Announcing our DLD 2015 Theme & Holiday Wishes

This year's proposals are in! The DLD planning team is full steam ahead and totally blown away with our teachers' willingness to participate in the day and with the terrific session topics offered! With each year, we strive to evolve & improve based on your feedback... believe me when I say.. DLD will not disappoint!

So far, we have:

From the session topics, you can see that over these past three years, we as a district are continually growing.. not just in technology but our teaching practices and taking that risk to transform learning to make it more student-focused, connected and collaborative.

That's not all.. we also have a  theme that represents where our district is this year.   After some searching on Pinterest :) for quotes and ideas, there was one that caught my eye and works perfectly!  (sorry, I didn't pin it and can't remember where the source of it's creative mind was from).

Watch the short animation to find out the 2015 DLD Theme.....mixed  with some Holiday Wishes!

Stay tuned for more Announcements  as the February 6th draws near!

Happy Holidays & see you next year- 2015!

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Survey Results!

Each year our goal is to make Digital Learning Day most beneficial to you! A survey was sent out a few weeks ago asking for suggestions of the type of sessions that you would find most useful. 

What are the things you want to know about that will help you out in either your professional or personal life? 

Was there a session you missed last year that you want run again? ....Think outside of the box, list anything and everything that you would like to learn!


Thought we'd share those results as you consider submitting a proposal for a presenting at DLD day!  As you can see, anything Google at the Basic, Intermediate and Advanced levels are in high demand! Remember please do not feel like you're tied to ONLY these topics! In fact, you may have stumbled across something new or a great workflow that no one has thought of yet!

This is simply to get you thinking!

To submit your proposal, please click on this link. If you have any questions about the Digital Learning Day or about submitting a proposal, please do not hesitate to contact Kim Cave, Neal Sonnenberg, Diane Horvath or Debby Fromen.

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Save the Date!

We have so much to be thankful for around this time of year; but we are especially thankful for the opportunity to share what we do in the classroom with our colleagues.  With that in mind, can you believe that we are less than 80 days away from Medfield's Day of Digital Learning. Please Save the Date for FEBRUARY 6TH, 2015!

This is a dedicated professional day for collaborating, learning and technology with your colleagues. The day will be pack full of workshops and topics of interest based on your feedback and the District's initiatives.

You'll get to pick the sessions to attend that will best impact your personal growth and teaching in the classroom. The success of the sessions though depends on our presenters and that is why we are asking you to submit a proposal to present at the digital learning day. Here are some general criteria:

Topics should be:

• based upon ways that you use technology to enhance student learning.  
• an area of interest that you already know about or want to know more about
• something that is easily transferable to other teachers in your grade, your school or the district

A few other criteria:

• You can co-present with a colleague (or two) or you can present on your own
• Sessions this year will probably be 45, 60 or 75 minutes;
• Thinking outside the box is encouraged. Surprise us with your topic or creativity.
• Deadline for submitting a proposal is Friday, December 5th, 2015.

This year will be different from last year, but if you are interested in seeing what sessions ran last year you can find them here (click on Session 1, 2 or 3).

To submit your proposal, please click on this link. If you have any questions about the Digital Learning Day or about submitting a proposal, please do not hesitate to contact Kim Cave, Neal Sonnenberg, Diane Horvath or Debby Fromen.

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Opening Presentation Videos: Be Brave, The Cup Song & Stew-Dent

Shared during our Digital Learning Day Conference opening...

Be Brave performance by Wheelock's 3rd graders-  A message worth spreading!

The Dale St Choir performs a joyful rendition of The Cup Song!

And the last video features Stew-Dent & his Fairy Tale dream of becoming

a first grader at Memorial School.

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Information about TOMORROW!

Hi Medfield Educators,

Friday's Digital Learning Day is less than 24 hours away.  In order to make the day a success, please keep in mind the following:

• We will be starting at 8:00 in the HS Auditorium.  Please try to get to the High School a few minutes early. Dr. Marsden will be starting the day promptly at 8:15. The day will be over by 3:00.  

• If you are bringing your own device, please bookmark the Medfield Digital Learning Day blog in your browser - http://dldmedfield.blogspot.com/ . This will be the main portal where you can access presentations, see your schedule for the day, win prizes (yes, I said that, and there are MANY more than last year!) and a whole lot more.

• Some of the teachers of the sessions have been sending out information to participants about apps to download, or surveys to fill out, or content to bring.  Please make every effort to do your 'homework' as that will help the sessions stay on track tomorrow.  Our presenters have been working extremely hard (even during their snow day) to ensure high quality content for you.

• If you are bringing your own device, please make sure that your device is fully charged or that you bring in the necessary charging equipment.  We will provide instructions on how to connect to the wifi.

• In some sessions you will create projects for your classes.  Please have lesson content available to you either via the web, flash drives or on your computer (if using your own device) or shared to the network (if using a school laptop).

• Laptops and iPads will be made available in the classrooms that are requiring them.  If you do not have the specific device,  you can just grab one once you are in the class.  All school equipment (laptops, iPads) needs to stay in the room where the sessions are being taught.

• Lunch is being provided by the District (yah!); during lunch, the student run Help Desk (the Wifi Warriors) will be available to help you out with any of your technology needs/questions.  They are located in the HS LMC.   This is also a good time to collaborate with colleagues about tech projects you are working on.

If you have any questions or concerns about Friday, please let Diane, Neal, Mary Q or me know.  

I sincerely hope you enjoy our Digital Learning Day!

Thanks so much,

Kim

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SignUps are Closed & Tips for the Day

Hi Medfield Educators,

The countdown is at 2 days! We're all excited and trying to make last minute preparations for a successful day.  I wanted to share a few tips that you can do to help out too.

First, if you have not signed up for sessions, the google form is officially closed. You will have to email Neal or Diane with your selections. Please be mindful in not choosing sessions that are already closed.

Second, if you plan on bringing a PC laptop, we'll need to adjust some settings in order for you to connect to our WIFI network. Either bring your laptop into school tomorrow and see your building's tech aide or plan on dropping it off with our help desk first thing on Friday to get you connected.

Third, some presenters will be emailing you information about their session pertaining to signing up for an account or installing specific apps. This will allow for more time exploring and learning about the topic rather than installing and getting signed in.

Fourth please know your school google login and apple username/pw. Write it down or type it in the notes app to make the day go smoother.

AND lastly, don't forget to fully charge your devices the night before and bring a charger with you!

Thanks! & Happy Snow Day!

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SignUp Updates: Session Closings - Newly Added

Hi Medfield Educators,

With sign up for sessions underway, we are watching the numbers carefully as to not to go over capacity with certain workshops. Please note the following sessions are now officially closed:

Session 1 - Beyond the basics in Google Drive

Session 2 - Google Spreadsheets

Session 2 - Twitter 101

Session 4 - Put the You in Youtube 

Session 4 - Class Dojo

Session 5  - Evernote

Session 5 - Pinterest

Session 5 - Twitter 

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Session 1: Get Your Learner's Permit So You Can Google DRIVE!! (beginner)

Session 1: Not Totally Connected..with my One iPad! (K-7 Beginner-Intermediate) 

Session 2: Bling Out Your Blog-ger (k-12 Intermediate) 

Session 2: iPad 101 (beginners)

Session 4: Evernote for EveryNote (K-12 Beginner)

Our apologies, but please consider one of the other awesome sessions!

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Here Ye Here Ye! Your Invitation is Here!

We are very excited to announce that you may now sign-up for sessions for the  2nd annual Digital Learning Day on February 7th. Please read the message below before signing up for any sessions! 

Goals for the day

This year we have some amazing presentations lined up, taught by your colleagues.  Please use this day to learn more about something you already know but also to try something new and step out of your comfort zone.  As you know technology is here to stay in Medfield, so please use this day to improve your own knowledge and what you can do in the classroom.  If you need help determining what might be a good session for you, please email Diane or Neal and we can help you out.

About the Day

We have made some changes in the day based on feedback from last year.  This year there are 5 sessions varying in length from 45 to 75 minutes.  As we are also a Google Apps for Education school and are heavily invested in the iPad as a learning tool, you will see many sessions geared in that direction.  Please take advantage of your colleagues expertise.  

Lunch will be provided and will occur during sessions 3 and 4.  During that time you can take a class in session 3 and eat lunch in session 4; or eat lunch during session 3 and go to a class in session 4; or you could take your lunch with you and go to session 3 and 4.  We wanted to give you as many opportunities as possible to learn.

Information about the Sessions

All the information you need to know about the day's sessions can be found on the tabs at the top of this page.  

Sign-up Information

Before you sign-up for sessions, please read the following important information:

• You will be signing up by accessing a Google form.  This form is only accessible when logged into your school google account.  If you are not logged into your account you will be prompted to do so.  Remember that your username is firstinitiallastname@mail.medfield.k12.ma.us. 
  If you do not know how to log-in to your school google account or are having password problems, please see the tech aid in your school.

• As with last year we will be capping the # of participants in each session, so it is really important that you sign up for sessions as soon as possible.  The last day to sign up for sessions is Monday, February 3rd.

• If your Content Specialist or Principal has asked you to attend a specific session, please make sure that you sign up accordingly.
• On the last page of the google form there is an option to have a copy of your responses sent to you.  Please make sure that is selected. (See image below).  This will send a copy of your sessions you signed up for into your school Gmail account.

Ok, now that you have read everything, it's time to sign-up.  

GOOGLE SIGN UP FORM

WOOHOOO!

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Medfield's DLD is Powered by Twitter

Medfield Educators,

These past two years, much of our professional development has introduced the idea of 'Building your own PLN' and discovering how Twitter can be a powerful tool that enables us to connect-build those relationships and to share information, ideas, resources and experiences!

One experience we would love to share with each other and beyond to our PLNs is our upcoming  Digital Learning Day conference-- a day filled with learning & sharing & more than 40+ workshops!


If you have a twitter account, please enter your twitter handle in the form below.  I will add it to the current list that continues to grow: MEDFIELD EDUCATORS ON TWITTER which helps us to follow each other. (*If you see your name and prefer not to be included on the list, please send me an email and I will remove it. No worries.)

Or Click here for the Survey

Second, we are using the hashtag #DLDMedfield  for any tweets that have to do with our Digital Learning Day-- that could mean before, on or after that day. You may try tweeting as you and your co-presenters work together to prepare for your workshop or if your students are preparing to showcase a project that day, etc.. On the day is a great time for you to basically tweet about your experience in workshops or interacting with each other.  After the day, feel free to tweet about any ideas or thoughts you had in applying what you learned!

There will be a running Twitter Feed of the hashtag #DLDMedfield on this blog as an easy way to check what's being tweeted --even for those who do not have a twitter account. See the tab at the top of the blog.

Any questions...do not hesitate to ask. Let's start Tweeting!

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We Want More! We Want More!

We Want More! 
More time.  More sessions.  More new topics!

We heard you & we're delivering! This year's conference schedule has been posted with a few changes. In order to accommodate the large number of teachers during lunch AND to offer an additional session, we broke lunch up into 2 different times. You'll either attend Lunch 1 and then Session 3 or vice versa.

Also, a big THANK YOU to those who submitted the many wonderful proposals! Kim, Neal and Diane will be meeting on Wednesday to review, organize and confirm proposals.  Look to hear from us by the end of the week!  

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Welcoming Proposals for DLD Presentations 2014

It's the most wonderful time of the year .. that's right .. we are nearing 30 days from Medfield's Day of Digital Learning District-wide Conference. Please put it on your calendar for Friday, February 7th.

In case you are new to the district or forgot, this is a day for collaborating, learning and technology with each other across the district. The day will be filled with 25+ technology-focused sessions presented by your own colleagues with a few new wait-to-see additions to day! You get to pick the sessions to attend that will best impact your personal growth and teaching in the classroom. The success of the sessions though depends on our presenters and that is why we are asking you to submit a proposal to present at the digital learning day.

Here are some general criteria:

Topics should be:

• based upon ways that you use technology to enhance student learning
• an area of interest that you already know about or want to know more about
• something that is easily transferable to other teachers in your grade, your school or the district

A few other criteria:

• You can co-present with a colleague or you can present on your own
• Sessions this year may be 30, 60 or 90 minutes; so if you feel like you only have a ½ hour of content to share, please still fill out the form
• Thinking outside the box is encouraged. Surprise us with your topic or creativity.
• Deadline for submitting a proposal is Friday, January 10th, 2014.

This year will be different from last year, but if you are interested in seeing what sessions ran last year you can find them here (click on Session 1, 2 or 3).

To submit your proposal, please click on this link. If you have any questions about the Digital Learning Day or about submitting a proposal, please do not hesitate to contact Kim, Diane or Neal.

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