Celebrate Teaching and Learning Conference in New York March 23 and 24, 2007 at the Piers 92 and 94.
I am planning to attend this conference and I intend to blog the different sessions I plan to attend. An example of the sessions I will be attending include a Panel Presentation- New Jersey: Becoming a 21st Century Schools State, The Bronx Zoo- Distance Learning Adventures, NYSUT - Multiple Intelligence Strategies, The George Lucas Educational Foundation, Best Practices, DR. Mel Levine, How Learning Needs to Work, etc. After attending an ESAC meeting at Channel 13 WNET, the conference will be quite exciting and educational. I hope to take back many practices to my school district.
I am planning to attend this conference and I intend to blog the different sessions I plan to attend. An example of the sessions I will be attending include a Panel Presentation- New Jersey: Becoming a 21st Century Schools State, The Bronx Zoo- Distance Learning Adventures, NYSUT - Multiple Intelligence Strategies, The George Lucas Educational Foundation, Best Practices, DR. Mel Levine, How Learning Needs to Work, etc. After attending an ESAC meeting at Channel 13 WNET, the conference will be quite exciting and educational. I hope to take back many practices to my school district.
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The conference so far has been great. They expect about 4000 attendees per day. the registration lines were very long but attendees were being registered quickly and the very long lines were gone in by 9:00 am. I meet with a few of my ESAC fellow members and Toni showed me where to get my volunteer badge and T-shirt. I will be in the winners of the JP Morgan multimedia competition booth tomorrow. Many of the people attending are interested in incorporating science, social studies and technology within the classroom. I am interested in how to assist my teachers in using technology in their social studies and science instruction. There is no wireless access in the conference so my attempts to blog during the conference will not be easy. At present I am using a laptop that has been made available for users in the hallway of the conference. I also took pictures of the registration area and of the Channel Thirteen booth and now I am getting ready to attend my first panel discussion "State Leader's Perspectives on 21st Century Skills". Hopefully after this session I will be able to add to this blog.
3:40 PM. After attending the panel discussion regarding the 21st century skills, I found the discussion to be interested and related to the type of skills students will need in order to function in a global economy. The "flattening" of the world has caused education to understand that the use of technology and the skills that students will need to function in the present and the future workforce will depend on how instruction and assessment is done in the classroom. Students need to know how to use authentic information to resolve problems because they will need to compete in a global market. A question was asked about parental involvement. The panelist suggested that maybe schools should consider getting the school to the parent and in the home rather than constantly trying to get the parent into the school. The ability to provide laptops for students would be apart of this initiative. In order for students to have these 21st century skills, teachers will need to have professional development on using the tools and how to perform authentic assessments for students. The use of assistive technology would provide an avenue for special needs students to perform as their other classmates in the classroom. There was a discussion on obstacles on how to students will get these skills. Overall the panel discussion was great!
National Commission on Teaching and America's Future.
The main focus of this panel was how to better prepare teachers to work in an urban environment. A main issue for urban teachers is that they usually leave the urban teaching community in less than 5 years. This commission is focusing on how to better prepare and retain these teachers in an urban schools. At University of Massachusetts they offer a 4 year program that includes the teacher getting a teaching license, a Master's degree and dual certification in Special Education. Montclair University in NJ has developed a degree that focuses on urban teaching. The Alternative Urban Teaching Academy includes 3 strands which include K-12, K-5 and an Early Childhood Cohort. The intership of the program is community based where teachers can develop relationships with students in an uran community. The program at University of Massachuttes has been very successful with a teacher retention rate of 96%. The discussion was interesting and I really enjoyed the program.
Question and Answers with Margaret Spelling - US Secretary of Education.
10:02 PM Secretary Spelling discussed the re-authorization of the No Child Left Behind legislature to be more teacher and educator friendly. She stated that assessment is here to stay and that with bi-partisan support NCLB will continue. She spoke on the use of technology within the educational process and importance of education for the "flatting" of the world. There is a need to increase the rigor in Math and Science in High Schools. The main focus of NCLB has been on K-8. To increase the competitiveness of our students in the world there would need to be changes made to High Schools. A few teachers asked question related to a national science curriculum, bi-lingual students and differentiated assessments. Her presentation focused on what has been done for education since the passing of NCLB and the need to continue to support the poorest and needest students in the US.
3/24/07 10:55 AM
Today Dr. Mel Levine presented on the neurological aspects of learning and how educators, parents and schools could use this information in order to assist student's learning process. He expresses the need for students to be taught to their strenghts and not their weaknesses. If students understood what their contribution should be to their educational process, it would allow the student to excel in their classrooms. The presentation was fascinating.
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