A Day of Professional Development (Demo Slam and Mini EdCamp) models

Our district will be hosting a Professional Development day on January 15th 2016.  I will be providing Session that will combine our 2nd Annual NRSD Google Demo Slam  and introduce a "Mini EdCamp" model during a two hour session.

My plan is to kick off the session by introducing the term "Google Demo Slam" and showcase three or four items that work well with GAFE (Google Apps for Education) and with our Chrombooks.  I will send out a survey or provide participants to a link that will allow them to signup and quickly showcase something they have used in the classroom to enhance learning with technology.  Examples of this may include; chrome extensions, Apps and Add-On's that allow teachers and staff.  Some of the tools could be simply learning how to record your voice in a Google doc, using Google Keep for notetaking on the web or your phone.  Teachers want to know how to assess student work, then we will showcase, Poll Everywhere, Flubaroo and Kahoot to get the ideas rolling.  After warming teachers up to a few new tools that may help them understand the SAMR model,

I plan to introduce the "EdCamp" model and have teacher break into small groups to learn more about a topic covered in the the Demo Slam or simply post something they want to show.  I am hoping this could lead to a full day of Digital Learning using the EdCamp model when we plan future professional development days in our district.

The demo slam that we provided last year got many teachers excited not only to try out new tools, but to plan to use with their units of study and engage students.  I saw many teachers sharing lessons using Kahoot and Google Classroom and I am hoping to reach a larger audience this year.  As we begin to move forward with a 1:1 initiative by providing students with technology when needed we now have to refine our curriculum with tools that enhance learning when needed by students.  The feedback I received last year was the demo slam was informative, fun and useful.  So, I am looking to kick it up a notch next month!

Assabet and Wirecast and Feeback by Polling Audience through Google Slides (Chrome Extension "Polling in Google Slides")

Two items to blog about
1. We hosted  the Assabet ITS job-alike showcasing Wirecast at Nashoba this month. This inspired some colleagues to test out Touchcast on the iPads for news reporting. Sme of the schools that are PC-Based are interested in learning more about Wirecast.  We plan to upgrade Telestream/Wirecast to output to different video formats and install on a laptop so we can do mobile reporting, or even stream the Pep Rally live from the auditorium this year.

The other topics I wanted to explore was using Poll Everwhere, a chrome extensions or assessment.  I plan to use in our January PD during our Google Demo Slam Session

2. Have you ever attended a meeting where you have watched slide after slide but never actually felt like you participated in the presentation?  As a presenter getting feedback from your audience can be intimidating but yet provide you with valuable insight.  Earlier this month I did participated in a Google Demo Slam at a conference.  I thought a great way to show the polling option would be to demonstrate a few extensions and apps and then poll the audience to see what they found most useful.

In the past I have occasionally used Poll Everywhere but was recently informed they just came out with a Chrome extension that allows you to use directly in Google Slides by embedding Polly Everywhere questions right in a presentation! Poll Everywhere does have a free educator account, but it does limit you to 40 responses per question.

Step 1 - Get the Poll Everywhere Chrome extension. The title to search is "Polling in Google Slides"
TIP: Important to note that you will NOT see the chrome extension with the rest of the extensions in the Chrome browser. Instead, a new menu option will show up when you have a Google Slide opened on your screen. Also your district may push this extension out automatically.

Step 2 - Go to Poll Everywhere and sign up for the free K-12 Educational Plan. Click here for the direct link, get username and password so you will be able to login under step 4.

Step 3-  Open up a Google Slide presentation that you would like to include a question or two in your presentation. You will notice the MENU option: Poll Everywhere (not with the other extensions on the toolbar!) This took me a little while to figure out.

Step 4 - Log into your Poll Everywhere Account

Step 5 - Create a Poll - Go to Poll Everywhere Menu and select - "Create Poll"

A pop up window will appear for you to choose the type of question.
There are different options to pick!

Once you press insert poll, it will automatically insert a slide with that poll question on it.

Note: The actual poll question will not show until you are in present mode of your slide presentation. While in editing mode, you will see the following:

Phone image/option (details)

 

Step 6 - Showing Audience how to text or go to the URL to vote and view live results.

The audience was  completely engaged at the demo slam and loved the fact not only did they share their favorite app, extension or tool during the demo slam. As a presenter, I got direct feedback from the audience for general consensus. Ideally, I could see using a polling techniques on several slides in the presentation. Doc link or  https://goo.gl/Sfi27B 

Internet Safety - Presentation

Last year I posted about an Internet Safety Session panel/presentation that I organized for the freshmen class/2018. I will be presenting again this week for the class of 2019.
I have been using current event opportunities to talk with classes about their Digital Footprint/Reputation, the Boston Globe featured (Six Ways Social Media Can Ruin your Life)

Presentation Link - December 11th - 2015

I have updated the presentation from last year with current events:
- Good Nashoba Cup on Twitter
- How did Social Media Get so Vicious? Glamour Survey

2015 Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference - Google Demo Slam

I had the pleasure of co-presenting with +Nicole Tomaselli on December 2nd at the "2015 Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference" last week.   We created a site  and a survey  that we tweeted out and posted on FB.  We helped teacher connect to the site at the start of the demo and the showed the results to an audience.  We had over 50+ teachers attend.

The "Demo Slam" allowed participants to interactively share their best Google Apps for Education (GAFE) tricks/tips. We setup two projectors in the session, so we could rotate quickly between two projection screens to fit in as many 2-3 minute GAFE tips as possible - "Slam."

I showcased, Google Keep, Screencastify, Google Slides (with the chrome extension, Poll Everywhere) and actually polled the audience on their favorite app/extension thanks to +Craig Sheil giving me a heads up and a link to his blog post on this topic!

I used this model in my district last year and loved the collaboration.

I plan to propose a Google Demo Slam and a "Mini Edcamp" model for our PD session next month using the same format from the conference.