Convention Center 2011
Welcome to the convention center! This is where you’ll come to find the presentations for the Virtual Conference this July.
Please, participate in the conference. All you have to do is respond to the prompt on your own blog and fill out this form to let us know. Teachers, administrators, students, and parents are welcome to join in and present. If you don’t have a blog yet, consider starting one!
We’ve gotten things started here with four eight keynote speakers. You can take their posts as inspiration during a particular week… or not! You do not need to pre-register, although I do of course recommend subscribing!
The Program
| Week 1: July 2 – July 8 | |||
| July 2 | Arne Duncan | “Finding Our True Center” on ed.gov | The center of a classroom is not a test, a textbook, or the posters on the wall. It’s not a state or district policy, and it most certainly is not a federal law…Programs don’t change people, relationships do. |
| Michal Eynon-Lynch | “Student Scmoodents – Let’s Talk About Stuff That Matters” on ActiveGrade.com | While students are undoubtedly a central and important part of the classroom, are our student-centered classrooms putting the focus in the wrong place? | |
| f(t) | “Mistakes are Made” on f(t) | How I deliberately, non-threateningly, bring student mistakes front and center. Two specific strategies for getting erroneous thinking out in the open. | |
| Jason Buell | “I betcha think this post is about you” on Always Formative | It’s not about you. It’s about me. | |
| Sameer Shah | “Virtual Conference on Core Values: The Heart of my Classroom” on Continuous Everywhere but Differentiable Nowhere” | The heart of my classroom is trying to get kids who see math as impossible to see math as possible. It’s about pulling them away from thinking “I’m not a math person” pushing them towards “I can be a math person.” I am not a success at this, but merely by being conscious of it, I am already making long strides. | |
| Chris Ludwig | “An Open Letter to My Colleagues” on Science Education on the Edge | If we say we want to create a student-centered learning community, we must consider the greater school-wide environment in which our classes operate. The reform efforts of any one teacher pale in comparison to the changes that can be made if everyone, staff, administration, and student body, work together to change how learning takes place. In this post, I argue that the next step in the evolution of our school as a learning community is to ditch the traditional bell schedule and instead implement an “open door” schedule and learning practices. | |
| July 6 | Jose Vilson | “How “I Don’t Get It” Is The First Step Towards Mastery” on The Jose Vilson | It’s specifically about a math teacher who, upon realizing that learning wasn’t linear, was going to extract some thoughtful responses from his students about the math they were learning in the classroom. That, my friends, is the basis for my speech today. If we continue to perpetuate the myth that learning somehow comes from one test given in two hours, then we’re cheating ourselves of too many opportunities. |
| David Cox | “Treat ‘Em Like They’re My Own” on Questions? | Teaching is like raising a child: We are preparing them to leave. | |
| Scott | “Assumptions” on I Taught My Dog to Whistle | This post is about giving students who have previously failed a class the chance, and hopefully the attitude, to see that they can learn and do well. | |
| David Coffey | “Do You Trust Yourself?” on Delta Scape | The central role of reflection and trust in teaching and learning. | |
| John Golden | “Centering” on Mathhombre | How eventually I got to considering the conditions for learning, what they are and how they guide my teaching. | |
| Bret Benesh | “Comes a day you’re gonna have to decide whether it’s about you or about the work” on Solvable by Radicals | Students should be given more autonomy than they are. Here are some small ways to give them more. | |
| Week 2: July 9 – July 15 | |||
| July 9 | Shawn Cornally | “Virtual Conference on Core Values: Suplexes For Everyone!” on ThinkThankThunk | Values are prickly things, especially when challenged. But how else will you know what you actually care about? |
| Dan Goldner | “Smart and Free” on Work in Pencil | What’s at the center of my classroom? A bulls-eye. | |
| July 13 | |||
| Breedeen Murray | “A Mathematics Manifesto” on The Space Between the Numbers | Struggle & success. These are two sides of the same coin. Neither one has meaning without the other. | |
| Week 3: July 16 – July 22 | |||
| July 16 | Scott McLeod | Dangerously Irrelevant | |
| gasstationwithoutpumps | “Skills at the Center” on gasstationwithoutpumps | “Student-centered” or “teacher-centered” misses the point. My classes are about developing skills. | |
| July 20 | Dina Strasser | “In the Center of My Classroom” on The Line | Sometimes, the center of your classroom– and your response to identifying it– will surprise the heck out of you. |
| Sophie Germain | “VCCV: Belonging” on a brand new line | Middle school is tragic, I am hoping to make it a little less so by giving students a place to belong. | |
| Alvin A. Davis | “Virtual Conference on Core Values” at Ed Out The Box | Through student monitoring and expectations of academic success I explain how my classroom center and motivational goals keep me focused on the larger picture of providing a world-class education by preparing our students for competing in a global economy. | |
| rhlyon | “At the center of my classroom” on Study of Change | This is my first blog post, the first of many and my introduction to the online world of math teachers. If you think I should change anything, let me know! I really appreciate the opportunity this conference has given me to debut. Thank you! | |
| Week 4: July 23 – July 29 | |||
| July 23 | Holly Graff | “The All-You-Can-Learn Buffet or How learning is a lot like eating your vegetables” on Unschool Days | An unschooling mom explains how learning is just like eating your vegetables; it’s a matter of trust. |
| John Berray | “The Throne of Balance” on Altering the Course | The essence of what rules my classroom is my attempt at keeping it balanced. This balance is the result of choosing to make small adaptations to produce a thriving learning environment. | |
| July 27 | Frank Noschese | “The Tower” on Action-Reaction | How an ice-breaker activity becomes a symbol for success, failure, risk-taking, and feedback throughout the school year. |
The Prompt
What is at the center of your classroom? What ultimate goal or question motivates your work in education?
You’ll see articles with titles like…
- It’s about relationships.
- Challenges and successes leading a student-centered class.
- Is there a place for teacher-centered classrooms?
- Why I keep teaching even though it’s hard.
- Leading a flipped classroom
- How I made projects the keystone of my class
- Giving meaningful feedback
- Using computers to let students explore
- The Matrix: Seeing the constructs for what they are; learning the rules so you can break them.
Some of these first set are more specific than others. They all give glimpses of their authors’ basic pedagogy. That basic pedagogy is what this conference is about: the hearthstones of our classrooms. Specific advice and experience is always helpful, and there’s also room here for philosophy and general values.
This summer’s conference will focus on the bigger questions of “What do we hold most important for our classes?” and “How can we better focus on that?”
Write your response and submit your post via THIS FORM
But Wait, There’s More! #vccv « Point of Inflection
June 17, 2011 at 11:15 pm
[...] !important;} /* */ Point of InflectionLet's get better, and do it on purpose.AboutConvention Center 2011Holistic EducationBringing the Problem to Reality RSS But Wait, There’s More! [...]
Sue VanHattum
June 18, 2011 at 9:48 am
Thank you. looking forward to it.
cheesemonkeysf
June 20, 2011 at 5:41 pm
Holy cow! Great work — this is an amazing line-up. And it hasn’t even gotten rolling yet!
- Elizabeth (aka @cheesemonkeysf on Twitter)
A Success For Both Of Us, If We Can Have One | The Jose Vilson
June 21, 2011 at 8:48 pm
[...] who has a few things to say to Arne Duncan [...]
Virtual Conference Starts Tomorrow! « Point of Inflection
June 30, 2011 at 11:19 pm
[...] !important;} /* */ Point of InflectionLet's get better, and do it on purpose.AboutConvention Center 2011Holistic EducationBringing the Problem to Reality RSS Virtual Conference Starts [...]
Virtual Conference Starts Tomorrow! |
June 30, 2011 at 11:27 pm
[...] is the Conference Center (go here to see an explanation and links to all the [...]
Virtual Conference on Softskills. « A Brand New Line
July 2, 2011 at 4:40 pm
[...] blog. But for those of you would don’t I want to point you in the direction of the Virtual Conference on Soft Skills. Basically the not straight instruction parts of teaching here is the main page with the [...]
Student Scmoodents, Let’s Talk About Stuff That Matters |
July 3, 2011 at 7:54 am
[...] Posted for the Virtual Conference on Core Values [...]
+1 (that’s the new thing now, right?) « Sarcasymptote
July 7, 2011 at 11:57 am
[...] David Cox:Sarcasymptote::Greg Maddux:David Wells. If you haven’t read his entry to the Virtual Conference on Core Values, you are really missing something [...]
Smart and free « Work in Pencil
July 10, 2011 at 5:11 pm
[...] for the Virtual Conference on Core Values. (Thanks, [...]
Science Education on the Edge · Virtual Conference on Core Values: An open letter to my colleagues
July 11, 2011 at 10:55 am
[...] in Learning Environments, School Leadership | 8 comments What follows is my submission to the Virtual Conference on Core Values. I write this in the hope that it will lead to thoughtful discussions with my colleagues, wherever [...]
Comes a day you’re gonna have to decide whether it’s about you or about the work. « Solvable by Radicals
July 11, 2011 at 4:01 pm
[...] [Posted for the Virtual Conference on Core Values] [...]
educationinformationonline.com » Blog Archive » Esther Wojcicki: The Teacher and the American Dream
July 12, 2011 at 10:12 pm
[...] on July 1, Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education, wrote the following in a letter for the July, 2011 Virtual Conference on education. The center of a classroom is not a test, a textbook, or the posters on the wall. [...]
Esther Wojcicki: The Teacher and the American Dream | moregoodstuff.info
July 13, 2011 at 12:01 am
[...] on July 1, Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education, wrote the following in a letter for the July, 2011 Virtual Conference on education. The center of a classroom is not a test, a textbook, or the posters on the wall. [...]
A Mathematics Manifesto | The Space Between the Numbers
July 15, 2011 at 9:33 am
[...] This post is for the Virtual Conference on Core Values ( http://larkolicio.us/blog/?page_id=873). [...]
Skills at the center « Gas station without pumps
July 17, 2011 at 2:23 pm
[...] Lark. He introduced a theme for bloggers and is collecting pointers to their posts at the “Convention Center“. The prompt boils down to “What is at the center of your [...]
In The Center of My Classroom | The Line
July 20, 2011 at 12:15 pm
[...] was invited most graciously to participate in Point of Inflection’s Convention Center 2011, and write a post answering this question. I did. Lots of [...]
At the Center of my Classroom « Study of change
July 20, 2011 at 4:46 pm
[...] This post is submitted for the Virtual Conference on Core Values. [...]
More Than A Feeling « Empathic Education
July 20, 2011 at 7:50 pm
[...] “The center of a classroom is not a test, a textbook, or the posters on the wall. It’s not a state or district policy, and it most certainly is not a federal law. The heart of the classroom is found in the unique relationships between students and teachers. In the same way that a family turns a house into a home, a physical and emotional transformation takes place when teachers and students work together in community to reach common goals. We see it in the trust, the expectations, the experiences and the knowledge of every person in the class.” Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education, in a letter for the July, 2011 Virtual Conference [...]
The Throne of Balance | Altering the Course
July 24, 2011 at 2:22 am
[...] post is part of the Virtual Conference on Core Values, found here. [...]
At the Center of my Classroom | Study of change
September 2, 2011 at 9:38 pm
[...] This post is submitted for the Virtual Conference on Core Values. [...]
in which i present about why i only twitter with math teachers « Learning to Fold
November 19, 2011 at 9:44 pm
[...] his. If you just want a place to start reading some quality posts, go check out Riley Lark’s Conference on Core Values from this past summer. The topic was about what is at the center of ones classroom and posts came [...]
Mr G's Idle Musings » Blog Archive » My Diigo 07/08/2012
July 8, 2012 at 6:18 pm
[...] Convention Center 2011 « Point of Inflection [...]
The Tower | Action-Reaction
August 17, 2012 at 12:40 pm
[...] This post is part of the 2011 Virtual Conference on Core Values hosted by Riley Lark. The prompt for the conference is “What is at the center of your classroom?” You can see the rest of the blog entries in the conference at the Virtual Convention Center. [...]