edcamp Fond du Lac - Cozy edcamp

On Saturday, October 11th, we welcomed educators to Marian University for our second annual EdCamp Fond du Lac. Last year, we had approximately 85 participants present. This year, we had a cozy group of about 35. EdCamp Green Bay was also held on October 11. I assumed that our event would pull attendees from the south, and Green Bay's EdCamp would pull participants from the north. About two weeks prior to EdCamp, I contemplated canceling our event and asking participants to attend Green Bay instead. Given the high-level of enthusiasm, I am glad we decided to stick with the close-knit group and host our event. The Green Bay EdCamp had a wonderful turnout and also facilitated a fantastic day of learning. Although our group was small, the networking and collaboration were plentiful! We even welcomed one participant all the way from Illinois. Tara Linney joined us and shared her experience with coding and genius hour, thanks Tara for making the trek to share your knowledge! 

The benefit of an EdCamp is the customizability of the sessions. We were able to tailor our day to our participants' needs. Some of the sessions included deployment of Chromebooks, classroom management for 1:1, engaging online learners, and the structuring of professional development within a district. The topics of the sessions went far beyond teaching a tool, we discussed classroom strategies, pedagogy, research-based methods, and practical application. 

Thanks to Josh Gauthier, one of the innovative organizers of EdCamp Green Bay, we were able to put the power of two EdCamp events together. At the end of the day, we planned a virtual SLAM session with EdCamp Green Bay. We collaborated via Google Hangout to share our learning. Throughout the day, participants from both events followed the conversations on Twitter via the hashtags.

Thank you to everyone in attendance at both EdCamp events for making Saturday a wonderful day of learning for Wisconsin educators! A special thank you to our sponsors and all of those that helped make EdCamp successful! 

You are invited to the Marian University Technology Coaching Academy

As I discussed in my first post, “We can do more...Marian University Coaching Academy” I am eager to begin working with the technology coaches throughout the state of Wisconsin!

The Educational Innovations Department at Marian University is pleased to announce our Technology Coaching Academy. The Technology Coaching Academy will be offered free of charge for any interested parties. The first meeting of the Technology Coaching Academy will be on Tuesday, November 4 from 8:00 am - 12:00 pm at Marian University’s Stayer Center in Fond du Lac. The hope is to gain the wonderful minds of the technology coaching teams throughout the eastern part of Wisconsin for networking and a great morning of collaborative learning.

Many school districts in Wisconsin are utilizing a technology coaching framework; I believe there is a need for collaboration, discussion of best practices, and needs. From here, we will work to expand this network to include the following topics: Coaching Models, Best Practices, Collaborative Problem-Solution, Peer Coaching, Peer Training, Networking, Working with Administration, Working with IT, and Coaching Staff.

If you would like to register for the free Technology Coaching Academy, please complete the following form:  http://goo.gl/3ww2sW You may register as an individual or as a district team. Please contact me if you have any questions, klshaw64@marianuniversity.edu