spelling Foundation: Some Practical Tools for Teaching English Orthography

Saturday September 19, 2026 4:00pm - 5:00pm CEST

0.215

This workshop explores how understanding English orthography can enrich spelling instruction within an inquiry-based classroom. Using unit-of-inquiry vocabulary, word lists and/or picture books, teachers will learn how to guide students to investigate why words are spelled the way they are—connecting sound, meaning, and history through inquiry. The session includes hands-on activities and practical strategies that integrate morphology, etymology, and phonology into everyday literacy learning. These principles can complement any existing spelling scheme or word list, supporting teachers to make spelling meaningful, engaging, and deeply connected to students’ ongoing inquiries.

Speakers

Gill Kǒniger

Elementary Teacher and Team Leader., Frankfurt International School

Gill Königer is an elementary educator at Frankfurt International School with nearly 30 years of experience teaching in elementary settings worldwide. She specializes in multi-age learning, personalized learning and word inquiry, with a particular focus on supporting literacy de... Read More →

Christine Ishii

PYP Co-ordinator, Frankfurt International School

To be added later.

Saturday September 19, 2026 4:00pm - 5:00pm CEST
0.215 Am Luftschiffhafen 1, 14471 Potsdam

One-Hour Workshop

Audience Early Years learners aged 3-6; Elementary/Primary Learners aged 6-11
Subject Language Learning; Transdisciplinary (teaching pedagogy & Methodology)

5:15pm CEST

Small Voices, Big Choices: Cultivating Student Agency in the Lower PYP

Saturday September 19, 2026 5:15pm - 6:15pm CEST

0.215

This session explores how student agency can be meaningfully nurtured in the Early Years and lower Primary Years Programme through everyday classroom practice. Participants will examine how choice, voice, and ownership can be embedded in routines, play experiences, and inquiry-based learning in developmentally appropriate ways. The session highlights the role of the teacher in balancing guidance and independence, creating conditions where young learners actively participate in decisions about their learning. Through reflection and practical examples, educators will consider how small, intentional shifts in practice can strengthen engagement, confidence, and learner ownership in the early years

Speakers