Browsing Tag conference

Most teachers attend conferences to learn stuff. They want to know attend sessions about the latest apps or iPad integration, or  And while it’s great to learn about that app called Algebra Touch, there’s a lot more going on during that session that’s way more important.

As teachers, we should be attending conferences to learn how to teach more effectively. We rarely get to watch other teachers teach during the school year. Conferences are a chance to watch the best of the best do what they do best (say that ten times fast (and yes, that was a Top Gun reference)). My favorite part of attending the #iste12 sessions was observing the teaching styles of the presenters. I attended three sessions, and learned tons from three #EduAwesome presenters:

1. Mark Hammons

Mark’s session, Transforming the Music Classroom with Technology, was full of quiet music teachers. Nobody was talking before his session. In fact, it was eerily quiet for a packed room. A quiet room is a strange thing for a presenter, and I was wondering how Mark would respond to it. He started off with general small talk five minutes before his session began. When nobody (except me) responded, he decided to show them a couple videos and websites. It sounded something like,

“Hey, have you heard about The Infinite Thinking Machine? No! You’ve gotta check it out…”

His ability to warm up the crowd was astonishing. With a few simple comments and a couple shared websites, the mood in the room was completely different by the time he began his presentation. He not only avoided the awkward pre-presentation time, but connected with the audience.

2. Rushton Hurley

Rushton presented at Virtual ISTE to an online audience. In fact, I was the only other person in the room (acting as moderator (read: chat room helper)). With online presentations, it is so easy for the audience to feel disconnected. Rushton keep them engaged for two and half hours. I noticed he used humor to maintain engagement, making purposeful jokes every ten minutes or so. Often, he simply changed his intonation, or used a silly phrase: “Don’t poo-POO this idea.” Every time his intonation jumped, comment in the chat room erupted. Simple, brillant, and incredibly effective.

3. Jon Corippo

In a Jon Corippo session, the audience actively participates. Jon constantly asks them to shout out answers, and make comments to each other. Most presenters would be afraid of losing control, but not Jon. People in his session were engaged the entire time. In fact, as he was demonstrating the Apple TV, he gave out the password so the audience could mirror their own devices on the projector. Now I know why people call him #obiwancorippo.

Free Lectures

If you want to become a better teacher, watch great teachers teach. I’m guessing you won’t be at a conference later tonight, so in the meantime, watch some talks on YouTube. There are amazing teachers with unbelievable presentations. Start by watching The Tech Commandments by Adam Bellow.

Since the last post, Organizing an EdCamp part 1, EdCampSFBay came and went. It was an epic day that went by way too fast. One of my goals was to blog about the experience as it happened, since I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into when I decided to help plan an EdCamp. Well, that didn’t happen. As it turns out, there are lots of last minute details that take priority over blogging. So, now that EdCampSFBay is over, I finally have some time to reflect on it.

The Details

When I finished part one of this post, all the essentials of EdCampSFBay were in place. We had a Twitter handle, a website, a Facebook page, a Google group, and a PayPal account. As the date began to approach, dozens of details popped up. Some were small like picking up a colleague on the way to the event, and others were large like designing a shirt in six hours. (By the way, if you are organizing your own EdCamp (or other unconference-type event), take care of the shirts early. Seven days beforehand is not enough time.) I was surprised to learn that our sponsors were anxious in helping with these details. I thought they would just donate money/swag and be done, but they truly helped put on this event. A huge thank you to both Edutopia and Collaborize Classroom for making such a positive difference in EdCampSFBay.

Lessons Learned

1. Design shirts early. I already mentioned this one. We weren’t sure exactly how much money was coming in, so we waited until the last minute to design and order shirts. Everything worked out, but we could have ordered more for the same price if we had purchased them 14 days ahead of time.
2. Plan the after party and the pre-party. We had the after party planned well before EdCampSFBay. Hopefully, everyone at the EdCamp knew about the plan, and felt welcome. What I didn’t think about just beforehand was the pre-party. I drove up to Santa Rosa to visit Collaborize, help with swag, and visit Russian River Brewing. I mentioned the plan to a few people, but I should have made a huge announcement on Twitter, Facebook, and our website. It was a pretty big opportunity to get to know other EdCampSFBay attendees before the event. And, the beer was epic.
3. It’s all about connections. A big goal of an unconference is to develop relationships with other educators. Arrive early, hang out between sessions with folks, and go to the pre-party and after party. It’s a rare chance to spend with with passionate, creative teachers.
4. Be flexible. There were tons of last minute changes. Some were minor, others were a big deal. Enough said.
5. Charge your iPad. You probably won’t walk around with a laptop, and your iPhone isn’t as easy to be on all day long.
6. Get to know other tweeps. I have way more fun talking to someone if I’ve already developed a relationship on Twitter. Lots of tweeps that signed up for EdCampSFBay also filled out the Introduce Yourself part of the website. Make sure you’re following those people on Twitter before the event.
7. Bring contact info. The next time I attend an EdCamp, I’m going to have a QR code with my Twitter URL. I might wear it, add it to my business card, or get a giant sticker made for my iPad. If you have a way to stay connected with folks, the conversations from EdCamp will continue.
8. Education is often a hybrid word. EdCamp was the first example. EduAwesome, EduEpicness, and EduBrisket are also appropriate uses of the term.

Now that EdCampSFBay is over, I’m helping organize EdCampOCLA. I have already learned that each EdCamp crew is completely different. Each group has their own personality (in a good way). So take this post with a grain of salt–your EdCamp experience will be nothing like mine.