Ignite+Session

Of the 10 or so presenters at the "Ignite" session, there were two very good ones that stood out and had some ideas I thought were worth sharing. The format of the Ignite session is that the presenters have five minutes (and no more than 15 slides) to speak about the area of education/teaching they are passionate about. In a nutshell, the format forced presenters to cut right to the chase.

__Will Richardson__ - Powerful Learning Practice, Bold Ideas for Reform

1. Empowerment. Give students the power to drive their own learning, curriculum should follow the student. Build upon successes.

2. Professional Development. Teachers, do professional development work/learning IN-BETWEEN meetings. Leaders, have pre-requisites that should be done by professional development attendees in-between meetings. Doing this will ensure the meeting is a discussion about what was learned, rather than an initial data dump/discussion about what you will do.

3. Network. Use people as your network, rather than search engines. Make the effort to establish the relationships that are important to you, i.e. know the people who can help you learn and inform your decisions, and utilize them as your Google.

4. Acknowledge Diverse Talents. Create an "uncommon core" within your classroom, where intangibles and unheralded skills are acknowledged and fostered for students. Emphasize the students as individuals, and as individual learners.

__Mary Ann Domanska__ - Creative Podcast Stories/Writing

1. Writing Frequency. Have the students write each and every day about something they love.

2. Sharing. Students love to share with others, and they love to hear their own voices too. If you're able to, record the students reading their stories; it is a way to share, and it also helps the students self-improve when they hear themselves.

3. Publish! Celebrate when projects or stories are complete. It makes the students feel like real authors, and they get a sense of accomplishment.

4. Scaffold. Once critical skills are mastered by the student, gently challenge them to improve certain aspects of their writing, i.e. voice, language used, etc.

5. Use Technology. When possible, use technology to enhance the experience for students. This includes but is not limited to recording, doing podcasts, posting online, etc.