I like what I’ve seen today of rapid-fire presentations. Fifteen minutes each. Back-to-back lasting an hour. Compelling stories about a slice of education, from students, teachers, entrepreneurs, professors, principals--mostly centered around what it takes to engage students.

Dennis Bartels from the Exploratorium helps kids take advantage of learning ecosystems outside of schools. Erin O’Connell, professor of classics, engages students in the oral traditions of the Iliad through parallels with hip-hop and rap. Gever Tulley, founder of Tinkering School, suggests that kids want to explore the unknown; it’s adults who are often leery. That’s why his upcoming report is called "Fifty dangerous things you should let your children do."

In her keynote at lunch (which felt rapid-fire too), Yvonne Chan, principal of Vaughn Next Learning Center, personified the energy that she uses to reshape systems around student needs: "Always proceed," she said, "until apprehended."

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