If you are interested in expanding your comfort zone, building relationships with your students and boosting the culture of your classroom in the new school year, this blog post is for you!
Tuesday, July 31, 2018, marked the day when hundreds of inspired educators and innovators descended on the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota to dish on the ever important topic of student voice! Surrounded by jazzy stickers and cowbells galore, folks gathered at Muse Event Center to kick off the journey with a little Flipgrid ZING! action. Nearly a dozen Edurockstars took to the stage offering mini ignite sessions to get the crowd warmed up and thinking about the passion powerhouse of student voice! The proverbial “campfire” of #EdCampFlipgrid18 was then lit to charge conversations that ranged from going gradeless to sketchnoting and from flexible seating to empathy and activism! Representation from coast to coast as well as countries around the world including the United States, Canada and Japan filled the room with a vibe that pressed the limits of containment! To that end, some Flipgrid enthusiasts went on to an evening of #SingASong karaoke while others took in a Twins game. There was no challenge to finding a proper channel for the energy to flow!! The Flipgrid learning extravaganza continued on Wednesday, August 1st as the #StuVoiceCon18 kicked off at the University of Minnesota- McNamara Alumni Center with #DitchBook founder & educational inspiration, Matt Miller Keynoting the morning session of the conference. Miller lead participant’s with the message that… “Your voice is your soul, your essence, your inner being” and the recipe to finding that containing key ingredients, “Choice, Action, & Skill”. Miller reminded the room that each of us have a chance to change the world if we simply find, use and let our voices and ideas be heard. Breakout sessions and a mid-day food truck extravaganza offered much in the way of choice for feeding our minds and nourishing our bodies! As the afternoon took form, the amazing Holly Clark fired up the afternoon Keynote session planting pause for consideration of Generation Z. Generation Z was highlighted as a generation like no other where the information revolution will guide the rejection of the status quo, where people live outside of mediocrity as they move from being mere consumers of knowledge to change agents making a difference in the world through critical thinking and global perspectives. Attendees digested the day of learning and in the evening made way to Aria Event Center for the long awaited #FlipgridLive event. Here with glow sticks in hand, the stage was shared by Flipgrid extraordinaires, exciting news of the Microsoft acquisition, and Flipgrid updates such as the new #GridPals program (be sure to check it out!)! Quite possibly the most meaningful element of the #FlipgridLive event was the presence of a student, by the name of Mabel, on stage who shared her voice and reminded us all of the importance of listening and honoring the student voice. In a classroom or any other learning environment, the student voice should always be the loudest. The evening was rounded out with a visit to the official Flipgrid HQ where Flipgrid leadership along with a pair of minions greeted each guest with a pizza party and an epic Flipgrid Voice Pod giveaway! It goes without saying that any and all attendees finished the night with a big THANK YOU to Flipgrid for an extraordinary 2 day learning adventure! And for those not able to attend….or who want to see more... Click HERE for a detailed and curated account of the experience in the form of a website put together by fellow educators, Rayna Freedman, Sandy Otto, Evan Mosier and myself, Kim Zajac! Enjoy!!! |
AuthorMrs. Zajac, Archives
November 2020
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