#CSDFebInst is Almost Here!

We are just a little over a week away from our February institute day! I hope you are excited as I am to learn from our very own coworkers! I just wanted to be sure to share some information with you about that day so you are ready to rock and roll!

The day starts here at Channahon Jr. High at 8:00 in the multi-purpose room. We will end at 1:30. There is no plan for a lunch break. There will be breakfast items for the start of the day, and there will be snacks for everyone during the course of the day.

The general schedule will be to start with opening presentations, then move to smaller breakout sessions, then finish with a closing session. There will be breaks between the breakout sessions to grab a snack, hit the bathroom, stretch your legs, and talk with your friends and colleagues.

Please bring your laptop with you. Better yet -- grab a Chromebook from your school! They've got great battery life that will last you for the whole institute day! Never used a Chromebook before? No worries! There will be plenty of people around who have and will be able to show you the ropes (but you'll likely be able to figure it out yourself -- trust me!).

You can find everything you want to know about the institute day at the website dedicated solely to this epic event: bit.ly/csdfebinst. There, you will be able to see all the presenters, their topics, and links to sessions descriptions and resources for every session. This is great because you will have access to the information presented for all the sessions, including the ones you don't get the chance to attend!

You do not need to sign up for any of the breakout sessions EXCEPT for the BreakouEDU sessions. The sign up links for those are on the schedule. If you haven't experienced a BreakoutEDU, I encourage you to sign up for one -- they are a great, fun brain workout! You'll be inspired to find ways to use it in your classroom -- I guarantee it! All regular breakout sessions are "vote with your feet" as Jeremy says, which means just go to the session of your choice!

One session not on the schedule yet (but will be soon) is a session on how to use WeVideo. This is an awesome creative tool that can be used in so many ways. This session, just as an FYI, will be moderated by Erin Bettenhausen BUT will actually be led by 8th graders from CJHS.

You will also get the chance to see the 3D printers in action next week. They will be on display and printing. We will have students here from Three Rivers School to talk about the 3D printers and how they have used them in their classes.

You are ENCOURAGED during ALL sessions to share your ideas, insights, and inspirations via Twitter! Use the hashtag #CSDFebInst as well as #ChannahonPride in your Tweets. To make it easy, you will see a link on the home page of the institute day website that says, "Tweet using the hashtag"; that link will directly open up Twitter for you and automatically add the hashtag. If you don't have a Twitter account -- don't worry! You've got a week to get one set up :-) All the presenters have shared their Twitter handles on their session resources pages, so please be sure to mention them in your Tweets! It's so much fun to get that notification that someone mentioned you on Twitter :-)

Got questions about next Friday? I've got answers! Feel free to email me your questions or share them as a comment on this post.

Until next Friday, please take a look at the schedule and sessions and start to plan your day. Also consider Tweeting out your plans and excitement for the day, using the hashtag and the names of the presenters you are planning to see!