This Saturday, along with my colleagues Paula Hansen, Chris Myers and Sandy Hinding, I attended iSummitMN, a professional development conference organized by Flipped Education and the Hopkins School District. Initially, I was drawn to it because I am a huge fan of Jennie Magiera, the educational equivalent of a rock star in our profession. I have been following her blog and tweets for years! She was the keynote speaker and she did not disappoint!
From the beginning of the conference, even before Jennie took the stage, I knew that I was in the right place. The opening remarks made by the Hopkins Director of Ed Tech, Sid Voss, struck a cord with me. He reminded us that the conference was about becoming better educators, and that technology is one tool that good teachers use to teach their students. Being an excellent educator is less about the tools and more about good instructional methods and strategies. (I'm paraphrasing, but I loved the point! :) The day's sessions were structured around the SAMR model which I really appreciated. I had the opportunity to see a few other local favorite speakers. Ben Friesen gave a session entitled: Vygotsky's iPad - Using Media to Document Learning, and David Freeburg, gave a session entitled Layered Learning which reminded me of app smashing, using multiple apps to create an enhanced project.
All in All: It was an inspirational and informative day.
