planning

Guiding Questions / Axioms:
Do we want to do something like this:

The Axioms / Guiding Principles: 1) Our schools must be inquiry-driven, project-based and empowering for all members. (Honestly, I'm beginning to look for something more meaningful than "project-based..." I don't think it speaks to the deep-level we want to get to. Inquiry does, Understanding does, Empowering does. Dunno.) 2) Our schools must be about co-creating -- together with our students -- the 21st Century Citizen 3) Technology must serve pedagogy, not the other way around. 4) Technology must enable students to research, create, communicate and collaborate 5) Learning can -- and must -- be networked.

Given these guiding principles... I suggest the following five session streams:
 * School 2.0** -- How do our schools need to change to prepare kids for the world to come?
 * Classroom 2.0** -- How do our classrooms need to change?
 * Student 2.0** -- How will the student experience change in our schools?
 * Teacher 2.0** -- How will the lives of teachers change?
 * Change 2.0** -- How do we best act as agents of change?

Three Questions: 1) What are the schools our society needs and our children deserve? 2) How do we adapt the best of what has come before us in schools to what lays ahead of us? 3) A third? Thoughts?
 * How do we convince colleagues/administrators/parents to change the system so that students are more active participants in building both the structure and content of their own learning? This question ties directly into the second principle. [Tim]

How do we solicit / choose sessions?

 * Call for proposals --> What are we looking for?
 * How can we put together a really diverse group of judges for panels.
 * How can we try to set up student run session?
 * [Durff] I'm thinking an overall, encompassing mission statement is a place to start. What is the mission of your conference (not just another digital ratpack meeting, though those are fun too)
 * [Durff] Students should be given the same opportunity to present/attend sessions as any one else. We all are learners. We all have something to contribute.
 * [Arthus] Let students into every session and possibly present in a few. Include students in panels.
 * [Tim] I'd rather not have all the time scheduled ahead of time. Leave some unstructured time for discussions that will pop up from the more "formal" sessions.

Logistics -- Housing / Food
Is there a Days Inn close by or any other cheapo type lodging? A list of Philly restaurants will help. Can we start a page for Lodging/Food? [Durff] A catered lunch providing time for reflection, discussion, debate may be an idea. Are there any deli type catering places around Chris? Oh, and tell at least one is a vegan-I'll do vegetarian even for the sake of the conference.[Durff] I can recommend the Hampton Inn which is near the convention center. It's pretty comfortable, has free wifi, and offers a government discount. Remember, those public school districts many of us work for are government. :-) [Tim]

Here's a [|shared Google Map]. Could a few of you "in the know" suggest some things of interest, espcially lodging? user:ijohnpederson

Publicity?

 * Get outside the echo-chamber.
 * Get an announcement together that we can copy n' paste or print. I will publicize in my networks and I would suggest we all do the same. With our vast networks, we should be able to do this quickly. Getting Warlick to list it on Hitchhikr would be great too - Chris? [Durff]
 * Logo - we need a conference logo - Chris what about a student contest? Could you do that? We could nominate judges, the more unsuspecting the better. Pick several winners like grand, second, third. What say ye? [Durff]

Do we need to develop the one-pager on why this is different?
Yes; vital if you want to really have this be more than a tech conference with the obvious players (only) attending. -- Christian Long

So why is it different? What will make this conference any different from all the other ones? What are the distinguishing factors? [Durff]

Tech Needs?
A 24/7 decaf coffee pot - gratis if we bring our own cup. [Durff]

Is there an outcome for this? Do we want everyone to do *something* after this?
Maybe implement something new we learn here and blog about it including a conference tag. Then we could set up a feed collector or whatever one calls it to collect what we have written and tagged on a page of the wiki for public consumption. We could advise only attendees of the conference tag to try to weed out unwanted posts....someone must know how to code. [Durff]

Important thought --> This is not a technology conference -- this is a school reform / school 2.0 conference.
Brilliant distinction in terms of the theme -- This also allows you to reach outside the obvious echo chamber, too! -- Christian Long

Attendance Fee -- $50? All proceeds go to SLA.
Is that for f2f and is there a different fee for virtual attendance? How can we welcome people from all over the globe to participate? It would be nice to figure this out, instead of just Skyping people in for free, unless that is the plan. We just need to state the plan. [Durff] I have no problem with those of us attending the flesh covering the cost for those participating virtually. We should ask them to post pictures (of themselves and their locale) here to help make the connections. [Tim] A seperate rate for students? [Arthus]

Thoughts --> What is the action that comes out of the conference?
If we are giving people time for reflection / writing / talking... what are the prompts?
 * How does what you saw / took part in / etc... affect your personal learning?
 * How could the session you just experienced affect your school / district?
 * What is your personal action plan for pulling people into the echo chamber? Where do we go from here? [Durff]

January 25th Agenda 12:00 -- 3:00:
Spend the afternoon at Science Leadership Academy. Meetings with teachers, students and administrators to talk about the ideas of School 2.0 and how SLA is working toward that ideal.

Conference / Conversation Categories:
One of the things we have seen is that more and more presentations are becoming conversations. We are looking for "Conversation Sessions" that are interactive and engaging. One possible format: The mini-presentation -- 20-30 minute lectures, with the ability to be Skype/note-chatted, where a speaker takes a position on an issue, explains something, tries to define an idea or just tries to get their head around something. Listeners note-cast the session along with a live audio feed so others can take part. After the lecture, 30-40 minutes conversation where the speaker just joins the conversation around a table, followed by 15-30 minutes where personal reflection takes place.
 * Issue Conversation Sessions**

No matter what format these take -- all of these sessions must have participation built in.

We've got a comfy library and we're not afraid to use it.
 * Blogger Cafe**

This would be more like what we saw at the EBC, where one facilitator ran a conversation for an hour. I think these sessions would work best around ideas where many people felt a level of expertise or previous investment. Goals for sessions like these might be action oriented? If we all are walking in with a lot of expertise, can a good facilitator build consensus toward a goal? Again, if the conversations were an hour long, I'd want to leave time for a half-hour to reflect and write afterwards. (And again, no reason not to have a Snowball mic on the table and make sure that others can take part. In fact, there's every reason to.)
 * Unsessions**

Here's what I want to see more of... specific conversations around pedagogy. Could we have some sessions where folks had agreed to read an article beforehand around constructivist teaching and then had a conversation where we looked at Web 2.0 tools with the specific agenda of looking at how to take the best of progressive pedagogy and apply it to the new world in which we live? Maybe even looking at old language and looking at its limits and where we do and don't need new language? Again... skypecast it, chat it and give time for reflection at the end.
 * Pedagogy Sessions**

It would also be nice to see these discussions of pedagogy lead to more specific suggestions about how to incorporate these ideas into practice; ie, how will I apply this idea to the lesson/unit I'm starting tomorrow. How do I introduce this to students; what does it look like onscreen, and what does my "classroom" (in quotes because you can define it however you want) look like as a result? Perhaps these sessions could be followed by a series of posts/wiki pages where people brainstorm and archive ideas on using these tools in specific lessons.

We'll be offering spaces for folks who went to different sessions to come together and talk about what they've learned.
 * Cross-Pollination Lunch**

Getting outside the Echo Chamber
From John Pederson -- everyone is encouraged to bring one person from outside the "chamber" -- i.e. a student, a teacher, administrator or colleague. From Stephanie Sandifer -- and think about options for "skypecasting" discussions/sessions back home to site team members who can't attend.

[| Conference 2.0 Resources]
From Stephanie Sandifer's Change Agency Blog -- we should definitely think about protocols for making it a productive conversation / conference. "Home Teams" -- another idea that may be helpful.

[Logo Designed by Julia Sweeney -- 10th Grader at Science Leadership Academy]