BLC 2009

Comment

Comment by Mike Gorman on July 30, 2009 at 10:53am

What an amazing concert last night.. November staff, Thank you for making this wonderful activity possible. It was like a second injection of motivation.
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Comment by Dr. Mike Mattingly on July 29, 2009 at 12:18pm

Benjamin Zander was amazing as the keynote speaker this morning. Nuggets of gold in all that he shared. Thanks, Alan, for finding and securing him for us.

Comment by Karen Vitek on July 29, 2009 at 8:44am

The Walden Pond 2 day event was wonderful! I could have done at least 4 days with this group of people. Thank you for providing this event!

Comment by Mike Gorman on July 28, 2009 at 10:14pm

This is my first trip to Boston, what a great city and wonderful people. I am excited about this conference and feel privileged to be able to present. I look forward to learning from everyone here. I have been in education over 31 years, started by integrating the curriculum using outdoor education, doing the same thing with technology today. I still get outside, with a GPS instead of a compass. Feel free to stop by my presentation either Thursday at 7:30 AM (I know its early) or Friday at 1:30 PM. I welcome the opportunity to network !

Comment by Alan November on July 28, 2009 at 5:46pm

Please come to the reception...plenty of food and good conversation and wonderful prizes...

Comment by Howie DiBlasi on July 28, 2009 at 2:48pm

How do you do Technology Assessment in your school or district?

Comment by Jim Wenzloff on February 20, 2009 at 10:57am

We are very excited that Ben Zander has invited us to a concert in the park on Wednesday evening after the conference. It will feature the Youth Orchestra the Americas and a very special guest. Pianist Gabriela Montero who played in the quartet at President Obama’s inauguration will be performing that evening. This should be a fun and relaxing evening under the stars.

You are on our e-mail list you will receive a more formal announcement of this event and it will be posted on the conference web site.

Comment by Lee Kolbert on February 15, 2009 at 10:01pm

As a first time presenter at BLC, I'm very excited to be included and to be a part of something so innovative. I too will be attending this "wedding" and am bringing some "old, new, borrowed and blue" things of my own.

My "OLD" is me. I'm old in the sense that I've been an educator for about 25 years now and I've seen the pendulum swing more than a few times. For me, that means experience that I get to share. I'm looking forward to learning from others as well.

Every day there is something "NEW" that can make teachers' jobs easier and students' learning more sustainable. One of my strengths is in finding these tools, picking them apart and seeing if there really is an application for the classroom or if it's something that's just a fad and not really useful. Here's an example of me doing my thing recently on our local TV Show. I love to browse other people's bookmarks to see what new things they've found. I hope we can share our social bookmarking usernames here.

I "BORROW" from people all the time. All around me, all my life, It is the people with whom I've surrounded myself who have shaped who I am. As a brand new teacher, I borrowed the calm teaching style of the teacher next door. I borrowed the detailed, note-taking during faculty meetings from another and when stressed, it was yet another who helped me understand that sick days were not meant for when you were sick; I borrowed her wisdom. When I watched effective teachers, I borrowed their skills. When I watched students learn, I borrowed their reactions and I learned. Today, among other things, I make it my business to borrow from those who give great presentations. Then I work to find my own groove with whatever it is I've borrowed and then I can call it my own. I hope I've done and can continue to do the same for others.

My "BLUE" is the frustration teachers often feel when they hit the roadblocks and firewalls at their schools when trying to access the resources they want to share with their students. I think it helps if teachers have a Personal Learning Network outside of their schools to not only share their frustration (what good is that?) but to share resources for solving issues. Networking with other educators online in social networking sites such as (this) Ning or Twitter or FaceBook are great ways to find like minded peers. I look forward to meeting educators at BLC who I can add to my PLN and perhaps we can all feel less BLUE and more proactive.

Comment by Jim Wenzloff on February 9, 2009 at 10:26am

BLC09

The November Learning Team is very excited about the Building Learning Communities Conference. We almost feel like it is a wedding, “something old, something new, something borrowed, and something new.”

Old- It is hard to believe that this is the 10th Building Learning Communities Conference. We have brought back some of the most innovative speakers we have had present in the past.

New – We not only have a lot of new speakers presenting at BLC09, but we have a whole new line up of keynote presenters for this conference. See http://novemberlearning.com/blc/keynote-speakers/ for more details. Also, this year we are offering an orientation session for new attendees. The conference hotel is “new” this year also. It is only two blocks from the Boston Commons and the famous Swan Boats. The hotel is within walking distance of downtown and the historical sites in Boston.

Borrowed – We have read through all of your evaluations and have borrowed a lot of your ideas to make the conference better. Thanks for the suggestions.

Blue – Blue is the new color of your website and of NLConnect. If you are reading this you found NLConnect. Make sure to join and introduce yourself. Visit often to learn about the conference and to see what our speakers and other attendees have to say.

Let us know if you have questions and we will try to get answers for you.
We look forward to seeing you in Boston at BLC09.

Jim and the November Learning Team