Summer is prime conference time in education because, obviously, teachers find themselves with a few months of rest and an urge to travel. Conferences contain a wealth of information that can be turned around for the next school year, helping you become a rock star (or just make the job a little easier).
There are conferences about the craft of teaching, the technology of the classroom, expanding your knowledge of flipped learning, or finding out the latest research-based strategies.
ASCD Conference on Teaching Excellence
The main ASCD conference is held in the early spring, but they also produce a valuable conference in the summer centered around instructional excellence. This year’s version is being held June 27-29 just outside of Dallas.
Sessions are organized by familiarity with the topic being presented and include assessment strategies, standards-based grading, special strategies for ELL and disabled students, and much more.
The annual International Society for Technology in Education conference is probably the largest summer gathering of teachers, with over 18,000 educators in attendance. This year’s edition is June 28-July 1 in Atlanta.
As you can guess, this conference is slanted more toward educational technology, with sessions based on the latest tech tools and tricks as well as new technologies like augmented reality and blended learning models. A lot of the sessions and workshops are collaborative and urge attendees to get hands-on with the tools.
FlipCon ’14 is produced by the Flipped Learning Network, the organization established by flipped learning pioneers Jon Bergmann and Aaron Sams. It’s hard to believe that this is their 7th annual edition, again being held June 23-25 at Mars Area High School in Pittsburgh.
It might not be a huge conference, but its intimacy guarantees a valuable experience for all flipped learning devotees or teachers curious about the theory. Sessions focus on strategies and tools that help make the transition to flipping easier and more productive.
Building Expertise is the only conference dedicated to the research and theories produced by preeminent educational researcher and strategist Dr. Robert Marzano. 80 breakout sessions, keynotes, and networking opportunities will be available on June 18-20 in Orlando.
Dr. Marzano’s work is all about taking research and finding ways to apply it in the classroom with easy-to-implement strategies. Many schools and districts subscribe to his methods. If you find yourself in one of these districts, this might be the most valuable conference on the list.