Need a workshop or keynote? Check out these popular sessions. Or contact Mike for a customized option.

Popular Keynotes

Keeping Learning First
The true power of technology is not in learning to use it, but rather using it to learn. The device (by itself) isn’t the magic, all the ways students can learn with it is! Don’t be a district that puts the device first. Put the learning first. Come learn how teachers leverage their devices for learning and ensure that we keep the learning the priority in our technology initiatives.

What You Need to Know About Proficiency-based Learning & Technology
There are still lots of questions about proficiency-based, customized learning, both in general and about technology’s role in it. Teachers are excited by the promise, but horrified by anecdotes and tales and assumptions and rumors and scenarios. Which should you believe and which should you put out of your mind? Where does technology fit What should every educator know about Customized Learning? How can schools leverage technology to personalize learning?

Leading Beside: Change that Sticks
We have all done our best to help make positive change happen in schools. But it sometimes seems like, more often than not, it doesn’t stick. Change that sticks, however, doesn’t require leading from the front. It requires leading from beside.

Does Technology Improve Learning? NO!
Only good teachers improve learning. But technology can be a great tool for good teachers. It sounds like a contradiction, but, in schools, technology has to be all about the learning, not the stuff. This talk will explore the answers to these and other questions: What are the lessons from some of the most interesting and innovative technology initiatives about staying focused on the learning? How can you apply these lessons to your own initiatives? How can you best leverage technology to be a learning tool? What are you doing now that you need to stop immediately? What do you need to start right away? What should you be patting yourselves on the back for?

Popular Presentations

Motivating Underachieving Students
Are you frustrated at the challenge of working with underachieving and unmotivated students? What motivates them to learn? What can we do to improve the situation? This session will explore what does motivate underachievers, and some concrete actions teachers can take to improve learning for every student.

Using Technology to Transform Learning, Not Buff and Shine It
The true power of technology is not in learning to use it, but rather using it to learn. The device (by itself) isn’t the magic, all the ways students can learn with it is! Don’t be a district that puts the device first or is swayed by fancy gadgets and buzzwords!  Put the learning first. Come learn how teachers leverage their devices for learning and ensure that we keep the learning the priority.

How The Heck to You Reach 10-14 Year Olds?!
Learners in grades 5-8 can seem hard to teach. They are rapidly going through physical, intellectual, and emotional changes, making them developmentally different than elementary students and high school students. What practices will make your life easier by being harmonious with the developmental characteristics of young adolescents? Come to this session to find out!

Personalized Professional Learning with Micro-credentials
What’s all the fuss about micro-credentials and digital badging? What are they and how do I earn them? What do they have to do with professional development? What’s the iLearnMaine Educator Micro-credentials program? Attend this session and not only discover answers to these questions, but get a head start on figuring out which micro-credentials you might like to earn!

The Power (and Struggles) of Shared Leadership Teams
How do you insure multiple perspective, teacher voice, and increased buy-in while growing and designing your initiative? Through shared leadership teams! Learn how we have used these Design Teams, how they have evolved over time, how they have benefitted our work, how we’re continuously working to get smarter about using them, and the challenges that we’ve experienced.

So Your Initiative Isn’t Going as Well as You’d Like… What Do You Do Next?
So you have started your initiative, but you are feeling bumps in the road. What are the specific things that leadership needs to ensure happens, what are the key components to address, and what are the effective strategies to get you there? This session will offer a variety of practical strategies, models, and tools that you can use to lead change effectively in your school.

Motivating Students With Engaging Tasks
The two most popular questions from students are “why are we learning this?” and “when will we ever going to learn this?” Both questions show how students sometimes feel that what they are learning has little meaning for them. Situating the learning in a meaningful context with a role and task for the student can make the learning more meaningful, engaging and interesting to your students. Come learn how to find, use, & design such learning tasks.

Poverty and Discipline
Many of the students we are struggling to reach and find hard to teach are students of poverty. One reason we are often challenged is because of the hidden rules. Understanding the difference between the hidden rules of poverty and the hidden rules of middle class helps teachers understand why they are getting certain behaviors, why certain tried and true strategies don’t seem to work, and why they might be having a hard time reaching hard to teach students.