Are you new to iPads for learning? Are you already using iPads in the classroom? Either way, this pre-conference workshop will be a rich source of ideas, resources, and information about learning with the iPad.
This hands-on workshop will explore productivity tools, educational activities and more, using built-in and freely available applications for Apple's iPad. With the iPad, learners can collaborate, interact with experts, perform research and produce creative works! We will examine using this mobile device to transform learning. This workshop includes time to collaboratively design an activity that redefines learning. Do not miss out on this innovative workshop! Teachers, administrators, IT professionals and technology coordinators are welcome.
Come learn from educators how they are not just replicating analog, traditional classroom experiences (i.e. paper and pencil) with digital and instead leveraging cohesive learning tools to empower student learning. Office 365 Education now includes customized experiences where teachers manage everything from class assignments to their professional learning communities and students post questions, collaborate in groups, and access all the materials they need—all in one place. It incorporates the tools teachers and students already love in Office and new tools like OneNote, Sway, and Microsoft Forms.
Attendees will:
-Learn about specific Microsoft tools and how they can be integrated into the classroom
-Participate in a rotation of interactive, hands-on activity with Microsoft Innovative Educators that can be replicated in classrooms
-Gain confidence in sharing learnings and content in front of a class so that you can bring these learnings into next school year
If you are ready to take the next step towards saving time and engaging your students with technology, this session is for you.
We’re entering a whole new arena of learning and knowledge of brain function. Charting the inner landscape of the mind allows us to actively promote meaningful learning across the curriculum, in and out of the classroom.
Mindfulness is at the heart of breakthrough applications in education and media, rooted in awareness, curiosity, and authenticity. Even just five years ago, science did not have the research available to show the many benefits of mindfulness that are just coming to the forefront. Now, this topic has exciting and powerful developments to explore and apply.
Dynamic life begins with us; with mindset and approach. The state of our minds has a great impact on the power of our connections, our engagement, and our overall learning experiences. This workshop blends the philosophical and the practical, diving into research and applications across the curriculum. We’ll look at current technology and social media that blend well with mindfulness. As we integrate mindfulness in all curriculum arenas, highlighting design thinking strategies and examples, we will investigate ways to craft active mindful learning, with curious collaboration. And, in the midst of all the activity, we will promote ways to keep our own selves sustained.
Ultimately, it’s how we choose to approach our knowledge and tools that matters, in the context of community. How we understand the incredible capacities of the mind, and its ability to relate to others, just might have the greatest impact on overall learning. We’re in an age of collaboration and creativity; a time of empathy-driven problem solving, using design thinking models to amplify our understanding.
Daniel Pink calls this “The Conceptual Age”—an age of invention and innovation, focusing on the characteristics of the brain's right hemisphere: artistry, empathy, inventiveness, and big-picture thinking. It's an age that invites us to be passionate, lifelong learners, looking at tech and tools and how to find presence and meaning beyond the buzzwords.
In Visible Learning for Teachers, education researcher John Hattie completed what Grant Wiggins calls “the most exhaustive meta-analysis in education.” Hattie isolates what factors make the biggest difference in student achievement. His top 5:
§ Student self-assessment
§ Response to intervention
§ Teacher credibility
§ Providing formative assessments
§ Classroom discussion
Incredibly, all five of these factors are best supported by mindfulness, at the core. Best education environments are ones that promote awareness, encourage listening, interchange and reflection, and foster active, empathetic engagement—just the type of place where mindfulness thrives.
Learning is a dynamic enterprise. In a recent post on Boston’s mad*pow design agency site, founder and industry expert Amy Cueva aptly said “collaboration is the new innovation.” True—we’re in a mindshare-fueled world. We will discuss what that means in action, as we aim to “go global” in a connected society.
Deepen your skills and understanding of mindfulness principles and education initiatives, learn about current trends, and leave with practical activities to integrate into every classroom and school community. This workshop is designed for educators, administrators, and other school personnel (Instruction Specialists, Technology, Curriculum, Human Resources, Counselors and Assessment Coordinators) alike.
The following research and resources are among those referenced in our workshop and discussion: Richie Davidson (2013) at the University of Wisconsin, studying focus techniques and emotional well-being; the APA's findings (2011) that “improved concentration, emotional intelligence, and the ability to relate to others and one’s self with kindness and compassion” increase through mindfulness practices; Daniel Goleman (2014), providing research showing that mindfulness capabilities improve the ability to cope with stress, to make effective decisions, and to use creativity. This session also draws on the work of John Hattie (2012) and visible learning processes, various Design Thinking examples and research, and Yong Zhao's (2015) global learning and innovation models. We will discuss applications across the curriculum, exploring ways to integrate these findings into our active daily life, in and out of the school environment.
Participants are asked to install the Read&Write Google Chrome extension prior to the session and request a free teacher premium account at https://rwchrome.texthelp.com/drive/Home/RegisterTeacher
Between the first screen, the movie screen, and the fourth screen in your pocket were two others. They have dramatically changed the ways in which we work, learn, play, and live together. Increasingly, our online lives breed a lack of inhibition not seen offline while simultaneously the phones most kids have in their pockets make all spaces learning spaces and potentially shift learning times to any time.
This session will model conversations educators can take back to their schools about cultivating empathy and empowerment in our students to combat a host of social issues around student use of social media. Participants will leave with a wealth of powerful visual material and discussion starters they can use in their schools with their students. We’ll share ideas to effectively lead these sort of difficult conversations and share resources we can easily access anywhere any time.
When learning is centered around not what one knows but what one is able to do with what one knows, it calls for a different way to think about assessment of learning. The technologies students already have in their hands possess simple tools for documenting learning experiences and producing generative artifacts that are evidence of learning in this context. This session examines and uncovers qualitative formative assessment of learning, an approach that supports process-oriented educational design.
OneNote is a powerful tool to organize and deliver lessons as well as engage and organize students in a simple and effective way. This session will look at the power of OneNote, how it used in classrooms and how the Learning Tools help both general and special education students access their learning.
Explore a variety of FREE student response services/tools that work on any device and give teachers the power to make informed instructional decisions. This session will be a rich source of ideas, resources and information for effectively using technology for formative and summative assessment.
Attendees will:
-Learn about specific free services/tools that transform assessment (and make teachers’ lives easier)
-Examine the advantages of each tool and how to use these resources effectively to engage students and personalize learning
-Discover how these services/tools can give all students a voice and make thinking visible
-Participate in an activity that can be replicated with staff and students
Be sure to bring a device to fully participate in this interactive session!
Thanks to technology, authorship is at our fingertips, and today's writers are able to share their work with others on multiple platforms and in various forms. Innovative and entrepreneurial writers have discovered they do not need permission from a major publishing house to call themselves authors and deliver their work to the world. Why should students wait to be adults to share the stories and essays they have inside? By using the free tools available, students can publish their work, whether it be the first novel of a trilogy or a collection of poems or essays. In this session, we will:
Identify the steps to publishing from start to finish, including:
•Completing the manuscript
•Formatting
•Paying attention to the details - everything from page breaks to fonts to copyright considerations
Explore the available platforms (including but not limited to):
•Kindle
•NOOKPress
•Smashwords
Understand the role social media and marketing play in getting your novel noticed:
•Goodreads
•Wattpad
•Facebook/Instagram/Twitter
•Virtual book tours and review swaps
Join us and empower your students with the power of self-publishing!
“Teacher’s gonna show you, how to get an A…” Not anymore Jackson 5!
Today’s classroom is a place where STUDENTS guide the curriculum as kids of all ages are empowered to ask questions, seek information and collaborate with peers. We move from having 1 teacher and 30 students, to an environment where everyone plays the role of both teacher and learner and expands the physical space of the classroom to include colleagues around the world. New digital tools make this easier than ever before as students collaborate online with peers and experts, create to demonstrate understanding and gather authentic feedback that matters. Learn practical strategies you can use tomorrow to connect learners, capture student thinking and build agency across the grades.
In this session educators will look at all the ways we can create and analyse data for improvement. Leadership ways help guide school improvement, students creating their own data for study tips, pastoral care leader survey ideas and more ideas will be shown and shared. Google Sheets can be used to provide data on students, both summative and formative, to inform their teaching. The power of cells changing colour and graphs of student progress can quickly allow us to intervene as well as provide frameworks for regular student reflection. Technology should make our lives easier and data should inform our teaching, these markbook ideas allow us to achieve just that.
Global Communication and Collaboration in the Classroom with Skype
Open students’ eyes to the global ramifications of technology by using Skype to communicate and collaborate with anyone, anywhere in the world. Have a book talk with an author; experience the challenges faced by explorers; virtually visit national and global parks and landmarks; Mystery Skype with classrooms and learn about other cultures and geography.
In this workshop, participants will learn about, and practice, six dimensions that white boarding and screencasting tools can be used in support of instruction, feedback, knowledge building, and assessment of learning. These dimensions are: synchronous instruction and feedback, a synchronous instruction and feedback, instructor-drive template creation, student note taking, student-driven tutorial production, and student work with templates. By exploring these 6 dimensions, participants will have a better understanding of how dynamic, multimedia tools can help people communicate thinking and better understand each other.
Students driving their thinking & learning through questioning; the essence of an innovative learning environment
The Common Core standards are all about staking a “Claim” and finding “Evidence”. Is that enough? Or do students also need to ask questions, identify problems and share thinking? Students making their own meaning is not a new idea, but the advent of the Internet has reintroduced it as a growing tenet of innovative and thoughtful learning environments. Today our challenge is to collectively determine how to provide learners the time, confidence and mental space to create meaning.
Inspired by Danielson’s Framework for Teaching and the International Baccalaureate Learner Profile, this session is specifically designed to consider effective questioning techniques and student-led discussion strategies as vehicles for advancing student learning rather than for assessing or checking their understanding.
Join us as we explore strategies and share resources for developing questioning and thinking routines:
Ted has completed an extensive 2015-2016 school-year trip, going to all fifty states. He will talk about what he observed:
What’s working?
What isn’t,?
What it will take to accelerate the pace of progress and change in our schools?
Ted will discuss his nine-month “No State Left Behind” tour. You can preview his travels on his website:
http://www.edu21c.com/blog/
In this workshop, Phil Stubbs will share how teachers around the world are adopting simple strategies to meet the challenge of engaging students more deeply in their learning.
He will share practical strategies for shifting the ownership of learning from teacher to student and demonstrate how these strategies are being applied to on-going professional learning in order to allow teachers and school leaders to meet the challenge of whole school improvement as a collective endeavour. Participants will leave with a range of student-ready activities suitable for use in "The First 5 Days".
As students transition from a high school to a college/university setting, they are likely to encounter vastly different experiences. Too often, there is an expectation and preparation gap for students making this transition. At The Ohio State University, College Ready Ohio is working to bridge these gaps, connecting high school teachers and university faculty to work bidirectionally toward building a bridge for students in transition.
This session will highlight where some of these gaps exist, both culturally and pedagogically, and explore how collaborative efforts to build learning communities has improved teaching and learning at both the secondary and postsecondary levels in Ohio.
Confusion abounds when it comes to what people think "global education" stands for. Understanding the different angles and ways of addressing various interpretations can help build buy-in and confidence so that more students get a quality "global education," whatever they think it is.
Once a year, the leadership of our organization travels abroad in order to exchange knowledge, and gain inspiration for new and different ways, in which to improve the abilities, well-being and growth of Danish pupils as learners. The last three years we have visited The United States of America including New York, San Francisco, San Diego, Vermont, Boston, Chicago, Sacramento and Silicon Valley.
In this workshop we give an outsiders digest of the American school system and challenges ahead compared to the Danish school system. We will discuss in what ways the two school systems differ and in what way we can stride to improve the systems through the shared knowledge and know how.
Are your students and faculty flexing an artist’s palette of apps or merely randomly accessing a rather wimpy list of individual random tools? Creating dashboards for learning is a new essential skill for your students and one you can model. If you are implementing 1:1 or BYOB, this session will prepare you to smash together a variety of digital tools to develop tool literacy in your own school community.
In this interactive presentation we will address:
• In what ways might the creation of dashboards and launchpads/PLEs organize learners' understanding of their personal information landscapes and support productivity, workflow and agency?
• In what ways might the creation of playlists/learning palettes support teaching and learning/
• How do you creatively combine apps to accomplish learning goals more powerfully? More thoughtfully? More artfully? What are your best recipes?
With BYOT Programs emerging at many schools, digital citizenship programs have provided a safety net for school. However, they have just opened our eyes to what our students can do and write on social media and also the role that sports and movies stars have in shaping the expectation of communication skills in a 21st Century environment. Lets look at the wealth of resources that are available in online news articles, use SAMR ladders to reflect on how we can improve Digital Citizenship lessons and preface emerging research from the likes of Mal Lee and Martin Levens in how our schools should transform. From research activities that infusing digital citizenship into curriculums, to whole school change issues involving tech, we will propose, discuss and also share our current situations on that continuum.
The first five days of school can prepare students to "learn how to learn" and yield achievement dividends all year. By preparing students to own their learning and to manage tools and networks that will support them throughout the school year, we better prepare them for academic success. Web literacy, student as tutorial designer, self assessment, peer to peer support and more will be covered. A culture of empowered learning can help save teachers valuable time and inspire students.
What are your students thinking and how do you know? Alan November asks ‘Are there opportunities for students to make their thinking visible?’ At the International School of Amsterdam a culture of thinking is embedded into our philosophy, programme and curriculum. We want students to think about thinking and therefore we embrace the opportunities that technology provides to facilitate.
Join us to explore how we use a range of technology tools with primary aged students to make thinking visible. See how self and peer reflection is an integral part of learning in our classes. We will share our experiences with screencasting, movie-making, book-making, mind mapping, digital portfolios and collaborative projects across a range of curriculum areas. Some of the tools we have used include: Book Creator, Explain Everything/DoodleCast Pro, iMovie, Adobe Voice, Padlet, Poplet, Voicethread amongst others.
Shop in a Box is the vision of our class, the Model United Nations, at Thomas A Edison Career & Technical Education High School. Here the students have flipped typical teaching methodology. Students are usually recipients of knowledge imparted by the teacher, but in the Model UN we direct the class ourselves. We decided to build a museum dedicated to exposing the terrible human rights violations that continue to plague our world. But it wasn’t enough. We didn’t want to simply expose problems, we wanted to solve them. We found the answer right where we were. We would package our shop skills into a box and export our education to places where opportunities are limited. They are destined for orphanages in Guyana and Bangladesh, schools for girls in the Dominican Republic, and a school for the victims of trafficking in Seattle. This session will highlight student empowerment and introduce participants to the boxes created by the students. It may not change the world, but it will change someone's world. Come and join us and see how.
As educator George Couros says, “innovation is not about a skill set: it's about a mindset.” And, a mindful mindset is at the heart of education.
A resilient, open, curious, healthy mindset makes for an ideal learning landscape, and mindfulness is a key part of the equation. Come join this workshop to build core mindfulness skills while exploring key creative applications across the curriculum. Understand and investigate the neuroscience behind modern mindfulness practices, and discuss innovative, integrated ways to build mindful exercises into active class time, personalizing and fitting the context of a dynamic classroom community.
When we, as engaged participants in an education community, use mindfulness methods as a means to build self-awareness, focus, and creative ideation, we can call ourselves “neuro-networkers”. We’re actively using mindfulness to change our minds and connect with others— in powerful and innovative ways! Everything, from design thinking, creative ideation, presence in social media, and applications across the curriculum, stems from here.
This session focuses on mindfulness and its active application across three arenas, using it to:
- increase focus (concentration)
- promote presence (awareness)
- boost empathy (connection capacity for relational trust)
In recent research, executive function skills have been identified as having a huge impact on a student’s success in school, particularly when that student suffers from an Executive Function Disorder, or EFD. Supports are put in place to build the student’s skills and teach coping strategies for the deficits with which he or she struggles. Not everyone receives this support and guidance however, in particular the adults who completed school well before EFD had been identified and support became commonplace. Organization, task flexibility, time management, working memory – these are a few of the identified executive functions, but they are also factors a supervisor considers when measuring a teacher’s effectiveness during an observation. The Skillful Teacher notes that “good planning skills stand behind good teaching,” indicating that planning high quality lessons are at the heart of what every teacher needs to do to be effective in the classroom (Saphier, Haley-Speca, and Gower, 2008). Lesson planning, and the delivery of a well-planned lesson, require a high level of executive functioning skills as well. In this session, we explore the variety of evaluation tools and the executive functions required for a teacher to qualify as effective. We will also review current research pertaining to the identification of this issue, as well as what administrators can do to support faculty members struggling with poor EF skills.
In a world where knowledge is more a verb than a noun how do we foster deep learning in our students? Good questions cause thinking. Unfortunately, many of the questions regularly asked in classrooms focus on knowledge as a noun. This presentation will explore the effective use using thinking and learning tools in the classroom. We will work together to model teaching practices that lead to students co-constructing a networked (real world) rather than hierarchical (artificial) understanding of their world regardless of grade level or discipline.
Participants will leave this workshop with a toolkit of research based questioning and thinking strategies they can begin using with their students tomorrow.
Today’s digital classroom seeks to combine rich literacy instruction with 21st century tools to engage students in meaningful learning experiences. New devices invite students to read beyond the text and use multimedia--images, video, infographics--to add layers to their thinking. In this new learning landscape, we rethink what it means to “read” and craft lessons that explicitly teach students to analyze a photo, closely read a video clip and read the world. We’ll investigate new entry points for all learners and share ideas for empowering students to author their own messages as content creators in this participatory digital culture.
Homework can be a critical part of the educational process that impacts every member of the learning community. However, as currently utilized, homework practices are outdated, deeply rooted in tradition and focus more on compliance and task completion rather than growth and learning. The presenters will focus upon research regarding current homework practices and make a compelling case for the need to change our homework assignments so that they promote student inquiry, questioning skills, active engagement based on interest and curiosity, and feedback to students that is meaningful and specific.
Based on research about the brain, motivation, persistence and student differences, Dr. Kasun, Mr. Aldarelli and Dr. Huguenin developed a powerful presentation in which they share their journey to improve and enhance homework practices globally. This engaging presentation details how educators can change their philosophy, set policies, and create practices that promote “home learning”. By utilizing practical innovative applications that leverage the use of technologies such as Verso, Google Docs, Kaizena, etc., homework can become more meaningful and impactful for student learning.
Participants Will:
- Understand how to influence the development of homework policies that promote growth learning as opposed to compliance and task completion.
- Obtain information regarding current and relevant research studies pertaining to homework practices and it’s impact on student achievement.
- Walk away with innovative strategies that leverage the use of technology to promote collaborative and engaging homework assignments.
Topics Addressed:
- Flipped Learning
- Developing Student Questioning Skills
- Student Feedback
- Policy Development
- Student Voice/Choice
Research offers insights for working with diverse populations in education. There are theories in motivation and research methods, technology and case studies. Experience the story of how research in practice changed the way student voice shaped learning design, impacted preschoolers, formed identity, and helped at-risk youth find purpose in education. You'll get to try out Poetic Transcriptions, experience digital ink, and collaboratively co-authoring Sway based on your own student artifacts you can access or bring with you or practice with artifacts provided. Sway works on any device and is easy to create with a mobile device. Look at ways of telling your own experiential learning, story, cross-age mentoring, and cross-country collaboration to share how your work creates bridges across domains and people. See how Sway can become a tool for amplifying voice, co-authoring, and creating digital portfolios.
Worksheets: we all use them, and they provide quick and valuable feedback; but are you (and your students) tired of giving the same worksheets day after day? Transform that boring worksheet into a fun and engaging assessment, with or without the help of technology. This session will demonstrate a variety of ways for assessing students, using tools like Poll Everywhere, Google Forms, Plickers, Bingo, and more!
Curation belongs in the curriculum. It should be part of your school’s search toolkit, part of your collection development strategy, part of your professional development plan, part of your effective Web presence! Joyce will define curation as a learning and workflow strategy and discuss--what might be curated, the best new tools for curating, students as curators, the role of student work in curation, and using curation as an effective strategy for scaling your practice. We will also examine the importance of curating the new bounty of OER.
It’s a brave new world, right here, right now. Beyond doubt, there is an urgent need for mindful solutions in society, especially in regard to innovation, creativity and leadership. As researcher and leadership expert Margaret J. Wheatley says, “we need better means to engage everyone’s intelligence in solving challenges.”
Poet Gary Snyder says in his poem For the Children, “to climb these coming crests/ one word to you, to/ you and your children:/ stay together/ learn the flowers/ go light.” Positive organizations need this sustenance, passion, enthusiasm and hope to endure, and to co-create within community.
This session's topic has great impact on organizations and individual leaders and learners, addressing key themes. We’ll draw on the work of M.Wheatley, Y. Zhao, H. Tavangar and many others in advising educational leaders and organizations on how to thrive in challenging, dynamic global environments; P. Palmer (2015) in linking personal authenticity and accountability to effective leadership practices that effect social change; and O.Scharmer (2014) on the development of the globally recognized MIT edX course Transforming Business, Society and Self, a highly-recognized "learning environment that is personal, practical, relational, mindful, collective, and transformative." Many other organizational leadership models and examples will be referenced and actively evaluated.
In 2010, IBM interviewed 1,500 CEOs across the globe. All agreed on the following points:
1) complexity has escalated in organizations
2) organizations are not equipped to cope with this complexity
3) creativity and innovation are now the most important leadership qualities
Mindfulness allows individuals and organizations to adapt and navigate in a complex world, while maximizing creative potential. For creativity to thrive, the mind needs to feel empowered and free to explore. Organizational systems that prioritize leadership, freedom, and entrepreneurial creative spirit are adopting regular mindfulness practices, and this is yielding great benefits. Startup incubation is also at a record high, because many larger companies are now realizing the advantages of supporting those who focus on creative solutions and innovation. This has great applications and promise in the education arena.
Leadership has a call to action, in the need for mindful choices that foster creativity and social impact on a global scale. We are at a pivotal societal turning point: the United Nations has just adopted the 17 Global Goals, a series of worldwide values that unite the globe across all cultures, physical and political boundaries. Bridging these gaps, the ultimate goals are to seek better systemic solutions for effective, long-term change— sustainable change that reflects a set of common globe-wide values and leadership objectives.
Mindful Leadership complements these Global Goals across many categories, including “quality education”, “good health and well-being”, “sustainable cities and communities” and “partnerships for the goals.”
This session aims to address leadership practices and principles in education, applying them to co-imagine and invent ways to effect positive systemic change.
Homework can be a critical part of the educational process that impacts every member of the learning community. However, as currently utilized, homework practices are outdated, deeply rooted in tradition and focus more on compliance and task completion rather than growth and learning. The presenters will focus upon research regarding current homework practices and make a compelling case for the need to change our homework assignments so that they promote student inquiry, questioning skills, active engagement based on interest and curiosity, and feedback to students that is meaningful and specific.
Based on research about the brain, motivation, persistence and student differences, Dr. Kasun, Mr. Aldarelli and Dr. Huguenin developed a powerful presentation in which they share their journey to improve and enhance homework practices globally. This engaging presentation details how educators can change their philosophy, set policies, and create practices that promote “home learning”. By utilizing practical innovative applications that leverage the use of technologies such as Verso, Google Docs, Kaizena, etc., homework can become more meaningful and impactful for student learning.
Participants Will:
- Understand how to influence the development of homework policies that promote growth learning as opposed to compliance and task completion.
- Obtain information regarding current and relevant research studies pertaining to homework practices and it’s impact on student achievement.
- Walk away with innovative strategies that leverage the use of technology to promote collaborative and engaging homework assignments.
Topics Addressed:
- Flipped Learning
- Developing Student Questioning Skills
- Student Feedback
- Policy Development
- Student Voice/Choice
Whether your focus is co-authored student projects or solutions for administration and building strong learning communities, see how Sway can easily transform your content to a professional, polished product with no design skills needed. Find out how to collect and analyze data, create on the go with mobile, and embed multi-media. You’ll be able to build and co-author during the session, and discuss implications from Learning Sciences and Human Development research.
In this workshop, participants will learn about, and practice, six dimensions that white boarding and screencasting tools can be used in support of instruction, feedback, knowledge building, and assessment of learning. These dimensions are: synchronous instruction and feedback, a synchronous instruction and feedback, instructor-drive template creation, student note taking, student-driven tutorial production, and student work with templates. By exploring these 6 dimensions, participants will have a better understanding of how dynamic, multimedia tools can help people communicate thinking and better understand each other.
How can we teach now in ways we couldn’t teach before?
How can students learn now in ways they couldn’t learn before?
What new pedagogies take advantage of the open architecture of the internet and model effective learning design?
We can create deep learning experiences that encourage students to show and share what they know and contribute to the global knowledge commons. While technology will never replace teachers, it has opened doors to new ways of structuring student participation in their own learning and opened windows onto the world in ways that allow us to build in feedback loops for learning from people within and beyond the boundaries of the space and time of the classroom. After wading through examples of concrete student centred learning experiences that reimagine ways teachers think about how they structure the architecture of participation in the teaching of mathematics we will begin to reimagine how each of us might evolve our own open pedagogy across all disciplines.
This workshop will model ways we can eliminate disposable assignments (assignments students complain about doing and teachers complain about grading) and instead create tasks that add value to the classroom and beyond. Come learn what is meant by "open pedagogy" and reimagine new ways you can teach and your students can learn.
This session offers a deeper dive on concepts introduced during the main session, and will include lessons learned from the Take-Action Guide to World-Class Learners co-authored with Yong Zhao.
Are you new to iPads for learning? Are you already using iPads in the classroom? Either way, this session will be a rich source of ideas, resources, and information about teaching and learning with the iPad. This includes tips and tricks to get even more out of your Internet communication device. Participants should bring their own iPad to fully participate in this session.
Embracing and implementing technology initiatives requires change. Effective school leaders are using the power of coaching to craft and communicate a vision for digital learning and managing change.
Coaching unlocks individual potential and maximizes performance while inspiring others to become solution-minded. When faculty and staff are fully engaged, they more readily embrace challenges, take risks and collaborate for more significant results.
Coaching results in:
· increased leadership engagement and competency
· the establishment of practices to remove barriers in achieving the vision (sometimes you may be the #1 obstacle!)
· more meaningful, engaging conversations
· keeping teachers’ connected to their passions
· growing a vibrant growth-focused culture
· ensuring the buy-in of stakeholders
· increased life-work balance
In this session school leaders will become familiar with basic coaching skills such as intuitive listening, reframing, clarifying, and scaling as well as tools and principles to live by and lead by.
According to a study of 100 executives from Fortune 1000, the average ROI for coaching is 6 times the investment. How long are you willing to wait for that type of ROI? Join the conversation at BLC 2016!
This hands-on workshop will examine strategies designed to cultivate curiosity in order to engage students more deeply in their learning. It will use global research and practical examples from classrooms to examine the importance of developing students as question askers, learning designers and ultimately, owners of their own learning. Participants will be required to bring their own device.
OneNote is a powerful tool to organize and deliver lessons as well as engage and organize students in a simple and effective way. This session will look at the power of OneNote, how it used in classrooms and how the Learning Tools help both general and special education students access their learning.
One of the most powerful ways to transform teaching and learning is by moving to student-driven learning environments. Two districts in Illinois, along with a high-performing high school in Chicago, asked students to be involved in designing their own learning environments and learning experiences. How can schools and districts support classrooms move from a traditional environment to a student-driven, student-empowered environment? How can teachers gradually hand over more control to students while still meeting teaching expectations? What non-traditional roles can students play during this process?
Participants will leave with examples of:
*ideas of how to begin the shift
*how to give students a voice in their learning experiences
*student-generated, workable ideas to engage students more deeply in their learning
*Design Thinking basics *student-driven learning environment resources
Digital Portfolios provide students with the opportunity to collect and reflect upon their learning journey. Our students are creating digital portfolios that allow them to receive feedback from parents, peers and teachers. These portfolios combine work completed on both iPads and computers, and store selected information from across the curriculum (photos, video clips, projects, photos of handwritten work) in one online space. We have several years experience working with a variety of tools and we will share how our Grade 3 students use Seesaw to create a seamless digital portfolio experience, with the recording option enabling students to explain their thinking quickly and in more detail. This is the start of a student's ongoing digital portfolio. The basic principles and ideas can be applied when creating digital portfolios using other applications such as Google sites.
Using various social media platforms such as Twitter, Voxer and Blogging, we bring people together to grow as educators and also as learners. Mindset is at the heart of what we are able to achieve and accomplish. Through communication and collaboration, we become lead learners who bring the global world to our local classrooms.
Participants during this session will be able to:
- take away practical ideas and resources to apply to their own global learning.
- engage in dialogue with those in attendance that will force them to grow their minds in the way they think about their own professional learning.
- develop resources of professionals that will support them in their learning once they leave BLC.
- participants will have access to the Lead Learning team for ongoing personal professional development.
- be inspired to apply what they learn and make connections with colleagues from all corners of the globe.
It’s a brave new world, right here, right now. Beyond doubt, there is an urgent need for mindful solutions in society, especially in regard to innovation, creativity and leadership. As researcher and leadership expert Margaret J. Wheatley says, “we need better means to engage everyone’s intelligence in solving challenges.”
Poet Gary Snyder says in his poem For the Children, “to climb these coming crests/ one word to you, to/ you and your children:/ stay together/ learn the flowers/ go light.” Positive organizations need this sustenance, passion, enthusiasm and hope to endure, and to co-create within community.
This session's topic has great impact on organizations and individual leaders and learners, addressing key themes. We’ll draw on the work of M.Wheatley, Y. Zhao, H. Tavangar and many others in advising educational leaders and organizations on how to thrive in challenging, dynamic global environments; P. Palmer (2015) in linking personal authenticity and accountability to effective leadership practices that effect social change; and O.Scharmer (2014) on the development of the globally recognized MIT edX course Transforming Business, Society and Self, a highly-recognized "learning environment that is personal, practical, relational, mindful, collective, and transformative." Many other organizational leadership models and examples will be referenced and actively evaluated.
In 2010, IBM interviewed 1,500 CEOs across the globe. All agreed on the following points:
1) complexity has escalated in organizations
2) organizations are not equipped to cope with this complexity
3) creativity and innovation are now the most important leadership qualities
Mindfulness allows individuals and organizations to adapt and navigate in a complex world, while maximizing creative potential. For creativity to thrive, the mind needs to feel empowered and free to explore. Organizational systems that prioritize leadership, freedom, and entrepreneurial creative spirit are adopting regular mindfulness practices, and this is yielding great benefits. Startup incubation is also at a record high, because many larger companies are now realizing the advantages of supporting those who focus on creative solutions and innovation. This has great applications and promise in the education arena.
Leadership has a call to action, in the need for mindful choices that foster creativity and social impact on a global scale. We are at a pivotal societal turning point: the United Nations has just adopted the 17 Global Goals, a series of worldwide values that unite the globe across all cultures, physical and political boundaries. Bridging these gaps, the ultimate goals are to seek better systemic solutions for effective, long-term change— sustainable change that reflects a set of common globe-wide values and leadership objectives.
Mindful Leadership complements these Global Goals across many categories, including “quality education”, “good health and well-being”, “sustainable cities and communities” and “partnerships for the goals.”
This session aims to address leadership practices and principles in education, applying them to co-imagine and invent ways to effect positive systemic change.
Articulating vision and mission, managing change, and aligning technology to primary curricular goals are emphasized. We will explore the “leader as a role model” concept and look at various professional development opportunities, such as joining a global professional community.
Global Communication and Collaboration in the Classroom with Skype
Open students’ eyes to the global ramifications of technology by using Skype to communicate and collaborate with anyone, anywhere in the world. Have a book talk with an author; experience the challenges faced by explorers; virtually visit national and global parks and landmarks; Mystery Skype with classrooms and learn about other cultures and geography.
Students driving their thinking & learning through questioning; the essence of an innovative learning environment
The Common Core standards are all about staking a “Claim” and finding “Evidence”. Is that enough? Or do students also need to ask questions, identify problems and share thinking? Students making their own meaning is not a new idea, but the advent of the Internet has reintroduced it as a growing tenet of innovative and thoughtful learning environments. Today our challenge is to collectively determine how to provide learners the time, confidence and mental space to create meaning.
Inspired by Danielson’s Framework for Teaching and the International Baccalaureate Learner Profile, this session is specifically designed to consider effective questioning techniques and student-led discussion strategies as vehicles for advancing student learning rather than for assessing or checking their understanding.
Join us as we explore strategies and share resources for developing questioning and thinking routines:
Computer Science has become a ‘hot topic’ these days. Why? Because the study of computer science can lead to high-skill, high-wage, high demand careers. From President Obama to your local board of education, there have been calls to make computer science and coding available to all students of all ages and across all demographics: Computer Science for All. In a recent legislative session, Connecticut lawmakers mandated that K-12 schools include Computer Science in their curriculum - and other states have enacted similar mandates. But what does that mean? How are teachers who are not computer programmers supposed to learn the skills needed to teach their students coding? Don’t be intimidated - there are tons of online resources that can help you provide meaningful activities, learn along with your students, and have fun!
This presentation will demonstrate resources that make computer science accessible and fun. Teachers will leave with a wealth of free or inexpensive resources for including computer science, computational thinking and coding activities into their classrooms.
Embracing and implementing technology initiatives requires change. Effective school leaders are using the power of coaching to craft and communicate a vision for digital learning and managing change.
Coaching unlocks individual potential and maximizes performance while inspiring others to become solution-minded. When faculty and staff are fully engaged, they more readily embrace challenges, take risks and collaborate for more significant results.
Coaching results in:
· increased leadership engagement and competency
· the establishment of practices to remove barriers in achieving the vision (sometimes you may be the #1 obstacle!)
· more meaningful, engaging conversations
· keeping teachers’ connected to their passions
· growing a vibrant growth-focused culture
· ensuring the buy-in of stakeholders
· increased life-work balance
In this session school leaders will become familiar with basic coaching skills such as intuitive listening, reframing, clarifying, and scaling as well as tools and principles to live by and lead by.
According to a study of 100 executives from Fortune 1000, the average ROI for coaching is 6 times the investment. How long are you willing to wait for that type of ROI? Join the conversation at BLC 2016!
What happens when a team takes a game loved by over 100 million and brings it to classrooms? Go on a journey with us as we develop professional learning, game features, curriculum, and support the 200,000 learners already using Minecraft in their classroom and invite many more to join.
Join us to get hands on with the ‘EdTech Toy Box.’ Using examples of technology available for the classroom, learn how this hardware can be used in the classroom. Including authentic student led projects.
Have you tried the Hour of Code? iPads will be available, and a Code.org trainer will assist you and discuss how you can use this engaging series of activities to excite your students about coding!
In a connected world, learners can collaborate, interact with experts, perform research and produce creative works! During this session we will examine using technology to transform learning. Gain knowledge as well as practical strategies to lead by example and integrate these tools and resources in meaningful, effective ways. This session includes hands-on experiences and time to work with your team to design an activity that redefines learning.
OneNote is a powerful tool to organize and deliver lessons as well as engage and organize students in a simple and effective way. This session will look at the power of OneNote, how it used in classrooms and how the Learning Tools help both general and special education students access their learning.
What happens when a team takes a game loved by over 100 million and brings it to classrooms? Go on a journey with us as we develop professional learning, game features, curriculum, and support the 200,000 learners already using Minecraft in their classroom and invite many more to join.
The Global STEM Education Center will address the following:
· Why Global STEM is not a simple “add-on” to the Global Education and why YOU should know about it – even if you are not in STEM.
· What are the UN Sustainable Development Goals and how it relates to Global STEM Education and why you should know about it?
· Why your students are not going to be ready for the 21 st century without
Global STEM? What is the very minimum, but absolutely “must-have” knowledge for them?
· If you are in STEM – where are we in Global STEM education and where are we going next?
· How to bring Global STEM ® programs to your school and what can you do on a limited budget?
· What you should know about Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data and why these are (one of the) “must-have” experiences for educators and students?
· A quick “tutorial” for educators on what NASA and SpaceX are doing and why all educators should know about?
· A brief overview of other innovations and “moonshots” and grand challenges in science and engineering that all educators should know – and why
· STEM Education – a brief summary of mapping to the standards and conducting research and evaluation
