Tag Archives: Unconference

General, Public, School Media Specialist

Save the date for EdCampMidMN Unconference

Mark your calendars, because EdCampMidMN is back again!  
Left to right: Maria Burnham, Angie Kalthoff, Neil Andruschak from Little Falls, Mayor Kleis, and Joe Schulte from Sartell.
Left to right @ EdCamp 2015: Maria Burnham, Angie Kalthoff, Neil Andruschak from Little Falls, Mayor Kleis, and Joe Schulte from Sartell.

On June 8th, 2016, all area preK-12 educators are invited to gather at Sartell High School for the free 2016 EdCampMidMN unconference!  Last year was the first year of EdCampMidMN, and it was such a success that it’s happening again!

Not sure what an “unconference” is or what EdCamps are all about?  Check out our EdCampMidMN website, Facebook page or Twitter feed for more information.
The event is FREE and a wonderful opportunity to network with area educators on topics that are important and relevant to you, the attendee.  Breakfast is provided and prizes are given out at the end of the day.  If you have any questions, feel free to email or tweet me!

@MariaBurnham4

Editors note: CMLE is once again making a financial contribution to this event in order to help keep it free for you. CMLE fully supports this event and doesn’t want any barriers to keep you away from this great learning experience!
General, School Media Specialist

EdCampMidMN 2015 recap

15 - 1If you were one of the nearly 140 lucky people to attend the first EdCampMidMN you were at a truly unique event right here in central Minnesota. The event followed the EdCamp format. This means the event was completely free and followed the unconference model where participants decided the content and shaped the conversations. CMLE was an event sponsor, and CMLE staff were lucky enough to attend this fast-paced, open format. Besides in the “classrooms,” many of our conversations took place in hallways and at impromptu moments. From Makerspaces to Gamification, subjects from across the board were covered.

“I appreciate all you did to make this day happen. What an exemplary collaborative bunch you are! Your work sparked a lot of fires today.” – EdCamp Attendee

The event was put on by local educators and they knocked it out of the park! The best part, is that the content is still available on their website. Organizers promised a round 2 for next year, so take a look at the 2015 materials and get ready for next year!

Here is our very own Patricia Post getting ready to talk about 21st Century Media Centers:

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist

Highlights From the MEMO March Conference

MEMOConfThe weather was actually decent and the drive to Duluth was easy as I headed to the Conference; a good time to think after a crazy busy week. There were about 50 people in attendance, and a fair number of them were tech integrationists this year, which added a rich element to the event.

The keynote was Mark Garrison,  Tech Director at White Bear Lake Schools.  He also did a breakout session that was somewhat like being on the Mad Mouse roller coaster! Mark was doing live demos of his favorite 50 online sites, and when something didn’t work, he just backed up, said, “who cares” and moved on. I so admire that quality, no fear about any sort of perfection, just learning and sharing. And, trust me, no one will ever sleep in Mark’s classroom! I only say that in the kindest way, he is a very bright, energized guy, and makes you want to just go out and change the world!

According to Mark….” My MEMO keynote expands on the themes of my TEDx  talk (Burnsville) and examines how concepts like the SAMR swimming pool and bridge to 21st Century pedagogies can help us innovate and change education.” Some of my favorite sound bites from Mark’s keynote  include:

  • “When you are hiring people, Google them. If you find nothing, be alarmed, be very alarmed!
  • Boring stuff on an iPad is still boring stuff…
  • What am I willing to disrupt in order to innovate? Disrupt! Model lifelong learning for students!
  • Most people only wear 20% of their clothes 80% of the time. Get rid of all those extra clothes…old stuff keeps you from innovating!”

Check out Mark’s favorite 50 sites by category!

Unconference Resources: The afternoon was an Unconference….thirty minute session topics were suggested and presented by people in attendance, which is always timely and lively. If you want to see what the topics were, go to http://tinyurl.com/omzvnkz. Note: As you look at the topics, notice that you can click on Notes to see what the groups produced on the topic. I would suggest the Makerspaces and Gamification ones for sure! Lots of links and ideas; excited sharing and brainstorming throughout the thirty minutes. And, excellent notetakers too!

Smackdown Tidbits Too! At the end of the conference, participants were asked to share their favorite tools or ideas. And, those items can be reviewed at http://padlet.com/wall/memospring14

It was a wonderful use of a Saturday. A big thanks to MEMO conference planners for putting together a great event, and sharing the content so willingly with everyone, so I can share it so willingly with you!

 

 

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Being Influential Where You Are!

Image by Paul Wever. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons' licensing.
Image by Paul Wever. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.

My personal  highlight of the recent MEMO Unconference was sitting at a table of eight people with Stephen Abram, talking about being influential. Stephen was the keynote speaker the day before, but I had no idea he would stay throughout the conference, much less lead and engage in this great conversation. Stephen has many claims to fame and I have followed him online for years so I was eager to hear his thoughts.  He is the author of Stephen’s Lighthouse blog, a library trend watcher, fundraiser, innovator, thought provoker, and has held several executive leadership positions in the library field; big names like Gale, SirsiDynix, Thomson, and ProQuest. As promised last week,  I took good notes and will share freely here what transpired around the table. I was happy to see that my strategy in this area mirrors Stephen’s, but the perspectives of media specialists around the table was pretty priceless. Strategies that emerged included:

Innovate

  • Look across your workplace, and choose innovators and early adopters to help you advance your agenda (consider them your disciples.)
  • Pull these folks together, talk about what motivates you and encourage them to do the same. Begin to think about aligning your efforts with their motivations. You may be surprised at how alike your motivations truly are!
  • If you have a few innovators/ early adapters in a specific department; do a pilot in that area.  Other departments will notice!

Coach

  • Your role as media specialist/librarian with your group is that of coach.
  • Scrap advocacy as a term, talk about “what is in it for them.”
  • Your approachability will increase as your group works together, and trust in you will naturally increase.
  • Have the courage to demonstrate your expertise; dig deep,  be fearless with your group of disciples.

Solve

  • Talk to your administrators, listen well to what they find problematic. Are they looking for specific solutions?
  • Align, align, align creatively with administrators problems too, which often overlaps with what departments are trying to solve!

This technique involves being a good listener, and thoughtfully understanding  your role in your specific setting. Stephen’s reminder to all was to avoid thinking of yourself as a servant (even though sometimes it can feel that way). Constantly remind yourself that you provide an integral and necessary professional service. By adopting this mindset, your role within the library/media center and/or your district, can become transformative. As we wrapped up, Stephens reminded us that  “without change, there would be no butterflies.”

Check this out:, General, School Media Specialist

The First Ever MEMO Unconference

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Participant’s hands had a death grip on steaming mugs of coffee as we assembled for the Joyce Valenza keynote, which kicked off the Saturday Unconference day for the 2013 MEMO Conference. Valenza was amazing as always, and I have reams of notes from her presentation; mostly new tools. Links will be forthcoming.

About one third of the attendees had attended an unconference before, which surprised me. The content of an unconference is based solely on the immediate interest of those in the room .  The rules were: NO power points, rule of two feet (leave a session if it does not suit your immediate need), everyone has a voice, everyone is an expert, and have fun! Then, pads of sticky notes were placed on the tables and we were asked to consider topics to put on the slips of paper to then transfer to a large grid at the front of the room. We were asked  to consider: What can I teach about, what do I want to learn about, or,  I want to discuss or collaborate with others on this topic. The suggested topics  sorted themselves out quickly and numbers were placed on tables to correspond to the numbered topics.

10-8-2013 2-05-05 PM

It was really hard to choose where to go, but then I remembered the “two feet” rule, so the stress was instantly gone! In round two, I chose the e-folio table, but most of us were there hoping for an expert or someone to lead the conversation. When no one took on either role, without guilt, I got up and ambled on over to student PLN’s which was better.

But the highlight for me was truly during the first round, I picked Being Influential. I was delighted and surprised to see that Stephen Abram, our Friday luncheon keynote speaker was prepared to lead the conversation. Stephen has many claims to fame and I have followed him online for years.  He is the author of Stephen’s Lighthouse blog, is a library trend watcher, fundraiser,  innovator, thought provoker, and has held several executive leadership positions in the library field; big names like Gale, SirsiDynix, Thomson, and ProQuest. Bonus! So, I and seven other professionals could sit around a table and listen to Stephen’s thoughts on the subject,  and shoot him questions about how to apply his suggestions to local situations. It was well worth my while, I took detailed notes,  and will share the details of that little round table discussion next week, so stay tuned!

If you were also at the MEMO Unconference, what did you think? Is this an event model that you would like to try in our Central Minnesota region among colleagues? CMLE listens to its member libraries/media center staff,  so if you have an opinion, make your voice heard!