PETERBOROUGH, N.H., April 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Staff Development for Educators (SDE), one of the nation's leading providers of professional development for K-12 educators, is pleased to announce its 2015 National Power Up! Pre-Conference, taking place July 6, 2015, in Las Vegas. This one-day professional development event, now in its fifth year, shows K–6 educators how to embrace technology as a daily instructional tool. It offers an intimate and friendly environment where educators can comfortably learn how to utilize technology to expand their instruction and their students' learning. Both technological novices and technological experts will learn fresh new ways to teach with technology and integrate it effectively into their classrooms.
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"Power Up! is a great way to collaborate with peers and experts in the field to explore, practice, and discover what their classroom should look and sound like when effective teaching strategies are positioned using technology," says Beth Stevenson from SDE, who programmed the event. "Power Up! can ease the anxiety of staying abreast of the 'technology curve' and discovering new ways to increase student achievement."
The 2015 event will highlight the most effective teaching strategies behind the technology to step up rigor in daily lessons. Attendees will learn how to incorporate the latest devices, apps, and goals into their instruction, and explore the best teaching strategies to use with students today. This year has an increased focus on introducing teachers to the tools that can help them meet instructional expectations, as well as helping them learn techniques that can build up their students' collaboration skills using technology.
"In one day, Power Up! sorts through the clutter for educators," says Stevenson. "They leave confident that they can incorporate the technology and tools they need into their 21st century classroom."
A huge draw of Power Up! is always the all-star team of presenters hand-picked to lead the program. This year's group of presenters bring unparalleled national reputations, and the high-energy appeal that SDE presenters always seem to exude. This year's keynote address will be presented by Katherine McKnight, Ph.D., and will focus on "Beyond the Paper and Pencil: The 21st Century Classroom."
In addition to McKnight, the other three presenters are back by popular demand. They include the energetic Lori Elliott, Ed.D. Nicknamed "The Accidental Techie," Elliott is the author of three popular technology books, Accidental Techie to the Rescue, Teach Like a Techie, and Teach Like a Techie with Apps. Joining Elliott are popular presenters and technology gurus Matt Gomez and Laureen Reynolds.
"Attendees can count on real and relevant ideas from real teachers for real classrooms teaching real students," declares Stevenson.
Focus areas this year include how to use iPads® in the classroom for science, social studies, and math, Google Docs™ and Google Drive™, using technology for formative assessment and checks for understanding, how to use technology with struggling learners, shared research projects, virtual field trips, and more.
Power Up! is a pre-conference event offered by SDE to attendees of the National Conference on Singapore Math and the National Conference on Differentiated Instruction. The in-depth, content-rich, and grade-specific sessions address the key areas of literacy, math, science, social studies, 21st century skills, management and more. Teachers learn how to embrace technology as a daily tool for improving instruction, differentiation, motivation, and expression.
About SDE
SDE is one of America's leading providers of professional development for PreK through Grade 12 educators. Through Onsite PD, PD Events, Web-based PD, and PD Resources, the company empowers teachers and administrators across the country with ongoing professional development that is not only research-based, innovative, and rigorous, but also practical, motivating, and fun. All SDE training is presented by the nation's top authors and educational experts, with the goal of creating extraordinary classrooms that prepare students for the evolving demands of the 21st century.
For more information about SDE, educators are encouraged to visit www.sde.com, or to call 1-800-462-1478.