Meg offers all types of presentations from small-group curriculum work to highly motivational keynote presentations. All sessions will be customized to meet your specific needs. This is a list of a few of the presentations Meg delivers. Each of the topics can be a keynote, breakouts, or workshops.
Meg is the perfect presenter to get your staff ready to engage students using digital tools. Meg always structures her sessions to have everyone actively developing and creating resources to use in the classroom. Expect a fast-paced session with many opportunities to interact and collaborate. Each teacher leaves with tools and resources they immediately can start using with students.
Topics
NOW to Wow Classrooms
This action-packed hands on day of professional learning is designed for educators to start with learning standards and then develop technology rich lessons they will use with students. The focus is on digital-age teaching and learning practices, k-12, with all different types of devices.
Teachers will be creating technology rich experiences and designing exemplar examples for their students in 1 to 1 classrooms and classrooms that have limited devices. Throughout the day the 4C’s of communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity will be woven into the ISTE aligned lessons and projects teachers will be designing.
Differentiate Instruction Using Technology
Participants will be actively creating, building, connecting, and collaborating on various projects as they learn the skills of screencasting, podcasting and videocasting. Teachers will leave the session with content specific artifacts they have created to use immediately with students. Included in the day are strategies for managing technology in the classroom, differentiating instruction for students, and collecting resources aligned to the common core state standards.
Formative Assessment Meets Technology
Collect, gather, and analyze, formative assessment data in new ways using technology. This session is filled with free resources teachers, administrators, and students can use to check for understanding before, during and after lessons. Strategies include student created screencasts, the use of the backchannel, polls, and online discussions. Bring a device with you to this session to interact with the various online tools.
Learning is Blended
This classroom is different, there is a vibe, a hum like you feel in a busy coffee shop. Learning is blended like a Triple, Venti, Half Sweet, Non-Fat, Caramel Macchiato. Collaboration looks like the real world, blending all types of learning strategies. In the corner, small groups of students are finalizing their multimedia presentation. At the high tables, individual learners are focusing on outcome-based tasks. From the back of the room, students high five as groups discover their project reached an expert in Australia through social media.
Students have specific learning targets, learning how to learn, and WOW! Formative assessment checks are everywhere, signaling the learner to keep moving forward completing personal objectives. Bring your digital tools because all types of learners are welcome 24/7 to this active collaborative environment that could be your classroom.
Power Googling for Educators
Come see what Google has in store for you today! This ever-changing presentation brings you the best Google is serving up right now. All the Google tools presented will be connected with specific classroom examples. Redesign lessons using Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms and Drawing. Extend Google Drive applications with add-ons and apps. Explore the latest developments from Google, and much more. Bring a laptop to participate in this hands-on, practical workshop where you will build and create projects to use in your classroom immediately.
Create Future-Ready Classrooms, Now!
Fast paced, action packed, and wow! This keynote will make you rethink teaching and learning in classrooms, NOW! Student voice and choice is the focus of this interactive session. Told through video, Tweets, images, and all types of technology personalizing learning is captured in k-12 classrooms. Featuring the brave teachers and students that are leading this movement Meg stitches together the compelling story about creating future-ready classrooms, NOW. Everything in these teacher-student partnership classrooms is driven by data and research. Join this interactive session only if you are ready to create future-ready classrooms, NOW!
Designing Teacher Student Partnership Classrooms
Juan greets a visitor at the door and he immediately shares his “big data” and starts talking about his specific goals and the next steps in his learning journey. Small groups are all over the room intently collaborating around complex real world problems. Individuals are working on passion projects connecting with the teacher and outside experts as needed. Stop any learner and ask about her learning data and she will log in and talk about her “big data” and her individual plan and goals. If you want this to be happening in your classrooms, this is your presentation. This session is about the transformation from teacher-centered classrooms to learner-centered classrooms and all the exciting possibilities that can happen in your classrooms.
Personalizing Learning with Technology
This session will guide your team from the definition of personalized learning to the specific strategies to making this a reality in your schools. The two-day journey is a roadmap of strategies ready for immediate implementation in your school district. From the real world scenarios to the extensive resource collection, your team will be empowered to jump-start your personalized learning journey. Specifically integrated into this work is the importance of creating a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset about learning how to learn. All the community stakeholders are included in the personalized learning transformation with specific scenarios for each of the groups. Success stories from personalized learning classrooms will be shared as they showcase their problem-based learning work shared with an authentic audience of experts. Assessment is such an important piece in the move to personalized learning along with the technology tools that simplify the management of the learning and record keeping. Both are covered extensively with specific examples and tools for successful implementation. The session concludes with getting started strategies to make personalized learning a reality in your school district immediately.
Creating Digital Rich Classrooms: Teaching and Learning in a Digital World
Outside of school, today’s students are accustomed to a high level of interaction and collaboration—with one another and with technology. Inside school, we ask them to power down, assuming that we can help them achieve their fullest potential through traditional stand-and-deliver textbook-driven methods of teaching. It shouldn’t surprise us that these students are bored and disconnected from learning.
Instead of asking students to power down during class, power up your lesson plans with digital tools. Design and deliver lessons in which technology plays an integral role. Engage students in solving real-world problems while staying true to standards-aligned curricula. This session provides a research base and practical strategies for using web 2.0 tools to create engaging lessons that transform and enrich content.
Student Voice and Choice with Technology
The classroom buzzes with active learners working on all different projects using a variety technology tools and apps. The teacher provides the student voice and choice as each learner creates something to demonstrate his or her understanding of the topic. The teacher is an activator moving from group to group checking for understanding around the essential questions. Participants in the session will learn about why voice and choice is critical to increasing student engagement and achievement.
Tech Camp
Tech Camp is an experience that changes the instructional practice of teachers. During the 2-5 day session teachers are exploring, investigating, and creating technology rich projects. The sessions are hands-on, fast paced, and relevant to teachers today. Each session is focused on the skills teachers need to actively engage students in a 21st Century classroom with digital tools.
Meg believes in outcome based personal professional development that focuses on teachers creating digital artifacts in his or her content area. Each participant is encouraged to bring materials they will redesign into technology rich projects. Teachers will also learn new tools, apps, and programs to use while designing lessons aligned to the standards. Meg will work with your leadership team to customize the tech camp experience for your teachers.
Taking Standards-Based Lessons From Paper Pencil to Technology Rich
This session is filled with examples of what good teaching and learning looks like with technology. Through examples at various grade levels, you will see lessons that have been redesigned around CCSS, technology, and pedagogy. From kindergarten blogs to high school media production you will see the steps through the process from turning paper pencil driven lessons to active learning experiences. The final results of each example is getting the project “out the door” to share student work with the whole learning community locally and across the globe. If possible bring a device to participate in this session.
Hashtag Sharing of Student Projects
Create a buzz using social media to share the great projects students are creating. Showcase your district CCSS success by creating a hashtag and encourage interaction on various social media platforms. You will learn how districts are broadcasting great news and student work. See how teachers are snapping pictures, hashtagging, and broadcasting globally all while creating a portfolio in 140 characters or fewer. Even if hashtag is not in your vocabulary, you will immediately see the possibilities for your school district. #behere
Problem-Based Learning with Digital Tools
Outside of school students are immersed in multimedia; they are continuously plugged in and connected to the outside world. They are engaged in what they are learning, playing and doing. In school, however, they are required to power down, and they quickly become disengaged with the traditional stand-and-deliver teaching model. During this session you will learn about innovative programs and projects that connect problem-based learning with digital tools.
Pedagogy and Technology the Missing Piece in Curriculum Development
Teams of teachers are working across the nation to design rich CCSS lessons but two critical pieces are rarely included, technology and pedagogy. When specific technology rich instructional strategies are woven into the lesson design students will become more engaged with the content as an active participant. Use your digital device to explore what those instructional strategies look like by actively participating in this session. Learn how these strategies can be implemented immediately with the digital tools you already own.
Teaching and Learning: Common Core State Standards and Digital Tools
This entire session will be hands-on with practice of new skills embedded throughout the session. Participants will reflect on the importance of creating and delivering rigorous and relevant curriculum. Through rich multimedia examples participants will see curriculum transformed by focusing on higher order thinking skills. Throughout the session participants will learn how to redesign varying student projects focused on solving real world problems through the creative use of technology.
Lights, Camera, Engagement!
Imagine a classroom designed for engagement: groups of students are clustered around the computer editing their public service announcement, while another group is producing their weekly podcast in the hallway, and a third group is filming a segment they plan on mashing up. This is what is possible in an active learning classroom. The teacher serves as the conductor, keeping things running smoothly as he moves from group to group. These students are engaged with the curriculum as they work on producing multimedia projects. As opposed to just passively consuming media, this group is incorporating higher order thinking skills. Their understanding of content is much deeper as they work with the media to teach it to others. See the examples of what is possible when learning is restructured.
Engaging Students in Digital Rich Classrooms
What does good technology look like in the classroom? There is more to transforming a learning environment than adding technology equipment. Lessons need to be restructured, professional development has to change, and instructors need support. Through a variety of examples, you will see the projects that are engaging students and teachers in classrooms today. This session will take you beyond the technology tools to the process of restructuring teaching and learning. This session will help all members of the learning community understand what a digitally rich classroom looks like and how important this type of environment is to prepare students for the fast paced world outside of school.
The Connected Educator
As educators we cannot work any harder, we need technology resources to help us work smarter. This session will show busy educators how social media can be used to collect ideas for the classroom in 140 characters or fewer. This is a hands-on session that will have you connected to various groups that share resources day and night. You will learn ways to manage the flow of information, organize the resources, and strategies to professionally collaborate. You will leave this session understanding the importance of using social media to grow professionally each and everyday.
Teaching and Learning with Technology in CTE Classrooms
Join us for an action packed day of professional development created specifically for CTE teachers. Learn new formative assessment strategies, new ways to collaborate online, new ways to connect your student’s work to an authentic audience, new ways to collect and process information, and much more. You will leave the session with a collection of resources you can start using immediately with students and colleagues.
Engaging Students and Teachers in the Media Center with Technology
Imagine a media center designed for engagement: groups of students are clustered around the computer editing their public service announcement, while another group is producing their weekly podcast, and a third group is filming a segment they plan on mashing up. This is what is possible in an active learning media centers. The librarian serves as the conductor, keeping things running smoothly as he moves from group to group. These students are engaged with the curriculum as they work on producing multimedia projects. As opposed to just passively consuming media, this group is incorporating higher order thinking skills. Their understanding of content is much deeper as they work with the media to teach it to others.
The Digital Leader @ School
As the challenges for the school leader mount, it is important not to lose the focus of serving as the instructional leader in the building. The digital leader needs to have a strong technology foundation in order to model and share new discoveries. Today it is much more than how to send email, text on the phone, or answer voicemail. Web 2.0 tools can help streamline communication, bring the world to your classrooms, and create new learning opportunities. Daily personal professional development becomes a reality when new technology tools streamline the process. See how administrators are capitalizing on all of these new possibilities.