Skip to main content

TIES Conference



If you didn't get to the TIES Conference this year, touch base with someone who did. Our district sent many more people this year than in the past. It was really great to see the excitement of the classroom teachers as they learned from some really great presenters. If you want to see notes from some of the presentations go to http://reviewcommittee.wikispaces.com/TIES+Conference+Notes to see what attendees thought of what they saw. If you want to see the presentations themselves, go to http://wiki.ties.k12.mn.us/. It's the next best thing to being there!

Here are a few highlights. Feel free to add to the list!

1. Daniel Pink's Opening Session - he really makes it all make sense!

2. Ben Friesen's presentation on his Middle School Elective Class based entirely on web-based tools. I left wishing I taught a class just like that!

3. Mark Garrison's presentation on Adding Images, Audio, and Video into Your Classroom. I need to learn more about Alice Isen's research!

4. Tim Wilson's presentation on where technology is going over the next 10 years. Scary, yet exciting, all at the same time!

5. So many great conversations. Thanks to Carl Anderson, Dave Eisenmann, Mark Garrison, Lisa DeRoy, Matt Robinson, the Wayzata staff who attended, and many others I was able to bounce ideas off of and listen to your great ideas. I wish we could do it more often!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

On the Cusp of Something Big!

I can feel it. There's a change. The conversations are different. People are excited. Rooms are transforming. On a Friday before school starts, I have now spent two weeks talking to teachers, teaching classes, visiting classrooms. This year feels different. Of course, the new hardware helps. Projectors, SmartBoards, soundfields mean that the technology is in the classrooms now. Teachers sound excited. I have been so impressed by the turn out at the summer trainings. In my conversations, I hear teachers asking great questions and wanting to try new things. The stereotype of teachers who won't change, who are stuck in the dark ages. That isn't true here. These teachers are doing great things already. I can't wait for the kids to arrive. This will be a whole new world for them. All day, everyday, connected to the world, interactive classrooms, multisensory lessons. This is going to be great!!

Smart Libraries

I came across this video from Library Ireland Week. Library Ireland Week It got me thinking about today's libraries. Our school and community libraries are really in a state of transition. They want kids and adults alike to continue their love of reading yet what reading looks like is really changing. As reading becomes increasingly digital , how do libraries (or media centers, if you prefer) provide literature, research resources, and etc... in a format that people want? Do we still need brick buildings to provide them. Many libraries have robust websites for reserving books, doing research, downloading ebooks, etc..., but at what point, if ever, do we cease to need a place to go. I know,  I can hear many people arguing that the library is also a community space and we need to bring people together. When I visit the library (Yes, I go often!), I often see tutoring, meetings, collaborating, sharing, and librarians helping people. I love the collaborative spaces that libraries provi...