ISACS Takeaways

 This year's ISACS' conference was held right here in Louisville! Teachers from across the region gathered to share and learn together. My absolute favorite idea has to be Winterm. The ISACS' session was titled “The Best Two Weeks of Middle School," and it totally sound like it would be. The entire middle school participates for two weeks during the winter drag. Teachers work together to create two week sessions that may or may not be in their disciplines. Students choose their top courses and are fully immersed in the two week session. There was a Harry Potter themed session that included literary analysis and Quidditch, an entrepreneurial session that led to a service project where students sold their goods, and an amazing Mars expedition that turned the cafeteria into a Mars space station! The whole idea seemed invigorating, and maybe exhausting, for both teachers and students. I love the idea of large-scale cross-curricular projects that inspire creativity and learning from students and teachers alike. Doesn't a baking competition sound like just the right mix of hands-on math, research, and teamwork? Or poetry and songwriting? Maybe that film background could come back in play. :)