SummerSpark 2011 Site (Archived)

Welcome to SummerSpark 2011

A teacher conference based on conversations to kick off your summer.

Dates: June 2 & 3, 2011

Location: Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX

Registration Fee: $40 per person. Fee covers lunch both days.

Goals and Vision Statements:

Goals:

• • To bring teachers and administrators from independent schools together to 'spark' conversations about how best to educate students for 21st century citizenship.

  • To be a catalyst for ideas and relationships that will improve all of our schools.

Vision Statements:

• • We believe that dynamic teaching & learning in the 21st century requires a community of networked professionals to support our individual and collective development.

  • We believe that all of us are figuring out what it means to be teachers and learners in the 21st century.

  • We believe that being a 21st century teacher and learner is not about the tools or technology itself.

  • We believe that being a 21st century teacher and learner is about asking, "What is possible?" (and letting the tools be catalysts).

  • We believe that such a network must be developed collectively -- within our own school, within our community of schools, and around the globe.

  • We believe that such a network provides students (and ourselves) with resources and mentoring in a just-in-time, asynchronous manner.

  • We believe that none of us can be the final 'expert' in our subjects in the digital age (and in the ways information has exponentially exploded).

  • We believe that our classrooms should expand our abilities to ask the right questions, seeking agile solutions for novel situations in the 21st century.

  • We believe that our classrooms can no longer be limited to what takes place within our 4 walls.

  • We believe that the 'teacher' in the classroom can no longer be the single 'audience' for our students.

  • We believe that our students work must have authentic local & global audiences to share their ideas, work, and projects with as they are developed.

• We believe that we must share the 'process' of learning, exploring, experimentation, and revisions, not just the 'ideal' finished product(s).