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Kick back at O'Connell High School for some game changing teacher PD!
All New for 2021! The igKnight Summer PD program offers in-person and virtual professional development for educators of all ages, all subjects, and all schools— to learn about and share best practices in innovative teaching. Teachers from all over the greater Washington, D.C. area (and beyond) are warmly invited to join us at Bishop O'Connell High School in Arlington, Virginia as we connect, collaborate, and brainstorm together for a sandbox of high-impact Professional Development. Whether you're joining us in person or Zooming in for some serious learning and playful pedagogy, we are thrilled to welcome you to two full days of an "unconference" unlike anything you've seen before!
Topics will include gamification, technology integration, experiential learning, flipping the classroom, project based learning, microbadging and microcredentials, social media, alternative assessments, 21st century research and writing and much, much more. And since great teaching transcends the boundaries of specific subject, educators, teaching support staff, and school administrators from all content areas, grade levels, and school types (Catholic, public, and private!) are enthusiastically encouraged to join in the fun!
The igKnight program is celebrating its eighth year in 2021, and we can't wait to welcome you (or welcome you back) to the best professional development opportunity around!
What is the Summer Sandbox?
What is the Summer Sandbox?
Two full days of laid back professional development for teachers from any grade, school, or content area. This is your chance to roll up your sleeves in a relaxed environment where teachers get to "play in the sandbox" by taking a slew of new pedagogical approaches for a spin.
We'll feed you. We'll play a bunch of games. And we'll help you kickstart your summer with a bag full of innovative teaching ideas that you can take back to your classroom and make an immediate impact in your instruction.
What is the Virtual PD Picnic?
What is the Virtual PD Picnic?
Can't make it to campus or prefer to keep things socially distanced?
We got you covered!
All new for 2021 and this year of "a new normal," we've cooked up a brand new summer professional development event and thrown in the perfect blend of ingredients to meet the unique needs of educators who might be teaching from a distance or looking for specific ways to leverage hybrid or virtual instruction to help distance learners feel engaged, empowered, and connected to meaningful work wherever your online classrooms may be.
While we can't feed you (sorry. This one is more megabytes than munchable bites), we'll be serving up a high energy buffet of virtual teaching tools and hybrid/distance learning pedagogies that are sure to feed your teacher soul! And just like the in-person sandbox, we'll explore the power of playful pedagogy and test drive a boatload of game-inspired lesson plans that can easily be scaled for learners of any age. We'll likewise devote time to brainstorm and reflect on the year that was for both teachers and students alike in this unprecedented school year, and we'll offer practical steps that you can take back to your classroom (in whatever format it might take!) to hit the ground running for the NEW "new" normal once students return in the fall.
When is the Summer Sandbox and the Virtual PD Picnic?
When is the Summer Sandbox and the Virtual PD Picnic?
The igKnight Summer Sandbox will offer a full list of of events scheduled from 8 am to 3 pm. Please note that the Summer Sandbox is a two-day commitment, and breakfast and lunch will be provided each day!
Summer Sandbox: Wednesday, June 23 and Thursday, June 24
All sessions will be held at:
Bishop O'Connell High School
6600 Little Falls Road
Arlington, VA 22213
Virtual PD Picnic: Tuesday, July 6 and Wednesday, July 7
The virtual PD Picnic will be hosted on Zoom. Participants will receive an exclusive members-only link to the meeting once they provide their email address along with their registration details.
What does the Summer Sandbox (or the Virtual PD Picnic) look like?
What does the Summer Sandbox (or the Virtual PD Picnic) look like?
Imagine a "game night" with a dozen or two of your closest friends. Snacks. Socializing. And lots of laughter as we enjoy the joy of collaboration and some friendly competition along the way.
Only we're not playing Monopoly -- we're taking game-changing approaches to student engagement, with a full day of hands-on "playtesting" for pedagogical techniques designed to help teachers create a more student-centered classroom for any course or content area. That means no lectures and plenty of practice time to provide actionable strategies that teachers can scaffold and scale for ANY grade level from littles through middle through high school and beyond!
Here's just a few items on our Summer Sandbox menu:
Blackout Poetry
Blooket
Bracketology
Breakout EDU
Book Tastings
Clothespin Bumper Cars
Coggle
Digital Escape Rooms
EdPuzzle
#EggDashChallenge
Equity Maps
Facebook Word Walls
Fake News Frenzy
Fantasy Football
Floor is Lava
Flipgrid
Fortnite Loot Llamas
Foursquare Showdown
Gimkit
GeoGuessr
#Hashtag Hunts
Interval Race Relay
Jenga
Jigsaw Keepaway
Kami
King of the Hill
LEGO Design Challenges
Marshmallow Challenge
Mentimeter
Microlab
Minecraft
Mr. Potato Head PDSA
No Red Lights Rubrics
Padlet
PBL with Google Sites
Personal Record Rubrics
Plickers
#QRBreakIN
Quizizz
Resource Rumble
Rory's Story Cubes
Sketchnotes
Snake Oil
Social Media Smackdown
Sporcle
Station2Station
StoriumEDU
Superfight
Text Quest
The Matrix
Topia
Twitter Novel Study
Two Rooms and a Boom
YouTube
Warm-Ups
Webquest
Who's Who at the igKnight Summer PD Lineup of Events?
Who's Who at the igKnight Summer PD Lineup of Events?
John Meehan (@MeehanEDU) is an English teacher and school instructional coach at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, Virginia. He is the the co-founder of EMC² Learning, and the author of EDrenaline Rush: Game-Changing Student Engagement Inspired by Amusement Parks, Mud Runs, and Escape Rooms. In July of 2020, Book Authority ranked EDrenaline Rush among the top 20 titles on their list of the “100 Best Teaching Books of All Time.” A 2017 ASCD Emerging Leader, an alumnus of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s 2016-2018 Teacher Advisory Council, and a 40 Under 40 award recipient from the Leadership Center for Excellence, he is a national speaker at education conferences including ASCD, NCEA, STLinSTL, and Gamicon, and a noted educational consultant in the fields of student engagement, gamification, and staff development.
Siobhan Dannaher (@MsDannaher) is a Research Specialist, librarian, and technical theater facilities director at Bishop O'Connell High School. Ms. Dannaher holds a Master's Degree in Library and Information Science from The Catholic University of America, and is a member of the American Libraries Association and the Virginia Association for School Librarians. Before joining the igKnight team at Bishop O'Connell High School, Ms. Dannaher served as a research librarian for the Virginia Board of Veterans Appeals. She has extensive background in kinesthetic learning, including theatrical performance and staged drama.
Born and raised in Fairfax VA, Robert Horan (@HoranDJO) is a communication and AV teacher at Bishop O’Connell High School. Mr. Horan holds a M. Ed. in Blended and Online Learning, and an undergraduate degree in Media Production, both from George Mason University. As part of the igKnight and the I.T. teams at O’Connell, Mr. Horan works with teachers to use tech to transform their teaching.
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