On Friday March 31st, the Eden Prairie High School Performing Arts Center was abuzz with K-6 teachers eagerly gearing up for a day of professional learning focused on Authentic Learning! We kicked off an EPIC day of learning with a fabulous keynote by Kristin Ziemke. “Co-Author of Amplify! and co-author of Connecting Comprehension and Technology, Kristin Ziemke has spent her career teaching and learning from children in both urban and suburban school districts. As a teacher of primary age learners in Chicago, Kristin engages students in authentic learning experiences where reading, thinking, collaboration and inquiry are at the heart of the curriculum. An Apple Distinguished Educator, National Board Certified Teacher and Chicago’s 2013 Tech Innovator of the Year, Kristin seeks opportunities to transform education through technology innovation. She collaborates with educators around the globe as a staff developer, speaker and writer.”
Throughout her keynote, Eden Prairie teachers actively engaged in digital learning activities giving them a chance to explore various digital resources and strategies to take back to their classrooms and bring forward opportunities for students to see and do something different. Ms. Ziemke states that, “Using technology doesn’t mean that we throw out those best practice strategies that we’ve found to be successful with students..it’s not the tools--it’s what we do with them that counts.”
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By bringing forward authentic learning we can look in every space possible to help students see their specialities and acknowledge the work that they do is meaningful to them both in school and beyond the walls of our schools. Authentic learning through the lens of digital tools and strategies for our Eden Prairie students has been active and evolving over the past number of years as our access to digital devices has increased in our schools. We have innovative staff members who are maximizing the opportunities that digital tools have brought to our classrooms. Check out the Eden Prairie Schools Personalized Learning Video below to get a glimpse of the instructional excellence that is paving the way for our learners to be ready for their future!
As Ms. Ziemke wrapped up her keynote by sharing with our staff her ideas as it relates to the Language of Learning across the institution of education; she brought forward a personal connection for Eden Prairie Schools as she pulled key phrases that she felt resonated in our Personalized Learning video. Check out the image below as it shares our Language of Learning here in EPS. We have so much to be proud of and recognize as we continue to Inspire Each Student Every Day!
Throughout the remainder of the morning our staff engaged and actively participated in phenomenal breakout sessions led by our Instructional Excellence Coaches and Coordinators. Our breakout sessions, continued the theme of authentic learning. Staff members walked away with at least three more instructional strategies and digital ideas that they could try back in their classrooms to bring forward work that matters to their students. As feedback from staff poured in throughout the rest of the day we saw themes of contagious energy, eagerness to try new strategies, and intentional connections staff were making to connecting digital resources to existing classroom practices! Moving forward be ready Eden Prairie, our staff is ignited to amplify their authentic learning practices and I only imagine the best is yet to come in our classrooms!
If you are interested to check out more of the resources we tried out here are a few links to get you started!
Article Sources
"Amplify." Heinemann Publishing. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.
"Kristin Ziemke." Kristin Ziemke. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.
Erin
Instructional Excellence Coordinator
Department of Personalized Learning and Instruction
