This conference was great. Next Generation School Symposium, NGSS, centered around new ideas and ways of teaching, it offered several innovative sessions. On that note, I struggled to decide which ones to go to at every time slot. This is definitely a good problem to have.
The first session I attended was TIPS, technology innovation problem solving. This is a course designed by @bhommerding designed around student driven learning with a charge to students to produce “shipable” products. One of the many gems that I got out of this session was the book Linchpin by Seth Godin. Check it out. @bhommerding loves to help create classrooms that matter.
The second session was about Flip with a pinch of blended learning. Presenter, Kurt Wismer’s session found here: http://tinyurl.com/or25shl was great. He did a wonderful job showing us how we can create an online learning classroom one step at a time. Videos don’t have to be perfect. His videos are created in 7-10 minutes. This seems more approachable.
Third session that hit my schedule was Flipping the class from @deb_norton, the presentation here: tinyurl.com/nsew25k was fantastic. I learn about so many great tools to use with a flipped classroom. Check them out they are awesome and will change your classroom for the better. My fav is Kahoot.
The fourth session is a unique one titled: Redesigning the Learning Space. The presenter was the same as my last session. @deb_norton shared with us ideas on how to shape your classroom to be more inviting, while also being more efficient. She showed us the work of thirdteacherplus, a company that redesigns learning spaces, gives you powerful ideas of what can be done. Now Deb knows you and I don’t have much money. She talked about a redesign on a dime idea. Her session presentation here: tinyurl.com/lun5xol
The last session, my own, was on Gamification. It was well attended and made great connections. There is a lot of energy around the idea of getting students to accept the challenges of school like a game. There are so many powerful tools that games have that we can learn from as educators. I helped walk teacher through ideas that can help them build better experiences for learning.
All and all this was a great conference to go to and one that will be on my radar for next year.