Conversations

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).

Open Pedagogy

Session 1
Dr. David Wiley

Using open educational resources, like open textbooks, can both save money and increase student success. But using OER also unlocks new pedagogies unavailable to teachers who use textbooks and other curriculum from commercial publishers. In this workshop, Dr. Wiley will discuss the research base behind "killing the disposable assignment" and demonstrate how using OER allows student assessments to take on value and meaning for students and teachers alike.

Advisory 101: What Does It Look Like?

Session 5
Chris Lehmann, Pia Martin

This session is for educators who want to explore starting or improving an Advisory Program in their schools. Participants in this session will unpack what their ideal Advisory program would look like while examining questions around some of the ways an Advisory program can create challenges for teachers and students as they create a new dynamic for interaction in their schools.

Authentic Student Choice: Honors Senior Seminar at Hudson HSLT

Session 1
Grace O'Keeffe, Sarah Shahata, Matthew Pressman, Racheal Rydell-Klages, Osvaldo Castillo, Omar Abreu, Keenan Edwards, Zainab Oni

Give your classroom back to your students! When you give authentic choice and control to studentsm you let students learn on their own terms. Students get to digest what they learn rather than have it thrown at them. What happens when you give students control of what they learn, how they learn, and how they are assessed?

Cultivating Connections with the Arts

Session 1
Michelle Baldwin

Students find multiple avenues for expression through the Arts! Join this conversation to explore how the Arts enhance learning and create connections in traditional and inquiry-based lessons. Discussion will include research-based inquiry models, interdisciplinary connections, and how to incorporate the Arts, even when outside your comfort zone.

Engaging as Networked Thought Leaders: Let's Write a Book In 90 Minutes!

Session 1
Steve Valentine, Reshan Richards

Leaders give and take from a range of networks, helping them to infuse their organizations with new ideas. Often lost in talk of networking, though, is that it requires particular habits of participation. Participants in this session will practice the network habit by writing, peer editing, and contributing media in a 90-minute workshop. We will write a book on the spot and publish it soon after. As an added bonus, participants will walk away with a new network from which to learn.

Enriching the World Language Curriculum with the Arts

Session 1
Melanie Manuel, Shawn Merrill, Melissa Whitaker, Shay Kretowicz, Karen Aquino, Erica Saldivar Garcia

How can we impact student achievement in a World Language classroom by providing a curriculum rich in the arts? World Language teachers often struggle with how to engage students, particularly with regards to speaking and writing. In this session, we will demonstrate multiple activities that use the arts as a vehicle for generating ideas, enthusiasm and creativity.

Developing Empathy with the World using Online Maps

Session 2
Steve Goldberg

Everything happens somewhere in the world. When we hear about an event in "Iraq" it's helpful to drill down and see the street corner we're talking about -- or get as close as we can come. Taking the time to think about where others live and what their lives are like helps foster empathy. During this conversation, we will collaborate -- using tools such as Google Earth and YouTube videos -- to create online maps that help us empathize with the world (the US is less than 5% of the world -- students should know that)

Standards, not Standardization

Session 2
Diana Laufenberg

The phrase. Common Core, has been uttered so many times in the past 12 months that I think it might be the next 'word' added to the dictionary. Having standards is not the same as standardization, the subtlety of which seems to be getting lost in the national conversation around Common Core and standards implementation. Join me in a discussion surrounding standards implementation and the difficulties with standardizing instruction.

Teaching in the Connected Learning Classroom

Session 2
Christina Cantrill, Danielle Filipiak, Antero Garcia (virtual), Larissa Pahomov, Meenoo Rami, Robert Rivera-Amezola

Teaching in the Connected Learning Classroom brings together examples of classroom practice and curates them into a collection looking at the principles of Connected Learning woven throughout. Unique in its focus of in-school examples, this ebook and related conversation acknowledges the emerging nature of this work, inviting inquiry and exploration.

Using Athletics as a Conduit to Success

Session 2
Erin Garvey, Zoe Siswick, + SLA students

SLA softball and girls basketball coaches will lead a conversation about the benefits of athletics, ethic of care in extracurricular activities, and helping students to balance athletics and academics. We will discuss using athletic participation to increase academic performance and improve socio-emotional well-being.

Empowering Student Voice in the Humanities Classroom: Creating Space for Meaningful Discourse

Session 3
Alexa Dunn (SLA) & UPenn GSE/TFA Teachers

Humanities classrooms hold vast potential for rich discourse. This connects students to each other and their world, and also encourages intellectual curiosity, and life-long learning. Empowering student voice is an intricate and involved pedagogical practice, and yet so vital to creating safe and dynamic classroom spaces. Be prepared to craft many ideas and strategies to deepen teaching and learning in your humanities classroom.

Face-to-Face With Our Public

Session 3
Mike Thayer

It's no longer enough for educators to engage our students; if we believe in the mission of meaningful public education for all, we must directly engage with the public as a whole. Come to this conversation to brainstorm about how we can best do that!

I'm the Other Woman! - Finding Yourself Online

Session 3
Kristy Vincent

More and more headlines creep in of educators being fired for their online postings. We walk a fine line between being our true self and being our "image". Why? Do we need "professional" social media accounts and personal ones? What is our responsibility as educators online today? Let's talk!

Starting from scratch (sort of): bringing old ideas of inquiry and project based learning to life in a new building.

Session 3
Simon Hauger, Michael Clapper

Two co-founders of The Workshop School, a new public high school in Philadelphia, will lead a conversation about what project based learning looks and feels like when you have a chance to start a school. Simon Hauger, principal and co-founder, will talk briefly about the thrills and tensions of being a teacher at heart while working as a school district administrator in a new school; Michael Clapper, teacher and co-founder, will talk briefly about the thrills and tensions of trying to start a new school from a seat in a classroom.

Teaching and Learning Through Community Partnerships

Session 4
David Sokoloff, Luke Van Meter, Jeremy Spry

Amazing things happen when educational programs define their own goals and pull resources from inspiring community partners. Whether sewing with circuits or gazing through the observatory of a science museum, these opportunities can redefine a student's learning experience. In our conversation we'll discuss how this programming can be designed and implemented.

Go to the Gemba

Session 5
Carey Pohanka

Have you ever looked at your school experience through the eyes of a student? Have you lived as a student for a day? As educators, we are "designers" of the student experience, yet do we understand how the implications of our design directly impact our students? In this session we will look at our schools through the lens of a student. What can we do to make sure that we are designing the best possible learning environment for them?

Renting vs. Owning Education

Session 5
Anastacia Brie, Jennifer Gunn

A discussion about the meaning of student ownership (empowerment) of learning and how it’s related to and contrasts with student engagement. In addition, some practical applications to foster student ownership (empowerment) in the classroom. Participants will have the opportunity to plan activities and develop measurable goals associated with student ownership (empowerment) of learning.

The Effective Hybrid Teacher ~ Models that help students flourish.

Session 5
Gamal Sherif, Bruce Taterka

Hybrid teachers, who spend 1/2 their time in the classroom and 1/2 their time in stewardship of the profession, can help colleagues enrich K-12 education. How can hybrid teachers develop their educational leadership while they are supporting students, collaborating with colleagues, negotiating employment contracts, etc.? Participant recommendations will evolve into an opt-in article for publication.

A new leadership school

Session 6
Joshua Spodek

Society could use more effective leadership, but what institutions teach it? We know how to teach it, but almost no institutions focus on leadership first. If you'd like to see a school teach the skills for leadership (probably post-graduate) or have experience starting schools or teaching leadership, please join.

Can Anyone Hear Me? Utilizing Student Voice in Schools

Session 6
Michelle Leimsider, Christina Jenkins

Why is it that the people making the decisions are rarely the ones having to live with them? Join a conversation led by students at the NYC iSchool to learn how we can make schools and our classrooms places that are created both for and BY students. Find out what it’s like to be in a community where student voice and student choice are a main priority and walk away with plans (both big and small) to incorporate student voice in to your school community and classrooms.

Supporting Democracy Beyond Content

Session 6
Dave Thomer

Preparing students for citizenship gets less attention these days than it deserves. Let's try to rectify that as we talk about what democracy demands from its citizens. From old-fashioned brainstorming to Google Docs collaboration, we'll build ideas to bring democracy beyond content and into the fabric of our schools.

What if Schools...

Session 6
Luke Zeller

Please join this conversation to imagine what is possible for schools and classrooms. "What if Schools..." is a prompt to encourage us to think beyond traditional models of school structure and strategy. With each other as resources for innovation, we can develop new lenses through which we can imagine education. The source of innovation is within each other, our experiences, and our ideas. Therefore, please join this opportunity to push for transformation of traditional school models.

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