The 26th Annual Model Schools Conference may be over, but we hope the words of the speakers there will be long lasting—and prove effective both for the enthusiastic crowd of passionate educators and leaders who attended and those of you who couldn’t make it to Orlando.
The speakers at MSC offered practical and inspirational insights for teachers and administrators, who are paving the way to change in their K-12 schools and districts. Here are some key takeaways that they shared at MSC, which you can reference as you implement your plans.
Weston Kieschnick on Blended Learning
ICLE Senior Fellow
"It is a dangerous place when we decide … the skills of our past have no place in our future. We have to, in this space of blended learning, start to embrace a culture of and, not a culture of or."
Eric Sheninger on Digital Learning
ICLE Senior Fellow
"Whether it's education, business—one of most common excuses is, 'I don't have time' or 'we don't have the money.' Or, 'theres too many mandates and directives and red tape.' We have to focus on the what ifs, not the yeah buts. The yeah buts lead to excuses, lead to obstacles. If you want to get to where the magic happens, we need to focus on those what ifs."
Maisah Howard on Trauma
ICLE Consultant
"Don’t assume that you know what is taking place in the home of your children [students]. And when you have a child that is asking you—pleading with you—not to call their home, try to resolve the matter in house, because you don’t know what the consequences are for the child in their home. … [It’s] important to just be aware, be attuned to how your children are responding when they’re asking you not to call [home]."
Dr. Bill Daggett on Rigor and Relevance
ICLE Founder
“We became so focused on the academics, the technology, that we lost sight of maybe what we need to do that is most important—which is to develop these noncognitive skills.”
Sherry St. Clair on Student Voice
ICLE Senior Consultant; President of Reflective Learning, LLC
"Student voice in the time of social media, ... everyone has a voice and it's not always kind, respectful, not always given in the right way—so there's that piece. We have to help students craft their voice and how to say what they mean to say and do it in a respectful manner."
Dr. Tyrone C. Howard on Equity and Discourse
ICLE Senior Fellow; Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at UCLA
"When you go back to your schools and you have these conversations about equity, we have to ask everyone to stay committed to the conversation. Stay committed to the discourse, because we cannot learn if we're not willing to listen to others. We cannot learn if we're not willing to have hard conversations about the populations that we say we care about."
Dr. Lissa Pijanowski on School Improvement
ICLE Senior Fellow
“There is no silver bullet in education. The only things that will improve education are the people who are teaching and who are leading. PLCs [Professional Learning Communities] are about building capacity in your people."
...And that's a wrap! Hopefully you left MSC 2018 with a lot of new ideas to shape your educational community and make a difference in students' lives. The journey will continue with next year's conference in Washington, D.C.
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Join more than 5,000 educators in 100+ sessions at the 31st Annual Model Schools Conference in Orlando, Florida, from June 25–28, 2023. Now a hybrid event, MSC is extending and enhancing beyond convention center ballrooms and across the world.
