Sunday, May 1, 2016

Montreal Google Futures Summit Highlights


Lakeside Academy campus April 30th and May 1st, 2016
https://qc.gafesummit.com/2016
#gafemummit
@karrexplorer (that's my twitter, I back channel during sessions)
Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/EwCH4xhbzFRr2rYq7

Mostly this is just a cut and paste from the documents at the summit with a few personal comments. A lot happens in a weekend so it was hard to just highlight a few things. I always find I get my money's worth out of a Google EdTech conference.
Hot words: Breakout (you can buy it for your class), student-centred learning, connection, empathy, hyperdocs, connected

 Disclaimer: Not all the links may work forever as authors might delete.

 Day 1

 Besides the hype of discovery of new tools and technologies, embedded in this conference was a lot of good teaching practice. I found it more philosophical and focused on students, teachers, and good teaching practice compared to other Google conferences. After all, life is really first about the people, then learning and then geeking out. It is so much about the connection at these conferences. While I was a bit lonely and missing my Waterloo peeps, I connected with Peter Chan a teacher that specializes in technology and works some days at my school, Dorval Elementary. It proved to be so helpful. Chance Favours The Connected School (Teacher)... (keynote address). Peter suggested I visit Tanya Avrith. She was very passionate, and this helped fill the feeling of loss of my, oh so amazing and energetic peeps I usually have at these conferences. We always hung out together at these events and soaked it all up. Peter was wonderful and knew some of the people and gave me hints about good sessions. There seemed to be more passion in the room this year, even with a slightly smaller crowd. This kind of energy was missing a little in the other two Google Summits in Montreal. I'm a happy camper now.

Jason Markey ****** beautifully opened the summit with a presentation that demonstrated this student centred learning and empathy. Here's a link to his blog: 
http://jmarkeyap.blogspot.ca/

"Future Ready is about agility fueled by empathy". Really glad empathy is being embedded into teaching. We need to share this in so many ways. If genuine empathy can be a part of a space or interaction when needed, the teaching and learning is so much more powerful. Working with fragile technology takes a lot of empathy on the part of teachers and students. The uncertain job future and cultural shifts will take vast amounts of empathy. Was hooking off church on Sunday, but felt like the keynotes are sermons for technology---absolutely necessary and needed.

This part of the keynote brought tears to my eyes when he brought a female tech teacher Amy Gorzynski (spoke about how she got to be a woman in technology) . She brought her Mexican female student, Hilda Mendoza who was afraid to go to coding camp as she had just started learning English. Amy encouraged her---results amazing.
Keynote Quotations

 "I am what I am because of who we are"
"Sense of belonging and true community"
"Culture moves at a slower rate in poverty" This was one of Mackey's poor student's perspective. I have often thought that and never said it. The poor are forever disadvantaged.
"Empathy must be unconditional"
"Tolerance vs. Acceptance"
"Teaching for tolerance... " Words must become Action. 
"An anthropology lover must be part of a learning culture for fresh eyes"

 http://dashboard.futurereadyschools.org/framework

 Future Schools: 
Courageous Leaders are connected, collaborative, and visionary risk takers.
Empowered Teachers benefit from personalized professional learning opportunities.
Student Agency is helping students to organize and use information to create, collaborate, and share in ways that are meaningful to them - and others in the outside world. Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment support this focus on personalized student learning.
Inspiring Spaces are comfortable and beautiful places that invite students to learn through effective uses of space, including digital spaces.
Engaged Community members understand what is possible in schools today, are included in the school vision, and are active in partnerships with the school. 
Robust Infrastructure makes deeper experiences possible without detracting from the learning. Infrastructure includes Technology, Networks, Hardware, and other Resources, including policy infrastructure (such as Budgets Data and Privacy policies).
______________________________________________________________________________
Session 1
Rethinking the Chromebook 
as a Creation Device
Presenter: Tanya Avrith
Position: Pedagogical Consultant
Organization: Amplified IT
Location: South Florida
Contact Email: tavrith@gmail.com
Website: tanyaavrith.com

Bio:

Tanya Avrith a Pedagogical Consultant living in South Florida. She is a Google Certified Innovator, Apple Distinguished Educator and holds an M.A. in Educational Technology. She previously served as the Lead Educational Technology and Digital Citizenship Teacher at the Lester B. Pearson School Board in Montreal, Canada. While there she was instrumental in the vision and execution of the district-wide Digital Citizenship Program (dcp.lbpsb.qc.ca) leading to her being invited to Facebook to discuss Digital Citizenship Education. Tanya works with educators, students, and parents addressing strategies for learning how to harness the power of social media. She also helps plan and execute large scale deployments and professional development plans for Digital Citizenship, iPad and Chromebook initiatives. Tanya is the co-founder of EduSlam.me.
Tanya introduced us to :
a  great place for student projects
Discover exhibits and collections from museums and archives all around the world. Explore cultural treasures in extraordinary detail, from hidden gems to masterpieces.
Create your own galleries and share favourite finds with friends.

Tanya reviewed...
Good teaching practice includes the 4 C's as you plan for students: 
Nothing like good old Google/EdTech swag
  • Consume 
  • create 
  • curate 
  • connect  

Making Thinking visible:
  • Student Voice
  • Sharing Work
  • SAMR is the "high brow" model
Tanya says Apps in Google drive are likely enough - you don't have to have a million apps to learn well (I'm sorry I do but I love trying them all)
Later she did mention the Explain Everything was an awesome app - will publish later a list of apps recommended
Share save and create - make sure they can do all those things
#OneScreen - for creating your lessons (hyperdocs they call it, lesson hyperlinked) http://ditchthattextbook.com/2016/04/25/google-apps-gafe-smashing-activities-part-1-dynamic-docs/
Tanya's other null words in session:
  • Redefinition
  • Making Thinking Visible
  • Student Voice
  • Sharing Work
  • Seesaw - a great app for portfolios, music teachers like it
  • Easyblogger
  • Draw and tell


Session 2 
______________________________________________
 Escape Rows and Worksheets: Can your students Breakout? - a truly inspiring process to engage the whole class.
This is a fun activity for the whole class I highly recommend going to one of these sessions or simply ordering one and trying it with the class. 
Session Description
Open your students’ eyes to collaboration and problem solving as they work to Breakout of the ordinary as they use clues to  collaborate and solve questions in order to open a series of locks to get to the prize! Attendees will participate in a Breakout followed by a discussion on how this learning approach can be used in a classroom setting. Due to the null on nature of the null we must limit the participants to 20.
PLEASE RESERVE YOUR SPOT! FILL OUT THE FORM at http://goo.gl/forms/f13wNRQJVg

Strands: #studentagency, #empoweredteachers, #tech, #engagedcommunity

Type of Session: General Session
Session Resources: https://goo.gl/g93Z8B

Presenter: Jennifer Lacroix, Tami Brewster
Position: Teacher
Organization: Pierre Elliott Trudeau School
Location: Montreal
Contact Email: jennlacroix@gmail.com
Website: @jennlacroix
Bio:
Jennifer Lacroix, a 6th grade teacher in Montreal, is a self proclaimed techie teacher who loves finding new ways to engage learners. She is currently part of a 1:1 Chromebook pilot. A Google Certified Teacher who is always ready to jump into something new and usually with both feet!
________________________________________________________________________________
Session  2 (Wish I could have gone to this one)

Getting started with Read&Write for Google Chrome
Session Resources: Slide deck, Free for Teachers link


Presenter: Doug Rosette, Matt Brown
Position: Vice President of Sales - East, Customer Relations Manager
Organization: Texthelp
Location: Woburn, MA
Contact Email: d.rosette@texthelp.com
Website: @TH_Doug, @TH_MattB

Did not attend this session but I'm using the app and it is good. I think it goes deep and would be really good for language learners. Purchased platforms for computers at school would be sooooo good. I also recommend Grammarly.

 __________________________________________________________________________

 Pear Deck - Interactive Slide Show & Student Response System
Session Description
You will experience the power of Pear Deck from a student’s perspective. Using your own laptop, tablet or phone you will answer questions using text, numbers, multiple choice, null and draggable objects on the screen. See how Pear Deck can help you increase student voice, engage your learners and provide better and more timely feedback. With any remaining time in our session, you will create a simple Pear Deck warm up null that you can try Monday morning with your students. Want more time to build it? Come back and see us again on Sunday at 11am in session #6!

 This is a fabulous resource. I hope to use Pear Deck someday. 

 Strands: #studentagency, #empoweredteachers, #tech
Type of Session: Partner Session - Pear Deck
Session Resources:
Help videos here.
Free VS Premium account info: https://www.peardeck.com/pricing/
Pear Deck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PearDeck


Presenter: Laura Wheeler - I really enjoyed this presenter
Position: Pear Deck Certified Coach
Organization: Pear Deck
Location: Ridgemont High School, OCDSB (Ottawa, ON)
Contact Email: laura.wheeler@ocdsb.ca
Website: https://mslwheeler.wordpress.com

Laura got us involved the actual platform and response system. Pear deck is free for simple things but the paid version would be a great replacement for the clickers or a response system like the Smart company offers. It is very flexible offering a lot of presentation formats.


Bio:
Laura is a Math teacher at Ridgemont High School in Ottawa. She has taught at various schools in Ottawa and on the south shore of Montreal over the last 10 years. Laura strives to use technology in meaningful and purposeful ways in her BYOD classroom.


Follow her on Twitter:  @wheeler_laura
_________________________________________________________________________________

 Closing session Day 1

Watched film the Most Likely to Succeed *****
Profound film that shows the way schools are heading

Avrith pointed out that there are Charter Schools in the States and there are "Charter Schools". One has to be very careful. This one pictured is likely good. It challenges students to solve their own problems. It makes the point we must have them consume, connect, create, reflect, present, curate, reflect - enjoy learning

___________________________________________________________________________
Day 2
Technology is Trust - amazing slide show, take a look at his website
Session Description
While the work we do has been unavoidably influenced by technology, we know the trust we build with our students is more important than ever. How do we make sense of our amazing toolset and its significance to our children when technology and trust null become so intertwined with each other? Let's explore the impact of this reality both in the classroom and beyond.
Strands: #beginner
Type of Session: Keynote
Session Resources: www.technologyistrust.com
Presenter: Kern Kelley
Position: Director of Student Agency
Organization: R
Location: Newport, Maine
Contact Email: kernkelley@gmail.com
Bio:
Starting his teaching career in New Zealand, Kern is now the Director of Student Agency for EdTechTeam and Technology Integrator at Regional School Unit #19 in central Maine. He has provided support to educators for over a decade and conducted professional development across the globe. He has always loved working with students with a special focus on having them teach others. He advises a student produced live tech support show broadcast at www.techsherpas.org. Maine’s Technology Teacher of the Year, he has brought his student presenters, the Tech Sherpas, to numerous conferences around the world.

Kern opened a whole new world of possibility. I encourage you to look at his slide show on the website, interesting.
_____________________________________________________________________________

Packing a Punch with Podcasts *****
Session Description
Want to try podcasts with your students but don't know where to start? In this session, you will leave with an arsenal of resources to get you and your students listening to and creating podcasts!  From initial planning and recording audio files to editing and broadcasting, podcasting provides amazing project based learning opportunities for students. Get ready to have this excellent medium for mobile learning rock your world!


Strands: #empoweredteachers,#engagedcommunity
Type of Session: Spotlight Session
Session Resources: https://goo.gl/M0xn9O


Presenter: Jessica Loucks
Position: Tech Integration Specialist
Organization: Manchester Public Schools
Location: Manchester, CT, USA
Contact Email: jlenoreloucks@gmail.com
Website: http://bit.ly/JLenore24
Really enjoyed this session. Deeply answered all the important questions about podcasting any teacher would have - very well done and in 1 hour too! Wow
__________________________________________________________________________
Sessions I heard were good but did not attend

Google Forms
http://www.maotechno.com/google-forms-101---la-base.htm
Maker Space

Chrome Extensions

Google Sherpas - Common Questions you have about Google Platforms - really helpful resource


Other sites of interest:


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