Reform Symposium, A Reflection

Growing up and through most of college, I have always hated working in teams. The reason was simple; I always ended up doing most of the work. This was due to many factors including the people I was working with, poorly planned assignments, and, most of all, my own neuroses. Recently, I had the honor of working with Shelly Terrell, Chris Rogers, and Shelly Terrell on the free educational conference, the Reform Symposium. I was honest at the outset that I knew this was going to be a terrible summer for me time-wise, due to both personal and professional reasons, so I most likely would not be able to an integral part of the group. I have to say that I have never worked with a more dedicated, hard-working team. They did an awesome job of moderating the sessions, planning, inviting speakers, getting prizes, designing the website, training speakers and volunteers, and more. If you have any experience planning conferences, you know what a colossal job this is. They have made a tangible difference in the minds of many educators and they deserve all the credit in the world. Many thanks also go out to our dedicated sponsors and volunteers.

I was only able to catch a handful of sessions unfortunately. Two that stood out to me were George Couros’s session on Identity Day, and Joan Young’s and Lisa Dabb’s joint session for new teachers. George’s passion was palpable and I could see how it resonated with everyone in the final session. So many people want to emulate his Identity Day; more importantly, they will be making a point to better know their students as a result of his presentation. Joan and Lisa have such hearts for helping and coaching others, new teachers in particular.

There are many, many sessions that I will be watching and reflecting on over the next two weeks (I could watch them all in 2 days, but unfortunately some us not named Shelly actually sleep. ). I really had hoped to catch the panel discussion with John C. Carver and Patrick Larkin. Joe Bower’s session on abolishing grades is sure to be interesting. Steven Anderson’s closing keynote was amazing, I am sure, as he always is.

Beyond the sessions, though, what amazed me most was what always does: the teachers. Teachers really are some of the more hard-working and caring people on the planet. That was evidenced by many people spending their entire weekend at the conference. I believe over 2000 people were represented and almost every session had over 100 people participating (not listening, participating). That is amazing and I can’t wait to work with everyone again.