Top 5 Moments of the Expeditionary Learning National Conference 2023

This November, I was lucky enough to be accepted as a presenter at the EL Education National Conference in Denver, Colorado! Amazing educators – including teachers, school and district administrators, instructional leaders, school board members, and curriculum specialists – came together to learn from one another about best practices to prepare students to contribute to a better world and achieve more than they thought possible.

Here are my Top 5 Moments of this transformational experience:

#5

Elena Aguilar’s keynote address. It was so inspiring to hear from educator Elena Aguilar on cultivating resilience to build equitable schools!

#4

Student ambassadors and presenters. Conference emcees were all students from EL Education schools – what an experience to hear from these youth leaders in their own voices.

#3

Hands-on tools to implement right away! From ideas for Expeditions and authentic final products, to ways to use AI in the classroom, to collaborative problem solving and consultancy, I walked away with tangible tools to implement immediately.

#2

Learning from experts in the field – like our very own Ms. Fiske and Ms. Abbey! EL Education and Detroit Prep share the belief that teachers and school team members are the experts on how to build equitable, excellent schools. I am in awe of the experiences and ideas shared.

#1

Connecting and collaborating with brilliant and passionate educator friends from around the world! Connecting and reconnecting with the EL Education community and network year after year brings me so much joy, resilience, learning, sense of belonging, and sense of possibility knowing that we are in this work together. Having the mental and emotional space to learn together is a true gift and privilege – I’m so grateful for this opportunity.