Oka, so first I want to say if anyone doubted the dedication of teachers to their students then they are sorely misguided. All they have to do is look at all of the wonderful teachers who have given up their weekend to enjoy, talk, collaborate and learn this weekend. I don't know any profession that would do professional development like teachers.
Okay so what did I learn. The day started off with an amazing key note from Jennie magiera: http://www.teachinglikeits2999.com/ on what is innovation and the idea of transformation. She asked us why we are here? Of course I said I want to learn about google apps. The next statement said, why are you here? And the answer should be to be a better educator. It really hit home. She's right. Tech is great but it's not what is driving me to learn, it is the vehicle that I am driving but pedagogy is driving my learning and to be better at teaching is why I am here. Jennie continued to make us think about this concept. She should us her first use of iPads, and how proud she was that the kids were quiet and on task, but stated is this engagement, is this learning? Then she showed us true engagement, through creation. Very powerful.
My next session was google forms: there are so many possibilities but the best application was from Scott Monahan who suggested making a form for assessment. The form has the kid names, the subject and a comment box. Use your iPad or mobile device to voice record the text. Wow, amazing.
Some other ideas:
Reading assessments, exit tickets, student surveys, data collection in math, etc.
My next learning was with Kyle pace on creating a google site. With my myclass site being phased out I needed to learn some new platform to allow my to host all the flip things we have been doing in the classroom. For me this was google sites. When I first started before the conference I felt a little overwhelmed with it but with Kyle's tutorial is was quite easy to follow. You can see it here: https://sites.google.com/site/pacehandouts/google-sites.
My next session was my own. It was great to present on flipping a p/j classroom. I put my presentation on 21sttechtools.pbworks.com or you can see my slide show at bit.ly/Flip101.
It was also great to hear all of the help from the audience and the engagement in helping eachother.
One thing I stressed with flipping is just have an open mind, possibilities are endless. It also doesn't need to be something with a lot of sparkle, just a simple instructional video can move and meet many.
My final session was with Rolland chidiac, another amazing educator in Kitchener catholic board. He talk about his journey with chrome books and the possibilities with student creation. Now he has me wanting some chrome books.
Again what a fabulous day of learning. Check out my storify here: http://sfy.co/jfXj
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