Field Trips: Events for Educators

October

National Association of State Boards of Education Annual Conference
11-13, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

"Be a Part of the Revolution" is the call to arms for this year's conference. As Ben Franklin and the other Founding Fathers held, public education is the foundation of a democratic society, and that's the angle one can expect as the educational leaders of today convene in the City of Brotherly Love.

K12 Online Conference 2007: Playing with Boundaries
15-19, 22-26

The title for this conference -- whose meeting place is, well, noticeably absent -- is apt. No need for a hotel; you can attend from the comfort of your own home with asynchronous events as well as live "fireside chats" held via Elluminate technology. A good conference for educators who wish to learn Web 2.0 for the classroom.

American Association of School Librarians 2007 Conference: The Future Begins @ Your Library
25-28, Reno, Nevada

Instilling a desire for lifelong learning is the ALA's mission. Come to the Biggest Little City in the World to learn how to fill your library with the right materials, services, and personnel to wow young learners into a lifelong relationship with the library system.

November

North American Council for Online Learning 2007 Virtual School Symposium
4-6, Louisville, Kentucky

VSS attracts educators involved in online learning all the way from Canada to Mexico and features a program that will lead new practitioners from the first to the final stages of virtual-school planning and administration.

Safe Routes to School National Conference
5-7, Dearborn, Michigan

This event aims to encourage parents to have their children walk and bike to school, rather than drive them (automobile accidents are the number-one cause of death and major injury for U.S. children), and to prompt communities to build an infrastructure of safe routes for our junior commuters.

National Middle School Association Annual Conference and Exhibit: The Right Stuff!
8-10, Houston, Texas

More than 8,500 middle school educators are expected for the annual NMSA conference, keynoted by baseball legend, author, and community-service leader Cal Ripken Jr.

National Council of Teachers of English: Mapping Diverse Literacies for the 21st Century: Opportunities, Challenges, Promising New Directions
15-18, New York, New York

This year's conference draws Jonathan Kozol and Amy Tan to encourage educators to embrace new ways of being literate, of teaching English, and of seeding the gift of language in twenty-first-century learners.