Learning more than I have a right to know: At the MAMLE and ACTEM Conferences

Spent today at Sugarloaf for the annual Maine Association for Middle Level Education conference. MAMLE has been a steady and present influence on middle level education in Maine since 1986 and this year's conference was no exception. Great to see Lindsay B and Sarah R at the conference. I attended Lindsay's session on "Math and RTI" today and it was an excellent session. She presented with her colleague from Warsaw MS, Kayla Brown, and John Keane (principal of Leonard MS in Old Town). An excellent session and a well done to Lindsay for her articulate and focused session.

I'm going to ask Lindsay and Sarah to give us a bit of a summary of the MAMLE conference, particularly the focus of the conference, what people were talking about outside of the sessions, and anything else they think is relevant. Lindsay and Sarah, feel free to use your blog or do a short voice memo (or podcast) or any format that is simple and works for you. I will open up a place in Moodle for you to drop in whatever you decide on. Thanks and look forward to your thoughts.

I've been in conference mode the last week and attended a day of the ACTEM Conference a week ago in Augusta. This one technology-learning focused...lots of people and excellent sessions as well. I don't think I saw anyone from our class there...so here are a couple of things I learned at the ACTEM Conference. Attended a terrific session by Lisa Hogan and Kerry Gallivan from MSAD 75 (Topsham...Mt. Ararat Middle and High Schools) on digital citizenship. They have been very proactive on this issue and frankly they are doing more than any other school in providing assistance to students, their teacher colleagues, and parents on the key issues of this critical topic.

My second session was by Jeff Whipple (jeffwhipple.ca) on tracking our digital footprint. Also an excellent session and I will share more specifics about this session shortly. Jeff, a tech integrator from New Brunswick, strongly advocates that anyone of middle and high school age (as well as adults) "control" their digital footprint by making it intentional. He suggests setting up a blog of your own (you all have them) that gives a positive and professional image of you and your work...for anyone searching for you. If you haven't Googled yourself lately...do so to see what comes up. Also, for another look at you and your web presence, use SPEZIFY, for a more visual look. Interesting!