FEMA Think Tank Session @ Oak Ridge: Cultivating Innovation in the White Spaces - LIVE - 1:00 - 2:30pm

When is the next FEMA Think Tank Session?

The next FEMA Think Tank Session is Wednesday, September 25 from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm Eastern Time (10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Date: Wednesday, September 25

Time: 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time (10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time)

Location: Zach Wamp Auditorium of the New Hope Center, Oak Ridge, Tennessee   

Call in Number: 1-800-776-0853

Passcode: 1576066

Captioning: At the start of the event, please click here for access to live captioning.

We encourage you to Tweet during the call using #femathinktank.

The September 25 Think Tank session will focus on how to cultivate innovation in the “white spaces” of emergency management.

The white space can be defined as the space between the boxes in an organization chart—mostly unoccupied territory where rules are vague, authority is fuzzy, budgets are nonexistent, and strategy is unclear. This is often where innovative activities that help reinvent and renew an organization most often take place.

During the call, panelists will share their stories about how they cultivated innovation in the white spaces of their organizations. Participants in the room and on the phone will have an opportunity to share their stories and comment on others.

Michigan Shifting Gears (Entrepreneurship: Real World Project-Based-Learning!)

Register Now For Fall Session Of Michigan Shifting Gears

July 30, 2013 1:42 PM

LANSING (WWJ) – Michigan Shifting Gears, an intensive career transition initiative sponsored by the Michigan Economic Development Corp., kicks off a new three-month session on Tuesday, Sept. 24. Registration for the fall 2013 session is open now through Friday, Sept. 13.

“Michigan’s economy is growing, with small businesses and entrepreneurs leading the way,” said Michael Finney, president and CEO of the MEDC. “At the same time, many talented Michiganders are looking for new career opportunities. Michigan Shifting Gears provides participants with a roadmap to their next great job, and start-up companies with the skilled workers they need to continue to grow.”

The program is designed to help experienced professionals, returning veterans, stay-at-home parents and others facing a career crossroads fine-tune their skills to fit the needs of small businesses and entrepreneurial start-ups. Launched in 2009 by Ann Arbor Spark and Sensei Change Associates, Michigan Shifting Gears is a unique opportunity for seasoned professionals and other transitioning job seekers to learn how to put their talent and experience to work in an entrepreneurial environment.

Participants in Michigan Shifting Gears receive a professional career assessment and career coaching, attend eight days of workshops, participate in networking events, and take part in a three-day small business simulation. Students are paired with volunteer mentors from the entrepreneurial community who work one-on-one to review their resumes, provide career advice, and help with their career transition.

Each Michigan Shifting Gears participant also must complete an 80-hour pro bono internship with a small business. The internship provides valuable first-hand experience in a small business environment. In turn, Michigan Shifting Gears interns bring valuable skills and business expertise to their host companies.

Prior to registration, interested individuals are required to participate in an informational program overview and Q&A webinar where they will have the opportunity to ask questions about the program. Following completion of the overview, participants will receive a link to register for the program. Anyone interested in attending the fall 2013 session must complete the informational overview and Q&A session, and register no later than Friday, Sept. 13.

The early bird registration deadline, at a rate of $500, is available through midnight Monday, Aug. 19. Discounted registration at $550 is available through midnight Tuesday, Sept. 3. After that, registration through Sept. 13 is $575.

Payment plans are available. MEDC underwrites the balance of the program cost to help the state retain and retool top talent to meet the needs of Michigan’s small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Michigan Shifting Gears has an impressive rate of success, with 49 percent of graduates landing new jobs within three months of completing the program. Sixty-one percent of graduates land positions within six months, and 82 percent find work within nine or more months.

For more information, contact a Michigan Shifting Gears program manager at TalentTeam@michigan.org, or visithttp://www.mitalent.org/michigan-shifting-gears-program/.

“Michigan is blessed with a talented workforce possessing skills and expertise we can’t afford to lose,” said Amy Cell, senior vice president for talent enhancement at MEDC. “Michigan Shifting Gears is one way we can help these transitioning professionals and at the same time provide employers with the top-notch talent they need to thrive and grow.”

For more on the MEDC and its initiatives, visithttp://www.MichiganAdvantage.org. For Michigan travel news, updates and information, visit http://www.michigan.org.

Global STEMx Education Conference (Tonight's LIVE Offering: Student Entrepreneurship and the Real Flipped Classroom / 8:00PM EDT)

Interview Tonight - Student Entrepreneurship and the Real Flipped Classroom

Join me tonight, Tuesday, July 30th, for a live and interactiveFutureofEducation.com conversation with Doan Winkel and Michael Issa, co-organizers of a global student startup competition (USASBE Launch!) from the e United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. We're going to talk about student initiative and entrepreneurship, and how they might help to redefine educational practice. Doan wrote a blog post last year that caught my eye, titled "Education – Listen Up!! You’re Using the Wrong Flip." As a self-professed drinker of the "flipped classroom juice," and a preacher of the benefits of this "revolutionary" method of teaching (his quotation marks), Doan came to find that flipping the classroom didn't produce the transformative learning he was looking for. He writes: Yes, [flipping the classroom is] innovative – “featuring new methods” – or at least it used to be. But it’s not an effective method of education if the goal is to produce engaged learners. Teachers struggle with how to deliver content. The flip was an innovative Band-Aid for the wrong problem. The problem with poor education experiences isn’t how to deliver content, but how to engage students in their own learning. He goes on to ask how we can "transform education and learning so students want to engage," and says that we need to flip the actual education experience: 1. Activate the education experience. Let students learn by doing, so they breathe life into their learning. They want it to be alive – let that happen! I spend time teaching my students how to learn first, and then hint at what to learn. They drive their own education from there. I allow them to apply the knowledge to real-world problems so it’s sticky. I develop semester-long projects because it requires sustained engagement and collaboration. My students enjoy their education because it is active. 2. Let students own their learning. Students are our customers. They have a vision for their education. Let them live it. They want to take responsibility for their own learning. Give up control of the content, put teasers in the students’ minds and they will run farther with it than you could ever go. My students enjoy their education because it is theirs, not mine. 3. Let students assess their learning process. This is the most difficult aspects of the flipped experience for most educators. Don’t assign grades. That’s right, NO GRADES!! They’re [bullsh*t] metrics. When students focus on grades (they will because they’re conditioned to by a broken education system) they lose interest in their learning, they forget what they learn post-assessment, and they look for rational (or lazy) shortcuts. Grades create feel-bad education. If that’s what you’re striving for, shame on you. If you’ve settled for that, shame on you. A single grade can’t possibly capture the entire educational experience of many months. Instead, implement an approach where students individually create a documented process. Number two above is a little bit of a dead giveaway--Doan teaches at the university level. I'm hoping those in the live audience tonight who teach in K-12 will give some feedback on how many of their students "have a vision for their education," and/or what responsibility we have to help those students develop such. And we'll ask Doan and Michael for their thoughts on this as well! See you online! Steve Steve Hargadon http://www.stevehargadon.com Date: Tuesday, July 30th, 2013 Time: 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern (international times here) Duration: 1 hour Location: In Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate). Log in at http://www.futureofed.info. The Blackboard Collaborate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Blackboard Collaborate, please visit the support and configuration page. Recording: A full Blackboard Collaborate recording and an audio mp3 recording will be available after the show athttp://www.stevehargadon.com and at http://www.futureofeducation.com. From Doan's Blog: "My name is Doan Winkel. "It’s a unique name (the first part anyway), which I think accurately represents the unique approach I take to entrepreneurship, education and life in general. "I am a husband and a father, an entrepreneur and an educator. "I practice being a husband and father in Normal, IL (ironic, I know!!) "I practice education by teaching entrepreneurship at Illinois State University. "I practice entrepreneurship through SproutEcon, LLC. "My goal is to leave a positive footprint in this world by being a force of productively disruptive change that motivates younger generations to tackle their dreams and turn their ideas into realities."Michael Issa is Co-founder and CEO of Quipu Applications, Inc., and is responsible for the overall strategy, operations, and financial management of the company. Previously, Mr. Issa served as Vice President of Product Management at Quipu, responsible for all aspects of research and design of Quipu’s flagship product, BusinessPlan. For the last fifteen years, Mr. Issa has held various positions in the data center and enterprise infrastructure industry for both software and hardware manufacturers. He holds an MS in Mathematics, Curriculum and BS in Finance and Marketing.

Visit Global STEMx Education Conference at: http://stemxcon.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

PROJECT-BASED-LEARNING PROBLEM: (What's Missing with this Flavor of the Oft-Touted Project-Based-Learning Methodology?)

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Summer Planning for Successful PBL

JULY 19, 2013

Photo credit: iStockPhoto

It is often said that leading and teaching in project-based learning schools are like building an airplane while flying it. During the summer, we land the plane and we have a chance to just build. In the spirit of summer, this post is brief and concrete so we have more time for the beach and planning! Here are three ways you can plan for student success this summer:

1. Plan Projects for the Entire Year

This is the perfect time to design or review the design of the projects you and/or your team will facilitate this year. Create the documents you will provide for students through out the project. This is the perfect time for you to research the topic(s) yourself, make community connections and get excited about facilitating student learning through the project. The more you get done in the summer, the more time you have for assessing student work during the project instead of planning learning activities for the project as you do the project.

2. Do the Project Yourself

Watch this short video by Jeff Robin from High Tech High in San Diego. Jeff makes his point very clear at the end.

3. Leaders: Plan Your PD for the Entire School Year

Set your goals. Make your learning targets, assessments and learning modules and set the dates for the adults too! Just like the teachers, school leaders should do as much concrete, upfront planning as possible. Once the school year starts the plane is back in the air and the urgent can often trump the important. Use the summer to tackle the important planning.

As I write this, we are officially halfway through summer vacation -- maybe more than half for many schools; it is not too late to plan! While it is counter intuitive, the more you work during the summer the more relaxed you will be during the school year so plan those projects in detail now, do the project yourself, firstand plan professionals development for the entire year not just the first few days.