Flipping Civics

This will be a short post, but I just wanted to share that along with flipping World History, I will also be flipping Civics this year.  I actually taught American Government during my first four years in the profession, and I absolutely loved it! (My Old Websites: American Government / We The People Prep)  

I did not start flipping my class until I changed districts and taught mostly World History, so this will be the first time that I have a chance to apply the Flipped Learning approach to a civics class.

I will be collaborating throughout the year with colleague Garrison Rose (who is exceptional) as well as the scores of other educators out there who I regularly collaborate with (ex. Jason Bretzmann).

Long story short, this will be awesome and I am excited to start up a new year with students at PHS teaching a subject that I am extremely passionate about!

Stewart Parker Gamifies World Cultural Geography

I recently connected with Stewart Parker, a high school social studies teacher from Florida who is interested in the potential of gamification in education.  We engaged in a great conversation a few weeks ago about Flipped Learning, gamification, augmented reality... you name it.  It is clear how passionate he is about education and that he is doing the most to improve his instruction and the students' learning environment.

I then asked him to provide me with a brief synopsis of his plan to gamify his flipped courses.  In his reply, I realized that he is not only adding some game elements, but creating a rich narrative that provides context and relevance to the course!  Here is his response:

Tom-

     I'm excited about the potential gamification will add to my World Cultural Geography classroom.  I plan to create a game that allows the students to travel throughout the world while learning about various cultures and helping solve geographic issues throughout the world.  They will work to stop deforestation in South America or desertification in Africa. They will help cities in Asia deal with issues of monsoon rains or typhoons.  

     For the past few years, I have found the students engagement in the course dwindle. I wanted to find a way to get them excited about geography and various cultures around the world.  I am concerned if the students will find the game interesting enough to sustain it all year long.  I find high school students can be cynical about anything that changes the status quo. For this to be successful, the game needs to be interesting and engaging. That's what scares me the most trying to reimagine my classroom in a new way. I do, however, believe that gamification can bring a positive change in my class.

     I am excited about the potential gamification has for the students in my class and school!

- Stewart

If interested in connecting with Stewart, he can be found on Twitter @ParkersGeocats.  I highly suggest adding him to your PLN as he is a great resource and yet another passionate educator doing his best for kids!

Augmented Reality in Education: Session Resources

Below is the slide deck from last Spring's "Augmented Reality in Education" session. (I just remembered to share this out... oops.)  Here is the outline:

What is Augmented Reality?
Hardware & Software Needs
AR App Spotlight (9 Apps)
AR Integration Ideas
How to Create AR (With Aurasma)

AR Presentation Link (Embedded below)




If you have any questions about Augmented Reality or run into any trouble trying to create it, as always just let me know!

ISTE & FlipCon (In Pictures)

Instead of attempting to summarize my incredible trips to Flipcon and ISTE, here is a collection of images from these events that I think exemplify the best part of these conferences: experiences and relationships.  

FlipCon 14 (Mars, PA)

Welcome to Mars!

The residents of Mars, PA hosted a great event for us that included local food, a car show, a miniature train, and of course, the Mars space ship.

Opening Keynote

With Jason Bretzmann, Kristin Daniels & April Gudenrath.

 

Flipping Social Studies Event

With Chelsea Katzenberg, Jason Bretzmann, and an excited David Fouch.

"Level Up with Gamification & Game Based Learning" Featured Session

With Dan Harrold and Tim Downing. 

Flipping 2.0 Panel Discussion

With Kristin Daniels, Kate Baker, Audrey McLaren, Cheryl Morris, Troy Cochrum, Andrew Tomasson, Jason Bretzman, & Heather Witten. 

A Night at the Carnegie Science Center

Yes, that is Aaron Sams and David Fouch standing in for the "14."

Watching "Back to the Moon" in the Planetarium

With David Fouch, Lindsay Cole, and Delia Bush. 

"Flipped Learning: Gateway to Student Engagement" Book Signing

With Crystal Kirch, Delia Bush, Kristin Daniels, Steve Kelly, Jon Thomas-Palmer (doing flip), Jon Bergmann, Aaron Sams, & Brian Bennett.  

Flipping With Hip Hughes

Yup, that is David Fouch featured in this video created during Keith Hughes' awesome session.

Closing Keynote

With Jon Bergmann

Mastery Learning Cycles

True, these are not pictures, but this session was incredible.  Here are a few screenshots from Hassan Wilson's presentation.  Check out his Flipcon recap post here. 

ISTE2014 (Atlanta, GA)

Meeting FlipCon Crew Upon Arrival

With Kate Baker

The Blogger's Cafe

With Michael Donnelly, Brad Waid, Todd Nesloney & Emily Swenson.

Meeting Karl, Enough Said

With Karl Lindgren-Streicher

ISTE Young Educators Network

With Jenny Schlie-Reed, Robert Provonost, Victoria Olson, Krista Moroder, and Karl Lindgren-Streicher.

Testing Out The New Anatomy 4D App in Blogger's Cafe

With Brad Waid & Roshni Mirchandani

Playing With Sphero in Blogger's Cafe

With Roshni Mirchandani, Kevin Maxwell & Matthew Brown.

Team Highlander

With Roshni Mirchandani, Cathy Sanford, Erin Brouillette, Carrie Sorensen, Dana Borrelli-Murray, Jeanne D'Agostino, Eric Butash, Shawn Rubin, & Stephanie Castilla.

THE TAKEAWAY

As the cliche' goes, that was just the tip of the iceberg.  I had the opportunity to meet and have incredible conversations with countless other educators throughout both conferences.  Although learning online through social media is valuable, I had underestimated the power of face-to-face conversations at events such as these.  

Whether it is an informal meet-up with 5-10 educators, or it is the ISTE conference with thousands, I urge everyone to reach out beyond the social media platform and strengthen relationships by attending live events when possible.  Of course, it is not always feasible due to cost, family commitments, etc.  I just suggest doing so when you can and making the most out of every opportunity you have!

Learning at Flipcon14 & ISTE

Next week I have the incredible opportunity to attend and present at #FlipCon14, the 7th annual Flipped Learning Conference hosted this year in Mars, PA.  Below is my "fixed" schedule, but I am just as (if not more) excited to engage with incredible educators from around the world throughout each day.  It will be exciting to meet so many of the colleagues and friends in my PLN in person for the first time.

INTERACTIVE FLIPCON14 SCHEDULE HERE

LEVEL UP WITH GAMIFICATION & GAME-BASED LEARNING (Concurrent Session A)

Tuesday, 1:00 -2:00pm (Room 94) 

I'll be joining Tim Downing and Dan Harrold in this session to discuss our experiences with gamification and game-based learning in the classroom.  We will also hold a 20 minute panel discussion with both on-site and virtual attendees. 

FLIPPING 2.0 BOOK PANEL (Concurrent Session B)

Tuesday, 2:00 -3:00pm (Room 94) 

Following the Gamification Session,  I will be joining Jason Bretzmann and the Flipping 2.0 Panel to share our experiences and provide insight regarding the next levels of Flipped Learning.  

FLIPPED LEARNING: THE SECOND ITERATION (Plenary Session 3)

Wednesday, 11:00am -12:00pm (Room 94) 

I'll be joining a panel discussion with Jon Bergmann, Aaron Sams and the other contributing authors of Flipped Learning: Gateway to Student Engagement.    

If you are attending and would like to catch up at some point, please feel free to reach out so we can make it happen!

I am honored and excited to be joining the incredible team at the Highlander Institute for this year's ISTE conference.  Some members of this rockstar crew include Shawn Rubin, Dana Borrelli-Murray, Roshni Mirchandani, Eric Burash, Stephanie Castilla, and Cathy Sanford.

I will also have a chance to meet up with some awesome members of my PLN such as Karl Lindgren-Streicher (it's crazy that we have never met in-person), George Phillip, and Kate Baker.  I'll also get to catch up with the Kate Reilly and the team at E-Line Media (Historia Beta).

I was told that I should definitely attend student poster sessions and the "Bloggers' Cafe."  Therefore, if interested in catching up while at ISTE, you will probably find me in one of these spots!

Hope to see many of you in Atlanta!