Prosper Connects '26: Full Schedule

Prosper Connects 26: Your Ultimate Professional Learning Adventure!
Get Ready for the most incredible day of learning in Prosper ISD! July 30th at Walnut Grove High School | Over 300 Sessions Await!

Calling all educators! Prepare for a day packed with inspiration, innovation, and incredible learning opportunities. From the electrifying drumline welcome to the delicious indoor lunch options from the Walnut Grove cafeteria serving up a variety of food, this isn’t just another professional development day – it’s a celebration of education!
✨ Highlights:

👕Attire: Favorite Team Jersey, jeans, and comfortable shoes
🚍Grab the Shuttle from Rock Hill HS (16061 N Coit Rd, Frisco, TX 750) for easy parking (runs every 20 min)
🥁 Epic Drumline Kick-Off
☕Breakfast Options: Union Coffee and Baked Goods & Sonic
🌮 INSIDE Lunch options provided by Aramark and Hardy’s Cafe: Union Coffee, Cane’s, Chick-fil-A, Jimmy John’s, Sonic, Pizza Hut, Greens & Grains, Sushi, Taco Line, & Hardy’s Cafe
🧠 GT Credit Sessions Available (sessions that are orange = GT)
📚 Up to 6 Professional Learning Hours

9:00am CDT

Executive Functions: The Hidden Drivers of Learning and Behavior (414)

Thursday July 30, 2026 9:00am - 9:50am CDT

2124

Every lesson, behavior, emotional reaction, forgotten assignment, shutdown, outburst, and success story in a classroom is being driven by one invisible system: executive functions. Attention, working memory, emotional regulation, impulse control, flexibility, planning, and self-monitoring are the brain skills that determine whether students can actually access learning and behavior expectations in the first place. In this powerful and practical session, educators will explore the neuroscience behind executive functions, why so many students appear “unmotivated” or “defiant” when the real issue is skill development, and what schools can immediately do to strengthen the brain systems that truly drive learning, behavior, mental health, and long-term outcomes.

Speakers

Layne Pethick

Consultant, Region 10 ESC

Hi, I’m Layne Pethick—a guy who loves all things regarding the human brain and has spent a lifetime trying to figure out why we humans do what we do. By day, I’m a Neuro-Cognitive and Neuro-Behavioral Coach and a Behavior and Autism Spectrum Disorders Master Consultant for the... Read More →

Thursday July 30, 2026 9:00am - 9:50am CDT
2124

Instructional, K-12

10:00am CDT

Executive Functions: The Hidden Drivers of Learning and Behavior (417)

Thursday July 30, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am CDT

2124

Speakers

Layne Pethick

Consultant, Region 10 ESC

Thursday July 30, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am CDT
2124

Instructional, K-12

11:00am CDT

The Neuroscience of Autism: Moving Beyond Old Thinking (425)

Thursday July 30, 2026 11:00am - 11:50am CDT

2124

For decades, autism has too often been viewed through the narrow lens of behavior, compliance, and outdated assumptions rather than current brain science. This engaging session explores emerging neuroscience revealing how the autistic brain is differently organized in areas involving sensory processing, executive functions, regulation, attention, movement, emotion, and information flow. Participants will examine how stress, predictability, co-regulation, movement, and learning environments directly impact autistic learners and why understanding the neurobiology beneath the behavior changes everything. Educators will leave with practical, brain-based strategies that move beyond control and compliance to create safer, more supportive, and more effective outcomes for autistic students.

Speakers