Literacy Loving Gals: iEngage

Showing posts with label iEngage. Show all posts

iEngage and the Power of Social Media

iEngage was a success! Many people from surrounding districts attended D100's iEngage EdTech Conference to learn more about educational technology. I had the opportunity to present with Michelle from BigTime Literacy on the five powers of social media. If you're interested in viewing our presentation, click on the first image below.

Our keynote speakers were not only absolutely amazing and an inspiration, but very humorous as well. If you ever have the opportunity to hear John Antonetti and Kevin Honeycutt speak at a conference, don't miss it!

John Antonetti

John Antonetti shared with the attendees a task rubric for designing student work. He mentioned the need to increase rigor to support the Common Core and how educators can better service students by getting them across "The Rigor Divide" shown on the rubric below. He then stated, "Engagement without cognition is kids having fun but not achieving anything."

Antonetti first displayed the SAMR Model from top to bottom, then flipped it to appear left to right as a way of comparing the rubric to the SAMR Model. We need to get over to "The Rigor Divide" side of the rubric by modifying and redefining lessons which will prepare students for the future. Make sense?

In regards to Kevin Honeycutt, one of my favorite things he stated was, "I'm smart, but my network is brilliant." This means, get connected everyone! Share your stories and what you know with the world. Honeycutt's statement just reinforced what Michelle and I were trying to express in our presentation. Together we can achieve more. :)

Kevin Honeycutt

I was unable to hear Carl Hooker present, since I was helping out with the poster sessions during his presentation, but everyone discussed how fabulous he was as well. He had a great turnout, too!

Thanks for the picture, Leah, via your Twitter account! :)

Hooker even wrote a post titled "iEngage: An Inspiring Event Every Educator Should Experience", if you're interested in reading it.

Happy Monday!

iEngage EdTech Conference, Here I Come!

Well the time has finally arrived. The 2-day iEngage EdTech Conference starts today. I'm honored to have been part of the iLead Team in charge of creating, organizing and implementing this amazing event.

iLead Team

Since last summer, we have been preparing for this one-of-a-kind gathering to share our district's story on how teachers and students have been utilizing 1:1 technology within the classroom, as well as outside of the classroom walls.

The iEngage will host some amazing keynote guest speakers, including John Antonetti, Carl Hooker and Kevin Honeycutt!

Administrators will be participating in panel discussions, while teachers, students and even parents will be presenting hands-on workshops and poster sessions for attendees. Presenters will share how learning has been enhanced and revolutionized with the support of technology.

I am thrilled to be presenting at the conference alongside my favorite Social Media buddy, Michelle from BigTime Literacy. We will be sharing our story of how Social Media has helped transform our teaching and collaboration with others.

One of my favorite aspects of using the various Social Media outlets is the opportunity to connect with phenomenal educators all around the globe and even some just around the corner from you. I first met Michelle in the virtual world of blogs. One of our iCoaches sent out a list of bloggers to all staff, which is how I came to learn of Michelle's presence in my district. A Blogging PD hosted by her was being offered back in July 2014 and the rest is history. We are now presenting together at iEngage, as well as the Illinois Reading Council Conference in October of 2015! :)

So, have you ever been "tagged" via Social Media? Being tagged by virtual friends is another fun way to connect with educators. Sometimes you get the opportunity to peek into another's life outside of the classroom. It's nice knowing teachers have lives when they leave school for the day, even though students may not believe it. Often times, I am still doing things related to school during my personal hours, but not always. Of course, when I was tagged yesterday on Instagram for #widn, I was indeed doing something school related.

{Let me interject for a moment: the first time I was tagged with the hashtag #widn, I had absolutely no idea what was happening. I was enlightened by some more experienced IG friends that it stood for "What I'm Doing Now". I've come along way with hashtags, but if you still want to know more about them, check out BigTime Literacy's hashtags post.} ;)

Back to the tag! I happened to be working on our iEngage presentation. In response to the tag, I posted the picture below.

Within a short amount of time, I received a response from Lauren, a.k.a. "@missk720", one of my IG colleagues I have never met, but have shared contact with via Instagram. She is a 5th grade teacher in Illinois using 1:1 iPads with her students.

Because of my personal learning network (PLN), I may get to meet Lauren at the conference. She's an IG colleague that can be more than just a virtual acquaintance. I love connecting with educators. I look forward to seeing where all of this connecting will lead me.

Happy Friday!

UPDATE: I was able to meet Lauren (@missk720) at iEngage!

New Year, New Goals 2015

Goodbye 2014 and hello 2015! I must say, 2014 has been a wonderful year for me for many reasons. In any case, I'm looking forward to the new year and it's possibilities for personal and professional growth. Lately, I've been having a bit of trouble finding time for blogging. As a result, the opportunity to link up with Mrs. D's Corner for my New Year, New Goals has passed me by at the speed of light. Ah, it is what it is, right? That's okay because I'm still going to participate in this fun linky, without actually linking up.

Personal: My life is filled with various roles. I'm finding them a little tricky to balance, so I'll definitely be striving for better balance in 2015. Sometimes it's as if I'm a professional juggler. All of my roles get tossed up in the air, and then I anxiously struggle to keep each one swirling in a smooth circular motion. I don't succeed as often as I'd like and find myself flailing in every direction to keep up with life.

I get up at 5 A.M. to get myself ready for work before my toddler twins get up at 5:45-6:00 A.M., which begins the role of mama. I then get them ready and off to preschool, drive to work and begin my day as a teacher and mentor. When work ends, I find myself juggling the mama (again), wife, and boxer-in-training roles. I need boxing to keep level-headed and my stress to a minimum. Fortunately, my husband is also a teacher and is home with the kids, too, so I get to train 3 to 4 days per week. (Thank you, Drew!) Anyway, the little "free time" I have usually gets dedicated to laundry, organization of our household and SLEEP, not necessarily blogging and product-creating for my TPT store. Hmmmm, if only I had more arms I bet I'd have a huge grin on my face like in the picture, too. ;)

Professional: Michelle over at BigTime Literacy and I will be presenting at our district's iEngage Conference in May and the Illinois Reading Conference in October of 2015. We'll be presenting on the benefits of blogging and social media as the new era of professional development for teachers. More information to come at a later date! ;)

Planning: I may need to put "blogging" on my calendar to actually schedule time for writing blog posts. Having large chunks of time to dedicate to blogging are few and far between, which is why I love Instagram so much! It's micro-blogging at it's best. Is anyone else finding it hard to upkeep their blogs?

When it comes to creating TPT products, I was able to make time for my newly opened TPT store over the summer because the kids were busily playing outside at the lake house with an abundance of extended family members around to help. I was actually able to begin my blogging journey and keep up with BigTime Literacy's 31-day Blogging Challenge! Of course, now, in the winter, it's a different story. I'm "on" to provide meaningful, fun and engaging activities for the kids to do indoors. I have less "me time" in the winter, to say the least. I haven't created much for my store since the summer. However, I have HOPE to make that scenario change in 2015. By the way, I recently took a fun quiz to find out which (friendly) 4-letter word described me. It was HOPE. I'm hopeful and optimistic 2015 will be a great year! (What's your 4-letter word?)

Organization: I know I'm being redundant, so I'll keep this one short. To be honest, most often I don't know exactly what I want to blog about, since I'm using the F&P Intervention Kits with my RtI students.

My students have been successfully progressing with the kit, so why stray from it? Although, I did blog about the little extras I include with the kit in THIS POST, if you're interested.

Students: The students coming to me for small guided groups are struggling readers usually a minimum of one year below grade-level. Because reading is difficult for them, they often dislike it and have very little motivation, which is understandable. However, I have hope for them and encourage them on a daily basis. As I praise each of their efforts for practicing their reading, using strategies and becoming more fluent readers, I see their confidence build. Inspiring them to have a love for reading and to enjoy a variety of genres is my goal. Oftentimes, my students shut down when they make an error, so I tell them, "Mistakes help us learn" and not to worry if they make them. I make sure they feel safe in my room and promote students supporting one another. They like coming to see me, which is always a bonus. I've seen much progress and more interest in reading since the start of the year and have high hopes for them in 2015!

Motto: "PMA, everyday! That's the way!" PMA stands for Positive Mental Attitude. My parents used to say it to my sister and me almost every...single...day when we were kids. When I got into high school, the eye-rolling began, but that was just because I was a teenager, I'm assuming. In college and my adult years, I'm thankful for my family motto. Saying and truly believing this motto has been life-changing for me. I always look at the positive in all situations. Every situation is a learning opportunity. Even though this is my favorite motto, I have not tattooed it on myself (nor will I), but other people have, so it must be a good one. ;)