The Power of Five Minutes - Learning from Others QUICKLY!

I have been quite remiss of late in posting on the blog. Always an excuse - but let's just say, life is insane these days. Quitting job, care giving to parents, moving (so selling and buying a house), graduation, dissertation - yikes. Making myself stressed just writing it down. So, I have decided to make it a little easy on myself and do a series on some of the fabulous Ignite talks that I have been privy to as part of my previous position with Key Curriculum.

If you have never heard of, seen or been a part of an Ignite event, they are pretty amazing. Participants have 20 PowerPoint slides that auto advance every 15 seconds, giving them a total of five minutes to get their point across quickly, using both words and visuals. You wouldn't think five minutes would be able to provide much insight, but you would be wrong - it is amazing what you can learn and say in five minutes. I have often thought this approach would be a great one to use with students for reports - because it forces conciseness and conviction.

This idea of sharing with others fosters thinking, collaboration, and debate - a great way to learn from others and get new ideas. I find watching the videos of Ignite talks inspiring and great ways to start a collaborative exchange. I have used many of these video clips in workshops and online courses as a way to get conversations going and am always amazed at the ideas and sharing that come from someone's five minute talk.

With that in mind, I thought I would share a few of these each day, perhaps along a theme, and spark some thoughts and ideas. Today's theme is collaboration - what can we do to get teachers and educators collaborating and sharing ideas? Blogging is one way, tweeting another, Facebook, edmodo's, conferences. So, I have pulled a couple Ignites I think provide some inspiration to get the conversation going.

Max Ray - NCSM 2013 Ignite - "Tweet Me Maybe?"

Jennifer N. Morris - NCSM 2013 Ignite - "Get Out of The Box"

Hope you enjoyed these. My next blog we will focus on some Common Core Ignites.

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