iEngage Day #1

A yellow school bus.

41 dedicated educators.

A district on the cutting edge in the world of educational technology.

A school just filled with fantastic teachers and students!

     I had the pure honor of being part of Day 1 of iEngage Berwyn, an EdTech Conference unlike anything else.  It was a two day conference, with the 1st day being spent touring classrooms while learning is actually occurring, rather that just hearing about it from a presenter.  I had the honor of being a site visit leader, as well as +Bill Davini, +Karen Marino, and +Jodi Meyer.  What an honor to be part of their team!

     

     In the morning, we had a bus filled with 21 people who were given a brief overview of our school and got to see our trailer (above).   In the afternoon, we had 20 visitors.  Because we truly have a fantastic staff, we decided to have an open door policy and let the visitors roam the building.  We simply made signs that said the grade level, the names of the teacher(s), and the type of device they had.  We did make our staff names green if they were presenting at iEngage the next day.  

     We walked around the building, for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon, and just helped answer questions and guide them in the direction they needed to go when they were looking for something specific.  Because we talked to 41 new educators, I learned new things from many of them along the way.  If I wasn't with someone, I would walk into the rooms and take pictures and talk to the kids about their learning. 

I saw teachers teaching other teachers.

I saw students working independently and collaboratively.

I saw students using tech to enhance their learning.

I saw students explain their thinking, to themselves and to adults.

I saw integration of social studies and literacy.

I saw engagement.

     I have to say, I have never been so proud of our teachers and our students.  Room to room, there was learning going on.  In the week of PARCC, a new PARCC specials schedule, F&P testing, Teacher Appreciation Week, a dental clinic, and the first temps in the 80s for the year, we were still engaged.  

     Here are the pictures I took while walking around, plus a few more from Day 2 of the conference. 

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B6nSB6nXSloXfjhIU1NvSmUyZXlXXzhIcUJpblgxUHpyVm1SUjA2NkNCeXJOcFNfOFdtTmM&usp=sharing

     I have never been so proud to be a Husky.