During each of the six breakout sessions throughout the weekend, a large number of conversations will take place. This site will help you organize your plan for the weekend and provide the relevant information for each conversation. After signing in, search through the conversations below and mark the sessions you are interested in to populate your personal schedule on the right (or below if on your mobile phone).
The purpose of this session is to share how the NYCiSchool is rethinking time, human capital, curriculum, and culture in order to create a successful 21st century learning model and to help other school leaders think about how they might utilize these levers of change to transform their own schools.
Explore ideas and strategies for engaging with disengaged, struggling and/or inhibited students.
Incrementalism is the enemy of school improvement. Those concerned with creating productive contexts for learning must be willing to change everything. This presentation addresses the setting, curricular concept and pedagogical practices required to amplify the potential of project-based learning. Constructionism provides authentic non-coercive principles for educating learners of all ages.
Assessment seems to be the word of the day, but how do you assess understanding? We know how to test for knowledge, but how do you capture proficiency? This session explores three general forms of digital portfolios with an emphasis on capturing and archiving artifacts of understanding.
What happens to learning in a free-range media environment where students are empowered to use the technology they own and access the internet available in the real world? How does it impact the way students and teachers think, create, communicate, and collaborate? Does it foster curiosity? How would we know? Conversation facilitators will encourage participants to exchange ideas on integrating mainstream social media and student-owned devices into teaching and learning as a strategy to promote 21st century teaching and learning.
Hosting a TEDxYouthday event is a terrific way to bring an experiential, connected, and authentic learning project to your students. In this conversation we will share ideas with colleagues from other schools who either have hosted a TEDx event or wish to learn more about how to host one.
This is a workshop to help us create an inquiry driven curriculum that integrates math and science into your classroom. We will examine case studies of projects and then design more projects that will not only satisfy your administrators, but will also get your students engaged in higher order thinking.
A conversation regarding best practices in distributive leadership in small schools. Teachers identify from their skills and interests in order to take leadership roles within the school.
What is the future of our learning environments and what will be the necessary methods of communication and collaboration? This conversation will explore this question by uncovering some essential questions as well as using our collective expertise to identify some strategies that can be implement to improve communication and collaboration in our schools.
Create strategies for motivating students to engage in learning using Web 2.0 tools. Enhance the value of your classroom. Explore curriculum pathways; utilize media devices; motivate students with Digital Magic.
True learners are multidimensional; they are passionately curious about the world around them. Leonardo da Vinci was the quintessential example of a Renaissance man. Scientist, inventor, painter, sculptor, architect, cartographer, mathematician- the list goes on. Is your classroom currently set up to foster the da Vinci's of the world?
Changing the language of interaction is a necessary step towards developing a language that can support change and improvement. Together, well focus on the power of What If as a simple way to reframe how an individuals and schools can initiate positive, actionable change.
Explore three pilot projects focused on developing student problem seeking in elementary, secondary, and university settings. Experience a hands-on exercise for problem seeking, review and discuss various approaches to engaging students in problem seeking, examine tools, and share ideas about the connections of problem solving with leadership, learning, and schools.
What happens when kids are given an opportunity to write what they want when they want to? Come share in some of the stories of a group of kids who are directing their own learning PUBLICLY and help us generate guiding principles for all teachers.
Join with us in building a site for conversations. We invite youth of all ages to voice their thoughts about their passions, to explain things they understand well, to wonder about things they have just begun to understand, and to share discussion posts with other young people using as many different media as they can imagine!
If Twitter chats and social media-fueled unconferences are as powerful as many believe, what evidence is there that they are making a difference? Our hope is that, out of this session, a virtual/distributed teacher-research project will develop whereby participants can document impact of these PD practices on teaching and learning.
Students are already expressing themselves to "the outside world" via a variety of networks and venues. What does this mean for schools? This session will explore how schools can engage with and amplify student voice in a way that is empowering for students and enriching for the learning community.
SESSION RESOURCES http://educon24-cognitiveload-dualtasking.wikispaces.com/ This site contains links to collaborative notes from the session as well as links to videos used for research and a link to a pdf of the conversation. You will also find a link to the article that forms the basis for this session. However, you will want to look for this through your school or university library. Explore the basics of cognitive processing and how multi-tasking impacts your ability to recall what you learn. Participants will receive an overview of cognitive process related to learning and memory, test their ability to multitask and discuss implications for teaching/learning and ways to mitigate cognitive over-load in a dual-tasking society.
This conversation will be about the many benefits of creating documentary film with your students. We will also discuss ways to structure a documentary project in order to ensure student success. I will share my own successes and missteps Ive encountered in the last two years creating documentaries with middle school students in my own classroom.
This conversation will focus on models and best practices of engagement and collaboration between K-12 schools and Colleges and Universities. The discussion will begin with descriptions of existing programs, particularly K-12 efforts supported through the National Science Foundation (NSF) to encourage greater participation in STEM in college and beyond.
How would you change a Progressive (yet traditionally delivered) PD model to make it work for you, your colleagues and your school?
The educational landscape is awash with conversation of new, improved, innovation, creativity, change, adaptation, flexibility... and we want to change the learning environments to match the possibilities for innovation, creativity, change, flexibility and adaptation. We want inquiry and projects but what does that actually look like for the learner and the teacher over time? How do we avoid burnout, apathy, a sense of overwhelm? Join me to discuss strategies for developing resiliency within learning environments.
New media and communications tools give teachers non-traditional ways to organize and work for change in their classrooms, schools, divisions, and country. Join Chad Sansing, Kirsten Olson, Christina Cantrill, and Paul Oh for a conversation about creating online spaces of permission for students, parents, and educators to speak and enact the changes they want to see in our shared work of education.
Discussion about the role media literacy and media creation tools should have in ALL high schools. Current and former students from SLA's Rough Cut Media program will participate.
What would your ideal school or education be like? How can you make that vision come alive in your school? Re-imagine school without any limits and then overlay that vision on what your school is like now and how you can make that vision a reality.
Participate with us in the dynamic transformation, both physical and virtual, of school libraries and computer labs from storage, stuff, and technology training into the center of teaching and learning in your school.
Like a tribe around the fire, lets discuss how we implement PBL as an entire course rather than as an input to a class. The conversation starters will describe Synergy an 8th grade community-issues course. Then, through story exchange, we will share a variety of PBL ideas and implementation methods.
Some of the richest educational experiences can occur beyond the classroom walls. This conversation will focus on ways to expose students to adventure education and the outdoors. Discussion will cover place-based education, service learning, outdoor trips, and challenge courses. Come to share stories and explore new ideas.
The focus in education seems to be on content and knowledge. This session will shift that focus to the naturally occurring patterns in our thinking and how to use those patterns for deeper exploration and understanding.
In a world where students are constantly plugged in, how do we find the balance between engaging them on their level and teaching them the face to face skills of real life interaction? In this conversation we will debate the benefits and challenges of a traditional vs an innovative curriculum.
The NYC iSchool believes that learning experiences should be grounded in solving real problems. How might educators identify these problems and design curriculum around their investigation? We’ll discuss two courses: The Sixteen Project, an anthropological look at coming of age around the world, and #disastercamp, a design workshop for disaster response.
There is a cycle of blame and recrimination between Higher Ed and K-12, yet rarely do we come together to talk about the trajectory of learning across these two worlds. This session will develop practical ideas about how to develop these conversations in our own schools and communities.
Henry Jenkins has defined new media literacy skills for our participatory culture. In the 21st Century school, students/parents/teachers/administrators need to embrace these skills and harness their ability to enhance communication, motivation, understanding, and accountability.
Writing is practice in self-discovery and self-expression, even as the writer engages in dialogue with external sources and peers. The context is an e-environment: infinite resources that overwhelm. The challenge: guide students in establishing voice/vision: I/the subjective eye. We will explore free writing as an essential stage of authentic writing,
This session will focus on strategies to support students in math classes. Included will be discussions on designing new courses/curricula, utilizing Student Assistant Teachers, introducing standards based grading, and creating structures outside of class to help students.
This session will look at inquiry as a tool for professional development as well as classroom instruction. Participants will participate in group discussions, share resources and have the option of enrolling in a collaborative study group that continues the conversation after EduCon.
The current focus on testing may be turning off students to real learning as it narrows the curriculum. If we ditch standardized tests, how do we evaluate students, teachers, and schools and what radical changes do we make to our schools?
Social media tools such as Youtube have dramatically changed the learning landscape for young people and adults. Many people are now sharing their learning online, inspiring others to do the same, resulting in the creation of vibrant peer-learning communities. Lets talk about the implications of this movement. What is the value of learning in public, what is the difference between learning and sharing, and how can schools embraces these new affordances?
Time to bust some myths! Many one-liners and simplistic claims are made, like "Kids don't need to memorize anything. They can just Google it!" Or, Its not about the tool. Its about the learning. We think such claims may be dangerous and misleading. Lets chat and deeply explore some myths.
Traditional school systems do not always support the needs of introverts. This session will begin to address the needs of introverts in today's classrooms.
Participants will be introduced to new ways to utilize the arts to enrich inquiry and facilitate discussions about social justice themes.
(or... "What had happen was...") What is the worst consequence of empowering the kids? You have empowered kids. School culture, discipline, school rules and where you are willing to eat lunch are all on the table for conversation when inquiry and the ethic of care permeate everything you do. Come for a conversation - complete with case studies - about how everything "else" changes when you create a progressive climate.
1-to-1 initiatives, mobile devices, and IWBs are all the rage, but arent these just digital solutions for an analog classroom? In this conversation, we will discuss how teachers can transform learning experiences which increase achievement, creativity, and empathy. We will explore "flipped" classrooms, writing for authentic audience replacing completion with creation,and promoting peer reliance among others.
Civic engagement and experiential learning offer unique opportunities for high schools and universities to create partnerships that benefit students at all levels. Using the 2012 election as a springboard, well explore possibilities to develop programs that take learning out of the classroom and into the streets, polling places, and beyond.
This conversation with leading practitioners in school design will explore how shifts in educational agendas are transforming the design of learning spaces. 21st century education often takes place in spaces shaped by 19th century practice - how can todays educators help shape innovative spaces that facilitate modern teaching and learning?
Come learn about how network theory and social network analysis (SNA) allow us to move beyond bogus metrics of influence to generate more robust understandings of relationships between individuals. This is a hands-on, minds-on workshop about SNA and its applications for individual and organizational learning.
We’ll discuss the coach as a catalyst for change, advocate for teacher/student learning & a builder of a climate of sharing & collaboration. We’ll explore various structures, strategies and ideas that help coaches become necessary instructional leaders. Who's responsible for starting the conversation of change? Where do admins fit & what’s their role? We will follow these threads with the goal of developing some new ideas that will increase student learning. This conversation isn’t meant for just coaches. Anyone who’s wants to be an instructional leader should join us.
Risk-taking for educators can feel just that, risky. What pushes us as educators and what holds us back? Through visible thinking strategies, we will spark dialogue about classroom risk-taking, encourage teacher reflection, and share ways to break out of our comfort zones.
Are you ready to hack school? Join us for a fully interactive session that explores the possibilities for transforming schools through renewed coperation and agency amongst educators and students.
Growth isn't well behaved; it doesn't follow a line on an increasing curve. Growth happens in fits and starts (and stops) and spurts. How do you plan for systemic growth across an entire school division knowing that it's going to happen in fits and starts and spurts?
Environments have a profound effect on what children think, do and feel as knowledge seekers and learners. Join a conversation about what the shift from classroom to learning space might mean for young learners. Well share lessons learned from K-6 educators and discuss their implications on schools serving 7-12 students.
There's widespread excitement about building new kinds of 21st Century Schools, but how do you get from here to there? Join a conversation about technology, learning and change. Share in a conversation about how to initiate and sustain the change process at your school in lasting and successful ways.
The invention of a standardized thermometer allowed people to measure changes that could not be measured objectively. This session is an inquiry into the unequal access to opportunities, experiences, skills, and knowledge in digital media participation and social innovation conferences. What "technology" or measure of participation could you invent?
This conversation is looking at the impact of increased social media use by administrators and the impact it has had directly on learning bu students.
Join Google Lead Software Engineer Daniel Barcay for a discussion of how we can use Google Earth and other Google Tools as powerful storytelling devices. The session will include examples to start the conversation with participants brainstorming ways to leverage the tools in unconventional ways to allow students to unlock their stories.
When building a computer science program from the ground up, there will be missteps, breakthroughs and everything in between. We will share ideas for engaging students of all interest levels and abilities.
We seek to connect with other educators who are teaching writing at a distance or using eReaders. What worked in your classes? How did you collaborate across time and space? What are the best methods for working with digital texts in high schools?
Creativity -- we know it when we see it, but how do we assess learning and improvements in cognitive skills including self awareness, rationality, and open-minded thinking? This conversation will explore possible measures and work toward framing a valuable rubric for assessment.
Join SLA students, led by Rashaun Williams (SLA Class of 2012) work through the question - How do classrooms successfully develop active citizens applying school to life?
ACTFLs Oral Proficiency standards have been in place for over 25 years yet the constraints of the traditional classroom, materials, and assessments have made it difficult or impossible for teachers to help students cultivate these skills. This session will discuss ways both big and small to overcome those challenges.
Let's rethink the typical elementary school learning environment. Given the freedom to design more innovative learning environment(s) for our youngest learners, what non-negotiable elements would be included? How can we strike a balance between authentic, relevant learning and an emphasis on foundational skills in literacy, mathematics, and social sciences?
To create meaningful PBL units it helps to enlist friends and colleagues. If they are not in your area of expertise they bring a fresh perspective. We will discuss creating a PBL unit while brainstorming with a topic and standards given to us from one of the participants.
After several years of science department meetings that focused primarily on logistical issues, we decided to move towards using our common time for growth and reflection. Please join the conversation and help us further our understanding of how colleague-to-colleague feedback can be used as an effective professional development tool.
Explore changing definitions of community and the implications for education. How can schools partner with their communities in ways that reflect local needs and the future of learning? How may we rethink teaching community preK to 12 to help prepare students for these new understandings?
This provocative panel explores the needs and capacities of educators to create laboratories of pedagogical innovation that exist outside of District Structure and hacks up of the concept of entrepreneurship in education. Join this conversation and harness your own innovative and creative powers.
Students often find functions and related concepts confusing. Our usual examples, numeric functions, don't lend themselves to continuous manipulation of variables or to graphical representations other than x-y graphs. See how students use Sketchpad 5 to create their own geometric functions, allowing them to vary the variables kinesthetically and generate pictures of function behavior. Students will report on actual classroom use. Ready-to-use activities will be provided.
In 2007, a virtual colleague asked whether it was okay to be a technologically illiterate teacher? NETS-T provides one standardized, big-picture perspective. At the other end of the spectrum, the Edu-Twittersphere offers up a litany of tools on a nightly basis. Join this session to debate the competencies connecting the two.
Are we providing a proper education for students today in order to create an informed citizenry? Participants will discuss state standards, the Common Core, and the rise of individualized education and try figure out how they help or hurt one of the most essential missions of schools.
During EduCon 2.1, SLA Students Jeff Kessler and Tyrone Kidd discussed the evolution of shared learning in a classroom setting with their teacher Marcie Hull. Now, as Jeff and Tyrone are seniors, we revisit the successes (and challenges) as students and teachers work towards the same goal.
Students at SLA wanted to make astronomy more accessible to everyone, including those who don't have telescopes. Working with Derrick Pitts, Chief Astronomer for the Franklin Institute, they are bringing streamed images of the sun to the world. Join them as they tell their tale of inquiry driven constructivism.
Report on the first three months of Project Learn School's experiment with Google Chromebooks
*** CANCELLED *** Utilizing free online tools, this school provides a live video feed and discussion forum to allow for more family engagement opportunities during monthly meetings.
As an entrepreneur, you must actively and deliberately seek the skills, knowledge and resources needed to succeed. You must be a fast and effective learner. In this group, we will discuss the core tenants of the entrepreneurial process as a learning strategy and how to integrate them into any classroom and across subjects.
With todays push for college, students are forced to follow the Algebra-Geometry-Algebra II Royal Road to Calculus with most coming up empty about what math is all about. Web 2.0 offers the possibility of a new paradigm where students actually want to do the math. Add your ideas at this discussion.
In this sharing of best practices conversation come join a discussion about how a shift in the learning environment for educational professionals can have large impacts on instructional design and the shape of the classroom.
How do we communicate our vision of teaching and learning with other people? As billions of dollars are invested in the standardization movement, how do we advance our own visions of a quality education? How do we tell stories that "stick"?
EduCon 2.4