Resources and Wrap Ups From #FETC 2017

I spent the last week in warm and sunny Orlando attending the 2017 FETC Conference. This is one my favorite conferences of the year because of the quality of the sessions, the people and, of course, the learning. While there I had the honor and pleasure of delivering several features sessions and workshops. All the resources can be found by clicking the link below. Here are brief descriptions of each.

Flipping Professional Learning Workshop-Flipping the classroom is gaining in popularity in the classroom, but are you ready to try to flip professional learning? Discover why flipped professional development has the potential to disrupt the way teachers learn and will accelerate innovation in education. We looked at the various ways you can apply the flipping methodology to meetings to provide more professional learning time in your school and district. We examined how to create a new model of professional development to make the greatest impact on improving teaching methods and implementation of curriculum and learning activities that are transformed by the integration of technology. We looked at how to apply the "flipped" methodology to professional learning and learn what technology tools can enhance the flipped professional learning model. Discover the components of flipped PD including personalization, collaborative projects, coaching, and utilizing the best practice of ongoing, embedded professional development. Download the session resources. 
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Owning Your Professional Development with Shaelynn Farnsworth-Educators today can no longer rely on schools and districts to meet their professional learning needs. Just as student learning needs to be individualized and personalized, professional learning does also. We explored the various ways educators around the globe are owning their professional development. Going beyond Twitter chats and webinars, we explored non-traditional PD and had a frank conversation on how to get districts to recognize the time you spend learning outside the classroom. Download the session resources. 
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Showing How Awesome You Are: Using Social Media To Connect-The digital age is making it easier for parents and the community to learn what happens inside the school building. Using social media, schools and districts can more deeply engage with those stakeholders, providing a more unified foundation for better relationships. It also makes it easier for professionals to tell their stories and take control of the message they want all to know about the great things happening in schools and districts. We examined the current social media landscape and described personal and school branding. We also showed how to accomplish it easily and simply with little or no funds but having maximum impact. Download the session resources.
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Improving The Technology Walkthrough Process-School leaders regularly conduct walkthroughs in classrooms to collect observational data to determine areas of focus and improvement for their schools. These small opportunities can provide valuable insights into the teaching and learning process. When new technologies or instructional practices are introduced into classrooms, it can be a challenge for leaders to communicate how everything fits together to create a richer learning environment. We examined the walkthrough process, specifically addressing technology and how to make overall improvements. Download the session resources.
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Also while at the conference I took over the @AcerEducation twitter account where I gave an inside look to the conference and some fun interviews with some pretty smart folks. Check out the archive for more.

If you couldn't be at the conference this year, don't worry #FETC is always available to look at all that was shared including session resources, thoughts and reflections. Take time to peruse and learn!

Following #FETC No Matter Where You Are

This week brings us another awesome gathering of educators from all over the U.S. and beyond. Descending on the Orange County Convention Center in sunny Orlando, Florida the FETC Conference kicks off with tons of opportunities for all of us to learn, share and grow. I am honored to be a Featured Presenter again this year and will be there all week sharing and presenting along with countless other wonderful educators.

Are you going to be there? Check out my Featured Sessions!

Wednesday Jan 25
Flipping For Professional Learning-What if we could take all the boring time we spend in meetings and in meaningless PD and flipped the script? We will talk about all the different ways to flip meetings and PD and what we can do with the time we get back. Hint, its deeper professional learning! Hyatt Bayhill Rm 22 | 11:00am-12:30pm

Taking Control Of Your Professional Development-Because of our access to smart people and endless resources it's time to take control of our own professional learning. Stop by this poster session and chat with the awesome Shaelynn Farnsworth as we talk about how we personalize our own PD and give you lots of resources to check out. FETC Exhibit Hall Booth 2305 | 3:30pm-4:00pm

Thursday Jan 25
Showing How Awesome You Are: Using Social Media To Connect-Using social media to reach our parents and communities is more than just Twitter and Facebook. And where to you start and what should you know? We will talk about all this and more! OCCC South 330FG | 10:00am-11:00am

Improving The Technology Walkthrough Process-What should administrators see in technology using classrooms. I've got the 5 things to look for along with how to improve the walkthrough process over all. OCCC South 331CD | 3:20-4:00pm

After all my sessions I will be posting all the resources to my website and sharing them on social media as well as the #FETC hashtag.

Can't make it to the conference? No worries! You can still follow along as if you were there. The #FETC hashtag will be going the entire week with folks sharing information from sessions, links to resources and thoughts they are having. Do a Twitter search or use your favorite client to set up a column so you don't miss any of the action.

There will be tons of great educators there too that you can follow:
@web20classroom
@shfarnsworth
@adambellow
@kylepace
@amandacdykes
@juliedavisEDU
@RafranzDavis
@lesliefisher

These are just a few. You can see the list of all Featured Speakers and remember, you can find folks on the hashtag too.

I will be sharing on @web20classroom. You can also follow pictures on Instagram by searching for me (web20classroom) or #FETC. I will also have my Snapchat Spectacles. So if you want to follow along there you can add me on Snapchat. (web20classroom)

FETC is one of my favorite conferences of the year. And whether you can in person or from a far there's lot of learning to be had!

5 Resources To Make Your Next Presentation Pop

Perhaps you are like me and have to sit through presentations often. Sometimes they are great. You can tell the presenter put a lot of thought into what they want to talk about and it feels like they really know their stuff. The slides they use are engaging and help reinforce the story that’s being told.

But then there are those times that are the complete opposite...

The presentation seems disjointed and incomplete. The design of the slides leaves a lot to be desired. Maybe the spinning transition is just too much or the typewriter sound every time a new bullet appears is over board.

Or maybe the slides look like these...

A lot of the work I do has me creating presentations several times a week. I am far from perfect and actually spend a lot of time reflecting on each presentation I give trying to make sure I keep evolving what I do and to ensure the story I am trying to tell matches with the expectations of my audience.

There are some great resources to make your (or your students’) presentations really pop. Here are just a few of my favorites.

Presentation Zen-One of the first books I bought after I started doing presentations regularly was this one by Garr Reynolds. It is full of ideas for preparing, designing and delivering the best presentations ever. His site too has lots of suggestions like how to get to know your audience, the best way to outline a presentation, design ideas and tips for the perfect delivery. This is a resource I use all the time.

The TED Commandments-It you look at a previous post all about using TED Talks in the Classroom there are some common themes in the videos even though they are all different. Anyone that gives a TED Talk is strongly encouraged to follow the TED Commandments of giving a good talk. Mostly funny, they do encourage presenters to make sure they tell a story, focus on their curiosity and passion, and never read their talk among other things. These are great rules to follow for any presentation.

SlidesCarnival-One of my new favorite presentation tools isn’t really a tool at all. SlidesCarnival is a collection of some really awesome templates that you can use in Google Docs or PowerPoint. The template you choose for your presentation can really help to frame your conversation and make an impact. These templates are unlike anything you’ve probably seen. Very well designed, the templates come with lots of suggestions for design and even their own icons to use to callout elements in your talk. Best part they are all free!

The Noun Project-Speaking of icons, sometimes you need to find just the right one to fill out the design of your slides. The Noun Project has you covered. With 1000’s to choose from, pick the one you want to use and use it. Some come with a Creative Commons license (more on that in a minute) and many more are just free to use how you want. It the Noun Project doesn’t have it, it doesn’t exist!

Creative Commons License-One of the best things any presenter and educator can do is allow others to use their work freely and build upon it so others can share in the knowledge. The Creative Commons Licenses allow for just that. But answering a few easy questions you can license your work so others can use it. 

What's Your #OneWord2017?

As we begin a new year many folks have taken to Twitter to tell the world what their #OneWord2017 will be. The idea is you have this one word to use as your mantra to guide your work and focus to have a successful year. Many are also writing blog posts to explain why they picked that one word.

This post from Neil Gupta does a wonderful job of explaining the why and the how.

Here are just a few of my favorites.

New: #OneWord2017 EMBRACE. #JoyfulLeaders #txeduchat #edchat #EduGladiators #satchat @getoneword https://t.co/nLQIFXFX1g pic.twitter.com/zzO2FTEh5B

— Lindsey Bohler (@MrsBohlerSES) January 1, 2017

.@drneilgupta's #oneword2017 is INSPIRE. I enjoyed reading his why! Learn how to do/share YOUR word. (Not too late) https://t.co/xf9hiNArD1 pic.twitter.com/Ch174m1v9V

— Laura Gilchrist (@LauraGilchrist4) January 2, 2017

#OneWord2017 my one word for 2017 - Eunoia #edchat

— Shaelynn Farnsworth (@shfarnsworth) January 1, 2017

Now, if you are like me, Shaelynn challenged your thinking by picking Eunoia. In case you were wondering it's the goodwill a speaker cultivates with their audience.

My #OneWord2017 is Reflection.

I always try to take time to think about my work. The time I spend with teachers working on making classrooms more innovative or to help them think differently about how learning can be done. Or after I work with administrators and leaders on implementing technology initiatives or better understanding the role of technology in learning. And while I try to reflect often I don't do it often enough.

As 2016 came to a close I looked at several of my keynotes and presentations I had been doing over the past year and decided I was unhappy. I wasn't motivated by the content any longer and it all seemed routine. I sat down and reviewed them one at time thinking about how I had presented them, the content and how I could improve. Many hours were spent redoing just one presentation but in the end it was worth it! I was excited about the content again and I had so much fun again presenting it.

Taking that time to reflect and realize I wasn't happy with what I was doing and I could do a better job made all the difference in the world. I want to bring that same mantra into other aspects of my work besides presentations and keynotes. So Reflection is my #OneWord2017

This would be a great exercise when kids head back to the classroom after a winter break. Get them to think about what drives them and what word do they want to be their focus and help them realize their potential.

What will drive you this year? What do you want to accomplish to make this the best year ever? What will your #OneWord2017 be?