SMART Exemplary Educator 2014 Global Summit--Day 1

I arrived in Calgary for the SMART Exemplary Educator 2014 Global Summit.  It was great meeting up with SEE's that I met two years ago at the airport, as well as meeting some new SEEs.  I quickly got settled into my room at Hotel Alma and headed up to the 7th floor for the Welcome Reception and Dinner.  It was great to reconnect with SEEs I met two years ago, and to meet many new SEEs.

After dinner, education advocate Richard Gerver delivered an inspiration keynote. (www.richardgerver.com)

Here are some of Richard's thoughts:

Live a little, learn a little, laugh a lot.

Instead of emphasizing test preparation we should instead focus on actual skills, interpersonal skills, and how to adapt to change. Students need to see why what they are learning and doing is important now, not that it might be important some time in their lives.

He challenged us with the following:

Clarity--What do you stand for?  In education, what do we stand for?

Coherence--Internal/External--Your behavior inside and outside of the classroom should demonstrate what you stand for, and it is important that everyone is on board, not just 90%.

Leadership--symbolizes the best values

We need to brand education, just as a business brands a product.

As educators we need to get out more.  We spend too much time "on the job" and not enough time out in the real world, learning and growing.  We need to keep our creative spark alive.

I'm looking forward to this week at SMART.  I want to live a little, learn a little, laugh a lot, and with the help of the other SMART Exemplary Educators grow. 

Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.