In a few days I’ll be getting on a plane to Orlando for the 2022 ATLIS conference–my first one. I have mixed feelings about attending due to the recent Parental Rights in Education Bill that just passed in Florida. Specifically, this language: “prohibits classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in certain grade levels;…
Definition from Oxford Dictionaries This past week I have been spending a lot of time with some really smart educators from all over the country. While the premise of this convening was the enormous edtech conference, ISTE, I spent less time talking about tech tools and awesome apps and more time talking about equity, school…
Reflecting on a busy weekend of conversation and learning at this year’s annual ASCD conference in Los Angeles, a few bright spots stand out for me. I attended ASCD two years ago in Philadelphia and I couldn’t help but notice that while conversations haven’t necessarily shifted too much (school leadership, school transformations, teaching strategies, assessment,…
I am always proud to be a Philadelphia educator as the annual Educonconference approaches. It’s a magical time of year when educators from across the US gather to explore deep pedagogical questions, network, laugh and enjoy some of the best restaurants on the East Coast (no bias!) What makes Educon so special? Size Educon, unlike…
Next week, myself and hundreds of other educators from around the country will be congregating at the 92nd St Y in New York City to share stories of how they have used social media to grow personally and professionally and how they have used it to empower young people both in and out of the…
I recently attended the annual ISTE conference in San Diego to participate on a panel about new teacher mentoring using technology moderated by my colleague, Lisa Dabbs. As I considered my responses to some of the panelist questions, I remembered a conversation I had at the Sunday night networking event for the conference with a…
It feels like forever since I have been to an edcamp, though I have virtually attended a few through following hashtags and the opportunity to Skype into edcampMKE with some of my colleagues. I have been more and more energized by conversations around teacher leadership, meaningful professional development. The edcamp movement has been growing, with…
When I picked up the book Curriculum 21 a couple of years ago it was very refreshing to hear what I considered at that time a voice of reason in education. I was particularly struck by Jacob’s metaphor of upgrading the system completely rather than tweaking it. I also found the website full of great…
As a member of the press here at ASCD’s annual conference, I was lucky enough to sit and talk with Liliana Aquas and Matt McClure, the Outstanding Young Educators over lunch. It was an inspiring dialogue. Liliana, who works at Leconte Elementary School in Berkeley, CA, did not start out wanting to be an educator….
As I reflect on my day at ASCD’s conference, I will be thinking and reflecting on a lot of topics and discussions. The one that really struck me, however, I feel I must reflect on first. My last session of the day was one that I was really looking forward to. I am not one…