Mrs. Verwers Presents at the Annual ISACS Conference

Oakhill's own Mrs. Verwers presented at the Annual ISACS conference in Colombus, Ohio, last week. She represented Oakhill so well as she passionately spoke to other educators from around the United States about her classroom here at Oakhill Day School. 

The presentation title and description: 

App Smashing within the Engineering Design Process

Ready to tackle the Engineering Design Process (EDP)? Wanting to develop your students' 4C's skills? Looking to foster global connections? This session is for you! Walk through the EDP- think Flat Stanley meets Superman as your students create a superhero, trading card (Canva), comic strip (Book Creator), action figure (Tinkercad),animation (iMotion), and share their superheroes globally. Leave with tools, tips, and resources you need to get started. 

Following her presentation I was able to get more of a behind the scene look into her presentation by asking her questions about her experience. 

1. What inspired you to present at ISACS?

My Traveling Superheroes project covers so many different standards and integrates a variety of technology tools which I love but I was inspired to present because my students were so invested in the project last year and so excited to follow their Superheroes adventures. This was bigger than anything I'd ever done and they learned more than I ever anticipated. I wanted to share our excitement and experience with other teachers who may not have considered undertaking a global project. We have learned about so many different schools, their activities, what they eat for lunch and what they play at recess. We have mapped out their locations and weather and we have compared and contrasted their school/city life with ours. We truly built a global classroom without walls and have learned we're all a lot more alike than we are different!  

2. How did you feel leading up to presenting, and how did you feel once you were finished?

To be honest, I was terrified prior to presenting as this was my first time presenting at a conference. Yikes! The minute I started presenting - all was well and I was comfortable! I'd prepared and practiced and since I love what I do, talking about it was easy and fun. I went from worrying about having extra time to wanting more time!

3. What was your favorite part of presenting at ISACS? 

I loved sharing what our students can do and the great things they are capable of doing when we get out of their way! I was able to do some of the projects I've done in the past as well as our current project - The Traveling Superheroes. My favorite part of the presentation was showing the other educators how simple it is to find classroom connections. Within 24 hours of posting and requesting host classrooms I had over 50 teachers ready to connect - and showing how our host classrooms have been interacting with their visiting Superheroes was the best! There are some amazing teachers out there!

4. What do you hope your attendees took away from your presentation?

Along with the technology tips, my ultimate goal was for them to know it's possible to collaborate and connect with students and schools all over the world. They are not limited to the space within their school building and they truly can build a global classroom based on projects they already do with their students.

5. Would you present at ISACS again?

Yes! I loved sharing about the great things happening at Oakhill. I would love to help other teachers innovatively integrate technology into their existing projects and showing them how to foster global connections for their classrooms and students is an added bonus.

 

Congratulations, Mrs. Verwers and remarkable job presenting at the Annual ISACS convention.