The Innovative Educator’s Building Learning Communities ( BLC10 ) Picks

The Building Learning Communities Conference provides innovative educators with a chance to make new friends, build global partnerships and share creative ideas for empowered teaching and learning. It takes place this week in Boston and there's a lot to learn and share.

This year I’d like to meet some folks whose ideas I’ve been reading about, hear what others are saying about some areas of interest for me like digital footprints, authentic publishing and PLNs, learn some more about new areas of interest like curriculum mapping and ePortfolios and finally, take a closer look at what’s happening with tech in primary classrooms.


I've gone through the conference schedule and have made my day-by-day conference picks. Here is a breakdown of how I plan to spend my time:

• Connect with innovative educators who have a strong digital footprint with whom I have yet to develop a memorable F-2-F relationship.
• My picks
• Jeff Utecht
• Howie DiBlasi
• Adora Svitak (and Joyce)
• Reconnect with other innovative educators
• My picks
• Alan November
• Dean Shareski
• Lynette Guastaferro
• Bob Sprankle
• Lisa Thumann
• Hear what others are saying about digital footprints
• My picks
• Google or You? Who Would You Rather Control Your Digital Identity? with Dean Shareski
• Composing to Create a Digital Identity with Dr. Sara Kajder
• My thoughts.
• Teach Kids how to manage their Digital Footprint
• Ideas for parents interested in helping students manage their digital footprint and effectively participate in social media.
• 140 Character Conference - The State of Now in Education
• Hear what others are saying about personal learning networks
• My picks
• PLN: Building Your Global Connection Network with Howie DiBlasi
• Twitter: Establishing Your Personal Learning Network with Lisa Thumann
• My thoughts
• 5 Things You Can Do to Begin Developing Your Personal Learning Network
• Hear about more examples of real-world, authentic publishing of student work
• My picks
• Creativity in the Digital Age: How New Technologies Can Further Student Expression with Adora Svitak
• Don’t Just Write About It Produce Documentaries In Your Class with Marco Torres
• My thoughts
• 21st Century Educators Don’t Say, “Hand It In.” They say, “Publish It!
• Learn more about:Curriculum Mapping
• My pick
• Mapping Your Curriculum with Google Maps with Jim Wenzloff
• Learn more about ePortfolios
• My pick
• Lessons Learned with E-Portfolios in Northern Ireland with Gillian Stewart

While I’m looking forward to the sessions, I’m looking forward even more to the conversations I have with others interested in these topics both live and on my learning networks. You can see the whole schedule here.
BLC10 Program