Why I’m excited – with Ken O’Connor

I’m excited that in less than a month a group of committed professionals will meet in Portland for the Pearson ATI Sound Grading Practices Conference in fascinating Portland Oregon.
I’m excited that this is tenth annual ATI December conference focusing on sound grading practices.
I’m excited that the scope of the conference has officially been expanded to consider aspects of communicating learning in addition to grading.
I’m excited because I have had the good fortune to be present at all of these conferences.
I’m excited that I will again meet personal and professional friends who I respect and whose company I enjoy.
I’m excited that I will have the opportunity to meet and make new friends.
I’m excited that on December 1^st I will present a session outlining six standards of quality for report cards and seven requirements for effective standards-based reporting.
I’m excited that on December 1^st that I will have two hours for “Office Hours” where I have the opportunity to meet with individuals or small groups to discuss their issues and hopefully provide solutions.
I’m excited that on December 2^nd I have the wonderful opportunity to present a keynote about Transformations – the personal and professional transformations that we experience and the pressing transformations that are needed to create a culture of learning in place of a culture of grading in schools, especially high schools.
I’m excited that after the keynote I will have a follow-up session where we can discuss those pressing transformations.
I’m excited that after the conference I’m going to have a brief visit with dear friends who moved to Vancouver Island a year ago.

And finally

I’m excited that I go home on December 3^rd to await the arrival of a new granddaughter who is due to arrive on December 25^th.

Ken O’Connor is a former Curriculum Coordinator with the Scarborough Board of Education in Ontario, Canada. He is an expert on grading and reporting with a particular emphasis on using these techniques to improve student achievement through student involvement. With over twenty years of teaching experience in secondary schools in Australia and Ontario, he has presented hundreds of workshops for teachers at every grade level. Ken is the author of A Repair Kit for Grading: 15 Fixes for Broken Grades, 2/e, Pearson (2010).

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