EDU221MooseTechOverview

toc

MooseTech Overview
[|MooseTech] is an all-day Professional Development event created by and for teachers in the MooseHead Region of schools. The first MooseTech event was held in March 2013. UMF Practicum students were invited to present at the 2014 event and have been presenting ever since.

Participating districts are: [|Greenville Schools] [|SAD 4] [|AOS 94] [|Foxcroft Academy] [|RSU 68] [|Cornville Charter School]

Logistics for the Day

 * **The typical schedule** is
 * 7:30-3:00 with a Keynote presentation at 8, breakout sessions at 8:30, 10:15, and 12:45.
 * At 2:15 is the wrap up and then the drawing for doorprizes.
 * We will travel to MooseTech as a group using UMF vans. Depending on the location of MooseTech, we will meet in the UMF Technology Commons Parking Lot in time to load vans and arrive at the destination by 7:30.
 * We will leave as soon as the wrap up is over.
 * You are expected to ride to and from the event in the provided UMF van with your colleagues. This is UMF policy and is due to insurance and liability. However, as long as transportation is in-state, you are allowed to drive yourself to/from MooseTech and/or ride the van one-way with us on as as-needed basis. You can only drive yourself, not any other UMF students. You can also arrange transportation to/from the event with a family member. For example, if the event is in Gilford and that's your home, you could ride in the van from Farmington to Gilford and be picked up at the event by a parent to go home for the weekend. Another example is a commuter who lives closer to the event than to campus may choose to drive themselves to the event instead of driving to campus to ride the van. You are still expected to participate in the full day's schedule, including the wrap up session.
 * **Dress professionally.** Practicum attire for when you are in the field is appropriate. This is an amazing networking opportunity. You might run into a former teacher from your school days but you might also meet a teacher, administrator, future administrator who could be influential in a hiring decision or who could be a good connection for you. You'll want to make a good first impression. You will get a nametag at the event. Be sure to wear it for all the same reasons you wear your nametag in the field in addition to the networking reasons to have a nametag.
 * **This year's location:** The 2017 event will be held in Guilford, ME at Piscataquis Community Secondary School, approximately 1:20 from UMF. Departure will be promptly at 6:00am. Plan on being in the Technology Commons Parking Lot at 5:55am (that's 5:55 in the morning before sunrise) with your iPad (including case, cable, charger, etc.) and any of the following: coffee, breakfast-to-go, pillow. Don't bring too much extra stuff, we have a lot of people to fit in the van. Assuming we leave by 3:15, we should be back at UMF by 4:45pm.

Presentation Logistics
The format of the 90-minute workshops is 20-30 minutes of presentation and 60-70 minutes of hands-on workshop time for the participants to actually try out what they've learned, start thinking about how they would use it for their class(es), and have support and input from the presenters as well as colleagues who are also in the workshop. Since you are working in teams of 2-3, each of you should focus on presenting for ~10 minutes.

You will create an iBook about your app that you can use for your presentation. We will spend a significant amount of class time one day doing this together. You will have had the opportunity to practice talking about your app at the Paperless Poster Session during Orientation Weeks.

Most schools in these districts [|use Airplay and Apple TVs to project their iPads] on a screen without using a dongle. UMF's wifi network is different than most K-12 districts and physically doesn't allow use of Apple TVs. We can't practice it on campus. We will go over how it works, but won't be able to practice it on campus. Don't be embarrassed to ask for help. You can also go to your presentation room a little early and try it out. If you're presenting in session 2 or 3, you have a chance to see it in action before it's your turn.

Your team should decide how you will welcome your workshop participants and introduce the presenters, the apps, the agenda, etc. You will get copies of a handout (see the 2014 handout below) that you can give to all your participants that will direct them to the spreadsheet we are creating as a class. Then as part of your presentation, you will show them how to use the database and peruse the other apps that you've reviewed but that you aren't presenting. They might even find apps not in your content area but that are helpful/relevant to them or colleagues at their school. Here's the general idea of your agenda:
 * give a brief introduction of who each of you are and explain that you are pre-service teachers from UMF (3 min)
 * go over the agenda //(1 min)//
 * explain what we did and how we did it; go over the criteria we looked at for selecting our apps; see who's already familiar with the SAMR model //(2 min)//
 * //consider having one person (or two) explain the SAMR model to the whole group before the presentations and then each presenter can assume that the audience knows what SAMR is. (2-3 min)//
 * each student will present one main app as part of the team's "collection of best apps" and introduce at least one additional app //(5-7 minutes per students for the main app plus 2-3 minutes for the additional one=~10 minutes per presenter)//
 * formally introduce the entire database of apps to the participants //(5 minutes)//
 * give participants time to explore the apps and the database with the intent of “which of these apps could you use or would you consider using in your class and how”; announce to the participants that there will be a sharing time at the end: “we have our ideas but you are in the field; we have a lot to learn from you and want your input and ideas on how to really carry these out; plus everyone can benefit from each other’s ideas” //(remaining time minus 15 minutes)//
 * have a formal “sharing out” part at the end of the presentation— //(15 minutes)//

//TIPS ON YOUR PRESENTATION//
 * A wise and wonderful (but anonymous) source says, "Do not to be afraid to call on a teacher to get them to talk - the teachers can be worse than the kids about answering questions and volunteering in class!”
 * You will have teachers who don't pay attention (work on email, grading papers,...). Don't take it personally. All teachers in these districts are required to attend and some do so reluctantly.
 * If you only have 2 or 3 participants, your "presentation" can be much less formal and more of a conversation. Go with the flow.
 * It's okay if the hands-on time doesn't stay focused on iPad apps or on your iPad apps. Engage in professional conversation. If someone has explored all the apps and wants something else to do, engage in conversation. Ask them what advice they would give to an aspiring teacher, what apps do they use, what's their favorite unit to teach and what makes it their favorite,...
 * Even though the program states that they need iPads for your presentation, some people will arrive without an iPad. Go with the flow. They can share with someone; after the formal presentation, one of you can loan your iPad to that person; let them take notes...lots of options.



Registration
We've talked a lot about your presentation at MooseTech, but you're participating in the whole day. You also get to attend presentations (and lunch and the closing event with door prizes). :-) To do that, you need to register. Registration isn't open yet, but once it is, this is what you need to do: TIP: Keep a copy of the full program pdf file for your portfolio...though it's not a requirement, if you haven't started a digital résumé and portfolio, you need to start one now to make life easier when you apply for jobs (even if it's just a folder on your computer where you file stuff).
 * The full program and the link to registration are available at http://www.moosetech.org
 * There are 3 sessions. You present during one session, you attend presentations during the other two sessions.
 * Look at the pdf of the program and decide what presentations you want to attend during the sessions when you are not presenting.
 * There are some 3-hour sessions that take place in the morning...only people presenting in session 3 can do this. (If you're presenting in session 1 or 2, you would have to miss half of the 3-hour session.)
 * When registering, pick the option "I'm Presenting" for whichever session you are presenting.
 * When registering, pick 'other' for both school and district, and fill in University of Maine Farmington or UMF in the blank for other.
 * When it asks about lunch preferences "regular omnivore" means you'll get a choice of meat and veggie things to eat.
 * Leave the "grades taught" question on the blank option.
 * The sooner you register, the more likely you are to be able to get your first choices.
 * Registration and lunch are free as presenters! (Don't panic when you see that there's a $25 registration fee.)

Feedback
//Here was the wide variety of feedback that came in 2016. You can never please all of the people all of the time, but there's some good critique here that you can build on://

Math - Good premise, would have loved to hear about more than 3 apps.

SS - It was fun to have the UMF students show us some of their favorite apps and websites to use for history and social study instruction. They were well prepared, interesting, enthusiastic, and excited to share.

SS - This is the second year I have attended this session and it has good intentions but doesn't really impress. The websites that were presented were pretty average, with none of them being amazing. These sites seemed like good sites for a non-social studies teachers who now must teach social studies. For a veteran teacher, they were not very helpful. The ones that were helpful, are already being used by staff.

SS - I will use some of these apps in my classes!

English - It was basic but I did find some useful sites to use in the classroom.

English - I was quite pleased with the presentation because the session was informative and using the apps brought immediate positive results. I had attended a similar session several years ago and the presenters were not nearly as engaged. These presenters were great.

English - The presentation really left a lot to be desired. The presenters really didn't seem that prepared. However, when it came to 1-on-1 instruction, they were awesome and very helpful!

Invitations
I send invitations to your practice session to faculty and staff and to all secondary education majors. Feel free to invite anyone else you would like to have attend.

__**Invitation to Faculty and Staff**__ Howdy!

Secondary Education and Community Health Education (School Health Concentration) majors will be presenting at the annual professional development conference in March called MooseTech. UMF students will present iPad apps in their concentration area (math, health education, social studies, science, English) and how those apps can be used in a middle or high school classroom. It is an honor to be selected to present at this conference. Students will attend the full day conference as both participant and presenter and have a chance to network with their future colleagues and employers.

Tomorrow, Friday, January 27, these students in EDU 221 will have a "practice session." You are cordially invited to come learn about iPads in the secondary/middle classroom and/or to support students as they get ready for this early foray into the life of professional development for the inservice teacher.

Where: Technology Commons, room 104 When: Friday, January 27, 2017 10:00-10:45am feel free to just drop in for a portion of the event, it’s very casual How: Poster sessions by their nature allow you to stop by for a quick overview or a more in-depth exposure of as many different apps as you'd like.

Thanks! Hope to see you in morning,


 * >Theresa

__**Invitation to Secondary Education Majors**__ (sorry school health...I need to figure out how to send one to your colleagues)

Howdy!

Secondary Education and Community Health Education (School Health Concentration) majors will be presenting at the annual professional development conference in March called MooseTech. UMF students will present iPad apps in their concentration area (math, health education, social studies, English) and how those apps can be used in a middle or high school classroom. It is an honor to be selected to present at this conference. Students will attend the full day conference as both participant and presenter and have a chance to network with their future colleagues and employers.

Tomorrow morning, Friday January 27, students in EDU 221 will have a "practice session." You are cordially invited to come learn about iPads in the secondary/middle classroom and/or to support students as they get ready for this early foray into the life of professional development for the inservice teacher.

Where: Technology Commons, room 104 When: Friday, January 27 10:00-10:45 am feel free to just drop in for a portion of the event, it’s very casual How: Poster sessions by their nature allow for folks to stop by for a quick overview or a more in-depth exposure of as many different apps as you'd like.

This is our eighth semester for EDU 221 students to be presenting about iPad apps at a regional or statewide professional development conference. If you've already had practicum and presented at a conference, you have lots of good advice to share. If you haven't had EDU 221 yet, know that you will get to present at a conference during your practicum semester; come to this and get a feel for what you will get to do soon.

Don't skip class to come to this! But if your schedule permits, we hope to see you Friday morning.

Thanks!


 * >dr.theresa

Reflection
After it's all over, write a blog entry with three parts as described in the reflection assignment.