This weekend I got to attend the national ASCD conference in Chicago. I was fortunate to have the chance to attend it with a Press Pass, which got me in for free, but I just had to tweet/blog a lot about that (definitely something I am good at!) I already have several posts up with more to come. If you're interested you can find them on my professional blog at principalj.blogspot.com

One of the great speakers I heard at this conference was Freeman Hrabowski, President of the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Hrabowski's story began as a young boy when he marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and he has continued his passion to change the story for children and minorities. He has led his University to change the story for minorities in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).

Hrabowski spoke about matching high expectations along with the importance of building community among students, helping faculty retool teaching to start where students are and emphasizing collaboration among students, and building trust so that students are comfortable asking for help. The one skill he wants every student going to college with is the ability to ask good questions.

Some other "nuggets" of wisdom I quickly typed during his presentation include:

We must empower children to speak for themselves.
Excellence is never an accident, it is a result of sincere effort.
Choice, not chance determines your destiny.
Many students that would be the first generation to pursue college need to see others do it first. We need to share our stories with them of our struggles and how we got to where we are. We need to share stories of others so they can believe it is possible.
It is not cheating when people work together (talked about cooperative learning).
We want our children to be passionate about learning.
Even when a child loses parents, if there is a teacher who cares, that child will rise to the occasion.
Some of our students go through hell. Give them structure and let them know you care about them.