Sharing ideas on Education, Leadership and Life



Tuesday, May 1, 2012

MY ( Quick) RELECTIONS from EDJEWCON

[ Editors Note: There is so much I still need process and want to blog about but wanted to share my quick highlights right away. ]

WOW!!
I am not sure what else to say about my recent experience at the EDJEWCON conference.
First is foremost are thank you to the amazing organizers Jon_Mitzmacher langwitches edtechworkshop
I would also like to thank them for asking me to present ( a topic for a separate  blog post very shortly )

I would also like to thank my school the Margolin Hebrew Academy  for sending me together with a team of three other educators.



The conference started for me with a keynote from heidihaysjacobs unquestionably the premier expert on 21st century learning.

She pointed out the following which for me made me really think she said that Form should follow function but in reality how we function unfortunately follows the form and system we are currently in. In reality this is our biggest challenge the school structure is 19th century the curriculum is 20th century and we are teaching 21st century students
Then she challenged us and in return I challenge myself and all of you as well given our current structure curriculum assessments etc for what year are we preparing our current students for?

Heidi said not one is educations them for today let alone tomorrow she believes we fall  between the 1980-90's a very scary thought.

She also pointed out which is a pet peeve of mine as well that these aren’t 21st century skills but rather skills needed for life and we should probably stop using that term given that we are more than 10% into the 21st century.
And finally she concluded with the idea that we are not necessarily looking for change but rather our goal should be growth and with growth we go through growing pains and it hurts sometimes.

The conference ended with a key note from AngelaMaires

What a way to end she truly lives her Mantra of you matter and being passion driven. What an inspiration
I have blogged and spoken about how technology is a tool and it needs to support learning
Angela said it even better and that is What is the RIGHT way to use technology  or how can we use technology correctly and she shared the following acronym
R-Real ( it needs to make the learning real )
I-Impact it must have an impact on our students
G-Global - learning is now global and needs to be done beyond the classroom walls

H-Honor Passion
T- talent amplifier

Angela concluded with the following idea that I tweeted out. She said the number 1 thing students want is to know that They MATTER!  You show me that we Matter when you honor me, inspire me, notice me , smile at me ,help me, and trust me via AngelaMaiers

In between these two keynotes there were amazing sessions about leading school change, how we need to reflect on our learning and teaching and how can we create that culture,and blog portfolios just to name a few. Each one probably deserves an individual blog post.

However the biggest takeaway and the one thing that made the biggest impression was the fact that everyone came to learn. We often talk about life long learners and we believe it ( I hope) but do we see it. Well I had the privilege over the last 2 days to be in an environment where everyone was willing to learn and  grow and move out of his or her comfort zone.

Can’t Wait for EDJEWCON 5773

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