Each year, Anderson One hosts two-days of professional development for teachers and administrators from within our school district to end the school year. One of the coolest things about this event is that nearly all of the presentations and course offerings were led by teachers and administrators from within our own district! As part of the Instructional Technology team, I had the opportunity to be directly involved in planning this event, and I'm excited to share some of the great things we were able to put together.
A Quick Look...
Teachers used #a1digitalinnovation to tweet about #Transform2015 throughout our conference, and I used Flipboard to pull together photos and tweets.
View my Flipboard Magazine.
Technado
Based on an idea inspired by The Daring Librarian, our team of Instructional Technologists put together a session in which we presented 60 Apps in less than 60 Minutes. Each of us selected and shared 20 apps for teachers followed by a fun "Brain Break" to get everyone up and moving. Because of the volume and pace of information, we made sure to share the link to our presentation: Technado 2015 Slides. Feedback from this fast-paced session was excellent!
As a veteran sixth grade Math teacher, I am always pumped to put together PD sessions focused on Math instruction. For this Weapons of Math Instruction Session, I pulled together 8 stations with activities and resources for Middle School Math teachers and invited attendees to self-select stations and the length of time spent at each one. Teachers worked collaboratively and shared with one another in groups and via Padlet.
Innovator's Lounge
Our team came up with the Innovator's Lounge as a way to allow teachers a time and space for spontaneous collaboration during the conference. As a facilitator in the Innovator's Lounge, it was encouraging to see how this time was used to put learning into action!
App Gallery
Instead of a traditional vendor hall, we decided to ask our A1 iTeachers to help us create information stations for 36 educational apps to put on display in the gym. Teachers were then able to drop in and peruse the tables, scan QR codes, pick up donated swag, and gather ideas at their leisure. Our iStudents were on hand to answer questions and provide feedback as teachers visited the stations.
Tech Gadget Table
For my App Gallery table, I pulled together a Collection of Tech Gadgets to share. This was a "hands-on" station where teachers could play with a variety of my favorite gadgets. Though many of these were pulled from my own tool bag, I was also able to get donations from several companies and to borrow gadgets from students and colleagues.
AppMazing Race
Over the course of the two-day event, we had several groups of teachers working to complete the AppMazing Race, a list of ten creation-based challenges. Click here for details. This was a fun way to encourage teachers to experiment with many of the creation apps that we would like to see students using the in the classroom! During our closing session, we were able to show the final submissions on the "big screen" before we announced the winning team. Click here to see the winning entry.
Family Feud
The closing session of Transform 2015 featured our own version of the Family Feud based on a similar session done at ISTE and posted online. To put this together, our team sent out a Google Survey and gathered these responses. Next, the presentation was created using SMART Notebook, and our "host" Todd Binnicker was selected and trained. Finally, two teams of participants (Elementary vs. Secondary) were selected, and we were ready to go. The final show was HILARIOUS and an excellent way to end! 
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