Barrington 220's February Institute Day: Authentic Learning, AI, and Choice PD!

On February 13, 2026, Barrington 220 staff came together at Barrington High School for an Institute Day designed as a choice-based professional learning day aligned to Framework 220 strategic priorities,. The offerings that day included a strong emphasis on Authentic Learning and AI for learning.

Personalized Learning Experience for Our Teachers

This Institute Day modeled the kind of learning we want for students—voice and choice, relevance, and meaningful outcomes. Staff practiced learner agency by selecting among a wide range of sessions (morning and afternoon blocks for middle school, high school, and BTP; morning blocks for ELC and elementary) and followed through-lines that matched their goals. 

Authentic Learning and AI

Staff members from the Authentic Learning Leadership team created and offered Authentic Learning sessions that focused on HOW to add authentic learning strategies (Multidisciplinary, Student-Centered, Problem-Based, Real-World Task, Real-World Audience, Transferability, Personal/Cultural Relevance, Active Engagement). AI Task Force members created and led Artificial Intelligence (AI) sessions to help educators work smarter and support students more meaningfully.

Two Keynotes

We were fortunate to learn with two featured guests:

Dr. Sabba Quidwai challenged us to see AI not as “just a tool,” but as something we can partner with intentionally, ethically, and creatively, while protecting what matters most—human creativity, agency, trust, and connection. Her message centered on design thinking as a human advantage in a world with AI. Feedback from Barrington 220 staff shared how authentic her message was and how well she brought big, philosophical ideas around AI into the classroom.

Dr. Linda DeYounge provided practical strategies and workshop-style support for creating high-quality learning experiences that translate directly into classrooms and teams. She supported attendees during double-period workshop sessions that empowered our Barrington 220 staff to begin to implement AI skills and our AI tools like Brisk, Snorkl, Gemini, and NotebookLM.

Authentic Learning by Design

The session lineup made the Authentic Learning connections unmistakable. Across the day, educators explored practices that align directly to our district definition and direction, especially around student agency, meaningful tasks, reflection, and real audiences.

A few examples from the choice sessions menu:

• Practical Inquiry: integrating inquiry-based learning and student choice into current units 
• The Power of Student Portfolios: increasing student access, voice, and choice 
• Authentic Advocacy: building student voice in policy argumentation (with AI tools) 
• Spark Curiosity and Starting with Empathy: building authentic engagement from the start 

AI for Learning: Skills and Tools

AI showed up across the day as something we use to strengthen the learning process, not replace it. Educators had options ranging from “getting started” to more advanced instructional design:

• Design Thinking for Schools: Prompting and Partnering with AI (Dr. Sabba Quidwai) 
• AI Tools Playground and NotebookLM Playground for hands-on experimentation 
• AI writing feedback simulations and designing scaffolded feedback lessons 
• Using tools like Brisk, Snorkl, and NotebookLM to deepen understanding and feedback cycles 

We also reminded staff to check email for our AI Skills resource for students and teachers so this learning can live beyond one day and translate into consistent classroom practice. Our AI Skills are meant to provide teachers and students with specific skills to practice under the belief that we must prompt humans to do the thinking before we ask AI to help.

• Ask (Prompt and Context Engineering)
• Check & Choose (Check the validity of the AI responses and choose what and how to use them)
• Correct (Make changes to the human work)
• Create (Create responsibly with AI)
• Connect (Made connections across content areas with the help of AI)

One of the most meaningful design choices for the day was ending the day with Department AI-Guided Reflective Practice on Authentic Learning Implementation, facilitated by department chairs/team leaders. That structure matters. It moves us from “That was interesting PD” to “Here’s what we are going to do next together based on our learners, our curriculum, and our goals.”

The day was about moving Barrington 220 forward through the choices staff made, deepening Authentic Learning, and exploring AI for learning. Whether the focus was inquiry, reflection, portfolios, feedback, or classroom tools, the work connects directly to our learners and to Framework 220.