Gr8T Quotes from #NAIS09

I've just returned from the National Association of Independent School's annual conference. It was a wonderful experience. I had the opportunity to meet face to face with many people from my online network (always the highlight of a conference), to attend several very good sessions and to learn a lot.

Throughout the conference there was a very active back channel. People tweeted from a variety of sessions and shared some great quotes. In trying to pull together my learning from the conference, I did a twitter search for the hashtag #NAIS09 I've pulled out some of the highlights from several sessions.

Thanks to my Tweeps above for taking the time to share with the rest of us!From right to left: sarahhanawald, dcinc66, raventech, cookp, nandikerri, antonioviva, JonathanEMartin, tiomikel, specialkrb, samandjt
Sarah Hanawald and Jason Ramsden also live blogged several sessions!
Revitalizing the Veteran Teacher with Peter Gow

• Raise your hand if you have a teacher in your school who just doesn't get it
  
• You have to talk to the "undead" at your school. 
  
• Change the physical space, change the team, change the responsibilities of the veteran teacher - keep them engaged.
  
• Culture of our society does not value age - our schools mirror these attitudes. 
• We all are going to be the "senior teacher" someday.

Enhancing Team Performance

• When working with teams being a 'good listener' is not enough. One MUST contribute.
  
• Teams often confuse activity with results masking effectiveness.
  
• With teams Trust + Intimacy = Cohesion
  
• Discussions on teams are often considered personal. Set the expectation that it is OK to disagree.
• To avoid conflict most teams manage agreement. Take on the squeaky wheel head on!
  

Dan Heath's Keynote

• Sticky ideas are simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional, and stories 
• Dangerous situations don't come with "dangerous situation" labels, they just Happen
  
• The more you know about something, the harder it is for you to understand what it is like not to know about it
  
• Sticky ideas use concrete themes to make things tangible. Details make things tangible.
• Details cling to us
  

Michelle Rhee's Keynote

• If you don't like the rules - change them 
  
• Public education should be the great equalizer, yet skin color and zipcode still dictate how we educate.
• We will continue to have brick and mortar schools, but the limits of the walls will and are dissolving through digital connectivity

Guy Kawasaki's Keynote

• No one voluntarily uses a Windows machine
  
• Most organizations make mission statements and quite frankly, most mission statements suck.
  
• We need a mantra for our school not a mission statement
  
• Don't be afraid to be crappy - to be wrong - to take risks.
  
• Do not be afraid of polarizing people. Great products do polarize people.
  
• To be an innovator you need to be in denial – Don't let the Bozos get you down
  
• Teach students how to figure out ANYTHING by themselves.
  
• Teach students how to explain ANYTHING in 30 seconds. 
  
• Teach students how to do a one page report.
  
• Teach students how to work as a group
• Teach students how to negotiate win wins.
  
• Learning is a process, not an event.
  

The Impact of Technology on the Lives of Boys with Michael Thompson

• Girls dominate written content creation online, boys dominate video uploading.
  
• Parents prefer kids inside playing vid games, "safe" rather than going Outside unsupervised, "unsafe."
  
• Laptops are the new outdoors 
  
• There is no evidence that video games translate into aggressive behavior. 
  
• Boys are trying to get dates Online, Girls are trying to get friendships
  
• We must change how we assess and test kids rather than try and ban technology that "gives the answers
  

Digital Storytelling and Curriculum with Marco Antonio Torres

• Quit, complain or innovate. Success predictor=attendance. Get kids to want to come to school.
  
• Digital storytelling makes kids aware of process & product
  
• Product= emotion and process =experience in working w/kids and media
  
• Plan, Produce, Present & feedback
  
• Is schooling getting in the way of learning?
  
• New question, not "what kind of learner are you?" rather,"what kind of producer are you?"
  
• Value is in the verbs not the nouns. In schools we focus too much on the nouns
  
• What makes you an expert? Can I google everything you shared?
  
• Are you an expert because you collect information or because you create info?
  
• Experts have one right answer, others see many possibilities
  
• Don't ask questions you can look up
  
• Studio-->stage-->community is complete
  
• Media levels the playing field in terms of 'who's on stage'- everyone can produce
  
• Core values of today's workplace are collaboration, innovation not mindless repetition
  
• Networked = Connected; often teacher networks are tiny. Branch out and make wider connections and networks

Surviving and Thriving in Challenging Times with Robert Evans

• People can cope with all kinds of terrible things once there is predictability
  
• Most schools practice conflict avoidance. We are good at the nice stuff, not good at the hard stuff.
  
• Learning comes from loss, failure and disappointment.
  

Oprah's Closing Keynote

• If you are not careful, your daydreams become a reality. 
  
• The importance of educating woman: educate a woman & change a community
  
• You don't have a visionary school without visionary teachers. 
• You don't have a leadership school without leadership.
  
• The job is not only to enlarge and illuminate the lives of our girls, but also of our staff and our teachers.
  
• The only way to deal with a crisis is to stay in the moment.
  
• I want them to speak up for the rest of their lives, to speak up for their community.
  
• Oprah's goal for girls: "To be seated at the table where the decisions are made about the future."