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Marco Antonio Torres to Keynote MAINEducation 2009
Gary Lanoie, conference committee chair since 2006, announced that Marco Torres has contracted to deliver the keynote address for the 22nd MAINEducation Conference in Augusta on Friday, October 16. Torres will offer two breakout sessions following his keynote and will also present on Thursday, October 15.
“Craig Dickinson and I were impressed with Marco’s keynote at the MassCUE Conference in November 2007,” Gary noted. “With assistance from Bette Manchester, ACTEM arranged to again bring an internationally-acclaimed educator to Maine for two days.”
At Marco Torres’ school of 5,000 kids, only about 650 graduated in 2006. Eighty percent of the state of California does better than his school. Every two years there is a 30% faculty turnover and 56% of entering freshmen eventually drop out. “Teachers can quit, complain, or innovate,” he observes. As an Apple Distinguished Educator- a program, sponsored by Apple that recognizes innovators in today's classrooms- there is no question which option Marco chooses.
Will Richardson, MAINEducation 2007 keynote, is one of Marco’s biggest fans. “Let me be clear: there is no one ‘out there’ right now who delivers the message about how schools need to change better than Marco. No one. He’s a teacher, a learner, a father, a visionary…I can’t say enough good things about him. And he just totally gets it in a way that we all have to get closer to,” Will wrote on his blog.
For Marco “learning is not just how you receive information but how you produce it.” He teaches his students how to celebrate their culture, build communities, and how (and why) to use multimedia tools to share their very special stories and ideas with the world. “It’s not about technology, it’s about creativity,” Marco emphasizes. His Flick Schools page offers specific techniques including links to “Practical Movie Making in the Classroom” and “Better Photography” pages.
Marco’s practical workshops emphasize that, regardless of what you teach, multimedia can make your learning and teaching experience more relevant, meaningful, and applicable.
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