Step Into the Hot Seat: Igniting Student Voice and Critical Thinking
Turn every student into a confident thinker and speaker with the Hot Seat strategy! This interactive approach invites students to step into the shoes of a character, historical figure, author, or even a scientific concept to respond to questions in real time. The result? Deeper analytical thinking, sharper inference skills, and richer classroom discussion. Learn how to craft meaningful questions, foster student voice, and apply the Hot Seat across all content areas to make lessons dynamic, engaging, and rigorous. Walk away with practical, ready-to-use strategies that bring texts and concepts to life while developing critical communication and perspective-taking skills—helping students take ownership of their learning like never before.
Dr. Regina Roberts
Dr. Regina M. Roberts is currently in her ninth year as principal of Sherman School of Excellence, where she became the school’s first contract principal since its 2006 turnaround. She earned a second principal contract in 2023 and was honored in her first year with AUSL’s “School of Excellence Award.”
Under Dr. Roberts’ leadership, Sherman advanced from Level 2+ to Level 1 in just her second year and has consistently earned a “Well-Organized” rating on the 5Essentials Survey. Notable achievements during her tenure include securing the ELEVATE: Whole School Redesign Grant, recognition as an “Established Supportive School” by CPS’s Office of Social and Emotional Learning, and high student growth in ELA and attendance, recognized by Network 8 in SY24.
She has received numerous honors, including AUSL’s Martin J. Koldyke Educator Leadership Award (SY22), CPS’s Game Changer Award (SY24), a feature in the Chicago Public Education Fund’s PLC Leader Newsletter for her impactful “Trust Matters” PLC, and is featured in the Chicago Public Education Fund’s CTA Ad Campaign for Principal Appreciation Week (SY26).
A member of the LLIFT P-3 Network Improvement Community (2018–2020), Dr. Roberts contributed to a published CPS report on improving high-churn schools. With 21 years in CPS, she has led districtwide initiatives, serves as a principal eligibility evaluator, and mentors assistant principals, principals, and aspiring principals. Currently, Dr. Roberts is
Kimberly Alexander
Kimberly Alexander is a School Leadership Coach with Instructional Empowerment. In this role, she works with school leaders to advance the social mission of the company which is to end generational poverty and eliminate racial achievement gaps through transformed Tier 1 core instruction.
For over 25 years, Kimberly has worked as a classroom teacher, Assistant Principal, and Principal in both traditional and charter schools. During this time, she was also the Founding Principal of a charter school. Throughout her career she has been able to put systems in place to support her core belief that all students can learn with the right resources and support in an environment conducive to learning. As a result of her combined experiences and desire to help underserved communities, Kimberly has set her life’s mission to see ALL children thrive through education.
Kimberly is a North Carolina native and graduate of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University with a Bachelor and Masters in Elementary Education. She has also earned a Masters in School Administration with a focus on Curriculum and Instruction from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Session Details
District Name: Chicago Public Schools
Sherman School of Excellence
District-wide / K–12
Audience: ALL
Difficulty Level: All (suitable regardless of prior knowledge/experience)