Tech Ed in the Middle School – 21Things4Student Technology Bootcamp

Are you teaching a middle school technology curriculum?

Are you an educator assigned to teach 21things4students and want to know more about the curriculum and materials?

Is your district using 21things4students to teach 5th ‐ 9th grade technology, but you’re not sure what resources are available?

Do you need help developing digital portfolios with your students in Office 365, Google Drive, or Google Apps for Education?

Are you looking to find out how teachers use 21things4students to integrate technology and best practice?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Know the curriculum and resources available in 21t4s for use in your classroom
• Understand how to implement these materials to support the ISTE Standards • Students
• Make connections between the 21things4teachers and the 21things4students resources for your classroom
• Transfer the learning into your instructional practice using best practice strategies

Register for this event or learn more by viewing the flyer below.

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Making ADA Compliant Documents: Register Now for June 29 Summer Drive-In Conference!

American with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance has been a hot topic for all of us in the education community this year. Now that we understand the guidelines, it is time to learn how to properly produce electronic school documents that are accessible to everyone.

Presenting MSPRA’s 2017 Summer Drive-In Conference: ADA Action Lab on Thursday, June 29 at Ingham ISD, 2630 W. Howell Rd., Mason, MI 48854. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. The program runs from 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and includes lunch.

This day-long Action Lab features Foxbright ADA compliance experts. [Note: You don’t need to be a Foxright client to participate.]  View the conference post card for more information.

Not only will you learn how to produce compliant Word, Excel, Google Drive and PDF documents, but you will also have an entire afternoon to work one-on-one with the ADA compliance experts from Foxbright. To make the most of this experience, bring your laptop and electronic version of the documents you wish to make compliant.  See the agenda for more details.

• Cost: $25 for MSPRA members or if you are attending with (and are registered by) an MSPRA member.
• Cost: $35 for non-members attending on their own
• Register by June 23, 2017
• Space is limited to the first 90 registrants.

MBA Research has released FREE Project Materials for Michigan Educators

MBA Research is proud to announce the release of free project materials developed in conjunction with the Project Management Institute Educational Foundation (PMIEF). These project resources, which include a total of nine comprehensive project modules, are designed for the finance, marketing, and management/administration classrooms.

Project modules focus on such topics as human resources laws and regulations, financial ratios, channel management, and more. Each project module includes a detailed lesson plan, briefing, rubric, driving question, entry event, samples of student work, and project management templates for students to use to plan and implement project activities. The result of multiple rounds of revision, the projects were piloted by more than 50 business administration teachers around the country during the last school year.

Click here to access the free project materials

Site Visit to Personalized Learning District #PLCON16

We are very excited to announce the opportunity for a FREE site visit to a personalized learning district. In conjunction with the Personalized Learning Conference, Kenowa Hills Public Schools has opened their doors for other educators to see personalized learning in action. On Thursday, May 5, Kenowa Hills is welcoming up to 40 educators to visit their elementary, middle, and high schools for guided classroom tours, mini-presentations, and Q & A sessions with teachers, students and school leaders. This is a FREE opportunity open to all educators.

Click Here to Learn More and Signup for the Personalized Learning Site Visit

#plcon16

April EdTech Webinar: Safe Social Media in the Classroom

Tony Signore is an American History teacher at Kraft Meadows Middle School in Caledonia. He has been using blended teaching practices for years, focusing mostly on flipping his classroom. More recently, he has explored the use of social media in the classroom. Considering students’ ages and safety, Tony has been using some alternative Web 2.0 tools to bring social media in his classroom. Join us April 18th from 3:30 – 4:30PM for an informative webinar on how to safely bring social media into the classroom. Tony will share his experience with starting this process using Padlet, TodaysMeet, and Kidblog. He will also demonstrate how to use these teacher friendly, safe sites that give students the opportunity share knowledge, as well as practice good digital citizenship.

This webinar is targeted towards educators of all grade levels and subject areas. Many of the strategies and tools shared will be applicable across grade levels and student devices.

Click Here to Register for this FREE Webinar

#webinar

What is Personalized Learning?

Personalized learning occurs when the student has a degree of choice over his or her education in terms of delivery, context, and pacing. Individual outcomes and how proficiency will be demonstrated is collaboratively defined. The student’s interests, experiences, and abilities guide his or her learning, making new information more relevant and meaningful. This approach has the potential to build the student’s capacity and desire to learn beyond the scope of the curriculum and the confines of the classroom.

The Personalized Learning Conference

The Personalized Learning Conference will be held at Kent ISD on May 4, 2016. This event spotlights the importance of personalized learning and helps educators begin their journey towards personalizing education for every student. All educators who want to learn more about personalized teaching and learning are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Click Here to Learn More & Register for the Personalized Learning Conference

#plcon16

How We Are Personalizing the Personalized Learning Conference

The Personalized Learning Conference on May 4, 2016 is an event that spotlights the importance of personalized learning and helps educators begin their journey towards personalizing education for every student. All educators who want to learn more about personalized teaching and learning are welcome and encouraged to attend.

​A Personalized Conference for Attendees

Ever attend a conference where ​there were multiple sessions you wanted to attend, but they were all offered at the same time? We hope to fix this at the Personalized Learning Conference. Leading up to this event, registered attendees will be given the opportunity to rate their level of interest in each session. This information will be used to create a schedule personalized for conference attendees. Through this structure, we hope to provide all attendees with sessions that are of interest to them throughout the day, as well as reduce overlap of sessions that are of greatest interest to attendees.

Click Here to Learn More and Register for the Personalized Learning Conference

#plcon16

Registration Closing Soon: Don’t Miss This Free Professional Learning Workshop on Blended Learning for Secondary Educators!

Life’s Better When You Blend

Research has shown that blended learning produces improved student outcomes compared to face-to-face or online instruction. It isn’t just the students who perform better in a blended environment. Teachers who blend their classroom are more effective and efficient with instruction, assessment, and feedback. Understanding the benefits of blended learning environments, Kent ISD has partnered with Michigan Virtual University to provide 2 FREE professional learning workshops focused on blended learning.

When we say FREE, we mean it. In addition to free registration, participants of these workshops will also receive free lunch and substitute reimbursement. This means there is absolutely no cost for participants or their schools.

Our first two-day workshop, Life’s Better When You Blend, will be held on March 17-18 at Kent ISD. This workshop is targeted toward secondary educators (6-12). Participants of this workshop will:

• Explore practical ways to implement blended learning in the classroom
• Maximize the technology you currently have available
• Investigate digital tools that assess and capture student understanding
• Intentionally design a blended lesson suited to your classroom needs

Click here to learn more and register for Life’s Better When You Blend

The Personalized Learning Conference: An Opportunity for Choice

The Personalized Learning Conference on May 4, 2016 is an event that spotlights the importance of personalized learning and helps educators begin their journey towards personalizing education for every student. All educators who want to learn more about personalized teaching and learning are welcome and encouraged to attend.

​An Opportunity for Choice

An important component of personalized learning is choice in how something is learned. We want to share and model this for attendees of the Personalized Learning Conference. At this event, there will be over 35 unique sessions. Each of these sessions focuses on one (or more) of nine different personalized learning strands, which include:

• Blended Learning Implementation
• Individualized Instruction
• Assessment & Feedback
• Authentic Practice
• Promoting Transfer and Universal Design for Learning
• Active Learning (e.g. Problem-Based or Inquiry-Based Learning, Role-Playing, etc.)
• Mastery Learning
• Data-Driven Decision Making
• Project-Based Learning

Conference sessions will be presented in a variety of ways, which will allow attendees to quickly gather information and/or dive deeply into a topic of interest. There are three types of session formats:

​35-minute Information Sessions
Information sessions are quick sessions that focus on one or two topics. They are designed so that attendees can quickly learn about new research, tools, and/or ideas. Presenters will share additional resources so that attendees can further explore the topics presented in these sessions.

​35-minute Roundtable Discussions
Roundtable discussions are not presentations. They are opportunities for educators to discuss topics that are important to them. Each discussion will be facilitated by a moderator, who will help structure and guide conversations (as needed) so that all participants can gain common understandings and leave with actionable ideas.

​80-Breakout Sessions​
Breakout sessions are meant for those who want to dive deeply into a specific topic. Many of these sessions will be hands-on and allow participants to explore new tools and/or ideas. Other sessions will provide detailed overviews of research and/or ideas along with steps to follow for utilizing this information in a classroom, school, and/or district.

Click Here to Learn More and Register for the Personalized Learning Conference

#plcon16

The Personalized Learning Conference Kickoff and Keynote

The Personalized Learning Conference will be held at Kent ISD on May 4, 2016. This event spotlights the importance of personalized learning and helps educators begin their journey towards personalizing education for every student. All educators who want to learn more about personalized teaching and learning are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Conference Kickoff with MDE

Instead of starting the Personalized Learning Conference with a keynote speaker, we have invited the Michigan Department for Education (MDE) to kickoff our event. MDE will share their definition and vision for personalized learning in Michigan. Our hope is that conference attendees will be able to use the information shared at the kickoff to guide their journey toward personalized learning, both during and after the conference.

Conference Keynote with Jay Gross

No conference would be complete without a keynote speaker. Our keynote speaker for the Personalized Learning conference will be Jay Gross. Jay is an English, Speech, & Debate teacher at Shepherd High School. He is also a national speaker who emphasizes the need for teachers to integrate technology, as well as develop relationships with students, educators, and the community. At the Personalized Learning Conference, Jay will speak towards the importance of these topics in order to personalize learning for every student.

Click Here to Learn More & Register for the Personalized Learning Conference

#plcon16