School's (Almost) Out, So Keep Your iPad for the Summer

This year, rather than collecting iPads from our current 4,500 students, we decided to have them hang on to their iPads for the summer. Last summer we changed mobile device management systems and therefore needed to touch every iPad. This year, we have no reason to collect every device. We recently added an enterprise web content filter on student iPads that offers the same level of filtering off campus as students have at school. After reviewing all the ways our students could use their iPad for learning over the summer, it made the most sense to allow students to keep them.  

We will only be collecting the iPads of our 750 graduating seniors. Those four year old iPad2s will be reused for a fifth year in a row by next year's grade five students. We have been very pleased with the functionality of these iPad2s, originally planning to just get three years of use out of them. 

Next year our iPad one-to-one program will expand again and cover all 6,000 students in grades 5-12. (Related: Tip #1 for a Successful 1:1 Implementation: Execute the Rollout Carefully and Deliberately and more about Minnetonka's 1:1 iPad Program)  Below is the letter about keeping iPads for the summer that was sent home to all grade 7-11 parents last week:

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As the school year comes to a close, we want to let you know that students will keep their iPads over the summer. We have reached this decision after considering the many opportunities students now have for learning: reading eBooks, taking Tonka Online classes, reviewing materials and practicing skills learned this year, further investigating academic interests, and exploring and creating projects based on personal interests. Opportunities for learning over the summer abound, and we believe the iPad is an effective tool our students can use to take advantage of these opportunities. Please also note that internet content filtering has recently been installed on student iPads that offers the same level of filtering off campus as students have at school.

In preparation for next year, there are four important items that need your attention.

1. All iPads will be inspected before summer to assess damage. Any fines will be listed in your child’s account. Should an iPad need repair during the summer, it should be brought to the school office where your student will attend next year as soon as possible. Please do not wait until the end of summer or it may not be able to be repaired by the first day of school.

2. Optional insurance coverage for currently insured iPads will be extended through September 7, 2015 at no additional premium. If you plan to renew your insurance coverage for next school year, you may pay the $40 annual fee online for uninterrupted coverage that begins on September 8, 2015. If you are not currently covered and wish to purchase insurance, your child must have her/his iPad inspected by Media Staff before the $40 fee will be added to your child’s account and coverage will begin. Payment Directions

3. Your child should bring her/his iPad ready to go and fully charged for learning on the first day of school, September 8, 2015. Like pencils, paper, and folders, the iPad has become an essential tool for school, and your child's teachers are planning activities and lessons on the first day of school that will help your child be organized and successful with the iPad.

4. Continue to talk with your child about digital citizenship and appropriate use of the iPad. While no filter is 100% effective, having the District’s filter on your child’s school iPad helps. For devices at home and personal cellular devices, we strongly recommend installing filters. As a friendly reminder, we encourage regular family conversations with your teen about digital citizenship, care and use of the iPad, and a focus on educational use. Please consider a Media Use Parent-Teen Agreement from Common Sense Media to begin conversations with your child.

Thank you for your attention to these important items. We hope your child has a summer filled with adventure, exploration, and learning!

Sincerely,

The Minnetonka Teaching & Learning and Technology Departments

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Other related posts:

• Tip #1 for a Successful 1:1 Implementation: Execute the Rollout Carefully and Deliberately 
• Tip #2 for a Successful 1:1 Implementation: Differentiate Teacher Training
• Tip #3 for a Successful 1:1 Implementation: Use Schoology as the Classroom Hub
• Tip #4- Make Full Use of the iPad as a Formative Assessment Tool 
• Great 1:1 Program Evaluation Questions for Student, Parent, and Teacher Surveys
• More about Minnetonka's 1:1 iPad Program

KARE 11 News: Helping Kids Make Good Digital Decisions

This morning I had the opportunity to be on KARE11 News as part of a story Helping Kids Make Good Digital Decisions.  The story featured four interviews with Boua Xiong from KARE 11, Minnetonka Public Schools parents and their children, and me.  We discussed a wide range of topics including what age is appropriate to get a cellphone, filtering and monitoring tools available, social media, and digital footprints.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to share tips and resources with so many people.  I was on hand in the studio to do a live Facebook chat for people commenting on the story and asking questions.  The reach of a televised new story is quite amazing to me.  By 7:30am, over 24,000 people had viewed the story on Facebook. Fortunately not all of them had questions!

During one of the four video segments, Cade, a fifth grade student, mentions how students in Minnetonka learn to T.H.I.N.K. before they digitize.  He brought it up on his own during the interview and recited the whole acronym from memory.  It was great and is evidence that the work the media specialists and teachers are doing to educate our students is really sticking!  

Digital Citizenship starts with education, but it shouldn't end there. Technology provides us with a means to limit the exposure to inappropriate material that reaches our kids' screens.  I also talked about the Curbi filtering app (more detail in a previous post) and shared my list of resources with viewers and the online audience.

This weekend 500+ people signed my online petition to Urge Cellular Carriers to Provide Parents with Content Filters on 4G LTE.  I hope to continue the momentum around this issue and get the attention of Verizon and other carriers.  Please join me in encouraging the development of tools to protect children. 

Petition to Urge Cellular Carriers to Provide Parents with Content Filters on 4G LTE

Sign the petition on Change.org

You’ve probably heard the advertisements from Verizon that parents who purchase cell phones for their children are offered content filters to protect children from pornography, drugs, alcohol and other inappropriate content. But WAIT. If you provide your child with a smartphone on 4G...no such filter exists through your wireless carrier.

Verizon's Advertised Free Content Filters "Set boundaries to help ensure your kids can view only age appropriate content from their wireless device."

Many parents today ‘hand-down’ smartphones to their children when the parent upgrades their device. Doing so provides full, unfiltered access to the internet through cellular carriers. The carriers recognize the need to provide safeguards for youth and do so on 3G devices. In fact, they have undoubtedly spent thousands advertising these parental controls for parents, but only make them available on older technology models.

Verizon's fine print on a MyVerizon account page: "The cell phone associated with this  number is not compatible with the Content Filters service. If this a 4G LTE device please check back at a later date as we are currently working to make these devices compatible."

Cell carriers need to keep opt-in content filters up to date with all models of devices available and used by children today.  Even better, carriers could collect the birth year of the individual using the account and match the age appropriate content allowed to the device with the age levels they already have established.  

Too many parents are unknowingly providing an on-ramp to developmentally inappropriate content by purchasing a smartphone for a minor, only to discover that advertised content filters don’t work on 4G devices.

Please join me in signing this petition to urge cellular carriers to offer opt-in web content filtering for 4G LTE devices. Child safety needs should keep up with the evolution of technology. Socially responsible companies need to take action to protect children.

Full Schedule for 4th Annual Technology Institute June 17-18 Released

I'm excited to announce the full program and presenter line up for the Fourth Annual Technology Institute on Thursday, June 18, held at Minnetonka High School!  Full details for June 18 are below and you can register here.  In addition to this great day of learning in 33 sessions, there is also a pre-conference workshop day June 17 with twenty half and full day sessions. 

This two day event is an amazing opportunity to learn from 35 different educational technology leaders from local and national school organizations.  Speakers hail from the Alliance for Excellent Education in Washington, DC., EdTechTeacher in Boston, Bloomington Public Schools, Cambridge-Isanti Public Schools, District 287, Minnetonka Public Schools, Pine City Public Schools, Richfield Public Schools, TIES, St. Paul Public Schools, and Wayzata Public Schools.  Please join us and share your great ideas and stories of innovative technology integration!  The conference encompasses all ed tech - Google, Schoology, Chromebooks, Moodle, iPads, flipped classrooms, online learning, coding, and much more! Don't miss this! 

Keynote from Thomas Murray, 8:30-9:30am Thomas C. Murray serves as the state and district digital learning director for the Alliance for Excellent Education located in Washington, DC. He has testified before the United States Congress and works alongside that body and the US Senate, the US Department of Education and state departments of education, corporations, and school districts throughout the country to implement digital learning while helping to lead Future Ready, Project 24 and Digital Learning Day. Murray’s experiences in K–12 digital leadership, which include implementing a 1:1 program, BYOD, blended learning, and a K–12 cyber school where he served as the director of technology and cyber education for the Quakertown Community School District in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, have been recognized nationally. He is also the co-author of the recent release, Leading Professional Learning; Tools to Connect and Empower Teachers (Corwin, 2015), and serves as a school district consultant for digital learning planning and implementation. More on Tom here.

	Session 1 9:40-10:40	Session 2 10:50-11:50	Session 3 12:50-1:50	Session 4 2:00-3:00
1	AppSmashing (abbreviated 1 hour session version)	Video Creation with iPads	Collaboration & iPads	Sketchnoting 2.0: Image & Video Sketchnoting with iPads
2	Designing Learning Centers for shared iPads	AppSmashing in the Elementary Classroom	iPads & Accessibility to Differentiate Learning K-12	Google Apps Collaboration in the Elementary Classroom (focus on collaboration without accounts)
3	Engaging Learners through Reflection and Discussion	Formative Assessment Tools in the Elementary Classroom	Leveraging Technology to foster creative teaching and learning	A Library in Your Pocket: Information at Your Fingertips
4	Your 1:1 Homescreen: Secondary Apps students and teachers wouldn’t want to learn without.	Peer Instruction with Socrative	AppMazing Race	Schoology for the Intermediate User
5	Cool Google Tools for You	Google Intermediate Learning Lab	Flip with Google	Creating Authentic Learning with the iPad
6	Using Technology to Engage Students with the World	Amplifying Student Voice	Google Scripting: Using Flubaroo & Autocrat	Animoto to Zaption Great Tech Ideas for the Classroom
7	Swiss Army Spreadsheets	Tools for Common Formative Assessment	Making Learning Visible with the iPad	Innovation through a Connected Pedagogy
8	Follow up meeting with Tom Murray option	Book Creator: Show What you Know	Genius Hour	MakerSpace for Classroom Teachers

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Session 1

AppSmashing (abbreviated 1-hour version)

Greg Kulowiec, Instructor and Blogger from EdTechTeacher

This session will explore the creative potential that can be unleashed with iPads through AppSmashing. Through the process of creating with multiple applications and smashing, remixing and blending that content together, students and teachers now have the capacity to create dynamic multimedia content.  The workshop will focus on the technical process and how-to of AppSmashing as well as the philosophical approach and Why behind this approach.

Cool Google Tools for You

Peter Gausmann and Ben Stanerson, Secondary Technology Coaches, Minnetonka Public Schools

Come hear about at least 11 fantastic Google tools--from the overlooked and hidden to the just-can’t-be-ignored--that you can use in your classroom. Tools will include a YouTube video editor, a story builder, research tools, and much more!

Designing Learning Centers for Shared iPads

Beth Holland, Instructor with EdTechTeacher & blogger at Edutopia

With shared iPads, creating meaningful activities can be a challenge when not every student has a device. In this session, we will explore the possibilities when these devices are incorporated into learning centers where students create artifacts as evidence of their understanding. Please come with the following apps installed:

• Educreations OR Explain Everything (paid for)
• Book Creator (Free or Paid For version)
• Popplet (Free or Paid For version)

Engaging Learners through Reflection and Discussion

Gina Nelson, Social Studies Teacher, Minnetonka Middle School East

Sara Hunt, Secondary Technology Coach, Minnetonka Public Schools

In this session, learn about and experience multiple reflection tools you can use to create a more engaging classroom community. The tools we will highlight demonstrate the power of 1:1 devices giving students voice in an inclusive community of learners. Tools include Today’s Meet, Backchannel App, Padlet, Google Forms, Schoology Discussion Board, Answer Garden, Socrative, Future.me, Explain Everything and Notability. We will showcase our examples as well as allow participants to interact with those same tools in a live demo format.

Follow-up Meeting with Tom Murray

Tom Murray, State & District Digital Learning Director, Washington DC

Tom Murray is giving the Keynote for the Tonka Institute Wednesday morning, June 17.  During this session you will have time to sit down with Tom to discuss topics from his keynote more in depth and ask questions, as well as hear about other important topics Tom works with at the national level, such as proper digital learning implementation and personalized professional learning.  

Swiss Army Spreadsheets

Eric Gunderson, Technology Integrationist, Washington Technology Magnet School, St. Paul Public Schools

Many teachers use the amazing tools found within Google Drive, but many don't realize the capabilities of of Google Sheets. From PBIS systems to a fake Twitter feed and class leaderboard to March Madness brackets, Sheets can do things that will blow your mind! Come to experience just some of the ways teachers are using Sheets in innovative ways today.

Using Technology to Engage Students with the World

Megan Budke, Spanish Teacher & World Language Instructor, Wayzata Public Schools

Attendees in this session will learn how to use current technology to connect their classrooms to the world, using tools such as Skype in the classroom/Google Hangouts, Twitter, and Facebook. The content shared will include examples from a world language classroom, but the ideas are applicable to all subject areas.

Attendees will leave with ideas such as how to connect with classrooms around the world using Skype/Google hangouts/Twitter; how to turn a Skype call/Google hangout to a learning experience; how to use tools such as Twitter/Facebook to connect to your students AND connect with classrooms around the world; and how to create meaningful digital projects for a real audience

Your 1:1 Homescreen: Secondary Apps students and teachers wouldn’t want to learn without.

Sara Martinson, Secondary Technology Coach, Minnetonka Public Schools

What apps do students and teachers depend on for learning? How are they used in a secondary classroom?  In this session, get a brief overview of core apps used at Minnetonka,  learn how students and teachers are using them in the classroom, and see examples of their use.

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Session 2

Amplifying Student Voice

Belinda Stutzman, Technology Integration Specialist, Wayzata Public Schools

Research shows that when students feel connected in school they perform better. This session will show you different ways you can amplify the voice of your students at all levels: classroom, building, and district. We will explore different technology tools including apps, blogs, LMS features and web tools.

AppSmashing in the Elementary Classroom

Beth Holland, Instructor with EdTechTeacher & blogger at Edutopia

Even the youngest of students can AppSmash! This concept helps early learners develop technology fluency, critical thinking, and creativity. Come learn what's possible for elementary students to create when we remove all technical limitations. Please come with the following apps installed:

• Educreations, ScreenChomp, OR Explain Everything (paid for)
• Book Creator (Free or Paid For version)
• Popplet (Free or Paid For version)
• MoMA Art Lab (Free) or any drawing program
• Any resource apps that you like (e.g. NumberPieces, DigiCubes, GeoBoard, Magnetic Letters, etc)

Book Creator: Show What You Know!

David Zukor, Technology Integration Specialist, Wayzata Public Schools

Book Creator is a fantastic app for making books, but it can do so much more! Attendees will learn how to demonstrate learning in language arts, math, science, social studies, and more! Learn how to introduce Book Creator to students to help them get started and see some great examples of books created by students!

Formative Assessment Tools in the Elementary Classroom

Andrea Hoffmann, E-5 Technology Coach, Minnetonka Public Schools

Looking for ways to measure understanding and engagement of your students?  Come learn fun ways to use formative assessment to guide instruction in your elementary classroom.  Find out about tools that will give you quick and meaningful information about your students’ understanding.  Some of the tools that may be included are: Socrative, Kahoot, Plickers, Google Docs/Forms, and more!  *Please bring your device and consider downloading the apps before the session.

Google Intermediate Learning Lab

Sara Hunt, Secondary Technology Coach, Minnetonka Public Schools

Feel like you have a handle on the basic features of Google?  Are you ready to amp up how you are using it?  Come and get some ideas and put them to work right away with challenges throughout.  We will also have some time to share our new learning with each other, so you walk away with not only your new inspiration, but also a good list of ideas from each other.

Peer Instruction with Socrative

Ben Stanerson, Secondary Technology Coach, Minnetonka High School

Participate in an interactive session highlighting how instant feedback tools like Socrative can support Peer Instruction in a 1:1 classroom.  Overview of the Peer Instruction strategy by Eric Mazur and Socrative will be demonstrated in a hands-on session.  Attendees will learn how Peer Instruction can help students learn concepts by engaging in cooperative dialogue.  Please create a Socrative account at http://socrative.com/ before attending. (Optional: Download the Socrative Teacher and Student Apps)

Tools for Common Formative Assessment

Marit Oberle, Math Teacher, Technology Integrationist, and Math Department Chair, Richfield Middle School

PearDeck, NearPod, Google Forms, Kahoot and others can be wonderful tools to inform teaching and learning. Staff attending this session should come with an idea/example of a common formative assessment to implement during the session. An overview of how these tools can be used as common formative assessments will be demonstrated, along with time to try and implement the tools.

Video Creation with iPads

Greg Kulowiec, Instructor with EdTechTeacher

This session will focus on the creative potential of video creation with iPads. Beginning with fundamental approaches to video creation and expanding to dynamic layered, green screen, screencast and virtual video creation, the session will expand the creative possibilities with the iPad.  Further, participants will explore basic workflow with regards to collaboration and publishing of student-created video content.

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Session 3

AppMazing Race

Sara Hunt, Secondary Technology Coach, Minnetonka Public Schools

Peter Gausmann, Secondary Technology Coach, Minnetonka Public Schools

Get out of your chairs for this fun and engaging session!  In small teams, you’ll learn about new apps, work collaboratively, and create and share products with your phone or tablet.  Finally, you’ll learn how to fashion effective “races” for your classrooms or staff development sessions.  

Collaboration & iPads

Greg Kulowiec, Instructor with EdTechTeacher

Through the combination of iPads, Google Drive and a handful of selected creation apps, collaboration is possible on iPads that can extend from the classroom to global collaborative projects.  Collaborative screencasting, book creation and video will be explored in the workshop.  Examples of such collaborative creation will be shared along with an overview of the technical process as well as hands on time to simulate and walk through collaborative iPad creation.

Flip with Google

Anthony Padrnos - Director of Technology, Richfield Public Schools

Utilize the power of Google Apps for Education to design and streamline a flipped learning environment. This session will discuss how to combine Google classroom, forms, chrome extensions for screen casting, and YouTube to create a workflow conducive to learning while providing formative data to the instructor.

Genius Hour

Ginny Adams, Kim Connor, Kaci Demerchant & Joe Vrudny, 2nd Grade Teachers, Greenwood Elementary School, Wayzata Public Schools
Everyone has a passion.  Everyone has an interest.  Our students are no different!  What could happen if we allowed students time to research and delve into their interests and passions?  How would learning and engagement change when the students are given time to learn about what they would like? This session will share the journey of four teachers who are exploring the idea of Genius Hour- unlocking the “genius” and passion in each student.  We will cover the philosophy behind Genius Hour, share about framework and resources that may be useful when incorporating Genius Hour into the classroom, and begin a conversation what Genius Hour could look like in your classroom/school.

Google Scripting: Using Flubaroo  & Autocrat

Tyler Shepard,  Teacher, Wayzata High School

Participants will learn the ins-and-outs of Google Scripting & Google Forms in this participatory session. We will start with Flubaroo, a tool that can provide Google Drive users with a streamlined way of collecting formative feedback and assessing their students’ work. After that, we will walk through the process of setting up an Autocrat Script, allowing Google Drive users the ability to merge Google Form submissions into user-generated templates. If you are a fan of Google Drive and Google Forms, this session is for you!

iPads & Accessibility to Differentiate Learning K-12

Beth Holland, Instructor with EdTechTeacher & blogger at Edutopia

iPads provide amazing potential to both scaffold and enrich. In this session, we will explore the accessibility features native to iOS that can help to support ALL learners. Using Universal Design for Learning (UdL) as a framework for our thinking, we will focus on how students can gain increased access to content. Please make sure that your iPad is updated to iOS8 - not all features will work the same with iOS7 - and that you also have iBooks installed.

Leveraging Technology to Foster Creative Teaching and Learning

Sara Martinson, Secondary Technology Coach, Minnetonka Public Schools

Ben Stanerson, Secondary Technology Coach, Minnetonka Public Schools

Are you looking for inspiration to add more creativity to your teaching and student learning?  This session will highlight philosophical approaches to a more creative pedagogy and give you practical ways to design lessons that inspire creativity in students.  iOS devices provide unique ways to be creative, and this session is designed to highlight several apps and lesson designs that leverage the technology in meaningful ways.  Tap into student creativity with apps like Haiku Deck, Adobe Voice, Explain Everything, Notability, Popplet, BookCreator, PicCollage, PicPlayPost, and more during this session.

Making Learning Visible with the iPad

Chris Turnbull, Personalized Learning Specialist,  St. Paul Public Schools

Bring your iPad for a hands-on tour of a variety of free and low cost screencasting and multimedia apps on the iPad that can be used to make teacher instruction more visual and student learning more visible. Learn how these apps work and how to use them to engage students in content area learning, to create standards-based artifacts of learning, to extend learning time beyond the classroom walls and school day bells, and to support student and parent understanding of process and product expectations to raise students' achievement and give students a voice in explaining their own learning.

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Session 4

A Library in Your Pocket: Information at Your Fingertips

Kelli Whiteside, Media Specialist, Minnetonka Public Schools

Attendees will learn about accessing valuable online resources using handheld devices. They will learn to organize a "library in their pocket" that facilitates good digital literacy and information fluency. Featured resources include but are not limited to MackinVIA, Destiny, Encyclopedia Britannica, and Easy Bib. We will also look for ways to leverage Hennepin County Library online resources which are free to all Minnesota residents with a library card from their local library. The same strategies can be easily used by students in a 1:1 environment at any instructional level.

Animoto to Zaption Great Tech Ideas for the Classroom

Dihanna Fedder, District Integrationist, Pine City Public Schools

A - Z technology ideas that are great for the educational setting. Learn more about Apps, Add Ons, Extension and Websites that will make you and your students look at learning in an all new way. Join this fast-paced session with an open mind, your browser set to open multiple tabs and your note-taking skills honed!

Creating Authentic Learning with the iPad

Gina Nelson, Social Studies Teacher, Minnetonka Middle School East

Sara Hunt, Secondary Technology Coach, Minnetonka Public Schools

Hear how two teachers guided students through a project-based learning experiences using the iPad. Both in Social Studies and Science, students used the iPad from brainstorming to research to evaluation to their final product. The iPad served as a primary tool in learning while students explored real-world problems and challenges, and allowed them to showcase their final knowledge in authentic ways. Projects highlighted: World Savvy Project and MN Mining Controversy.

Google Apps Collaboration - no accounts, no problem!

Beth Holland, Instructor with EdTechTeacher & blogger at Edutopia

At the elementary level, some schools and districts may not have individual student accounts created. However, that does not mean you cannot take advantage of the collaborative potential of Google Apps. Please bring your Chromebook or laptop with the Chrome browser to learn what is possible. IMPORTANT: if your school or district does not allow you to share out of your domain, please have a personal Google Account for this session.

Innovation through a Connected Pedagogy

Brad Gustafson, Principal, Greenwood Elementary School, Wayzata

Attendees will learn about 5+ cutting-edge tools that can be leveraged to inspire innovation in our classrooms and schools.  Specifically, attendees will experience how innovative tools like Sphero Robotic Droids, Quadcopters (drones), 3D Printers, Social Media, and Augmented Reality have been used to transform learning via a Connected Pedagogy in our school. I will also share how attendees can "connect" and offer the same meaningful experiences to their students.

MakerSpace for Classroom Teachers

Ginny Adams, Kim Connor, Kaci Demerchant & Joe Vrudny, 2nd Grade Teachers, Greenwood Elementary School, Wayzata Public Schools

What could it look like to create a “space” (whether a dedicated space in the building or your classroom) where students are allowed to build, create, make and tinker?  What if the big question we asked of kids was “What can you create today?”  In this session, learn how to unlock students’ creativity and ingenuity through the concept of MakerSpace.

Schoology for the Intermediate User

Andrea Hoffmann, E-5 Technology Coach, Minnetonka Public Schools

Peter Gausmann, Secondary Technology Coach, Minnetonka Public Schools

Come ready to explore ways to dive deeper with Schoology.  We will showcase student completion rules, Schoology quizzes, rubrics and more!  If you are ready to take your Schoology use to the next level, this class is for you!

Sketchnoting 2.0: Image & Video Sketchnoting with iPads

Greg Kulowiec, Instructor with EdTechTeacher

Sketch noting has recently exploded as a powerful method by which both students and teachers can process information that is being consumed in the form of lecture, video or reading.  While sketch noting can be completed with limited technology (pen / pencil & paper) or digitally, iPads provide the potential to expand upon the medium through the process of image & video sketch noting. Through both creation processes, sketch notes can be brought to life on an iPad by being layered with relevant photographs through image sketch noting and by being animated with video through video sketch noting.

================================================ In addition to the two days focused on technology, there are also thought-provoking speakers to accelerate professional development and growth in your district starting Monday, June 15. Each day of the institute will feature an important area of interest for educators as well as engaging experts who will offer keynotes, workshops, and other special opportunities: Monday, June 15, 2015 – Interventions and Achievement Gap • George Batsche (from the RTI Action Network) • Yvette Jackson (author of Aim High, Achieve More and The Pedagogy of Confidence) Tuesday, June 16, 2015 – Innovation in Education • George Couros (Blog: The Principal of Change) • Heather Staker (author of the new book Blended with Michael Horn) • Eric Scheninger (author of the new book Digital Leadership) • Patti Drapeau (author of the new book - Sparking Student Creativity) • Athletic Directors Institute Wednesday, June 17, 2015 – Assessment and Grading • Doug Reeves (Director of Leadership and Learning Institute) • Rick Stiggins (Director of the Assessment Training Institute – appearing via live feed) • Nicole Vagle (national speaker on the topic of standards-based grading) • Jeff Erickson (Minnetonka principal and author of scholarly articles on standards-based grading) • Mark Barnes (author of the new book Assessment 3.0, and the recent book Role Reversal) • Preconference Technology Workshops Don't miss this great opportunity to network with colleagues while learning from some of the nation's most prominent thought leaders. For more information and to register, visit the Institute for Leadership website. Discounted registration discounts are available now as well as for those who register for multiple dates! Register your team today!