Rick Wormeli Keynote

[Todd Williamson]

THE CONFERENCE HAS BEEN FANTASTIC SO FAR!! THE FOCUS OF RICK'S KEYNOTE WILL BE ON TEACHING IN 4-D...I'M READY TO FLOOD THIS POST WITH TONS OF INFORMATION...HOPE YOU ALL CAN FOLLOW IT...APOLOGIES IF IT DOESN'T COME THROUGH AS SUCCESSFULLY AS I'D LIKE!

Here we go...

We're caught up in a swirl of great ideas...we'll rededicate ourselves, look beyond education vistas, we will trun profoundly to each other and change teaching...but very soon reality will return

Our realities inspire our best efforts...never enough time, effort, or resources...but we do it anyway!

Looking at things 2 or 3 dimensionally mires us in mediocrity!

We should propose candid questions about what we do...1 note on a guitar doesn't motivate, but multiple notes together can inspire.

Expertise

• Showing before and after pictures of his son across 15 months...
• How much of "This We Believe" runs through every decision we make?
• Some meat of what we know must be in every lesson
• Cognitive science...nothing goes into long-term memory until it is attached to something important
• Teach in ways students best learn, not the ways we best learn
• We must be experts in subjects we teach...so we can unpack our standards
• We have our own secret code middle school kids can't figure out to combat text messaging: cursive
• 80% is abstract while 80% of middle school kids are concrete
• Middle school kids are into their bodies...use it for good, not evil...using hand gestures for showing learning,
• Kid says "I don't know?" you say "What would you say if you DID know?"
• Outdoor education is vital to their success

Creativity

• Aristotle - ethos, logos, pathos...students show each by juggling a single ball...then begin juggling with each other to show that they can't be separated from each other
• He was worried he might get toothpick and gumdrop triangles...what if he had limited them to his imagination?
• What if our students could only learn what we know?
• Margaret Wheatley...are you willing to be confused?
• Major inventions usually come form someone who's just a little out on the edge...we want creativity
• Do our kids know how to ask good questions? If not this, will take us down the wrong path..
• Whoever asks the questions, does the learning...teachers tend to ask about 80 questions for every 2 from the children...

Failure

• Get over the idea of looking silly in front of others
• David Warlick - Interaction WITH the technology is how tech actually helps out YES YES YES YES YES...THANK YOU RICK!! GREAT TO HEAR SOMEONE OUTSIDE OF EDTECHWORLD SHARING THIS!
• If we're teaching a product, it's difficult to differentiate...If we're teaching Persuasive Essay then that's the only product...if we're teaching Persuasion, then we can do Essays, Scripts, Dioramas, etc...
• Expert in any field is the one who made the most mistakes...The person who makes no mistakes is the one who takes orders from the one who does.
• Don't stand on the edge of the pit your kids have dug and wag your finger...jump in and help them out
• Young adolescents are undergoing the second fastest growth and development period after ages 0-2...we don't label 9 months old who don't walk and say they'll never amount to much...
• LSAT, MCAT, Praxis, any test that we use to "determine what someone's life will be" can be taken multiple times...why can't an 8th grade math test?
• For a teacher to change a behavior...he/she must first admit what they are doing is wrong, or there is a better way

Collaboration

• There's a huge amount of information out there...do we teach kids how to critique Wikipedia
• Are lectures launching points or just a way to fill kids heads?
• I Don't have to know it all!!! YES YES YES!!!
• TALKING ABOUT SHARING LESSONS, COLLABORATING, LEARNING FROM OTHER TEACHERS
• IF WE LIMIT KIDS ACCESS THEY"LL NEVER LEARN HOW TO CRITIQUE SITES THEMSELVES!!! (Rick said this...just can't say it in small letters it's so important)
• YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!
• MiddleTalk: one of the greatest professional development experiences that exists
• Plugging Listservs...talking about building a PLN...MIGHT NOT BE THE BEST FORMAT, THOUGH I LOVE MIDDLETALK (YES SHAWN I'M REALLY TYPING THIS) BUT MAN IS IT GOOD TO HEAR SOMEONE OUTSIDE OF EDTECH COMMUNITY SAYING THIS
• Write down all you've learned at this conference and ask someone to mail it to you in 6 months
• We must break out of the echo chamber
• Doubt gives richness to faith

Get out there and ask questions and inspire the next generation.

Sound of Music video about Differentiation

THANKS RICK! GREAT AS ALWAYS...VERY NICE TO HEAR OTHERS SPEAKING ABOUT THE POWER OF BUILDING A LEARNING NETWORK...DESPITE THE TOOL, TWITTER, LISTSERV, OR OTHERWISE, WE NEED MORE PEOPLE TO RECOGNIZE WE DON'T HAVE TO KNOW IT ALL. NO NEED TO REINVENT THE WHEEL EACH TIME...LOOK FORWARD TO USING WHAT I'VE LEARNED THIS WEEK AND SEEING MANY FOLKS AGAIN NEXT YEAR IN BALTIMORE!!!

[Karolee Smiley]

Thanks, Todd, you take great notes!

Rick Wormeli's closing keynote was fun, energizing and informative. But, I really liked the end. The focus on what happens after the conference. Although he jested about us leaving the conference rejuvenated and bursting with new ideas, and then trying to remember where we parked the car... its not far from the truth.
I came back and found myself caught up in notes about rude and inappropriate behavior, the photocopies for the guest teacher were not delivered, and the pile of laundry at home.

I made a point to myself to take a week and reflect on my learning and realities of life. I came away from the conference feeling like I was soaring with eagles. But returned to school and found everyone was scratching the ground like a flock of chickens.

Finding the balance of being grounded in reality and dreaming about the changes that need to happen is a difficult tightrope to walk, but the satisfaction of staying on makes it well worth it.
In reality, there are many things out of our control: limited budgets, access to resources, overcrowded classrooms, social and economic challenges,.... I could go on and on about all the factors that effect our class that are outside our "locus of control". But, consider all the things that are in our control: how information is presented, explored, and shared, how students use tools and interact with the world around them, and so many other ideas that are "outside the box".

So I ask you all... Have you written a letter to yourself? I have an email to myself. I figure if I hide it in my inbox, it will take me 6 months to find it again! However you do it, don't lose that opportunity for reflection and rejuvenation. "Doubt gives richness to faith". If I never question what I do and why, how can I ever grow?

Challenge yourself. Try something new. Question your systems. And share you successes and failures so we can all grow together.