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mikey's mixtapes: sxswedu 2018

2/4/2018

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I’ve always loved a good mixtape.

In the movie “High Fidelity,” the character Rob (played by John Cusack) explains “the making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. Many do’s and don’ts. First of all, you’re using someone else’s poetry to express how you feel. This is a delicate thing.”
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As anyone who’s ever received a killer mixtape knows: a mixtape can not only introduce you to new music, it can change how you hear the songs you already know.

So… I've made you a few mixtapes. I know, I know. We barely know each other. But check it out: instead of songs, I’ve curated a list of SXSW EDU 2018 conference sessions. My goal? To introduce you to some of the hottest innovators in education right now: Teacher Leaders.

I’ll be featuring working preK-12 teachers who are running companies, leading policies, innovating products, and sparking movements, all while they’re holding down a teaching gig. These Teacher Leaders are coming to Austin from every corner of the country– including of course, Texas. Heck, we’ve even got a Canadian teacher bringing some.

The making of a good mixtape is a very subtle art. many do's and don'ts.

Every Tuesday this February, the folks at SXSW EDU will be dropping one of my mixtapes. Each mixtape will focus on an educational trend or movement that’s popping on the national stage at SXSW EDU. Our mixtapes will include a blog post and a curated list of teacher-led sessions, as well as when and where to catch those sessions.
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Collect all four!
Mikey’s Mixtapes for SXSW EDU 2018

Mixtape #1: Justice League Teachers
Sessions on equity, race, justice, and inclusion


Including the timely “Let’s Teach About Race,” a panel that will feature elementary school teachers Akiea Gross and Yvonne Tackie mixing it up with a professor and edtech product specialist.

02/13 Mixtape #2: Let the Teacher Drive
Sessions about teacher leadership/partnership in schools, industry, and policy


With featured session “Human Skills for Digital Natives,” presented by middle & high school science teacher JP Connolly and WNYC podcast host & writer Manoush Zomorodi.

02/20 Mixtape #3: Teacher Toy Story
Sessions featuring gaming, design learning, and the maker movement

Including “Toy Hacking, Robotics for the Rest of Us,” led by creative elementary school teachers Sara Boucher and Cicely Day.

02/27 Mixtape #4: The First Ones In
Sessions about teachers as edtech champions & the most important power users in the game

Including the visionary panel “Students Can Build the VR/AR Worlds of the Future,” featuring high school teachers Jordan Budisantoso and Mark Suter.

This article originally appeared on the SXSWedu blog.
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Mike Kleba has been teaching high school English and Theatre for nearly 20 years. He’s taken a year sabbatical from the classroom to help lead DegreeCast, a startup that is building a tool designed to make higher ed search more practical and delightful. Co-founder of Teachernomics.com, Kleba has spoken on stages around the world about the importance and power of teachers in leadership. He believes that humanity’s most important asset is the imagination.

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Chief Teachers

3/27/2017

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Mike Kleba speaking about teacher leadership at SXSWedu 2017.
Teachers are one of our culture's greatest undervalued assets.

The fact that teachers are overwhelmingly absent from leadership in companies, policy think tanks, edu organizations, and politics isn't merely sad-- it's foolish. Specifically, companies that work in education are wasting money and time, bereft of the rich and dynamic input that working teachers could offer.


there is a surging energy out there 

a teacher leadership movement waiting to happen

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A few weeks ago, the amazing team at SXSWedu invited me to come to Austin to tell my story. SXSWedu offers a week of tacos, good beer, and in one of the live music capitals of the world-- along with the chance to mix it up with leaders of the state of the art in education. Who would pass that up?

Not this guy.

I've been fortunate in connecting with SXSWedu. I've gotten to work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, started relationships with and consulted for various companies, got scouted to speak at the National Charter Schools Convention in Nashville, and traveled to London to speak at EdTechX Europe. 

And it's been fun. I've learned a lot, heard tons of stories, and met people who are truly passionate about improving education in this country and around the world.

More than anything, I've gotten the chance to see just how much people want to talk about the paucity of teachers in leadership. There is a growing energy out there-- a movement waiting to happen. It's a movement that I know will change schools, change companies, and impact how people are learning.

Put teachers on your leadership team. Hire teachers-in-residence. Invite a working teacher to sit on your Board of Directors or Advisors. Hire a Chief Teacher Officer. 

You want to improve schools? You want to make money doing it? Get some working teachers in your bullpen.
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sxswedu14: don't lose your wed

3/3/2014

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Fat Tuesday was packed with great connections here in Austin.

We talked to piles of great people-- check out our twitter feed to meet some of the cool eduratti (thanks for the new word @ericnentrup) we got to hang with today. We also enjoyed the McMillan Lounge (beer) and the Dell/Intel tent (guac). Great things happen when teachers are fed by entrepreneurs (pictured left).

The very chill people of 4.0 Schools threw a great Mardi Gras party. What was better than the free drinks, the beads, and the great food? The fact that the 4.0 crowd had tons of people who were talking about teachers making innovation work. We have to say: it probably shouldn't be uncommon to hear people talking about teachers as rock stars at an education convention. We talked to Bennett from CTQ, Fu and Katie from 4.0, and Richard and Hamish from England. Everybody wanted to talk about teachers. 

Special thanks to Abbie for inviting us. Nothing like seeing a former student running a good party. She totally rocks.

We also ate and drank everything in sight.

Before we pass out, here's our list of acquired targets for tomorrow. Look for us!

9:00am Stop. Collaborate and Listen: Teachers and EdTech Team Up. Heck, we're in just because of the Vanilla Ice reference.
10:30am Startups Should Talk with Researchers and Educators. Yup.
12:00pm Meet the Innovators: Succeeding Against the Odds. Why are the odds so lousy? We want to hear. Plus: title almost a Phil Collins reference.
1:30pm Inspire, Lead, Innovate, Make More, TEACH. They had us at "to help spread the importance of teaching." 
1:30pm How Schools Can Better Discover Tech Tools. "School leaders must consider feedback from end-users- the teachers..." We're down.
3:00pm Women Disruptors of Education. We dig EdSurge- if we make it to this, it'll be to see what skipper Betsy Corcoran has to say. Plus: we like girls. Don't judge.

Austin does Election Day and Mardi Gras, on the same day? This city might be perfect.
Signed, your travolified boys of Teachernomics,
Rhys Orteez and Mark Keezy



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SXSWedu14: who to see Tuesday

3/3/2014

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This afternoon's speech was bananas. 

Earlier today, Mike Kleba gave his talk "Teachers: Undiscovered Entrepreneurial Rockstars" at SXSWedu. We met a ton of great people and felt the energy of the nation's hottest Educon focused on innovation. Check out @ryanwohara or @mikekleba twitter feeds to see and feel the excitement generating around the idea of #teachernomics here in Austin. T

Our take:  just about everyone here in Austin seems to agree that teachers are the past, present, and future hubs of innovation in education. If the private industry has been the source of reform and innovation in education, teachers have been the developers, implementors, and champions of everything that has worked.

So, where do we go from here?  More sessions, of course.

Here's our list of who we plan to see (or hope to see) while in Austin. Join us as we chase down the EdTech companies, the startups, and the Ed leaders who seem to be working from our Teachernomics premise.  If you want change in Education, work with and for teachers.  It's not a political or moral argument.  It's a logical one.

TUESDAY 03/04 SXSWedu
9:00am Win-Win! Strategies for EdTech/Educator Engagement
9:00am How Do We Get More 'Ed' in EdTech' Development?
3:00pm The Textbook Is Dead- Long Live the Teachers!
3:00pm LAUNCHedu: Educator Insights
4:30pm Tuesday Keynote: Vivienne & Norma Ming

If you think we should be endorsing other sessions, let us know! In the meantime, get out an enjoy Austin. Or whatever place you are in. Chances are, you'll be around some teachers doing great things.



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The Big easy goes hard

3/1/2014

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There's a krewe forming in NOLA-- and its parade isn't down Bourbon Street. It's down a classroom hallway.

As you know, the guys of teachernomics (Kleba and O'Hara) are headed to SXSWedu next week.  At Austin's famous and cutting edge educon, we're planning to look for teacher-driven innovations, ideas, organizations, and startups.  

We've got an eye on the cleverly named outfit in New Orleans called the Future of School.

NOLA is a hotbed for EdTech and edupreneurship; it's a city taking advantage of the structural instability in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. It's a political hot potato, for sure: advocates of public education (that includes us here at teachernomics!) are weary of the potential frictions of private sector interest. Still, we are very interested in seeing what edu innovation grows in the Mississippi Delta over the next few years. 

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We’re looking for people with the most potential for changing the trajectory of education.  You might be a teacher or a frustrated administrator. Perhaps you’re a parent or an entrepreneur.  You may or may not have professional exprience in education but one thing is the same: you believe that schools should provide more engaging, personalized experiences for students. 
                                  - Future of School, "Who We're Looking For"
What excites us most about Future of School is their current "Challenge" to find great people to run the program. At teachernomics, we know that there is no more important "capital" in any edu innovation than the leadership of great teachers. Here's hoping that those hopeful folks in America's most culturally civilized city will attract and give the reins to great teachers!

Good luck, Future of School!

Want to take Future of School's Challenge?  Or just look at a well-designed pitch for educational innovation? Check out their absolutely gorgeous website at
http://futureofschool.org/

Painting by NOLA artist Diane Millsap
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    just a Fact:

    Teachers are injecting value into every corner of our society.

    Tweets by @mikekleba

    Mike kleba

    is the CEO and Chief Teacher Officer of DegreeCast. He's also a public school teacher  who lives with his wife and dog in Brooklyn, NY.

    RYAN O'HARA
    is the chair of the English Department at a school district on Long Island and was a high school teacher for more than a decade. He lives with his wife and three daughters in Old Beth Page, NY.

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Photos used under Creative Commons from James St. John, mayrpamintuan, quinn.anya, Kevin Doncaster