nice

Awesome Educators Breakout!

RT @MrBillySpicer: "Fabulous time tonight w/ @mariagalanis sharing @breakoutEDU with @NiceIL educators!"

Educators at the October NICE meeting experienced BreakoutEDU learning games facilitated by David Chan and Angel Villarreal. NICE also wishes to thank Maria Galanis and Billy Spicer for presenting BreakoutEDU ideas and strategies. 

Will you be able to escape? Join us for BreakoutEDU!

Join us at the next NICE Meeting, for “BreakoutEDU” on Wednesday, October 26, 2016 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m at the Carleton Washburne School, 515 Hibbard, Winnetka, IL. There is no charge to attend and a FREE light dinner is included. See details and directions in our NICE News. 

BreakoutEDU games teach critical thinking, teamwork, complex problem solving, and can be used in all content areas. At this meeting you will have an opportunity to experience a BreakoutEDU activity, as well as gain resources and strategies for creating your own! Will you be able to escape?

Please RSVP at http://bit.ly/nicersvp to help with our meal planning.

Sign up to receive SMS or Email reminders at: www.remind.com/join/nicei

 

Shares from Share-A-Rama!

Back to school with NICE at the Share-A-Rama didn't disappoint! Attendees learned both fun and productive tips for integrating technology in learning and personal productivity: new features in Google, student response tools, fonts for struggling readers, and more! Review the list here.

Announcements and links shared at the meeting:

Join us on Wednesday, Oct. 26 for BreakoutEDU!

Next NICE Meeting: Share-A-Rama! Tuesday Sept. 13

Welcome back to school NICE Members!

You are invited to join your colleagues for an afternoon of sharing at our "Share-a-Rama," on Tuesday, September 13 at Shepard Middle School in Deerfield. There is no charge to attend and a FREE light dinner is included. See details and directions in our NICE News. 

Please RSVP at http://bit.ly/nicersvp so we may get an accurate count for food ordering. Would you like a personal reminder? Sign up to receive SMS or Email reminders at: www.remind.com/join/nicei  Earn CEUs! Bring a friend!

Have you considered leading a workshop at the ICE Conference (or encouraging others in your school or district to submit a proposal)? The deadline for submitting ICE Conference workshop proposals is Sept. 15.

We Came, We Saw, We Tinkered!!

Our May 16 NICE meeting presented many opportunities for hands-on exploration of Makerspace activities for the classroom. Thanks to all who attended and to our teacher and student presenters!

View the meeting resources and important announcements shared:

Remember to submit your ideas for future meeting topics of interest at http://goo.gl/n0XGo9

See you in the fall!

Tinker with us on May 16!

We're looking forward to a fun afternoon of tinkering at the next NICE meeting, Monday, May 16 at Northwood Jr. H.S. in Highland Park. Please join us ... and bring a friend!

Download our NICE News for details and directions.

Join us May 16 for Maker Space in Your Classroom!

Make plans to join us at our final NICE meeting of the year on Monday, May 16. We will meet at 5 pm at Northwood Jr. High, 945 North Ave., Highland Park.

 

How can Maker activities be included in my curriculum? How can I develop higher level problem solving in my K-12 classroom? Come, see and explore activities with curriculum connections. A large variety of activities from low cost paper and cardboard to electronics, robotics, circuits and coding for you to see and try. Talk to teacher experts about the classroom examples and 'try-it' activities for for your subject and grade level. Come explore student creativity and projects in the student run Maker Faire area.

 

This meeting is geared to all levels -- we will have experts from K-12 joining us to support participants. We will be hosting three different areas for learning. Timing will be informal -- spend 30 minutes in each area or 90 minutes all in one place. 

• The first area will be a hands-on challenge area that will help beginners learn how to use making and STEAM in their classrooms. 
• The second area is a Tinker Studio that will allow participants to get hands on demos and explore the range of options that making/STEAM can be. 
• The third area is dedicated to the students who are learning from making/STEAM. There will be students presenting their projects and how these enhanced their learning. 

Check out the Tinker Studio website for a preview: http://tinker-studio.weebly.com/

Please let us know if you plan to attend: http://bit.ly/NICE2015-16

 

Sign up to receive SMS or Email reminders at: http://www.remind.com/join/nicei 

Earn PDCs! Bring a friend!

 

Help us plan our 2016-17 NICE Meetings!

The NICE board is in the process of brainstorming meeting topics for next year, and we welcome your suggestions. Please take a moment to visit our DotStorming board to add your ideas!

We are also pleased to announce the following candidates for your NICE board, 2016-17 school year:

• David Chan, President
• Tricia Lazzaro, President-Elect
• Caren Kimbarovsky, Past-President
• Jeremy Wickham, Secretary
• Jason Meltzer, Treasurer
• Charlene Chausis, Communications
• Bo Warmbold & Mina Marien, MiniCon Co-Chairs
• Angel Villareal, Volunteer Chair
• Briana Allen, Marcie Faust, Helen Lazzaro, Jill Maraldo, & Maureen Chertow Miller, Members-at-Large

We will formally vote in our board at the May 16 NICE meeting. We look forward to seeing you then!

No Meeting on 3/17! Join us 5/16

We regret to inform you that the NICE MEETING, "iPads, Chromebooks & Google" on Thursday, March 17 at Maine South High School, HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

We look forward to seeing you at our final NICE meeting of the year on Monday, May 16: "Maker Space!" at Northwood Jr. High School in Highland Park.

How can Maker activities be included in my curriculum? How can I develop higher level problem solving in my K-12 classroom? Come, see and explore activities with curriculum connections. A large variety of activities from low cost paper and cardboard to electronics, robotics, circuits and coding for you to see and try. Talk to teacher experts about the classroom examples and 'try-it' activities for for your subject and grade level. Come explore student creativity and projects in the student run Maker Faire area.

Hands-on sessions and demonstrations will also be available. Participate in the Tinker Studio challenges. How many can you complete?

Check out the Tinker Studio website for a preview: http://tinker-studio.weebly.com/

Please let us know if you plan to attend: http://bit.ly/NICE2015-16

NICE Meeting: iPads, Chromebooks and Google!

Join us at our next NICE meeting, "iPads, Chromebooks and Google" on Thursday, March 17, 2016, 5 to 7 pm at Maine South H.S. in Park Ridge.

A light dinner will be served at 5 pm followed by 2 breakout sessions. Parking is available in the front circle or by the tennis courts.​ Please RSVP at http://bit.ly/NICE2015-16 so we can get an accurate count for food ordering. Would you like a personal reminder? Sign up to receive SMS or Email reminders at: www.remind.com/join/nicei  Earn PDCs! Bring a friend!

Download the March NICE News for details and directions.

A light dinner will be served at 5 pm followed by 2 breakout sessions. Parking is available in the front circle or by the tennis courts.​ Please RSVP at http://bit.ly/NICE2015-16 so we can get an accurate count for food ordering. Would you like a personal reminder? Sign up to receive SMS or Email reminders at: www.remind.com/join/nicei  Earn PDCs! Bring a friend!

Download the March NICE News for details and directions.