Sheryl can speak on a variety of topics related to 21st century teaching, learning and reform. She always tailors keynotes and workshops to address the audience at hand, whether presenting to teachers, administrators, parents, or non-profit organizations. Here are some topic suggestions based on her most popular speaking events and workshops. In addition to these, Sheryl is an active presenter on homelessness, children of poverty, teacher leadership and community-building.
Any of these sample presentations can be structured as a keynote address or a day-long, hands-on workshop.
New Directions for Classroom Assessment
It’s a common adage that assessment drives learning. But for educators striving to integrate skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, problem solving, and digital communication into their instruction, how should assessment change? In this workshop, Sheryl will discuss best practices on how teachers can create assessments that both reinforce and evaluate students’ learning in abstract and transformative academic skills. Presentations will explore advancements in assessment tools as well as offer practical examples of evaluations of student projects.
PLCs in the 21st Century: Partnerships for Powerful Learning
Learning is now an anytime, anywhere, anyone experience; and, for educators to fully understand the implications of an interconnected, networked world for their students, we must begin to see ourselves as a part of a global community of learners. This means a willingness to share what happens in our classrooms with others beyond our own hallways and to collaborate and reflect with other educators without the constraints of time and space. It also means working to build a culture of openness and trust on a local level that will lead to greater connections and learning for every constituency, from students to parents to teachers themselves. This session will look at the way school teams from around the world are making these shifts and will discuss in detail the results from studying the interactions of one global PLC in particular.
Diversifying your rolodex
Pull up the list of keynotes, speaker spotlights and panelists for any edtech conference. What do you notice? Lots of men. This conversation will explore the concept of female underrepresentation as thought leaders in the educational sphere and especially in the edtech space. The topic will be illuminated by a panel of men and women interacting with conference participants; together we will offer diverse input on the problem, causes and solutions to this issue. This session will be approached from an appreciative inquiry model which will highlight the strengths and possibilities of a stronger female voice in the edtech space. We will be focused on positive, collective action and overcoming barriers rather than dwelling on the negative.
ConnectQuest
If you’ve wondered how to move from why you should change to how you can do it, ConnectQuest is the workshop for you. ConnectQuest is a one-of-a-kind journey to become a curriculum designer of 21st century learning. Through this interactive, board game-style presentation participants will stand on the shoulders of giants as they use empirical research to build powerful learning skills within their classroom communities.
Introduction to 21st Century Learning: The Digital Natives are Restless
What is 21st Century learning? Why is it important? Come gain an understanding of the shifting learning literacies that the 21st Century demands and why developing a 21st Century pedagogy is critical to student learning in a digital age. Leave with a sense of urgency for why you should shift your classroom practice toward more engaging approaches.
Keeping Up with the Net Generation
A passionate student is a learning student. Using digital media students are building their own learning experiences, constructing meaning, and collaborating in teams to solve authentic content-based problems. Teachers who use these empowering technologies are discovering we can have rigor without sacrificing excitement. The secret: Focus on student passion and interest.
Overcoming Obstacles in a Connected World
Boundaries formalized by education in the “industrial age” shouldn’t hinder educators as they seek to reform and transform their classroom practice. In this session, we’ll talk about how to deal with issues like: lack of access to tools/computers, copyright, filtering, cyber bullying, online safety, and other IT concerns.
Connected Learning Communities of Change
Professional learning communities can engender much-needed meaningful collaboration and learning among educators — collaboration that leads to improved practice, greater student achievement and positive school reform; collaboration now further enabled by the affordances of current technologies.
Reaching All Students
Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach explores the importance of blending learning with digital literacy skills to ensure success for our most at-risk students. Come hear about ways of broadening your technology program’s reach and effectiveness for a full range of students, including those who have the most to gain from successful implementations.
Connected Learning Communities: Learning and Leading in a Digital Age
Here, now — a revolution in technology has transformed the way we can find each other, interact and collaborate to create knowledge as connected learners, to develop the social fabric, capacity and connectedness found in communities of practice and learning networks. Join Sheryl in this interactive presentation as she explores the question- What should professional development look like in the 21st Century?
Schooling for the 21st Century: Unleashing Student Passion
A passionate student is a learning student. As the people of the world are becoming increasingly connected, the nature, use, ownership, and purpose of knowledge are changing in profound ways. Our goal as educators is to leverage these connections and changes as powerful means to improve teaching and learning in our schools. Come listen as Sheryl stirs a sense of urgency for shifting classroom practice toward more engaging approaches that unleash the passion that lies within each learner.
Creating Environments that Support Passion- The Role of Emerging Technologies in the Core Curriculum
In this follow-up to her opening keynote, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach focuses on real-world examples of learning environments that extend the walls of the traditional classroom, offering new possibilities and igniting a passion for learning. Evidence based on exemplary practices in education suggests that newmodels of teaching and learning have the power to improve educational outcomes dramatically. Come learn how to have it all—including both creativity and rigor—when delivering your core content curriculum.
Effective School Leadership: The 21st Century Administrator
As the people of the world are becoming increasingly connected, the nature, use, ownership, and purpose of knowledge are changing in profound ways. Our goal as educational leaders is to leverage these connections and changes as powerful means to improving teaching and learning in our schools. This workshop will show you how.
Engaging Staff & Students- Creating Personal Learning Networks for Global Collaboration
How do we promote the knowledge, skills and sense of urgency for 21st Century teaching and learning among all teachers in our schools? As the physical and virtual worlds converge to become the ‘real world’ of teaching and learning, virtual exchanges, online mentoring and other Web-based environments will play increasingly important roles in educational reform. The “new” Web affords us an amazing opportunity to pursue our passions within online communities of like-minded learners from around the globe. Participants will learn valuable lessons for designing and leading global collaborations.
Leveraging the Wisdom of the Crowd: Collaborative Action Plans
If using technology is so easy, why is implementation so difficult? Preparing students for the 21st Century calls for collective action of all stakeholders and this workshop looks at the steps needed to build momentum and garner buy-in from the entire school community. Participants will discuss ways to plan collectively and strategically for the future, develop a professional development plan for 21st Century skill building, and make sure all students have equitable access to a 21st century education.
Dimensions of Change
Today’s changing world challenges us to re-envision what we do in our schools and classrooms or risk a growing irrelevance in our students’ lives. At the core of this challenge is how well we realize the potentials of today’s emerging technologies in our own professional and personal learning practice as educational leaders. Participants will discuss how schools have changed and how they need to change to meet the demands of a modern world and remain relevant in the lives of the students they teach.
Sample video
Watch highlights from my keynote at ULearn08, Christchurch, New Zealand | More videos
