A Full-Circle ISTE Moment: I’m a Featured Voice Speaker at ISTE+ASCD 2026

It was 2012. I had launched TeacherCast just a few months earlier, and I kept hearing about this incredible professional learning experience called ISTE. The catch: that year it was happening all the way across the country in San Diego. I decided to go anyway—and that became my first ISTE conference. I remember attending the conference with my wife, meeting Sir Ken Robbins, watching amazing Keynotes and attending a ton of great sessions and I was hooked!

Since then, I’ve had the amazing opportunity to grow alongside (and because of) the ISTE+ASCD community—the educators, coaches, and leaders who keep showing up, sharing what works, and pushing the work forward in a way that still feels deeply human.

Along the way, I’ve been humbled by a few milestones I never could’ve predicted back in 2012:

• I was honored to receive the ISTE Instructional Coaches Award
• And last year, I received the first-ever ISTE+ASCD “20 to Watch” Award

I’ve also been grateful to serve as part of the community in longer-term ways:

• I’ve been a member of the ISTE Community Leaders group for almost a decade
• And an ASCD Emerging Leader for more than a decade

When people ask why I keep coming back to ISTE+ASCD, it’s not just the sessions (though they’re great). It’s the feeling that you’re surrounded by people who are trying to do the same thing you are: make school better, one practical move at a time.

So yes—this year I’m genuinely excited. But more than that, I’m grateful. Grateful for the mentors who took time to answer questions, the hallway conversations that turned into collaborations, and the community that keeps reminding me why this work matters.

And I’m proud in a very personal way to share that I’ll be at ISTE+ASCD 2026 as a Featured Voice Speaker. I don’t take that lightly—it feels like a full-circle moment from that first trip in 2012. If you’ve ever learned something from a session, a blog post, a podcast episode, or a quick conversation in the corridor, please know: this is our win. I’m just the one who gets to stand at the mic.

If you’re going to be in Orlando—or joining virtually—I’d love to say hello. Here’s where you can find me.

ISTE+ASCD 2026 (at a glance)

• Dates: June 28 – July 1, 2026
• Location: Orlando, Florida
• Attend: In-person + virtual
• My presenter page: https://conference.iste.org/2026/program/search/detail_presenter.php?id=118443060

My sessions (come say hi)

1) Magic Happens with Coaching Connections: From Inspiration to Implementation (Playground)

Playgrounds are one of my favorite parts of ISTE because they’re designed for real conversation—less “sit and get,” more “try it, talk it through, bring it back to your school.”

Session page: https://conference.iste.org/2026/program/search/detail_session.php?id=118429176

2) Measuring What Matters: Defining Success in Your Instructional Coaching Programs (in-person + virtual)

If you’ve ever felt the tension between doing the coaching work and proving the impact, this session is for you. We’ll dig into practical ways to define success metrics that are realistic, sustainable, and actually useful—not just another reporting burden.

A few conference highlights I’m excited about

When I build my schedule, I’m always looking for experiences that are hands-on and ideas that survive the trip home. A few highlights worth circling:

• Profile of an AI-Ready Graduate — Interactive Experience: https://conference.iste.org/2026/program/ai_ready.php
• Program highlights overview: https://conference.iste.org/2026/program/highlights.php
• Browse in-person playgrounds: https://conference.iste.org/2026/program/search/index.php?cs={“basesets_isinperson”%3A1%2C”formats_playground”%3A1}

If you’re going, here’s my ask

If you’ll be at ISTE+ASCD this year, hit reply to my newsletter or send me a quick message on LinkedIn and tell me one thing you’re hoping to bring back to your school.

I’ll be sharing notes, resources, and a few “Monday-ready” takeaways as the conference gets closer—and I’m genuinely looking forward to the hallway conversations as much as the sessions.

See you in Orlando (or online),

Jeff Bradbury

Your Digital Learning Coach

P.S. If you want weekly, practical ideas you can actually use, you can subscribe to The Impact Note here: https://teachercast.net/newsletter