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Volume 1, No. 2
Summer, 2007 Exclusively online at
www.EducationHall.com For some, a trip to a national education conference presents an opportunity to network, to learn, to connect, and to become inspired…all at the hands of colleagues and professionals bent on improving the practice of education. For others, it’s a chance to visit a city and see the sights…on someone else’s dime. Fortunately, good readers of The Launching Pad, we are the former. As the 2006-2007 school year has come to a close, we reflect upon our own professional growth and the ways in which we bolstered our own professional expertise. This year, the national conferences of ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) and NAESP (National Association of Elementary School Principals) provided the tremendous opportunity to grow, embolden, dream, and learn from some of the best practitioners in the field. In this section, we will highlight some of the key moments, presenters, and themes from these two conferences…and we’ll look ahead to their 2007-2008 national conferences, for which there’s plenty of time to register!
Widely regarded as the best education conference in the country, this year’s ASCD Annual Conference lived up to all reasonable expectations. Held in beautiful Anaheim, California, the theme of Valuing the Whole Child: Embracing a Global Vision was evident from the kick-off Book Bash on Friday night to the last of the roughly 600 concurrent sessions on Monday afternoon. Nearly 11,000 participants from 40 countries shared in this tremendous learning experience, which included presentations by such renowned educators/researchers as Charlotte Danielson, Thomas Hoerr, Robert Marzano, Jay McTighe, Doug Reeves, Carol Ann Tomlinson, and literally hundreds of others. Of particular interest was the opening general session, during which keynote speaker Manuel Medrano passionately implored the audience members to revel in their true potential. With wild anecdotes and engaging fervor, Mr. Medrano left an indelible impression to begin this conference. Also during this general session, ASCD honored Joris Ray from Memphis the Outstanding Young Educator Award (see pg. 4 for more details). EducationHall was aptly represented at this conference as well, as featured columnist Derek Cordell spoke from the heart about an innovative approach to proactive school-wide discipline he has dubbed “The Lightning Club,” and consultant Alisa Simeral enlightened an overflow crowd to the ins and outs of her instructional coaching model and Continuum of Self-Reflection.
NAESP’s 86th annual convention was greeting by rare spring sunshine in Seattle, Washington, which boded well for the remainder of the gathering. As thousands of school principals and other school leaders descended upon the Convention Center, NAESP lived up to its reputation by providing a slew of resources and events to accompany the many relevant concurrent sessions. With pre-convention workshops complete, the remaining conference schedule included committee meetings, book signings, social events, leadership meetings, special forums, and many outstanding speakers. At the opening general session, author and educator Jonathan Kozol continued his trend of raising the ire and eyebrows of his audiences by sharing his critique of the American school system. Whatever one’s take, the indisputable result is that Mr. Kozol generated a significant amount of follow-up conversation. Concurrent sessions throughout the convention provided ample opportunity to listen and learn from the best school leaders in the field. Included were John Blaydes, the incomparable Jim Grant, author Sandra Harris (see her book review on pg. 13), and former NAESP president Paul Young. EducationHall Executive Director Pete Hall spoke Saturday morning to a raucous audience about the benefits of differentiating supervision practices.
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Copyright
© 2007 EducationHall. All rights reserved. |
