Tri State Ed Tech Conference - Post Conference Reading

Today I had the pleasure of sharing ideas with more than 400 passionate educators at the Tri-State Tech Conference (TSETC) about thinking outside the ban and taking the risks our students need for success. During my presentation I shared real-life anecdotes of the risk-taking experiences I felt   were necessary to do what what was in the best interest of 21st century students despite the protests of educational administrators stuck in the past.

This post is where I’m sharing my presentation materials for those who attended or wished they had. Existing readers of The Innovative Educator know that I’m passionate about educator voice and thinking outside the ban. Here at The Innovative Educator I share ideas to do just that in posts that explain the importance of sharing educator voice through blogging, provide ideas and plans for Harnessing the Power of Cells in Education Today, tell why I believe in friending students on Facebook and using Facebook with students beginning in elementary school, and more.

At the conference I shared the risks every educator needs to begin taking today and I shared actual examples from my life that demonstrate ways I continuously worked to think and act outside the ban that often keeps our students    stuck in an outdated, irrelevant and boring (no our students don’t all have A.D.D.) educational system. I also shared a six-step guide any educator can take to get on the path to taking risks for student success in their own school or district.

I was deeply impressed by how well the conference was run. Three cheers for Eric Sheninger who did this work like a professional athlete who makes the extraordinary look easy. Kudos to the passionate, dedicated educators who attended this conference on a Saturday. They are the type of educators who know how to take steps in the right direction to preparing students for success in the 21st century. There were so many wonderful presenters that shared practical strategies and tools to engage learners through professional development sessions, workshops, and virtual learning labs. I had the pleasure of learning about the following topics:

• iTouches in the classroom from Jason Bedell. See what he had to share at http://titanpad.com/ilearn.
• Cell Phones in the classroom from George Engel. See what he had to share at http://blogs.cellularlearning.org/?p=182.
• Effective school leadership for today’s learner from Patrick Higgins, Jr. Materials here.
• Collaborating in the classroom with Mary Beth Hertz. See the cool presentation the class created in 20 minutes about 21st century learners here https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AZeZPiY4RclEZGQ2dGZncF8xMDloYzc0amJoZg&authkey=COy6ts4K&hl=en

Eric Sheninger, Principal of New Milford High School said they were all designed for participants to leave inspired and motivated to pursue innovative practices while becoming agents of change. Sheninger is the man behind the conference and he does more then talk a good game. Though he does that well too. He is a principal who actually used to block, and now offers guidance to those skeptical about social media use. Sheninger, a leader I deeply admire is someone I have covered often here at The Innovative Educator in stories like these:
Principal who used to block, now offers guidance to skeptical admins in social media use
Want to help a principal start a blog? These 5 principals can provide inspiration
Follow the Leader Who’s a Tweeter
Just Say Yes to Publishing! Exposing The Man Behind the Curtain If He’s Still Saying No.
5 Ways to Build Your 1.0 and 2.0 Personal Learning Network

I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to be a part of a conference spearheaded by such a passionate and devoted leader and grateful to the conference host Schoology (a fantastic learning network platform) for supporting Mr. Sheninger in bringing this free opportunity to educators.

To view the materials I presented during my keynote you can visit the following links.

• My presentations
• http://tinyurl.com/6stepplanforstudentsuccess
• http://tinyurl.com/thinkoutsidetheban
• Speaking Points: http://tinyurl.com/TSETCKeynoteHandout
• Audience response at http://tinyurl.com/TOBAudience
• Join my learning network at http://tinyurl.com/ConnectwithInnovativeEdu
• See audience Tweets here.

I look forward to participation next year when rumor on Twitter has it, the conference is going to need to expand way beyond Tri-State. This was an incredible experience that learners everywhere would love to attend!