Being part of the MACUL Leadership team means a lots of volunteering, last minute scheduling changes, and other duties that prevent me from having a typical conference experience. Don’t get me wrong, I love being on the service-side of the organization, helping so many educators connect, learn, and grow. But it was nice to sit down for a couple of sessions, connect with some new colleagues previously only known through Twitter, and play "conference attendee" for a bit. So I’m dedicating 14 posts to my experience at MACUL 2014! Today’s post is a Storify archive of all the tools and sites shared on stage during Leslie Fisher’s "Smackdown" session on Friday morning of the Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL) annual conference. View the story "The Leslie Fisher #macul14 Smackdown #lesliesmackdown" on Storify

I’m not one to usually struggle with tech tools; new updates to iMovie set me back a day or two, animated GIFs were quite easy with the proper apps, but Vine is something I struggled with for quite some time. I would create a 6 second clip, realize I had my phone turned the wrong way, and trash it. I would try to capture some humorous moment, only to run out of "recording time". I wanted to use it for something moving, creating a digital story beyond the six-second jokes and visual gags that seem to litter the Vine community. And then it happened. I captured the joy of my friends Dan Spencer and Kim Powell playfully role playing a "hashtag battle" between iPads and Chromebooks during the Instructional Technologist Rally on Wednesday, March 13th. I gave in to the silliness that is Vine, and made a couple more. It would have been much more, but I lost my iPad for half of the first day of the conference (that’s a story for another day), which set my nerves off a bit. I never quite recovered, but I’m definitely intrigued to play more with Vine! I mean, if my wish for MACUL 2014 came true, what else could happen? I did manage to sneak into the vendor hall early on Friday morning (I was volunteering at the MSU booth), and I should have known that when I found Leigh Graves Wolf hunched over her laptop giggling, that it would lead to something spectacular. It did. Leigh, Michelle Hagerman, Matigna Ragatz, and I went #whaling at MACUL 2014! Yes, it’s as silly as it looks, but it was a well deserved bit of childish fun before the vendor hall opened up for the day. And if grown adults can’t behave like the students they work with when they manage to escape the school hallways for a day or two at a conference, then this is a dark world indeed. Looking forward to the next iteration of #ds106 to have a lot more fun with Vine!

Rarely do you get to experience the unbridled joy, enthusiasm, and energy of first time attendees of the MACUL Annual Conference in a way that makes you tear up with laughter. At this year’s conference, MACUL E. Culkin provided that magical look at the conference. Through an imaginative and amazing role play as the once beloved child-star Macaulay Culkin, his (or her) twitter account (@MACULfun) was filled with silliness, humor, and exploration. The following tweet is just one of many hilarious moments shared by this individual. So many people doing selfies. Old news. I'm doing stealthies, which is sneaking up behind strangers and tickling them. #macul14 — MACUL E. Culkin (@MACULfun) March 13, 2014 It wasn’t just playfulness that was shared, as this "MACUL E. Culkin" wrote what has to be one of the best reflections on the MACUL Conference that I’ve read in quite some time. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of amazing reflections on the conference, but our mystery "Home Alone" fan shared a compelling narrative about a transformation that took place that was larger than the conference. MACUL E. Culkin talked about the transformation that took place around his or her thoughts about Twitter, and how the social media platform can be used as a vehicle for not just connecting people, but ideas and passions. A quote from the reflection about the use of this playful Twitter account during the MACUL conference: As my inbox overflowed with Twitter notification emails, one thing became painfully obvious: I had more meaningful interaction in three days with this account than in the six years I’ve used my personal account. Wow. If you haven’t read MACUL E. Culkin’s reflection on MACUL 2014, you should. It’s worth the time, I promise. And don’t forget to keep the #macul14 hashtag alive, because there’s power in the community. Thank you MACUL E. Culkin, whoever you may be! Every time someone at #macul14 Instagrams a picture of the river, a student somewhere gets an iPad. pic.twitter.com/X16qbh6LTC — MACUL E. Culkin (@MACULfun) March 13, 2014

I’ve always been curious to know what a room full of a few thousand people looks like for someone up on stage during a large keynote talk. So I setup my iPad on the table at the front of the ballroom for Adam Bellow’s keynote talk at MACUL 2014, and I used Frameograph to take time lapse photos every 5 seconds. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and after compressing the footage to fit within 60 seconds of video (because who wants to watch nearly an hour of still shots with no audio), I’m still not sure what I captured. It’s not terribly interesting, at least not from what I see. To be honest, I’m not sure what I was expecting; it was an hour of a few thousand people sitting patiently listening to someone entertain them. So I stuck a question at the end of the video, "what did you notice?" There may be no more startling revelations to be made other than MACUL attendees are quite attentive, and rather well behaved, but I couldn’t just let the video sit on my computer knowing that someone out there might have some other thoughts. I’ve come to internalize that keynote talks are a rather odd beast, especially in our current era of educational thought. We profess how the lecture is dead, and yet it isn’t. The current "maker movement" is experiential learning in its most pure form; reflection and conceptualization are the direct result of concrete experiences. We herald small project based learning groups, and challenges that connect learning to applications in the real world. We beg for anything but one more lecture……and then we pay hundreds of dollars to attend workshops and conferences in which we spend the majority of our time listening to other educators lecture. Be very clear about what I’m getting at, and read my next sentence carefully. I’m not saying that keynote lectures and talks are bad. I’m merely stating a curiosity that I have with the dissonance created  in my own mind  between motivating teachers to adopt new pedagogies of instruction, and the traditional lecture format that we use to motivate those teachers to change. Yes, keynote talks can be fun, engaging, humorous, heartfelt, and poignant. But after watching this video, I can’t help but wonder if there’s any other way to impact a room full of a few thousand people that doesn’t involve them sitting in a chair for 60 minutes. Engaging keynote lectures will certainly always be with us, but I can’t help wonder what others’ perspectives are about them. I’d love to hear your thoughts. And if you’re out there Mr. Bellow, I’d really love to know what you think about keynote talks.

Today’s post is relatively brief. Blame it on a gorgeous Spring day in Michigan, or the need to focus on compelling activities and work duties. I do want to make sure that I give recognition to the amazing artistic talents of my wife, Nicole (go follow her on Twitter for gorgeous pictures from her art classroom). She has the Adobe Illustrator skills needed to bring the following "Chocolate Chip Cookie Model of Education" to life. Come to think of it, I think she pretty much came up with the entire concept, I just tweaked it a little. Sorry dear, you know I just have to meddle. Initially created on a whim with a quick sketch, I implored my wife to create something a bit more colorful to share for this reflection. With all the talk of SAMR, TPACK, and other models for helping educators conceptualize the need to integrate more technology within their instruction, I was struck with one thought headed into MACUL 2014. For every perspective and framework designed to help us better grasp important research and observational data, there are likely a large number of individuals for which these models further obfuscate the intended purpose. That’s not a bad thing; it’s just people approaching tools and frameworks from diverse backgrounds, and trying to make sense of it given their own experiences. If the SAMR model proves to be too linear for some, perhaps the TPACK model of balance might be a better fit. We’ve seen several riffs on Bloom’s Taxonomy, and adaptations of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Technology Needs, but I think the education world is severely lacking in the area of food as analogy for effective instructional settings. Please, take this post with the tongue and cheek it deserves, but feel free to riff on it yourself if you find it valuable.

Last week I wrote about some of my thoughts about keynote talks at major conferences. It was pretty well received, and elicited some interesting comments from people I respect in the education world. I also posted a less than interesting video that I created for the post. Don’t go watch it, it really isn’t that intriguing, despite my attempt to spin it as such in the original post. The story about the iPad that I used to create the video is probably much slightly more interesting. You see, after setting the iPad up at the front of the large ballroom of the Devos Place in Grand Rapids to capture Adam Bellow’s keynote from his perspective, I sort of forgot about it. I had set it up to take time lapse photos every 5 seconds, with the intention of picking it up at the end of the 60 minute session. I got caught up in my volunteering duties (I can be a bit overzealous when it comes to being helpful at conferences), and forgot to grab it at the end of the session. When I finally realized my mistake, I rushed back to the ballroom, only to find that the room had been re-arranged, and my iPad was no where in sight. I didn’t panic. I tweeted: HELP! I've lost my iPad! Anyone at #macul14 seen a light blue one covered with stickers? Please RT! — Ben Rimes (@techsavvyed) March 13, 2014 Do you see the love in that tweet? It’s right down there in the corner; 66 retweets. Sure, there are plenty of people that amplified my call for help because I know them, and we connect often enough on Twitter that I can call them friends. But many of those retweets were born out of the sense of community that was (and is) the #macul14 hashtag; individuals that I’ve never met, and may never have a chance to become acquainted with. It’s a small example of the power of Twitter, but it was a powerful one, and I’m grateful that it’s become an important part of how I connect with others in my personal and professional life. People started to ping me every few minutes to check in on me and my lost iPad. Friends who knew how miserable I was feeling at the potential loss of the device, acquaintances that I have only met once or twice at other conferences and weren’t even in attendance at MACUL 2014, and concerned colleagues all checked in on my throughout the day. I felt loved….well, as much as anyone can feel loved through 140 characters. And yes, I found my iPad. Some kind soul had moved it off to the side of the table where it had been placed, and I missed it the first time I went to check for it. After nearly 6 hours of taking time lapse photos, and a dead battery, it had just shy of 4,000 photos from the conference on it. Oi!

This year’s MACUL Conference was probably the most explosive in terms of use of social media. Nothing surprising, right? Teachers have been rapidly adopting Twitter, Instagram, and other social spaces (let’s not even get started with Pinterest), so it stands to reason that every major education conference focused on technology will likely continue to be "bigger" than the previous one in terms of social media reach. This year, some bright individual decided to go snag an Eventifier account, and created a hub for all the social media tweeted out with the #macul14 hashtag. Over 1400 photos, 20K tweets, and more than 3600 contributors added to the stream for the "best education technology conference ever" (it says so on the website, so it must be true, MACUL is the best). The numbers for the blogs disappointed me slightly, with only 68 blog entries found marked with #macul14, but considering none of my previous six reflections have appeared on the Eventifier page for the conference, I’m calling shenanigans on whatever method they’re using to aggregate blogs. Psssst, Eventifier, Google Blog search works quite well Click here to see ALL of the interwebs talking, sharing, tweeting, and posting about #macul14! This post wasn’t really so much a reflection for me. It’s mostly  an attempt to get more people from my district (I know some of you read this blog), and other educators that aren’t on twitter or other social media to see just how much there is out in the "connected" spaces of the web. Brownie points to the 3 people who are still rocking SlideShare, and found the time to get their presentations posted!

In late 2012, I sat in an EdCamp Grand Rapids session hosted by Jeff Bush. He was interested in coordinating some sort of state-level conversation through social media for educators. It was early afternoon, on a Saturday; a time when most individuals are just nodding off for a nap. Jeff was a bit buzzed, so I thought it might bode well for the session. And it did. We were in a pale green room with low-shag grey carpeting (the kind meant to minimize the amount of wear and hide stains). The lights were turned down low enough in the room to give those in the room a sense of calm before Jeff hit us with some big questions; "Why aren’t we better connected here in Michigan? What would we need to do to get more teachers and students involved with Twitter? Where do we start building positive places to share great learning?" I wasn’t entirely prepared for such a conversation (most of the morning sessions were all technology focused), and I didn’t even have a document open for taking notes. I jumped into the conversation without my usual pre-planned Google Doc at the ready, but within 40 minutes we had devised a plan for co-opting the #michED hashtag on Twitter for the purpose of sharing the good that’s happening in our state, registered a domain name, and start what would become a moment that is now permanently engraved on my personal top tenlist of "completely awesome endeavors that I shall always remember" (the list is a working title). The #michED chat logo in all its simple glory. What was born out of that Edcamp session was the start of a movement. A few "lone nuts" trying to shout loud enough from our small corner of the web for others to hear through the noise of political rancor that has consumed the dialogue on Educational issues here in Michigan. Every Wednesday evening at 8 pm, we gravitate towards the #michED hashtag, and talk about digital footprints, new teacher retention, student choice in learning, and more. Brad Wilson came in shortly after the creation of the dedicated chat, and has produced one of the best new educational podcasts to come around in a long time, and I’m not just saying that; Wes Fryer recognized the #michED Podcast as part of a crop of podcasts bringing about a renaissance in educational podcasting. I’d like to say that our small group of dedicated #michED volunteers has changed the very definition of what an "#edchat" is, slowly turning it into a community dedicated to impacting the educational reality in our state, and leveraging social media to effect change politically, educationally, and socially. That’s not my place though; only time and others will determine if we’ve been successful in reaching those goals. What I am certain of, is that the group of educators I asked to volunteer for a panel conversation at the MACUL 2014 conference are an amazing group of individuals. They sacrificed what most likely could have been a rewarding conference hour session for their own benefit, and instead dedicated it to helping others at the conference. And while I understand that Kit Hard and Ben Gilpin had prior commitments, I include them with Jeff Bush, Erin Mastin, Tara Maynard, Todd Bloch, Rebecca Wildman, and Brad Wilson in saying "thank you" for helping educators across Michigan share their stories, and amplify student voices. There are many others out there to thank, but I’ll leave it to the community to help me on this one. I hope you enjoy the special #michED Podcast edition of that panel conversation as much as I enjoyed moderating it (it’s embedded below if you’d like to listen here). I criticized my moderating abilities a little afterwards, and with practice and refinement, I’m looking forward to leading more panel conversations. Until then I’m glad to see that MACUL 2014 gave birth to the #michED hashtag as a true movement, and look forward spreading #michED to other gatherings across the state in the coming months!

My wife hasn’t been to the annual MACUL conference in many years. There were many reasons; she was laid off for almost 4 years, as an art teacher the big "ed tech" conference can be hit or miss, but mostly it’s because I suck as a "conference buddy" when it comes to MACUL. My interests cover the entire education spectrum, so when I attend MACUL it’s difficult for me to stick to a particular "track" or session topics that the average educator might be drawn to. Add to that my many hours of volunteering, and a desire to speak to just about everyone I bump into, and I’m probably one of the lousiest conference companions at MACUL. So it was with much fanfare and excitement that she attended the conference, after nearly a year of teaching full time again. She built up an impressive list of conference sessions that fit her interests, and braved the crushing crowds of more than 4,500 educators. She came away with a sense that both teaching and MACUL have grown to be many new things for her, and I wanted to share her thoughts with a wider audience. She left the conference energized, and has implemented several new learning practices, not just tech tricks, into her classroom in the last few weeks. If you enjoy her reflection, and want to say "thanks", considering chatting her up on Twitter (@nikkapotamus).   Random Thoughts on MACUL 2014 from one Art Teacher’s Perspective:   I had a great time at MACUL this year.  I haven’t been to this conference in a few years, and it was time to get back to it. This year they offered a great MACUL Conference App and I was able to schedule all of my sessions before I ever set foot in GR. And it just so happened that I scheduled myself for sessions that all flowed together in this great cosmic inspirational message. Nick Provenzano talked about Genius Hour.  It’s brilliant.  I’ve been doing this with my kids since January and they absolutely love it. One thing that I was really struggling with was, "how can this be acceptable learning in the classroom?"  I mean, I’m not teaching them anything from the curriculum, in fact, I’m not teaching them anything.  Can I get away with this?  After listening to Nick speak, I realized that this is really my favorite kind of learning.  As an art teacher, I’m free to let students explore ideas and medium that they won’t have access to in other classes. Rushton Hurley emphasized this point in his talk about creative learning.  What’s the point of teaching kids about things that have no direct influence in their lives?  You have to make connections!  Genius Hour is all about connections.  They take their interests and make it BIGGER; they start with something they KNOW, and then they learn more!  This topic is so interesting, that they begin to take it upon themselves to learn.  The students are learning how to teach themselves.  Those students who I thought would never "get it" are starting to "get it."  Kelly Tillman discussed the merits of publishing their works for everyone to see.  When we publish the works, they have a bigger audience.  If I, as the teacher, am the only one who sees their work, what’s the point in making it awesome?  But, as Rushton pointed out, if the students know they will be sharing this with a bigger audience (think global!), then they go from how do I get by to how do I make this GREAT! Tricia Fuglestad and Janine Campbell reminded us that when students take on the added burden of teaching each other, they retain more.  These two ladies showed examples of student made videos and blogs that other students will watch and read.  Not only creative learning, but creative teaching is happening here.  I already know this stuff, let’s let the students lead the discussion. And then, in one of the most amazing sessions of the week, actual educators, you know, those people who are teachers and had to make sub plans for 2 or 3 days to make this conference and weren’t getting paid to be there, showed up and talked about their passions.  Trevor stopped the audience with a simple reminder: let the students know you are human too.  Share yourself with these brilliant young people.  You never know which one of the thousands of things you say will stick with them.  Say you are sorry, say thank you, and tell them when they do something that blows your mind.  David told us about his childhood and how he is letting that affect his teaching and his connections with the students.  By sharing your own passions and experiences, you are sharing your wisdom. As I’m typing this, I am having an epiphany.  Teachers in the last 20 or so years have been taught that we are only to teach to the test.  We have to succeed in making these little people shine on a single piece of paper.  But for thousands of years, the best teachers were the ones who had discussions with students.  Shared stories and their wisdom and knowledge because that was how brighter minds evolved.  As people, we passed on our stories in the hopes that there was a moral that the next generation would learn from.  As a teacher, I think many of us have forgotten that in recent years with all the pressures we are under to perform well. But how can students care about any of that unless we show them how excited we are to be teaching it? Let’s remember why we are teachers.  Show them your passions.  Let them in on some secrets that they will remember for years.  If that passion is making music videos to teach the color wheel, cool.  If that passion is dance, work it into a lesson now and then.  If that passion is juggling, have the students take a break from learning the Pythagorean Theorem and throw a few beanbags around.  They will remember those moments and maybe, just maybe, they will pick up some knowledge along the way. Thanks to Trevor and David for inspiring me to become a better person in the classroom, not just a teacher with a bunch of tech tricks. -Nicole Rimes

When I first set out to write 14 posts, reflections, and thoughts about the MACUL 2014 conference, I thought it would be rather straight forward. I have Google Docs filled with resources, video, audio, and links to more media than I could watch in a single week-long "binge" session. The small black "chiclet" sized keys of my MacBook Pro are slightly more wobbly thanks to the pounding punishment they took during the conference. If I’m very quiet, I can convince myself that the sound of my hard drive spinning up is just a bit more labored than what it was before the conference. It turns out, all of this information is actually making it more difficult to write posts, share thoughts, and gather resources. I’ve become paralyzed at times with how much information I gathered, and which group or individuals I might be "letting down" by not sharing their great resources as well. So today I’m keeping it simple. Rather than attempt to mine out any more nuggets from my notes, I’m going to remind myself, and others, that the Twitter #macul14 hashtag is STILL GOING! And it’s April! This is one of the longest social media "bumps" that I’ve seen the conference hashtag enjoy! Yes, it’s slowed down a bit. Yes, the public sharing of excitement has been rather mute, but I know the energy from the conference is still being played out in classrooms across Michigan as we head into Spring Break for most of us. So in case you’re heading into your break and enjoying a "stay-cation" like myself, or just need a small taste, go check out the hashtag (you don’t even need a Twitter account). Better yet, if you’re on Twitter, share what you’ve implemented since leaving MACUL 2014, and keep the excitement going, because the educators in the U.P. that couldn’t make the trek down to Grand Rapids would LOVE to taste a bit of that energy when their MACUL conference happens in early May! Click here to see the #macul14 hashtag and continue to add to it if you’re on Twitter!