Events

Building Student Communication Skills for Listening and Belonging

Offered virtually via Zoom and presented by Liza Garonzik

Date:
Tuesday, August 25, 2026

Time:
3:00 – 4:30 PM ET

Pricing:
AISNE Member (1-3 people) $135/pp
AISNE Member (4-9 people) $125/pp
AISNE Member (10-19 people) $115/pp

Non-Members add $100 to each pricing category

Your registration includes a copy of Conversation Comeback: A Teacher’s Guide to Class Discussion in a Distracted, Divided World by Liza Garonzik. A shipping address will be requested during the registration process.

Description

How do students learn to communicate in the classroom? Join us for this workshop to explore the discussion structures, routines, and reflection practices that inform their communication.

You will experience the same tools students use to build skills in dialogue, listening, questioning, and productive disagreement. Through guided discussion, reflection, and debrief, you will consider what it feels like to learn through structured conversation and how those experiences influence student engagement, voice, and belonging.

The session will also surface the role of shared language and consistent instructional practices in supporting coherence across classrooms and grade levels, particularly in schools where discussion may currently vary widely by teacher or discipline. You will explore how structured approaches to conversation can help make expectations for communication more visible, intentional, and equitable.

Come away with:

• Firsthand experience using structured discussion routines and reflection cycles
• A clearer understanding of how discussion skills can be explicitly taught rather than assumed
• Practical insight into how shared language and structure support more consistent classroom dialogue
• Ideas for adapting discussion practices to strengthen student voice, listening, and belonging in their own school contexts

About the Presenter:

Liza Garonzik is the Founder of R.E.A.L.® Discussion and the author of Conversation Comeback: A Teacher’s Guide to Class Discussion in a Distracted, Divided World and Conversation Comeback: A Schoolwide Guide for Discussion in a Distracted, Divided World. She built R.E.A.L.® to solve for challenges she faced in her roles as a teacher, student life administrator, advancement officer, alumni volunteer, and Trustee in independent schools.

Since launching in 2021, Liza has partnered with over 100 K-12 schools on discussion skill-building. Her work has been featured nationally and internationally through the Wall Street Journal, National Association of Independent Schools, The Association of Boarding Schools, International Schools Services, Transcend Education Models Exchange, Enrollment Management Association, and more.

Liza is a graduate of Harvard College (A.B.) and University of Pennsylvania (MS.Ed) with additional Fellowships at the Klingenstein Center, Transcend Network, and New Sector Alliance. She lives in Atlanta with her family – and many animals!

Cancellation Policy

Cancellations and transfer requests must be sent via email to info@aisne.org. Cancellations will receive a 100% refund less a $50 administrative fee. Transfers of registrations from one person to another are permitted up to 2 business days before the start of the event.

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