Teachers will learn about apps and activities to use for stretching students when they finish their work early. We will discuss both electronic and non-electronic options. Participants will have the information they need to make an enrichment box for their classroom.
Research shows that in the stages of early childhood development there is a critical connection between time spent in nature and a child’s brain development. Children are curious about their surroundings; the outdoors provides a perfect vehicle for the developmental of the whole child and to help them make sense of the world. With today's fast paced structured day, at home and in school, children are not getting outside and exploring on their own. We will look at current research of the importance of outdoor play and how hands-on outdoor experiences are important to the development of the whole child. Participants will leave with information and activities to get them started on the path to outdoor experiences in all school settings.
This session will describe how to layer the most motivational techniques of gameplay over your curriculum to increase student collaboration, problem solving, and creativity. Come away with practical strategies that you can use in any class or grade level to make learning come alive for your students!
Leadership is not limited to Student Council. Students can be incredible problem solvers if they are given latitude to do so. Over his 8 year tenure as Dean of Students, Rishi helped create leadership systems that were student centric and allowed students to be problem solvers. Learn about leadership opportunities for students through advisory, retreats, diversity, clubs and project based learning. Participants will leave with ideas that they can take back to their own schools.
The World Language teachers at University School have spent the last year rebuilding their program based on ACTFL’s oral proficiency guidelines. Students spend much of their class time speaking or otherwise developing their oral proficiency skills. Students focus on language performance and learning targets. They are becoming familiar with the ACTF proficiency language. We would like to share our journey with you and help you refocus your program in a way that makes sense for you and your curriculum. Learn from our false starts and mistakes and come away with a plan to help jumpstart your students’ proficiency.
Just watching videos doesn't necessarily lead to deeper learning. Discover how to engage students with interactive videos that include text, images, questions, and discussions to deepen understanding, hold learners accountable as they watch, and personalize learning. Also learn how to use student created videos in the form of a 1 - Take as a method for informal formative assessment. Walk away with the tools you need to immediately start using interactive video in your courses.
Hear what is in USM's Nerdvana (aka MakerSpace). From Play D'oh to Mitre Saws, from crayons to CNC machines...let's discuss the tools that are highly coveted and essential when creating a MakerSpace.
All MakerSpaces are different...there is no "cookie cutter", "one-size fits all" when it comes to your Nerdvana. Let's chat about what works in your space and take away some new ideas and cool tools to explore.
Dramatically TRANSFORM school culture
Lead with ENTHUSIASM that is contagious
Leaders will walk away from this workshop with the tools they need to build a PIRATE culture, strategies and a coaching model they can implement tomorrow, and the confidence they need to make school AMAZING.
Through our intense commitment to staying connected, participants can also expect ongoing collaboration and support as they are encouraged to participate in weekly leadership challenges uniquely designed to support them in taking steps to becoming PIRATE leaders.
At one time we all had dreams of having superpowers, the ability to bend the rules, and a way to personalize an experience. The Itemize It! session will help you add powerups, short cuts and items to your game that will lead to an engaging and personalized experience for your students and push them to meet their full potential. You will learn tips for creating your own items, gain plenty of ideas, and leave ready to enhance your gamified class!
With 5 years of experience, Don will have an open forum as we explore the trials and errors of starting a genius hour time in your class. This is the time to share best practices, and learn from those who have tried to implement innovation in their classroom.
Come hear how our first grade team experienced the Global Read Aloud for the first time. We’ll show you the tools we used and share our lessons learned. Discover how to make successful connections, plan efficient and engaging, activities, and manage the time commitment. It's a great session for any grade level!
Personalized Learning? Virtual Reality? Increased Student Engagement? Dive deeper into all of these with Nearpod! Designed for all grade levels, PreK all the way through 12th grade, Nearpod is an all-in-one student learning platform that will spark your students' interest and participation. Learn how to create highly interactive lessons and receive real-time student data through quizzes, polls, drawing tools and more! Participants will not only hear about best practices, but they will also experience what they look like in the classroom! This is an easy-to-use, beginner-friendly tech tool that can yield big results! Bring your device, and get ready to jump right in!
Get ready to smile and say, "Cheese!" In a world filled with selfies and plenty of Social Media platforms, how can educators use the power of photography as an inspiring tool for students to connect globally? Learn how you can personally take photos to share and document the learning of students.
This interactive session will cover all of the bases for planning a fun family night including funding, activities, staffing, and partnering with other organizations.
Everyone is born knowing how to play. Through playful planning, teachers can harness the power of games. Games allow us to learn from our failures, explore the world around us, and unlock talents in ourselves through leveled challenges. Together we can bring these elements into our schools. Educators who effectively use game theory, thinking and practice in their course design will see their students in a new light. Learn how to start crafting your gamified classroom to help build your student creativity, courage and clarity of content.
What’s the worst professional development you’ve been a part of (or more accurately: “apart” of)? We won’t linger on those terrible experiences, but we’ll talk about solutions to the problem of bad PD. There is a better way. We’ll drill down into practical ways for each of us to get what we need when we need it, and for those who plan PD to make it more about CHOICE (Constant progress, Honoring professionals, Ongoing, Individualized, Collaborative, Energizing).
This session will talk about ways to find money / materials for the classroom. We will discuss GoFundMe, YouCaring, DonorsChoose, and how to find / apply for grants.
In the global 21st century, content knowledge of world events and institutions simply are no longer sufficient for truly global education. Increasingly, information is not what is lacking, but instead there is a dearth of authentic global experiences and opportunities for students to get beyond their comfort zones and break free from their preconceived notions about the world. To do this, we now look to inculcate our students with global competencies to prepare them for their global futures. But what do these competencies look like and how do we design our curriculum to successfully nurture these in our students? In this session, I will share my experiences garnered while working through the Global Competency Certification program developed and administered by the Teacher’s College at Columbia University, the Asia Society, and World Savvy. We will then discuss how I have used these lessons to redesign the Global Scholars Program at USM.
The 50-minute session will be structured in three parts. First, we will discuss how I have taken the GCC coursework and fieldwork experiences and adapted them to building the University School’s Global Scholars program. We will then critique the GCC’s Global Competence Matrix and examine materials from the GCC curriculum. Lastly, we will explore implementation, using the student-centered project design of USM’s collaboration with Ugandan communities in the “Great Lakes to Great Lakes Water Project” as an example. The goal of this session will be to discuss and to articulate the core concepts, skills, values, attitudes and behaviors that we should foster as we seek to educate our students to be globally competent.
Join classroom game designer and author Michael Matera on a journey into the new world of education… a world that flourishes on collaboration and creativity. Inspire and empower your students to take control of their learning and leave a lasting legacy. On this journey, Matera will serve as your experienced guide to help you apply the most motivational techniques of gameplay to your classroom using strategies that work with and enhance (rather than replace) your current curriculum. Ready yourself for learners who will request MORE of these game-inspired earning opportunities that highlight their talents, ignite their passions, and fuel their desire to leave a legacy. Then brace yourself, matey, for the thrill it will spark in YOU as you follow the call to imagine, design, and grow within a content-filled, experience-rich “New World” classroom.
They gave your class or your students Chromebooks and you want the devices used for more than typing. This is your session! From the simple to the advanced, we’ll work through the best practical options to get the most out of your Chromebooks and the Google suite. Keyboard shortcuts, essential settings changes, impactful extensions, tools for efficiency and more. We’ll go beyond the device and share the online tools to put the internet to work for you and your students. And, of course, we’ll encourage you to Apply, Practice and Explore throughout the session. Let’s go APE!
