TIES Conference Summary: Katherine Vinje Stark: A CMLE Scholarship

The following post was submitted by CMLE scholarship recipient Katherine Vinje Stark, Instructional Technology Specialist, at Pine Meadow Elementary in Sartell.

Left to right: Katy VinjeStark, Amanda Holstrom, Paul Moe

Reflection on TIES Conference

The TIES 2016 Conference was a success. It fulfilled my expectations in that I went with the hope of more tools for our 21st century learners, including maker spaces and to feel better equipped for more job embedded professional development in our school. The keynote speaker on Monday could not have stated better, “Do not postpone joy.” Too often we are stuck in the rush of life and forget that we need to have those joyful moments if not extended periods of time to truly soak it all in and learn. If we are joyful we can retain so much more and if we make learning joyful, we are putting everyone first.

The first session I attended was to get to know and exchange experiences with other tech coaches in the Midwest. This session helped me gauge where we are at here in Sartell and I felt that we are on track. We were able to share philosophies and missions of districts and bring back feedback/ideas to ours. This was a great takeaway as it helped me get a feel for a support group in the area as well.

Another very valuable session was on flipped professional development. A school district in Wisconsin started to flip their professional development after they noticed teachers were very disengaged. They talked about PD and how teachers need: active engagement, voice, choice, collaboration, effective use of time, teacher centered meetings, meaningful application to take back with them and put into practice, modeling, teacher leadership, and a personalized agenda. I definitely feel that I can put this into practice here at Pine Meadow Elementary. I’m excited to start the conversation with my administration.

This is a very brief summary of what I soaked in. Thank you so much for supporting our library by allowing me to attend and become more in awe and wonder as to how we can get our maker space up and running (fresh maker ideas were out yesterday helping to embed STEM and language arts) as well as continue to educate our teachers, students and community.

 

TIES Conference Summary: Amanda Holstrom: A CMLE Scholarship

The following post was submitted by CMLE scholarship recipient Amanda Holstrom, Instructional Technology Specialist at Sartell Middle School.

At TIES this year I was exposed to many great things and returned with more ideas than I can count. The two things that come to mind as great takeaways are: the importance of giving children choice and maker spaces are not just for technology gadgets. Buddy Berry talked about surprise and delight with education including giving children the choice to find their own educational path. This thinking amplifies the needs for free learning and exploration in schools. The session on Makers Spaces opened my eyes to the importance of incorporating non-tech items into the Learning Lab. This need was highlighted over and over again throughout the presentation. Maker Spaces are about making, not just working with electronics.

In our Learning Lab this year we have done many robotics and coding items that take some level of patience and background knowledge. I plan to incorporate crocheting into our Learning Lab and link it with coding to provide that needed background knowledge. Reading a crochet patterns is a “code” that needs to be followed in order to reach a desired end. I feel that bringing that into our Learning Lab will teach and highlight a skill many do not have as well as provide background knowledge for those not experienced with coding. By bridging this gap in our lab I hope to reach more diverse students with the desire to learn hands on and gravitate towards our space. I am very excited to see what other ideas we come up with to add to our space that are non-tech. I think the students will be excited to build and take things home.

Need financial help with the TIES Conference?

Are you tasked with providing leadership or support for educational technology in your work setting?

Over 3,100 teachers, technology coordinators, school and district administrators, technology experts, and exhibitors are expected to attend the upcoming  TIES Education Technology Conference on December 12-15 in Minneapolis. Register today to collaboratively learn, teach, share and network.

Need more general information? Interested in keynotes and featured speakers?

Don’t forget the possibility of attending via Virtual Conference. For $160, access both keynote presentations and ten breakout sessions! Includes live and archived access too.

Short of financial support? If you work in a library or school media center in Central MN, CMLE will support your learning with financial assistance up to $200. The application is easy and we are more than happy to help!

Image credit: https://unsplash.com/ (Aaron Wilson), licensed under CC0 1.0

TIES Technical Leadership Conference

Registration is now open for the 2015 TIES Technical Leadership Conference. The conference “is designed for school technology directors, coordinators, technical support staff, and others whose work bridges both technical support and instructional technology. Schools are encouraged to send staff teams who work in these areas.”

Taking place at the River’s Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud on February 12-13, this year’s conference is includes the “EdCamp” or “unconference” model where attendees suggest topics of interest. Register now!

TIES 2014: A CMLE Scholarship

The following post was submitted by CMLE scholarship recipient Brad Scherer, Instructional Technology Specialist at Sartell Middle School.

“Because of the CMLE Scholarship, I was able to get another day and night at the 2014 TIES conference. This conference is always one of the premiere educational technology conferences in the Midwest. The keynote speakers, sessions, networking, and ideas are never in short supply. I always leave the conference more enlightened than when I arrived and this year was no different.

I have three major takeaways from the conference. The first is that I need to try and utilize our Learning Management System (LMS), Schoology, more. The “Student Completion” feature that allows students to progress through content at their own pace could be a game-changer. I was really inspired by a session I attended by Beth Hamilton a math teachers from Farmington Public Schools. Letting students work through material at their own pace as they learn it and not at the pace the teachers sets, seems to make so much sense. Schoology’s Student Completion makes this so much easier for teachers.

My second takeaway is that I really need to explore using Minecraft in the classroom. It is a platform that my students are already using and it has incredible potential for education. My plan is to explore the Minecraft Pocket Edition for our iPads this year and see if I can pilot using it in a few classrooms next year. I would like help teacher created content for specific curriculum and then for a unit or two we could have the students create content as a final assessment.

My third and final takeaway is how we need to continue to work on our MakerSpace (we call it our Learning Lab) at SMS. The Maker Movement was all over the TIES conference and I it got me motivated to continue to explore what is possible. I plan to invest in the book “Invent to Learn” a must read for people who want to create Maker Spaces. Thanks again for supporting my trip to TIES!”