The California Teachers Summit is coming up on Wednesday, July 31. It will be a bit of change from your normal educational conference. There will be keynotes, EdTalks, and EdCamp breakout sessions. What exactly is an EdCamp breakout session? It's an opportunity for people to informally conduct a conversation about an educational topic. More about talking with people than at them. Simply write your session idea on a piece of paper and stick it up on the board under a room number. That's it! No need to worry about presenting a slide deck or lecturing. You will be amazed at what people will share during the break out sessions.

The EdCamp model promotes sharing and learning on your terms. What if you are in a break out session that does fit your needs? No problem. Simply get up and walk out. It's apart of the EdCamp culture, so don't feel like you are being rude. At this point you are saying to yourself "wow I can show up that day and hold a discussion on anything I want? And I can move on to another session without feeling like I am being rude?" Yes you can! Trust me, this sort of culture takes some getting used to, but people do rather quickly.

Another important aspect of the California Teachers Summit is networking. Make sure you connect with five new people. Find out their passions, best practices, and how they promote the success of all students. Sharing is contagious and can make you better as an educator and ultimately help kids. Social media is a wonderful opportunity to share your insight from the conference. Utilize the #cateacherssumit hashtag to show the world what you are learning about. The more we share, the more we are helping each other become better educators.

This special event will bring together educators from all walks of life. Titles will not matter, so check yourself at the door if you think that your title or accomplishments trump this day of learning and sharing. There is I doubt that when the California Teachers Summit has come and gone we will all be better off in the long run. The hope is that this state wide event will be so powerful that it can be replicated across the entire nation in the years to come. Our students and every educator deserve this sort of professional growth experience. We are better together sharing ideas than alone in isolation. Have no fear, there is still time to register. Visit www.cateacherssummit.com for details.

Brad Currie is the author of All Hands on Deck: Tools for Connecting Educators, Parents, and Communities and the newly released Personalized PD. He is one of the founding partners of Evolving Educators LLC. Brad is a 2014 ASCD Emerging Leader and Google Certified Trainer. Brad currently serves as a K-8 Supervisor of Instruction and Dean of Students for the Chester School District in Chester, NJ. He is a Google Certified Trainer and speaks nationally about tech integration. Learn more about Brad by following him on Twitter @bradmcurrie or visiting his website at www.bradcurrie.net.

The Google Classroom iPhone app can help students and teachers continue their paperless workflow while on the go or hanging out on the couch at home. There are so many ways that the Google Classroom iPhone app can transform mobile learning. Here are three to start out with.......

1. NEW UPDATE: Turn on the notification feature to receive alerts on your iPhone when new content is posted in a class.

2. VIRTUAL PHOTO JOURNAL: Instead of having students take notes in a packet while on a class trip, provide an opportunity to snap pictures and upload to Classroom.

3. BLOG POST OF THE WEEK PLC: Create a class that staff members can be apart of. When relevant blog posts are found online staff members can submit on the Google Form that is housed on the Classroom page. Then staff members can vote on the blog they wish to discuss the following week. The blog post is posted and discussed by staff virtually. Great way to reflect, learn, and share.

Brad Currie is the author of All Hands on Deck: Tools for Connecting Educators, Parents, and Communities and the newly released Personalized PD. He is one of the founding partners of Evolving Educators LLC. Brad is a 2014 ASCD Emerging Leader and Google Certified Trainer. Brad currently serves as a K-8 Supervisor of Instruction and Dean of Students for the Chester School District in Chester, NJ. He is a Google Certified Trainer and speaks nationally about tech integration. Learn more about Brad by following him on Twitter @bradmcurrie or visiting his website at www.bradcurrie.net.

Picture it, a cold and rainy day in November, a student decides not to attend school for one reason or the other. Past history tells us that this child constantly gets away with skipping school. Even at a young age this student would walk the streets of his town while school was in session knowing that mom or dad would not say a word. Over time this child would be removed from his family's home and placed in an alternative setting. On this particularly nasty day in November, someone would show this child that people do care about their education and well being. Earlier in the school year the school administrator and guidance counselor would battle with this child every time an excuse was given for not coming to school. Upon getting the phone call on this November day from the student's guardian, the young administrator knew it would not be easy to get this child to school. After many attempts on the phone to convince the student that coming to school would be the best option, the young administrator got into the car with the guidance counselor and drove to the child's house.

As the two school officials pulled up to the driveway and entered the house it was obvious that the student was no where to be found. They called his name time and time again. Still no response. They looked around the property in pouring down rain and still no one in sight. Then, a rumbling came from on top of the garage. The two school officials knew that the student was hiding. Without even thinking twice about it, the young school administrator climbed a ladder and walked across the roof to find the child sitting in a little area above the garage. The child and administrator talked for about ten minutes. Finally the child felt comfortable enough to get down from on top of the garage and speak to their parents and school officials about the importance of attending school.

On the ride back to school the two school officials had a nice long conversation with the child about life and school. Upon arriving back at school the child was not willing to go back to class. The young administrator knew that there was not much time left because it was a half day due to parent-teacher conferences. So the young administrator bought the child lunch and hung out with the student in the main office. By the time the child had eaten lunch it was time to go home on the bus. From that point forward the child hardly missed a day of school. The child's grades were not that spectacular but knew people in the school cared about who they were as a human being.

My hope with sharing this story is to show people that I along with many so called "tech-savvy" educators are more about people and less about technology. Sometimes for whatever reason the general consensus is that all we care about is integrating technology. That assumption could not be further from the truth.

Brad Currie is the author of All Hands on Deck: Tools for Connecting Educators, Parents, and Communities and the newly released Personalized PD. He is one of the founding partners of Evolving Educators LLC. Brad is a 2014 ASCD Emerging Leader and Google Certified Trainer. Brad currently serves as a K-8 Supervisor of Instruction and Dean of Students for the Chester School District in Chester, NJ. He is a Google Certified Trainer and speaks nationally about tech integration. Learn more about Brad by following him on Twitter @bradmcurrie or visiting his website at www.bradcurrie.net.