Waffle Bytes

So my #MACUL16 Tipsheets generated some ideas from all of you! Here's a bonus tipsheet with your ideas - Bring a power strip to make new friends at crowded outlets. ~Carol Isakson Get to your sessions early. Once a session is full, the doors will be closed and a “Session Full”  sign should be visible. If you see a session full sign on a door or a representative tells you it is full, please respect that and do not enter. Don't try to fill every session slot . Spend an hour in the exhibit hall or just sitting and reflecting on other sessions. Your brain and your feet both need a rest sometime. ~Andy Losik Wear your badge . The badge holder and lanyard will be in your conference bag. You will pick up your bag after check-in. Before you arrive at the conference stop by the store and grab some easy to eat bananas, granola bars, etc. ~The President (?? Not sure which president!) Come celebrate our 40th anniversary with us on Thursday night! The MACUL party wil...

(This is the final  tipsheet  in the series of 4 to help you prepare for one of MACUL’s largest conferences ever!)  Here are some other tidbits that might help you out as you arrive at the conference next week: Layout : The Amway/Devos layout can be very confusing as it is two separate buildings.   The Devos Hall has rooms on the main floor, and two additional floors that are accessible by escalators/elevators on either end of the hall. To help you understand how names match locations - River Overlook rooms overlook the river, Gallery Overlook rooms overlook the atrium area, Grand Gallery open into the atrium area, the Ballrooms are at the end of the atrium on the river side of the building. There are two main areas for rooms at Amway - the end of the building where the skywalk connects and the Monroe Ave entrance is, and the middle of the building where the atrium and swanky shops are The rooms at the end of the building are on multiple leve...

The  MACUL  Conference  is just  a week away!  This is the third  tip sheet  in a series of 4 to help you get ready for Michigan’s largest education conference. Today I'm sharing some general tips for getting the most out of the conference. Checking In : Checking in on Thursday morning can be overwhelming!  Here are some bits of advice to avoid missing the opening keynote session (you don’t want to miss Jamie Casap - Chief Education Evangelist at Google, Inc speak on Iteration and innovation in Education!): If you come into Grand Rapids Wednesday prior to 5pm, go to registration then instead of waiting until Thursday If you come into Grand Rapids Thursday morning, registration opens at 7 am Thursday - plan to get there around that time to avoid long lines NEW! this year there will be "self-check" registration where you check in at a computer, then proceed to where your badge is printed out. Getting Help:  There are over 10...

The 2016 MACUL Conference is now just a week away! (This is the second in a series of 4 to help you get ready and excited about going to the conference.) The conference sessions are all locked and loaded...meaning you can peruse the list at your leisure.  Here are some suggestions that may help you better organize for the conference- Know What You Want : have some idea(s) of what you want to walk away from the conference with.  Use these ideas to help you plan your time so you meet those goals. It's easy to become overwhelmed with all the options, and identifying the walk-aways will make sure you take back meaningful learning.   For example, you are looking for new uses of Google Apps in your classroom, look for sessions about that.  Or, if you are involved in looking for new school purchases make sure to block out some time to spend in the exhibit hall.  Conference App : Check out the Conference app here . This year’s conference app will let y...

(This is 1 in a series of 4 to help you get ready and excited about going to this year's conference.) Yes, we are attending the conference for all the great learning and networking.  However, eating is still a necessity and it is important to know where to find food...especially food that you can get quickly, without waiting in long lines!  Here are some tips and hints for dealing with that while at the conference, along with some other tidbits you should know about: Staying Hydrated : make sure you stay hydrated! there are several fountains and water coolers provided throughout the venue to get water - bring along a refillable cup and keep filling it all day instead of purchasing expensive bottled water Food at Devos/Amway : there are several cafes/restaurants in Amway; some tips about these: there will probably be 4000-5000 attendees AND hundreds of additional vendors at the venue, and everyone will be taking meal breaks about the same time - either p...

MACUL is partnering with Rushton Hurley to support a student video contest. This is an opportunity to have students create learning videos that can be shared with other students. What a great way to assess if a student understands a concept or lesson that also provides a worldwide audience for their work. We are asking students to explain something one might encounter in school in 90 seconds or less, with another 60 seconds for credits showing that students used copyright-friendly content from media libraries identified in the rules. The goals are to help students: learn to use planning and revision to create compelling, fun learning videos understand, properly use, and site Creative Commons-licensed material as part of their work. create videos that could help other students learn topics that might prove challenging All the details are at  http://bit.ly/MACULvideo    Deadline is  February 26th .  

It's time to submit your proposal for MACUL16! For more information and the link to apply, go to the MACUL Speaker Proposal Submission Guide page. The MACUL Conference Session Proposal Application Process: (The selection process is highly competitive. In 2015, less than 50% of submitted proposals were accepted. For best results, take time to plan and write a quality conference proposal.)