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With his substantive presentations, sense of humor, and unconventional approaches, he's been asked to present to teachers and administrators in all 50 states, Canada, China, Europe, Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, Korea, Australia, the Middle East, and at the White House. He is a seasoned veteran of many international Web casts, and he is Disney's American Teacher Awards 1996 Outstanding English Teacher of the Nation. He won the 2008 James P. Garvin award from the New England League of Middle Schools for Teaching Excellence, Service, and Leadership, and he has been a consultant for National Public Radio, USA Today, Court TV, and the Smithsonian Institution's Natural Partners Program and their search for the Giant Squid. In June 2012, Rick was the graduation commencement speaker for the highest performing, public high school in the Washington, D.C. area. He lives in Herndon, Virginia with his wife and two children, one of which is in college and one recently graduated from college. He is currently working on his first young adult fiction novel and a new book on homework practices in the 21st century.
Keynote 2 What We Could Do If We were Brave! When we are brave, we find the language and spirit to confront complacency and ineffective practice, and, even better, to do something about them. Myth-busting, liberating, and pushing all of us closer to the kind of teacher we always wanted to be, this address affirms and provokes listeners with compelling perspectives about contemporary differentiation and specific action steps to take if having enough courage was not a factor. Leave timidity at the door and join us for an extraordinary presentation!
Spotlight Session Teaching Gifted or Advanced Students: What Works and What Does Not They are gifted, so we will give them three book reports to do instead of just one, right? Wrong. Join us for a provocative and practical workshop that provides clear strategies for meeting the needs of gifted and advanced learners. We will examine social-emotional aspects as well as how to increase the complexity or change the nature of tasks in terms of depth, breadth, unusual and critical thinking, and performance. Cure cancer? Bring peace to Darfur? Compose a concerto that would make Mozart weep for its simple beauty? Solve the Unified Field Theory? Reveal a new geometry paradigm that rivals Euclid's? Maybe, but they are still children who need well-prepared teachers. |