The Daily Find March 19, 2014

Community Information, Community Member, General Session Speaker, The Daily Find

Create a Succession Plan for Your School
The NAIS Succession Planning Institute will offer trustees, heads of school, and administrators the chance to craft a thoughtful, comprehensive, and intentional succession plan for a smooth headship transition. Instructors Reveta Bowers, head of school at the Center for Early Education (California), and Doreen Oleson, head of school at St. Mark’s School (California), will ensure every attendee walks away with a plan that clearly defines roles, tasks, expenses, and timelines that can withstand both the anticipated and unexpected outcomes of a leadership change. The NAIS Succession Planning Institute will take place May 1 – 4, 2014, at the Westin Washington, D.C. City Center Hotel. Learn more about this new opportunity, and register by April 4 to save with the early bird discount

Passport to Prizes…Drum roll please
Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Passport to Prizes below and thanks to all attendees and exhibitors for participating!…And the Winners Are…MORE

Graphic Recordings of General Sessions and Featured Speakers
Each link will take you to a PDF of the graphic recording that was made during each of these special sessions. These are amazing drawings and resources capturing the each of the speakers main points as well as the nature of each talk.

  • Lyn Heward- The spark: Igniting the creative fire that lives within us all [PDF]
  • Steve Pemberton- Independent Matters: Dare to Explore [PDF 1] [PDF 2]
  • Jay Shuster- Independent Matters: Dare to Explore [PDF 1] [PDF 2]
  • Mae Jemison- Independent Matters: Dare to Explore [PDF 1] [PDF 2]
  • John Quinones- The Power of Education [PDF 1] [PDF 2]
  • Eric Whitacre- Creativity and Connection [PDF 1] [PDF 2]
  • Alex Soojung-Kim Pang- The Distraction Addiction [PDF]
  • Rahaf Harfoush- decoded: What if we understood our talent as well as we understood our customers? [PDF]
  • Milton Chen- Education Nation: Six leading innovations in our schools [PDF]
  • Johnnie Foreman- 2014 NAIS Diversity Leadership Award [PDF]
  • Catherine Steiner-Adair- The Big Disconnect: The student you see and the student online [PDF]

Dream, Do, Fail, Repeat
Nancy Mugele
Escaping our unusually cold and snowy winter, I was honored to be a part of the team representing RPCS at the annual conference of the National Association of Independent Schools this past week in Orlando. Dare to Explore and Discover provided inspiring speakers, thought-provoking sessions and opportunities to…MORE

NAIS Annual Conference: Change is in the Air…Now What?
Stephanie Rogen
Last week Liz and I headed to Orlando for the NAIS Annual Conference, three days packed with a variety of sessions exploring how independent education can change to become better for our students and families while still maintaining the critical aspects that make each school unique. Creativity, innovation, sustainability and…MORE

Graphic Map from Alex Soojung-Kim Pang’s Talk at NAIS
Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
While I finish writing up the notes from my NAIS talk– I’ve got deadlines at work, kids’ sports practices, and several recent interviews with people who organize digital sabbaths, so it’s not as simple a matter as just transcribing what I said in Orlando– here is a graphic map of the talk…MORE

Slides from #NAISAC14 panel on Cultural Competence and 21st Century Skills
Chris Thinnes
Load the slides HERE (Large File)

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The Daily Find March 7, 2014

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, Community Information, Community Member, Workshop

Bridget Janicki
NAIS

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang Makes Technology Less Distracting
​Clearly Alex Soojung-Kim Pang is on to something important. Hundreds of independent school leaders packed his featured workshop at the 2014 NAIS Annual Conference in Orlando, FL. The topic that lured so many educators? Making technology less overwhelming and less distracting in our lives…[MORE]

Milton Chen Inspires Us to Create an Education Nation
A standing-room-only crowd packs the ballroom where Milton Chen offers us valuable insights into the Six Leading Edges of Innovation during this featured workshop at the 2014 NAIS Annual Conference in Orlando, FL. As the father of a Lick-Wilmerding High School (California) alumna, Chen is rather familiar with our independent school community. He’s long thought that independent schools offer…[MORE]

Catherine Steiner-Adair Urges Us to Connect with Students
It’s no wonder Catherine Steiner-Adair attracts a huge crowd to her featured workshop at the 2014 NAIS Annual Conference in Orlando, FL. Independent school leaders and teachers pack the ballroom to hear this internationally recognized clinical psychologist illuminate how our relationships with our students differ so…[MORE]

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
[Post by featured speaker]
The need for a social approach to distraction
[This is the first of several posts drawing on my the talk I gave at the NAIS annual conference.] We use the term “distraction” in two broad ways. Both involve situations in which our attention should be directed on one thing, but instead is directed on…MORE

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
[Post by featured speaker]
How technologies are designed to commodify distraction
[This is the second of several posts drawing on my the talk I gave at the NAIS annual conference. The first is here.] How are technologies designed to distract students (and their parents and teachers)? Some people talk about…MORE

Dream, Do, Fail, Repeat
Nancy Mugele
Escaping our unusually cold and snowy winter, I was honored to be a part of the team representing RPCS at the annual conference of the National Association of Independent Schools this past week in Orlando. Dare to Explore and Discover provided inspiring speakers, thought-provoking sessions and opportunities to connect with colleagues across the country. I left my very first marketing session with several…MORE

Super grateful to my PLN after #NYCIST two weeks ago, #NAISac14 last week, and #GoogleGlass convos this week…
Karen Blumberg
At the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) annual conference last week, I was honored to be chosen to co-present with amazing ladies I met via Twitter and…MORE

Why School? A framework for rethinking schools
Cathy Kyle, Susan Droke, Will Richardson, Grant Lichtman
Slides from presentation at NAISAC14

PDS in the World- Poughkeepsie Day School
PDS was well represented at last week’s NAIS Annual Conference, David Held’s presentation was chosen for the Speed Innovating session…MORE

Education for a sustainable future #naisac14
Beyond Green had a fulfilling first run at the National Association of Independent Schools’ 2014 Annual Conference. While we did log a couple of sunny pool hours, we were busy both exhibiting and speaking for this event…MORE

#NaISAC14 Beyond These Walls: How Augmented Reality Can Promote Your School’s Message”
Lorri Carroll
Justine Fellows (Greens Farms Academy) and I presented at the Speed Innovating Session at NAIS (Disney World!). The session is set up much like “Speed Dating.” Attendees pre-register for three topics they want to learn more about and presenters have 15 minutes to share their topic. When the 15 minutes is up…MORE

Kevin Brookhouser
20% Time Keynote Notes

GPHomestay
Last week, gphomestay, The Cambridge Institute, and KnowledgeLink attended and presented at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida. The conference, which featured workshops and demonstrations pertinent to independent education, provided Cambridge with opportunities to connect with its 60+ NAIS partner schools and to support those…MORE

The Daily Find: March 3, 2014

Community Information, Community Member, The Daily Find

John Quinones Illuminates Heroes
By Bridget Janicki (NAIS)
​John Quiñones has “it.” The Emmy award-winning co-anchor of ABC’sPrimetime and sole anchor of What Would You Do? makes his debut on the stage of the 2014 NAIS Annual Conference in Orlando, instantly creating a legion of fans among the 4,000-member audience. Whether you’ve watched Quiñones for years, or just discovered him at this meeting, everyone immediately feels captivated by the star quality of Quiñones and his magnetic smile…MORE

Independent Matters Dare to Explore
By Julia Grandison
Dare to Explore and Discover, the theme of this year’s NAIS Annual Conference, is epitomized in Mae Jemison’s project 100-Year Starship, which aims to achieve interstellar travel in the next 100 years. What is it about space travel that fascinates people? Why do children like to study space and dinosaurs? She answers simply that we want to know who we are and what our place is in the world…MORE

Rahaf Harfoush Inspires Us to Use Technology to Mobilize the World
By Julia Grandison
​Rahaf Harfoush, a digital innovation and foresight strategist, is excited that we are living in the age of the architect, an age where everyday people can use technology to mobilize the world around them. She provides the example of Molly Katchpole, a 22-year-old nanny, who received a letter from Bank of America alerting her to a new $5 debit card fee. Upset and angry, Molly wrote about it on the web and then started an online petition using change.org. As a result of the press and the 300,000 signatures added to the petition in the first month alone, Bank of America backed down and eliminated the fee…MORE

#NAISAC14, Day One
By Bill Ivey
The National Association of Independent Schools is holding its annual conference right now, and as I have in some past years, I’ve resolved to try and read up on at least a portion of the many wonderful things happening there and reflect on them here. This installment follows the first full day….MORE

#NAISAC14: Opening General Session with John Chubb and Lyn Heward
By Lorri Carroll
The official opening of NAISAC14 was filled with excitement and energy. John Chubb’s first remarks as President were critically analyzed by everyone in the room. I was impressed with his tone and enthusiasm and liked what he had…MORE

#NAISAC14: The Distraction Addiction with author Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
By Lorri Carroll
Although I couldn’t stay for this entire session because I needed to set up for my presentation, Alex’s talk was intriguing and I didn’t want to leave.  His book is now on my “to read” list. Being that I consider myself a self-proclaimed…MORE

Being Part of Something Larger than Ourselves
By Jenni Voorhees
This year’s NAIS Conference seemed to focus heavily on how “creative” companies keep their employees loyal, constantly challenged to grow, and personally rewarded for their contributions. We heard from Lyn Heward of Cirque du Soleil, who described the many…MORE

AC2014: Behind Door #3- Creative Transformation
By Ari Pinkus
With their artful uses of image and song, speakers Lyn Heward, John Quinones, and Eric Whitacre played up how transformation takes root and blossoms in our experience. Leading off Day 1, Heward, who was director of creation, president, and COO at Cirque du Soleil, drew on the senses as she urged attendees to “remember the radiance of the flower blossoming in the desert.”  I conjured up the beautiful image in my mind and reflected. Like a flower in the desert, transformation often starts with a small shift and then touches everything in its path…MORE

What’s Dangerous About the Grit Narrative, and How to Fix It
By Peter Gow
There’s been a great deal of buzz lately on the topic of grit. As educators we’re all for persistence, resilience, stick-to-it-ive-ness–the stuff of grit, right? But it turns out that there’s grit, and then there’s the way some people are talking about grit…MORE

NAIS
By Alex Soojung-Kim Pang (Featured Speaker at NAISAC14)
This week my wife and I were at the National Association of Independent Schools annual conference. I was giving a talk on contemplative computing and efforts by schools to promote mindfulness and wiser technology use; my wife was part of her school’s delegation…MORE

OTHER REFLECTIONS POSTED ON NAISAC14 COMMUNITY

More Reflections from NAISAC14

Community Information, Community Member

Lindsey Own
#MakerEd at #NAISac14!
Yesterday, I delivered a workshop with Vinnie Vrotny, Jaymes Dec, and Andrew Carle on Maker Education to over 40 people at the National Association of Independent Schools conference!  It was AWESOME!…MORE

Lorri Carroll
#NAISAC14: Teachers Unplugged
Session leaders Jenni Swanson Voorhees, Chris Bigenho, Jill Brown, Liz Davis, Sophie Halliday and Linda Swarlis led us in an amazing conversation where WE got to choose the topics!…MORE

#NAISAC14 General Session: John Chubb/ John Quinones
Here are my notes from Friday Morning’s General Session with NAIS President, John Chubb, and Featured Speaker, John Quinones from ABC News. John Chubb shared the vision of NAIS and talked about the importance of quality teachers. John Quinones gave a heartfelt reflection on the impact of teachers in his life and  the power of making mistakes and learning from them…MORE

#NAISAC14 “Yikes! What have I gotten myself into?
Here are my notes from this amazing session led by Peggy Campbell-Rush, Director of Lower School at Gill St. Bernard School (Gladstone, NJ). Every minute of this session was filled with great advice!…MORE

#NAISAC14 “Beyond These Walls: How Augmented Reality can Promote Your School’s Message”
Justine Fellows (Greens Farms Academy) and I presented at the Speed Innovating Session at NAIS (Disney World!). The session is set up much like “Speed Dating.” Attendees pre-register for three topics they want to learn more about and presenters have 15 minutes to share their topic. When the 15 minutes is up, participants move to their next topic of choice.  There’s a large, (very intimidating) stop watch on the screen at the front to keep everyone on schedule…MORE

Karen Blumberg

Slides from the workshops I co-presented with @ksivick @hadleyjf @lizbdavis and otehr resources from #naisac14
The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) just held their annual conference this week in Orlando, Florida. While it rained the first two days, at least it was a warm rain and not the icy rain that has been plaguing New York City. I was really honored to be at the conference as an NAIS Teacher of the Future and as a presenter….MORE

Jennifer Carey
Teaching Empathy: Cultivating Communities of Kindness in the Digital Age
One of the key elements with the digital world is taking advantage of teaching opportunities – students will make mistakes and it’s important to use them as a chance to redirect and guide them appropriately. For example, commenting on other student blogs requires thought and productivity. Students write their own commenting policy for their blog, e.g. “do not use text talk,” “be kind not rude.” These types of lessons can help them when they go out and comment on other peoples’ blogs. Not only do students need direction on this, so do teachers. …MORE

NAIS- Going All In: The Ins and Outs of Creating a Digital Curriculum
This year, the NAIS annual conference is being held in Orlando Florida at the Walt Disney World Resort. As such, Ransom Everglades made it possible for several dozen teachers to attend the conference on Friday, the teacher focus day….MORE

Liz Davis

Passion Driven Professional Development- Teachers Unplugged at NAISAC14
This morning I helped facilitate our second (annual?) Teachers Unplugged session at the NAIS conference. This is an Edcamp style unconference that allows the participants who show up to define the conversations that they want to have. Among a sea of stand and deliver presentations, Teachers Unplugged is a chance to connect with other independent educators attending the conference and discuss issues that we are all grappling with…MORE

Reflections and Resources Shared via Twitter

Community Information, Community Member

Images and Sounds from Closing Keynote

Eric Whitacre, General Session Speaker

The closing session of the 2014 NAIS Annual Conference included performances by the Berkeley School in Florida and an amazing keynote by Eric Whitacre. You can view images from the closing session as well as media clips shared by Eric Whitacre during his presentation. Additionally, the Berkeley School has clips of the original musical that was shared by their students.

Images from Closing Session

Eric Whitacre

Berkeley School- Florida

Two songs performed from the original musical Who We Are

Where We Belong

Instant Love

The Daily Find Friday Feb. 28, 2014

The Daily Find

Lyn Heward
By Bridget Janicki (NAIS)
Choreographer, dancer, gymnast, and author Lyn Heward takes the stage to open the 2014 NAIS Annual Conference in Orlando. All these monikers describe Heward, but her dynamic nature certainly expands beyond these descriptors. For decades Heward has shaped performers, designers, and technicians at the Cirque du Soleil into an artistic and commercial juggernaut. The Montreal native smoothly slips from…MORE

Storify of Opening General Session: John Chubb and Lyn Heward
The following is a Storify of the opening session as captured and retold through those who shared their thoughts, reflections and impressions through Twitter with #naisac14

Opening General Session: John Chubb and Lyn Heward as captured and retold through the eyes and talents of graphic note-taking.

Passion Driven Professional Development- Teachers Unplugged at NAISAC14
By Liz Davis
This morning I helped facilitate our second (annual?) Teachers Unplugged session at the NAIS conference. This is an Edcamp style unconference that allows the participants who show up to define the conversations that…MORE

Notes from The No Cost 1:1 program. Hybrid BYOD
From Brent Stimmel
Here you can find some of the main points shared during this workshop.

NAISAC14 Community Daily Friday, Feb. 28, 2014
Many resources and ideas shared in the past 24 hours by the NAISAC14 Online Community Twitter List