This summer a few of my teacher friends got together and put on the Hive Summit, a 14 day free virtual educational conference. Michael Matera and a few of the teachers he works with did the behind the scenes work to make this happen. Michael interviewed and discussed educational topics with some amazing teachers like Matt Miller, Sarah Thomas, Dave Burgess and several others. I wanted to share this learning opportunity with you. There are a variety of topics including technology, gamification, sketchnoting, motivation and more.
* Hive Summit Update *Hello Busy Bees, Now that the school year is in full swing, it’s a good time to BEE reminded of all the innovative ideas that Hive Summit presenters excited us about in August. You’ve had time to plan and implement and reflect, and maybe you’ve been thinking that it would be great to have another chance to watch, process, and create after you’ve been back in worker bee mode. Starting Saturday September 29th through Sunday October 7th, the Hive Summit videos will again be available for a limited time. Which is where I need your help. Chances are, you work closely with someone who DIDN’T attend the Hive Summit the first time around. Let’s get them buzzing with excitement to see how they can BEE the change, too. Have them sign up at (--->HERE<---), and don’t forget to tweet out what you’re excited to revisit using the #HiveSummit hashtag and/or by tagging @Hive_Summit. Are you ready to meet back at the hive? I know I am. See you at the hive! Michael Matera
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Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices Click the link or image above to learn more about effective teaching practices in math. I consulted our Math Interventionists to learn more about how Problem Based Learning fit into our professional practice. I was provided the document above along with a conversation supporting the ideas presented in the examples below. I found many of the examples interesting and worked to solve them as the problem was presented in a way that caught my interest. Please explore the resources below and let me know if there is anything I can do to assist. Robert Kaplinsky has created a site for Problem Based Learning focused on Math. He has the resources separated by grade level and includes a number of current or recent world events in his lesson ideas. Math education is not my area of expertise, but I found some of the problems interesting and I wanted to work through the problem to find the solution.
If you don't teach math, you might find the format of the lessons valuable to create problem based scenarios in your subject area. Here is an article from Cornell University outlining Problem Based Learning. He also has Blog and Resource pages that include professional resources that go beyond Math curriculum. Last year I met with a math teacher and she shared the work of Dan Meyer who has created other Problem Based examples. Here is the link to the previous post that contains Dan Meyer's examples. Yet another example of math problems - I found Andrew Stadel's 180 days of estimation blog with some interesting lesson ideas as another resource for math. The first lesson I found was on cup stacking and estimation. Check out his page for more ideas. Personalized Learning is a site I recently discovered with a wide range of topics being covered. The site covers topics like reimagining assignments, curriculum, feedback, and more. It also explores teacher practices with ideas to help us improve and grow as educators.
One post that I really like is the Personalized PD with a Twist of Pineapple. This one stands out because it invites others into your classroom to provide you with focused feedback to improve the areas you have identified as areas for improvement. There is no judgement, no admins, just colleagues helping each other. I experienced this from the other side of being required to observe others as part of my evaluation cycle and found it tremendously valuable to see the things my colleagues were doing, discuss it with them, and I always walked away with some new idea I could use in my teaching. The site is full of topics that might support your current practices, answer some of your questions, or spark an interest in doing something differently. -click the image to learn more. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has created a site with some potential conferences for educators. The site can be viewed by upcoming, month or date to see what opportunities are available. -click image to learn more. Social Studies ELA Math Science Physical Education Fine Arts Fine Arts PLC resources Pernille Ripp an amazing ELA teacher from Oregon Wisconsin started the Global Read Aloud in 2010. Over the course of its history, more than 1 million students have participated in this project. -click image to learn more. WHAT IS IT? The premise is simple; we pick a book to read aloud to our students during a set 6-week period and during that time we try to make as many global connections as possible. Each teacher decides how much time they would like to dedicate and how involved they would like to be. Some people choose to connect with just one class, while others go for as many as possible. The scope and depth of the project is up to you. While there are official tools you can use such as Skype, Twitter, WriteAbout or Edmodo, you choose the tools that will make the most sense for you. Teachers get a community of other educators to do a global project with, hopefully inspiring them to continue these connections through the year. Wisconsin First Nations Education is a resource provided through a partnership with Wisconsin DPI, PBS and the University of Wisconsin. -click image to learn more. Wisconsin Council for Social Studies annual Conference will be March 11, and 12, 2018 in Madison. -click the image to learn more. Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers has created a site that includes grant opportunities, professional development, and many other resources. If you scroll to the Opportunities section, you will see a number of professional development opportunities available. -click image to learn more. Science Friday is a website for Science Teachers that includes resources for teaching STEM, Chemistry, Biology, and more. -click image to learn more. Professional Learning Opportunity and potential stipend - Science Friday is offering science teachers a chance to
Apply by January 7, 2018. SLATE is December 4th-6th 2017 in Wisconsin Dells. It is focused on technology integration and educational practices. -click image to learn more. WEMTA is March 25-27, 2018 in Wisconsin Dells. It is a conference with many sessions on technology but also focused on Information Literacy and educational practices. -click image to learn more. Edcamps are an amazing learning experience. Edcamp is often referred to as the Un-Conference due to the lack of formal structure typically seen in a conference. That doesn't mean there isn't structure, but rather their is choice for participants. When you attend a typical conference there are pre-determined sessions to attend. In an Edcamp the sessions are created by the participants who attend the Edcamp. Participants suggest sessions that are important to them, and are able to choose which sessions they attend based on their interest. Sessions don't have a presenter, but all are welcome to contribute to the conversation. What else is unique is that participants are expected to get up and leave a session that doesn't meet their needs and attend a new one. Edcamps are some of the most powerful learning experiences I have had, and I highly recommend them. Every year there are a few throughout Wisconsin EdcampGB in November in Green Bay or Green Bay Area. EdampMadWi in January, on the 20th in 2018 in the Madison area, has been in Sun Prairie. EdcampMilwaukee in May the same weekend as mother's day. EdcampOshkosh in August And others can be found here, or searching for the edcamps in Wisconsin. Ditch Summit is coming soon! This is a PD in your PJs type event as you participate from the comfort of your own home. It is a 9 day FREE event, yes FREE! It runs from December 15-23 and the videos are available until December 31st.
Participate when it is convenient to you. Watch the sessions that are of most value to you. You have choice in the learning. The presenter lineup is impressive including many teachers who have written books about their areas of expertise. -click image to learn more. Vicki Davis has created an incredible educational resource in her CoolCatTeacher blog. The post I am sharing, 5 Ideas for Fantastic Professional Development contains ideas from Dyane Smokorowski.
I hope you take the time to read the whole article, but I wanted to highlight the main takeaways here. #1: Take Teachers on “field trips” #2 Connect with other teachers in your subject area in other schools #3: Include active learning in teacher professional development #4: Go Outside with teachers: make a walking PLC #5: Create teacher scavenger hunts I have designed professional development for staff, and sat through a lot of it myself. I have heard a lot of feedback from teachers about their experiences; what they found valuable, and even more what they dislike about these experiences. The five ideas above are much more inline with the positive aspects of professional development I have experienced. One thing about Professional Development that I reflect on is -- How does my classroom, or instructional practice match the Professional Development I just experienced? Am I introducing elements of student engagement, activity and movement? Are students able to collaborate, share and lead discussions? Am I providing students the experience that I want to see in Professional Development? I hope you will look at the article and explore the ideas, not just for how we can change Professional Development, but also what we can take away and utilize in our classrooms so students can have Fantastic Educational Experiences. I would love to talk more about how you are implementing the 5 ideas into your classroom and discuss additional ways we can continue to grow in our practice. I met Jennifer Gonzalez at ISTE a couple of years ago. I had followed her on Twitter for awhile an really liked the things she had shared on her blog. I saw a post of hers shared by Diane Doersch on Twitter about engaging students in classroom discussions. I decided to take a look at what else she had added to her blog. What I saw compelled me to write this post. The blog has ideas about technology, which is what I typically share information about, but has so much more. It has ideas for professional development, content area ideas, grade level, differentiation, project based learning, and so much more. The images above connect to some of the posts from the site. I think the classroom discussion post has a lot of great ideas for unlocking the ideas of our quiet students and turning the conversation over to students.
The starter kit for Differentiation delves into a topic that from my experience can be challenging to implement. Jennifer shares a number of posts about Differentiation, but I thought this one would be a good one to start with. The compliments project is similar to a post I have shared on Twitter showing teacher who created a video where they tell students how the student inspires them. The compliments project is another example of building relationships and showing compassion for others. I hope you will check out the blog Cult of Pedagogy and look at the library of posts, or podcasts. I think there are many ideas to help spark your passion, improve your professional practice and inspire you. |
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August 2018
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