Keynotes

= Keynotes =

Opening Keynote: Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers
Malcolm Gladwell is based in New York City, and has been a staff writer for the New Yorker since 1996. He is best known as the author of //The Tipping Point// (2000), //Blink// (2005), and //Outliers// (2008). During the opening keynote, Gladwell delivered his unique perspective on the ways that intentional practice today influences expert-development of the future.

Closing Keynote: Erin Gruwell, teacher of the "Freedom Writers"[[image:DSCN1419.JPG width="363" height="270" align="right"]]
Erin spoke about her experience teaching the "Freedom Writers" and how she integrated technology to allow the students to create anonomyous journal entries (which eventually were published as //The Freedom Writers Diary//). Erin is now holding workshops for teachers, where students help teachers understand what it is like to be a student today. A new book, //Teaching Hope//, due out on August 18, 2009, contains the stories from The Freedom Writer Teachers.

After the closing keynote, Erin was nice enough to sign some books, and pose for a few photos!