| Half way between two Annual Conferences, and enjoying a well-earned summer break, I think we can look back on the Annual Conference in Vienna, and be more than happy with the way the Conference went down. A great big thank you to Connie Miller, our Conference Chair, for a superb job….and of course to all our presenters, be they Main Speakers or one of that vital group of people called classroom teachers.
As well as the sessions, the concert given by the Vienna Boys’ Choir will surely stand out as a highlight in anybody’s life. The tears were rolling down my cheeks as those wonderful voices sang, “Oh Danny Boy”.
Another first in Vienna was the final evening’s “gathering” in the Ratskeller, which let us see another side to the serious teachers who had been working so hard over the previous three days.
An item of which we can feel proud is the effect of our “Go Green” initiative, which seemed to be well-received by all concerned; left us with no huge bills for photo-copying; and which resulted in there being almost no sheets of paper lying around when all the participants had left the Conference Hotel. This will definitely continue in the years to come.
But all our eyes are now turned to PARIS, another city that has had a big part to play in the history and development of Europe over the centuries. Who doesn’t know the significance of the year 1789, and France’s influence on the drawing up of the Constitution of the United States? Who doesn’t know in which city the Eiffel Tower stands? Who has not heard of the Folies Bergeres? Les Miserables?
More importantly for ELMLE and Middle School teachers, of course, who has not read, or at least heard of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s novel “Émile - on nature, wholeness and education”, regarded by many as the most significant book on education after Plato's Republic. I am sure that, were he alive today, Rousseau would be with us at the next ELMLE Conference in Paris next January, and playing a direct part in it, too. (OK, so he was Swiss – but at least he was French-Swiss)
The Main Speakers who will be in Paris, though, do produce a list of some significance of their own. Amongst many other topics, Cathryn Berger Kaye will address us on ”Service Learning”, Alan November on “The DigitalWorld”, and Janet Allen on “Literacy across the Curriculum”. Bill and Ochan Powell will lead us into the topic of “Assessment and Grading in the Differentiated Classroom”. In addition, we will be hearing from Judith Baenan, a stalwart of the early NMSA days, famous amongst other things for her H.E.L.P. brochures for parents and teachers, and jovial Jack Berckemeyer, who you may remember opening our conference in Copenhagen, going on his knees in front of “a real princess” as the cameras clicked. Both Judith and Jack are sponsored by NMSA, to whom we are truly grateful for supporting yet another first in ELMLE’s development.
The event will take place in the Marriott “Rive Gauche”, the most up-to-date Conference centre in Paris, and will be hosted by the American School in Paris.
David Lynn of ASP is our Conference Chair – a relatively new boy on the Steering Committee, but one in whom we all have total trust.
Which brings me around to you, our members. Without you all, and your schools’ support, there would be no ELMLE Conference. So, let’s make the Paris 2009 ELMLE Conference the biggest and best yet. Start making plans now to join us in Paris in January. Don’t wait until the new School Year starts after the summer break. Get your school applications in as soon as your school set-up permits, but more importantly, make a note of the dates in your own diaries now:
Pre-Conference: January 29th
Main Conference: January 30th – February 1st, 2009
We will also have a “French Experience” to offer you, as well as a Social Event on the Saturday Evening – all part of an ELMLE Annual Conference.
We are near to completing the information on our website - elmle.org , - where you will shortly be able to find, amongst other details, an application form and a hotel booking form. (By the way, those of you who have expressed an interest in serving on the Steering Committee will be hearing from us in early December).
Bienvenue a Paris
Steve Mills
president@elmle.org |
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