Student-Led Classrooms
Paul Solarz

Twitter: http://twitter.com/PaulSolarz
Website/blog: http://www.learnlikeapirate.com/
Book: Learn Like a PIRATE

Paul Solarz has been teaching at Westgate Elementary School in Arlington Heights, Illinois, since 1999. He advocates for student-centered teaching practices and a focus on 21st Century skills attainment. Fortunately for Paul, his school and district administration have given him plenty of autonomy to take risks and be innovative over the years. This has led to his unique style of teaching and the motivation to share his strategies with the broader education community.

In 2015, Paul was named a Top 50 Finalist for the Varkey GEMS Global Teacher Prize. The Global Teacher Award seeks to do for education what the Nobel Prize has done for science, literature, and peace. He was also named the 2014 Educator of the Year by ICE (Illinois Computing Educators) for his work with integrating technology effectively in his classroom. He is a National Board Certified Teacher.