Being a rapid-fire presenter at the 2010 Big Ideas Fest was an unique and exhilarating professional experience, because of the creative atmosphere of the conference, which, unfortunately, is not the norm for education events. The presenters and also participants were dynamic people, focused on new, big ideas. Every detail of the conference, including the gorgeous location, was carefully orchestrated to encourage collaboration and divergent thinking among us. I was inspired to present my own big idea in a creative way, in which the form mirrored the content: because I was presenting a idea from the book I co-authored, Teaching 2030: What We Must Do For Our Public Schools--Now and In the Future, I presented as myself 20 years in the future. The challenge of that experience, along with engaging with so many forward thinking people in the Action Collabs, helped push my thinking about my own work to new levels.
Ariel Sacks, 2010 Big Ideas Fest Rapid Fire Speaker
Teacher, Leader, Writer of Standing on the Shoulder of Giants
Teacher, Leader, Writer of Standing on the Shoulder of Giants
"I thought the part of the Action Collab where we prototyped and literally built a system from scratch was particularly meaningful and inspiring - I'd never seen myself as someone who "makes" things, and for the first time, I saw myself conceptualizing and making a solution. It was really eye-opening."
Big Ideas Fest Participant, 2010
"Hearing success stories from the trenches showed be real world failures and their successful rebounds in action. Success is built on the courage to fail."
Big Ideas Fest Participant, 2010
"This was an education conference that actually applied what we know about how people learn, offering an abundance of different learning opportunities for different types of learners."
Big Ideas Fest Participant, 2010
"It was by far the most dynamic, engaging, and action-oriented conference I have ever attended."
Big Ideas Fest Participant, 2010
"[Big Ideas Fest was useful to my work because] I have plenty of ideas for my work, but not many opportunities to make collaborative plans with people outside of my immediate organization which I need to be more effective in my field."
Big Ideas Fest Participant, 2010
"The [Action Collab] process implemented during the conference is something that could be applied in our local context to get educators thinking afresh about their problems. Engagement is difficult as educators are generally in a bit of a rut and this distinctly different and collaborative approach is likely to help shake things up enough to get them focused on a problem rather than their problems."
Big Ideas Fest Participant, 2010
"I am extremely impressed by ISKME, as it seems to have started to fill in the underlying question of what to do next. I'm feeling the urge to move forward past all of the problems and hopefully move toward some sort of solution."
Allison McGree, K-12 Formal & Informal Teaching Artist
Art Mobile of Montana & Montana Arts Council
Art Mobile of Montana & Montana Arts Council
"As a result of attending Big Ideas Fest, I changed the way I teach. I used to start class by writing "Today's Goals" on the board but after hearing Dr. Mitra speak and then talking with him at dinner, I decided to start class with "Today's Question". This is helping me to think more closely about what I want my students to get smarter about and helps me build skills in the art of asking questions."
Constance Moore, Visual Art Teacher
Civicorps Elementary
Civicorps Elementary
"[Big Ideas Fest] was a very interesting and awe-inspiring conference. Many of my personal limits were stretched (in a good way) regarding how I think (or thought) I work best to solve problems."
Big Ideas Fest Participant, 2010
"[I had an] unbelievable, mind-numbing, breathtaking experience in all levels of the Fest."
Big Ideas Fest Participant, 2010
"The Big Ideas Fest stimulated me to take a fresh look at the entire field of education; to set aside my long-standing assumptions and question my old paradigms."
Big Ideas Fest Participant, 2010