Connected Educators Month

This is the kick-off event for Professional Learning and the Learning Profession, one of the main forums for CEM, covering such questions as:

• What and where are the best (social) opportunities for educators to work on and learn for their practice in the coming year?
• What steps should every educator consider taking to become more connected, and what are the key resources that can help?
• In what kinds of learning do teachers (and other educators) need to be engaged in the 21st century, and how will technology help?
• What are the key methodological and content trends in the classroom (e.g., flipped classrooms, core standards) with which technology (in general) and communities or networks (specifically) can impact and help?

The kick-off will consist of panel and open discussion moderated by Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach. Panelists will include Cathy Gassenheimer, Jackie Gerstein, Caren Levine, Stephanie Sandifer, Kathy Schrock, and Will Richardson.

This is the kick-off event for Knocking On The Door, one of the main forums for CEM, covering such questions as:

• How can educators best take advantage of big technological trends such as mobile and gaming in their classrooms this year?
• What innovations and technologies being explored and leveraged outside education today have the greatest potential to be repurposed or extended to create educational value?

The kick-off will consist of panel and open discussion moderated by Steve Hargadon.  Panelists will include Drew Davidson, Chris Dede, Cable Green, and John Katzman.  One more panelist may be added, as well as additional details about the event.

This is the kick-off event for It's Personal, one of the main forums for CEM, covering such questions as:

• What practical steps can educators take to personalize learning for their students in 2012–13, and how can technology facilitate this?
• How close are we to being able to realize the dream of personalized, differentiated, passion-based learning for educators and students, and what still has to happen to make this fully real? 

The kick-off will consist of panel and open discussion moderated by Darren Cambridge. Panelists include Barbara Bray, Mimi Ito, Steve Nordmark, and Sylvia Martinez (with potentially 1-2 more panelists to be added).

This is the kick-off event for Beyond Top Down, one of the main forums for CEM, covering such questions as:

• What are the ways educators can use networks and online communities to effect change in their school, their district, and their profession in the coming school year and beyond?
• How can grassroots networks and distributed leadership shape the future of education? How can decision makers at all levels be informed by and be responsive to expertise these networks enact? 

The kick-off will consist of panel and open discussion moderated by Steve Hargadon.  Panelists will include Shelly Blake-Plock, Suzie Boss, Lisa Dabbs, Bill Ferriter, and Shelly Terrell.

This is the kick-off event for Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due, one of the main forums for CEM, covering such questions as:

• What can educators do themselves to get more support and recognition?
• How should educators’ investment in learning to improve their performance and enrich the profession be supported, incentivized, documented, and recognized?
• What schools and districts are providing model levels of support, and how can their approaches be better disseminated and applied?
• What does the future hold for current informal recognition systems like badges?

The kick-off will consist of panel and open discussion moderated by Tom de Boor. Panelists will include Al Byers, Dan Hickey, Claudette Rasmussen, Ruth Rominger, and Eric Sheninger; the forum itself will take place on Proteacher.net.

The key “to-dos” to get 2012–2013 off to a great start in the classroom, and how online communities and networks help make it great.

The first 6 weeks of school always marks new beginning, whether you are a new teacher getting bearings and building strategies for classroom management, or whether you're a seasoned teacher looking to expand your reach and exposure to other educators.

This is the kick-off event for The First Six Weeks, one of the main forums for CEM, covering such questions as:

• What are the key to-dos to get 2012–13 off to a great start in the classroom, and how can educators stay on top of and successfully manage all the competing demands involved?
• How can teachers use online communities and networks to help with this most critical period of the new school year we’re all planning for?
• What should communities and networks themselves be doing during this period?
• How can communities and networks best adapt to changing needs of educators throughout the year?

The kick-off will consist of panel and open discussion moderated by Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and Andrew Gardner.  Panelists include Suzie Boss, Lyn Hilt, Jane Krauss, David Rosas, and Kate Berten.