First off, major props to Jeff Stanzler and Rory Hughes for setting this up in the first place. I truly appreciate instructors who truly try to think outside of the box when trying to educate their students. Conferences are a great way to do this, especially if students haven't necessarily gone before. While I have gone to quite a few and organized a a couple, it was interesting seeing people who hadn't before, navigate the MACUL conference, a different learning experience that I believe will serve them for years to come, I know it did for me.
Moving on to a few of the different session I attended, the first was titled iWizard 1:1 Student Initiatives. What I really appreciated about this session was that when I first walked in, I actually saw high school students presenting. This was great because I really wasn't expecting that at all being at this renown conference. It was a pleasant surprise and helped, I believe in presenting the product that they did. The students were essentially talking about an after school program that they had centered around technology and helping students become literate in the field. This ranged from teaching the students basics, having to do with how to use a computer in school, with wifi, etc. all the way to possible aspect of coding. Students were mentored by older high school students who were mentored by just a few of the different teachers and staff at their school. The reason why this presentation was so appealing to me because save for a few of the adults who helped with logistics, this organization was ran predominately by high school students. I just found it extremely amazing that they were doing this work. Rory mentioned to me after when I saw him throughout the day, that most school's staff don't even have these skills. This statement got me excited due to the fact that students can really do unique things when given the platform to do so, often times things that are extensions to what adults can't do. It all depends I believe on the level of investment given to students, both inside and outside of the classroom.
Another session that I attended was Working Smarter, Not Harder. Derek Wheaton lead this session and while I appreciated the dance party we had at the beginning I felt as if many of the tips that he discussed weren't necessarily revolutionary. I was amazed, however, how so many other people within the audience were very intently writing everything that he was saying. I came to realize after that session that there needs to be a lot more support in place for teachers. Don't get me wrong, I definitely took some notes on a few different applications that I plan to use in the future, it just seemed as if a lot of people had never heard of some of the concepts before. Derek did a great job as a speaker in that he was very personable and seemed to have a lot of knowledge in his subject field of creating better functioning schools around staff professional development. One thing I really appreciated was that he greeted everyone at the door as we came into his session and even mentioned us UM interns within his presentation.
A great aspect that I enjoyed of this conference was being able to walk around with the many different MAC'ers in Detroit and eat at GrandTrunk and reflect on the day. This is somewhat hard to do being in placement full time now. I feel as if I never have enough time to pick everyone's brain about things. The only recommendations I have for next year would be for people to know about parking ahead of time (since a lot of ppl freaked out) and to have a formalized meal that the entire cohort does together to actually talk about the conference and just to chit chat.
Thanks again for the experience
Muneer,
ReplyDeleteit sounds as if the project presented in the iWizard seminar would contribute to a healthy school climate - students have great autonomy and work with other students, creating a culture in which students are invested in the success of others instead of focusing on being the best in a culture of competition.
I must agree with your sentiments about diligently taking notes and some of the less enlightening presentations. I attended a presentation about Google Classroom, and it seemed to just be a tutorial in how to use it. While the experiences at the conference cannot be replicated behind the facade of one's computer screen, I felt as if a tutorial did not warrant my driving to Detroit - I could watch one on YouTube and be similarly as informed. Having said that, I did have many other enriching and worthwhile experiences at the conference. I likewise took notes arduously and learned a great deal. One session was particularly beneficial to me as a future teacher in the technological world: I learned about many great resources for assessing students' oral proficiency in the world language classroom.
That lobster bisque though!
-Muneer
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize that there were student presenters at the conference! It only makes sense that there would be students at the conference because that is why we are being teachers in the first place- to help students. Students should really be a part of our thought process when determining what technology to use in the classroom. I think by having student presenters it shows that the MACUL conference is keeping this logic in mind. We should not use technology in our classrooms if students are not going to be receptive of it.
Another thing that I like that you mentioned about the first session you went to, is that it is a mentoring program. I think that mentoring programs are great systems to put in place to help with school culture. By helping students with technology, the students are also building relationships within the school. Overall, it seemed like a cool session!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
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ReplyDeleteHello Muneer,
ReplyDeleteI also really enjoyed being able to talk with fellow MACers at GrandTrunk. It felt like I hadn’t talked you guys in a while, and I would second the idea of having a cohort meal next year. You mentioned the iWizard presentation in your post as well. The program reminded me a lot of Link Crew which I participated in while in high school. Link Crew is another mentor program where juniors and seniors mentor incoming freshmen. However, Link Crew has no relation to technology, or at least it didn’t when I was in high school. It was much more centered on getting freshmen comfortable in a new school. Personally, I feel a program like iWizard could totally replace Link Crew in schools. Granted, schools would need to have access to the proper materials, but iWizard incorporates a huge part of modern life in technology. Moving forward, schools will begin to have less and less excuses for not incorporating technology.
Muneer,
ReplyDeleteReally cool to hear about how students presented at your first session. That is something I really love hearing and would be something I hope to see in a school I work at, where students are a part of the conversations for all instructional resources and school issues in general, and where they take ownership of what the school is taking part in. Secondly, I think your comment about how many teachers in the session were intensely taking notes, and how you were surprised by that, isn't actually that surprising. I think us students have been fortunate to be involved in learning about tech throughout our curriculum, while teachers have enough on their plate trying to teach kids daily. They hopefully take the time to partake in personal development (like MACUL) but it won't be their highest priority.
Muneer,
ReplyDeleteHi. Your post made me laugh. I can just hear you saying this as if you were talking to me in person. I appreciate hearing your thoughts, especially because even though I was with you for most of the day, I feel like I never had a chance to really debrief with you about the presentations we attended. I agree with most of your sentiments, particularly those about the student presenters at the iWizard presentation. Something I noticed that hasn't been mentioned yet is how eloquently the high school presenters spoke in front of the audience, particularly that one girl (you know who I'm talking about). I point this out because I think that the benefits of the iWizard Tech Mentor program extend far beyond becoming tech savvy. These high school students clearly felt empowered by their position in the school as mentors and their knowledge of technology. They definitely had confidence and it seemed that they speak in front of others regularly.
Hey everyone - I find this whole thread really cool. I'm sure that student presentation was really impressive and inspiring. A few questions came to mind as I was reading.
ReplyDeletea) Can you effectively and productively give this sort of agency and leadership responsibility to middle school students? (I always ask these sort of 'Are middle schoolers capable of_____?' and perhaps the answer should be that they are capable of whatever you a) expect of them and b) support them through.)
b) How do you go about beginning to create this sort of space when students are so used to being told what to do, being required to ask permission, and are out of the habit of any sort of creative/critical thinking?
Muneer,
ReplyDeleteThat is great that you were able to see high schoolers actually present. I too did not think high schoolers would be presenting at MACUL, unfortunately I did not get to experience this session! I will add though that I think exposing high school students to presenting at conferences such as this one is extremely important in developing public speaking skills. I also experienced a little of the same thought process around support in tech spaces. More traditional teachers seem to push back on tech use since their tactics have been working for years. I used to be a little hesitant about blending classrooms etc., but after being in my own placement I have realized that it is important to structure your curriculum around the students you are teaching, just as in any other profession, you cater to your audience. How are we supposed to stick to extremely traditional lessons all the time when students are being exposed to more innovative ways of using technology everyday. We have to adapt just as our student bodies adapt. Of course, this makes more work for us to do, but then again, with great teaching comes great responsibility. Glad you had fun back home in our city, we went to Cass Cafe instead :).
I was really glad to read your post, Muneer, and it was wonderful to know that at least one presenter organized a presentation that involved students. It sounds like it was pretty memorable, and perhaps even more compelling because of the involvement of students (in fact, I may swipe this idea, so thanks for the inspiration...)
ReplyDelete