I’m delighted to have been invited to keynote (1st time!) an independent school educational conference, the NYSAIS Education and Information Technology Conference (NEIT 2010).   I will offer two main presentations, and an additional session during the Open Space format.

Learners-in-Chief:  The Importance of our Own Learning in Leading 21st century Schools.   Our society, our workplaces, and our digital tools are changing faster than ever before, and there is no way for us to lead our students’ learning if we are not leading in our own learning about these changes.   This session will consider the significance of the growth mindset and how to strengthen it in ourselves and our students, and will offer suggestions in how we can best practice and facilitate adult learning in our schools.

Aligning Assessment and Data with Mission: Choosing the Right Measurements for School Improvement.    What gets measured is what gets done.  We can’t manage what we can’t measure.  The measurement is the message.  Assessment matters. Assessing effectively what we most want our students to be learning, and collecting the right data and using it appropriately,  can be very valuable in the messages we send about our priorities and in how we use the results to plan our school improvements.   This session will address both important reforms in internal assessments and also several 21st century data collection tools schools can use for these purposes.

21st c. Skills & the Web 2.0 The Partnership for 21st century skills has distilled their lengthier list down to a concise set of four C’s: critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity.   It is no accident that this closely parallels what the Web 2.0 platform offers users: the power and tools to collaborate, create, critically think,  and communicate.   How are we using web 2.0 tools to cultivate these skills in our students?  In this session I will offer a few suggestions and examples, but primarily I want to learn from you: come to  share your  best and favorite web 2.0 tools for 21st century learning. We will also try to take time to discuss how we assess students in these skills.

I hope East Coast readers will consider attending the event, November 10-12.   The link above takes you to conference information and registration.   If you are attending,  please say hello and offer me some advance input and feedback about these sessions by using the comment box.  I look forward to seeing you there!