MACUL Conference-

 The night before the conference I was a bit nervous and not sure what to expect.  I visited all the MACUL first time visitor sites, downloaded the app, and put the address in my GPS.  I had gone through a giant list of the different exhibits I could attend and settled on three: 

1. I Am PAC-MAN: Learning Through Gamification

2. Pinterest for Educators

3. Differentiating With Technology (I ended up attending

3D Printing in the Science Classroom)

1. I Am PAC-MAN

I chose this exhibit for two reasons.  I was interested in learning more about gamifying my classroom and I enjoyed Liz Kolb's presentation in the past so I was looking forward to hearing her talk again.  She started off the exhibit with asking the audience to join her Edmodo and answer the question.  Edmo-what?  I looked around and was astonished that most of the educators knew what she was talking about, they added themselves to her group by the code she projected and away they went.  I spent about five minutes registering for Edmodo and then joining her group.  From my little experience with the site I can tell it is a site where teachers can have a sort of online classroom within their current classroom, like a Blackboard or CTools.  

"Join over 33 million teachers and students safely connecting in online classrooms, collaborating on assignments, discovering new resources, and more!"

-Edmodo Website 

Liz engaged the audience by asking us to go to https://www.govote.at/ and answer a short question that all teachers could answer, it was something like - What is your biggest challenge in your classroom.  The answers were flying around the screen in a very interactive way, kind of like a Wordle.  I imagine students would love this!  

Onto the Gamifying! - The first thing Liz explained was the importance of creating badges for students in your gamified classroom.  She used http://badg.us/en-US/ to create badges for her class.  Badges become a sort of check mark, students are trying to achieve certain badges and must do so in order to master certain content.  Like in an actual game!  *Be sure to search badg without the E!  I made this mistake and was very confused looking at police badges for sale :) 

Liz then explained the website she used to turn all of her assignments into quests http://3dgamelab.com/.  I learned a lot listening to Liz share her stories about the site but I imagine I would learn a lot more by clicking around the site and attempting to make a quest myself.  Liz also shared a site created by UM that allows you to turn your class into a game and is free as of now http://gradecraft.com/.  

Overall, I really enjoyed the exhibit and am glad I chose it.  Students at my current placement have limited access to computers at school so I do not see myself gamifying my current classroom but I would definitely try it in the future.  I see myself starting small and attempting just a unit my first time around. 

2. Pinterest for Educators

I chose Pinterest for Educators as my second exhibit because I love Pinterest and wanted to learn more about a resource I would actually use!  I learned the basics at this exhibit (which I already knew) BUT I also learned about Pinterest for Educators!  This was an amazing discovery.  Pinterest for Educators is just for teachers and is updated by respected professionals in the field.  You will not only find engaging activities to try with your kids but you will uncover the latest articles and research published by professionals in our field!  

The woman running the discussion also had a good idea about keeping two Pinterest accounts.  She said she keeps one personal account and one professional account that she shares with parents and fellow teachers.  I think this is something I may consider in the near future before I begin pinning more lesson ideas.  This would be a great way to collaborate with teachers and parents! 

3. 3D Printing in the Science Classroom

By the time the third exhibit came around I was tired and still confused by all the exhibits, different buildings, and numerous rooms.  I stumbled across a sign that said, "3D Printing in the Science Classroom" and decided I was sick of walking and just going to sit through this exhibit instead of finding my final choice.  

The exhibit started off with a bunch of high school boys passing around little plastic pieces.  Keep in mind at this point, I had no idea what a 3D printer even was!  I looked at the pieces and tried to figure out what they might be and passed them along.  

The boys then began their presentation.  They discussed how they were given the opportunity to come up with a research project for a semester class.  The boys settled on 3D printing and decided they were going to research how to build their own 3D printer.  They talked with passion about coming in early, staying late, and eating their lunch in the lab in order to spend as much time as they could on this project.  They had to write a paper about their process so they spent a week learning how to write in APA format, they had to learn how to solder wires to the motherboard so they spent time learning and practicing their soldering skills, they had to troubleshoot with their printer so they spent (and still spend) countless hours troubleshooting.  I was blown away by the maturity and passion these boys exuded.  It really made me think about how I can inspire students in my classroom to be excited and determined to learn something! 

Check out the Dewitt High School Boys and learn more about this program here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LknVqn8aQyI (seriously, do it! they were amazing!)

This exhibit turned out to be the most meaningful one of the day for me and I just randomly chose it.  I think for conference next year (which I really hope to attend!) I will check out multiple exhibits during the hour and settle on one that piques my interest.  The exhibits are all very informative and inspiring and I would hate to have missed the Dewitt high school boys.  

BIG thanks to Jeff and Rory for making MACUL happen for me!  I am already looking forward to next year!