Lots of Ideas for OTA/Encyclomedia 2015!!

I love sharing with other teachers, its one of the top things that I love about teaching and especially why I love conferences – good ones, like OTA/Encyclomdia.  Teachers have the opportunity to grow in their craft, to learn new things, get new ideas, have a-ha moments, and share extraordinary things that they do everyday with their students.  I had the very good fortune to share some sessions last year with several of my most excellent #oklaed friends and am looking forward to doing so again this fall.

The problem is this – I have about 1.2 billion ideas bouncing around inside my mind and need some help with what things would have the largest, most positive impact on your classrooms.  I know, I know, by October some of us are really set in our ways, new ideas are tough to work in.  Some of you look for a new adventure every week, some once a month….I want to help be that spark that makes a difference somewhere down the line, so help me find some focus.

I have have done sessions on the following things and would gladly do them again (like shampoo, rinse and repeat if necessary):

• How to set up a Flipclass classroom model
• iPad in the classroom
• iPad apps in the classroom for teacher and students
• Twitter
•  Issues/struggles that could come up in a Flipclass model

Some of the ideas that I am kicking around in my noggin include, but are not limited to:

• Flipped Classroom with Mastery Learning (middle school/high school)
• Harnessing the power of the backchannel during class (middle school/high school)
• Websites to provoke classroom discussion (no matter the topic: k-12)
• Camtasia for Teachers (screencasting for any occasion: k-12) – you can download this software for a 30-day free trial.
• Team Building exercises for your class (middle school/high school)
• Gamification at any age level (k-12)
• Flipping your building’s PD and making it a game
• Desmos (middle school/high school)
• Blogging in the classroom (k-12) – I did this in my Calculus class – it was excellent!
• Using video to have your kids show what they know (k-12)
• Creating and Developing your PLN (k-12)
• Pinterest for your classroom (yes you can!! k-12)
• Using Facebook/Google+ to build a community for your classroom info (k-12)
• Twitter Chats
• Screencasting with your iPad (k-12)
• Creating a professional blogspace
• ………

Lots of ideas here – help me.