ASCD Announces 70th Annual Conference and Exhibit Show Registration and Invited Speakers
Alexandria, Va. — ASCD, a global community dedicated to excellence in learning, teaching, and leading, is pleased to announce the 70th ASCD Annual Conference and Exhibit Show. The conference will be held at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, from March 21–23, 2015, and will showcase proven strategies for educators of all roles, from best practices for classroom management and student engagement to leading and inspiring entire school communities.
Centered on the theme “Challenging Convention: Leading Disruptive Innovations,” attendees from around the world and at all levels of education will be asked this question: “In this time of uncertainty and the need for global connectivity, will you rise to the challenge to learn, teach, and lead?” Attendees will have more than 350 concurrent sessions to choose from on topics such as effective school leadership, teaching and learning in a digital age, personal resiliency, and the myths and realities of the education profession. For full details visit www.ascd.org/annualconference.
“Each year, we look forward to bringing together thousands of educators from around the world to learn and share at our Annual Conference and Exhibit Show,” said Judy Seltz, ASCD executive director. “In 2015, we will challenge educators to embrace changes in teaching and learning, to be leaders of change through professional development, and to eliminate achievement gaps.”
Three invited speakers will headline the event by presenting the three general sessions:
Sarah Lewis—The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery
First General Session
Saturday, March 21, 10:00–11:45 a.m.
In this session, author, curator, and historian Sarah Lewis will offer a new understanding of what enables creative endeavors. Drawing on famous figures such as Frederick Douglass, Angela Duckworth, and J.K. Rowling, Lewis will reveal how play, grit, surrender, dismissed ideas, experiments, and follow-ups lead to breakthroughs. Lewis believes that the path to success may be more surprising than you think.
Nicholas Negroponte—The Future of Education
Second General Session
Sunday, March 22, 10:00–11:45 a.m.
Nicholas Negroponte, founder of One Laptop per Child, asserts that we’ve been sharing the wrong message about entrepreneurship and success. In this session, Negroponte will draw from personal experiences to explain how and why we can make the innovation process exciting and rewarding, regardless of outcome.
Peter Yarrow, formerly of Peter, Paul, and Mary—Free Concert
Third General Session
Sunday March 22, 5:00–6:30 p.m.
For the first time, ASCD’s third general session will be a concert event. Singer and activist Peter Yarrow will perform many familiar songs from successful folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, with an emphasis on songs about human rights and social justice. The concert will aim to inspire the audience and recommit them to the objectives of ASCD and Yarrow’s own work with his nonprofit organization, Operation Respect, which is focused on combatting school violence.
In addition to these presentations and hundreds of concurrent sessions, the 70th ASCD Annual Conference and Exhibit Show will include other events such as book signings, author talks, and school improvement forums. The author talks will provide attendees with an opportunity to hear about their favorite ASCD books directly from the authors who wrote them and ask the pressing questions they’ve always wanted to ask. During school improvement forums, attendees will see demonstrations of the free, online ASCD School Improvement Tool and find out how schools and districts are using the tool to perform comprehensive needs assessments and reaffirm their commitment to the whole child.
The 70th ASCD Annual Conference and Exhibit Show will also feature a number of special events. On Friday, March 20 from 5:00–7:00 p.m., attendees will kick off their conference experience with food, fun, and the opportunity to network with fellow educators from around the world at the welcome reception, sponsored by Discovery Education. On Saturday, March 21 from 6:30–9:30 p.m., ASCD will host a meet-up, Saturday Night Strikes: #ASCD15 Bowling Social, at Lucky Strike in Houston. Attendees will join fellow educators and social media users for good company, free bowling, and complimentary pizza, sliders, and appetizers.
Educators can follow the conference conversation and check out photos from all around the convention center by using #ASCD15 on Twitter and Instagram.
To register for the 70th Annual Conference and Exhibit Show, visit the conference website, annualconference.ascd.org. Early-bird pricing, at $289 for ASCD members and $355 for nonmembers, is available through January 21, 2015. Learn more ways to save on registration by visiting the registration page. To learn more about ASCD and the benefits associated with becoming a member, visit www.ascd.org.