What People Say…
Educators share what makes CMK special
“We need something like Constructing Modern Knowledge in every town and village.”
Deborah Meier
Legendary MacArthur Genius award-winning educator and author
“Constructing Modern Knowledge was the best PD ever! True organic tinkering with wonderful teachers from around the world, amazing guest speakers passionate enough to influence the world, but most of all I enjoyed putting myself in the student’s shoes.” —,
Kal Cho
Technology Teacher, Korea International School, Seoul, South Korea
“I’ve never been more motivated to start the school year. Thank you!”
Zak Thompson
Teacher, Bennett Day School, Chicago
“I brought a team to Constructing Modern Knowledge and it allowed us to expand the budding tinkering/making happening in classrooms into a cohesive conversation. The opportunity to share time problem-solving, experimenting, and learning built connections among the team and has set a foundation of collaboration that has extended into the classrooms with students. We learned a lot and it was a ton of fun. I am still inspired by the words of the speakers.”
Shelly Luke Willie
Head of School Children’s Day School, San Francisco
“At my previous school, we sent a team of teachers to CMK every year for 7 years. It was the best professional development for my teams. We worked and learned together and with educators from around the world. We pushed out of our comfort zones and met challenges, and we discovered we could really shift our practices in school in meaningful ways.”
Amy Dugre
Director of Curriculum Innovation and Technology, The International School of Dusseldorf, Germany
“If you want teachers to truly increase student learning in the classroom, they need to (re)experience how those students actually learn. The power in the CMK conference is directly related to amount of time teachers spend learning as students. After reconnecting to that process, our teachers walked away from CMK with a newfound energy and motivation to restructure the learning environment in their classrooms. Moreover, that energy has sustained itself over time unlike any other conferences I have sent teacher leadership teams to in the past.
This event is transformational. I just talked to a teacher a few weeks ago who mentioned CMK and how it changed her thinking regarding learning.”
This event is transformational. I just talked to a teacher a few weeks ago who mentioned CMK and how it changed her thinking regarding learning.”
James Calhoun
High School Principal, Colorado
“If this is what learning can feel like, surely we all deserve to learn this way.”
Kelly Watson
Year 5 teacher, Geelong, Australia
“What an incredible conference which reminded me that process and experience are the priorities in learning.”
Melissa Hoang
Technology Innovation Specialist, The Center for Early Education, West Hollywood, California
“There is nothing that will substitute for the experience that I just had. I met wonderful and powerful human beings that inspired me to the fullest. Thank you!! I recommend CMK to anyone who really wants to make a change in education and challenge yourself.”
Sarai Torres
Teacher, Puerto Rico
“Returned from my first Constructing Modern Knowledge experience. It was an exciting, wild, revitalizing experience. I learned that when intrinsically motivated about a project, it’s hard to stop. Look at all these people here working after 10 pm. Give students time this year, Zak.”
Zak Thompson
Teacher, Bennett Day School, Chicago
