FailureSlam
What makes a “good failure,” and how can we become better at failing well and learning a lot from our failures? The “Failure Slam” is modeled on The Moth StorySLAMs: participants will each tell a story about about a “good failure” — one that led to unexpected learning or a surprising opportunity — in 5 minutes or less. See the participants here.
Commentary and perspective on the FailureSlam will be presented by:
Bill Van Loo
Visit Bill’s profile page on iiE People by following this link.
Ann Verhey-Henke
Ann Verhey-Henke is the Managing Director of Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship and Adjunct Lecturer in Health Management and Policy at the University of Michigan School of Public Health (U-M SPH). Ann brings almost 20 years of experience in building heterogeneous teams of faculty to work toward a common goal of innovation. At SPH, Ann works with faculty and students to bring public health research to the marketplace. Ann serves on various campus wide committees including MCubed, the University of Michigans seed-funding program that empowers interdisciplinary teams of faculty to pursue new initiatives with major societal impact. Prior to joining SPH, Ann served as Director of Foundation Relations for Health, Science and Technology, Interim Director of Development School of Information, and prior to these appointments served for 9 years as the Director of Research Administration at the School of Information. Ann has a BA in Psychology and Religion from Hope College and a MDiv from McCormick Theological Seminary.
Failure Slam Master of Ceremonies:
Will Spotts
Will “Huckleberry” Spotts is Afterschool Programming Site Coordinator for EMU Bright Futures.
Workshop Presenters
Amanda Brooke Dawes
Amanda Brooke, has over a dozen years of professional teaching experience in the Social Sciences. She is the Dean of Technology Integration (9-12). In 2010, she received her Masters Degree in Educational Technology from the University of Michigan. She also has degrees in Psychology and Religious Studies from the University of Miami. In addition to teaching with infused technology, as the Ed Tech Professional Development Programs’ Director, she also specializes in establishing IT strategies and implementing education centric solutions. She enjoys learning with teachers and students about best blended learning practices with Google Apps for Education.
Aviva Dorfman
Aviva Dorfman is an Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of Michigan-Flint, where she teaches courses in play, curriculum, and assessment in early childhood. Her research interests focus primarily on teachers of young children, in particular on professional development, performance assessment, and facilitating and extending children’s play in classrooms. Formerly a modern dancer, she has extensive experience as a teacher of young children in the US and on kibbutz in Israel.
Darin Stockdill
Darin Stockdill is the design coordinator for the University of Michigan’s Center for Education Design, Evaluation, and Research (CEDER) and is responsible for managing the instructional and program design projects of CEDER. Before joining the staff of CEDER, Darin was the content area literacy consultant for the Oakland (Michigan) Schools ISD for four years. He was a graduate student in education at Michigan prior to this, and taught content area literacy methods courses to pre-service teachers and also researched adolescent literacy. His academic interests revolve around the connections between problem-based instruction and education for social justice, as well as the intersections of youth literacy practices and disciplinary literacies. Before graduate study, Darin was a classroom social studies and English teacher in Detroit for 10 years, working with both middle and high school students. He has a BA in history from the University of Michigan and an MA in the social foundations of education from Eastern Michigan University. He earned his doctorate in literacy, language, and culture from the University of Michigan in 2011.
Bob Larson
Bob Larson is currently an Elementary Instructional Technology Coach in the Brandon School District, Michigan. He’s always looking to integrate technology meaningfully, and create unique opportunities in educational settings to increase student fun, engagement, and achievement. He founded and runs coding clubs, makers clubs, and film-making clubs with Kindergarten through third grade students. He created the Place Out of Time Card Game, featured here at the Gathering. Before coaching, Bob spent 5 years as an elementary teacher in Brandon. He received his Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Oakland University in 2009, and is currently studying for his Master Degree in Educational Technology from The University of Michigan – Flint.
Joe Posante
Joe is currently the science lead at Laurus Academy in Southfield, Michigan, teaching middle school grades 7th and 8th in integrated science. He leads inquiry based designed lessons through a variety of mediums; storytelling, interactive/virtual labs, and building from scraps to name a few. He also manages two website platforms for the use of homework to increase student engagement, transparency, communication and altering students attitudes towards the homework manner. Visit his sites here, and here. Joe received his B.S. in Integrated Sciences with a minor in elementary education at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan and is currently a student in the UM-Flint Masters in Educational Technology program.
Noah Weber
Noah Weber is an Ann Arbor native and two-time graduate of The University of Michigan. After receiving his undergraduate degree in English, Mr. Weber returned to the U of M School of Education to earn his teaching certificate along with a Master’s in Secondary Education. He taught for one year at a large, urban middle school near Baltimore, Maryland, before returning home to join the faculty at WTMC for the 2012-2013 school year.
Mr. Weber believes that learning lies primarily in the interactions and relationships between students, teachers, and the surrounding community. As a graduate of Ann Arbor’s Community High School, Mr. Weber brings the experience of being a student in a non-traditional school environment to help him work with his students as an instructor at WTMC.
Mr. Weber’s academic interests are in English, History, Civics, and Environmental Studies. Outside of the classroom, Mr. Weber is an avid sports fan and martial arts practitioner.
Ryan Goble
Ryan is the teaching and learning coordinator at Glenbard High School and has worked as an adjunct professor in the education departments of multiple universities. Formerly a classroom teacher, he trains educators in curriculum design, student-centered learning, and new media in classes and workshops around the country. He has collaborated extensively with NASA on climate change curriculum and his work has been featured in Teacher Magazine, The Journal of Staff Development, The Boston Globe, The New York Times Learning Network, and elsewhere. He also shares many exciting resources with teachers through his online social network Making Curriculum Pop. Ryan has a BA in English and MA in education from the University of Michigan and is completing his doctoral dissertation at Teachers College Columbia University. He lives with his wife and daughter in Chicago.
Irene Knokh
Irene Knokh has been the Informational Technology Board Editor for several years with Merlot.org. This year, she’s also been heavily engaged in establishing the new Instructional Technology Board, with the support of Merlot.org leadership. She will lead the board upon its launch at the end of April.
Irene is an Instructional Designer (Instructional Learning Senior), and Program Coordinator in the Department of Professional Development and Education for Nursing at the University of Michigan Hospital System. She consults staff, nurses, nurse educators, and nurse specialists, in her department and in the hospital on topics such as engaging learning, teaching, instructional design and technology. She’s been in instructional technology and design field for over 10 years.
Irene co-leads a campus Instructional Special Interest Group and is a volunteer in the Teaching and Learning with Technology organization on campus. She regularly teaches workshops through the Teaching and Technology Collaborative at the University of Michigan on subjects from Qualtrics to MERLOT! She gives follow up volunteer teaching/tech consultations to her campus workshop attendants. She is a peer reviewer for the Emerging Technologies for Online Learning International Symposium (Joint Symposium for the Sloan Consortium and MERLOT), and Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference. Among her most recent presentations are “MERLOT with Your Meal” and “Don’t Leave Home Without Your Toolbox.” Irene received her B.A. from Eastern Michigan University with honors in General Studies, German, and Sociology,a minor in French, and her M.A in Sociology from Eastern Michigan University. She received her M.Ed. with an emphasis on Instructional Technology and a Graduate Teaching Certificate from Wayne State University.
University of Michigan MAC Students: Joseph Bliven, Emily Jaffe, Ali Khalid, Marc Mens, Andy Peters, Jake Topp, Jonathan White and Joshua Wiggins
This group of workshop presenters are an energetic band of young teachers whose ranks include urban educators, varsity athletes and coaches, academic tutors and community workers. They bring experience teaching science, social studies and English in both middle school and high school, and they are excited to share some classroom-ready teaching ideas with you!