Reflections on ASCD 2013

Like a kid in a candy shop, the annual ASCD conference offers something for everyone’s tastes, and I tried an assortment. The complexity of issues in education was evidenced by the array of themes and topics from common core to bold changes in schools. Here are some of my take-aways from the 2013 conference.

Educators from all over the world: Singapore, Oman, Finland, Australia, and more shared ideas and common concerns regarding the future of education. (I even received an invitation to visit Oman)

Freeman Hrabowski (“One of the ten most influential people in the world”) asked “How can we turn frustration into fascination?” His answer: Combining high expectations with student-centered engaged learning and necessary supports.

Many of the conversations about assessment emphasized the Common Core and preparing students to pass the literacy and numeracy tests. The big emphasis being on modifying curriculum and instruction to incorporate the standards for speaking and listening, reading, writing, and language skills in all content areas.

What students know is not based on simply finding the right answer by following directions, rules, and step-by step procedures but rather based on complex interdisciplinary performance tasks with multiple outcomes and solutions.

My workshops on Assessing 21^st Century Skills and Using Formative Assessment to Support the Common Core were well attended with many questions and insights on integrating these ideas with teaching and learning.

I was especially inspired by:

Maya Angelou who, at 85, used personal stories and poetry to encourage educators to  find their rainbow in the clouds.

Will Richardson, whose out of the box thinking inspires educators to always think about learning for the future.

Rick Wormeli on building student’s critical thinking skills, Michael Fullan on continuous improvement of one’s own teaching, Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey on structured teaching for the Common Core while gradually releasing responsibility for learning to students, and many, many other leaders of ideas and practice.