20 Must-Attend Education Conferences for NJ Teachers

June 16, 2016

With summer just around the corner, it’s time to decide on how you’ll be developing your best assets as a teacher—your knowledge and PLN. Now’s a great time to identify a few meaningful opportunities for advancing your professional practice. During the slow summer months you can fulfill your continuing education requirements without the stress of your school workload in the back of your mind.

Take a moment to determine how you’ll incorporate these primarily free and low-cost workshops, conferences and trainings into your plans for summer trips to the Shore, extended book reading and other relaxation activities!

NJ Department of Education Summer Workshops

Blended Online Learning Modules to Support Professional Learning Communities

The New Jersey Department of Education, in conjunction with New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), has created a suite of dynamic online blended learning modules. These modules are designed to assist educators in their work to inform and maintain efficient and active Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) using the Connected Action Roadmap (CAR) model.

This workshop series is offered throughout the entire summer at various locations. If the session highlighted below does not fit your schedule, simply view the NJ DOE’s full calendar of events to find the date, time and location that better-suits your schedule.

Location: Parsippany, NJ
Dates: August 3, 2016
Pricing: Free

The First Days of Preschool: The Organization, the Routines, & the Transitions to a Bright Beginning

The New Jersey Department of Education’s office of Special Education Programs is offering a two daylong training for NJ preschool educators. This Two-Day training will provide strategies on fostering positive student-teacher relationships, techniques to establish successful classroom routines, methods to introduce and utilize schedules, and ways to prepare for transitions beginning day one of preschool.

This training series is offered throughout the entire summer at various locations. If the session highlighted below does not fit your schedule, simply view the NJ DOE’s full calendar of events to find a better-suited training session.

Location: East Orange, NJ
Dates: July 12-13, 2016
Pricing: Free

2016 RAC 7 Summer Institute: Developing a Culture of Reflection and Practice

This two-day summer institute will focus on critical topics such as professional learning communities, cultural responsiveness and racial disparities in education, and the newly created NJ Curriculum Framework.

This event is limited to school personnel of the 35 priority and focus schools working with RAC-7 in the Region 7 area. This includes Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Salem, Camden and Burlington counties ONLY.

Location: Galloway, NJ
Dates: August 3-4, 2016
Pricing: Free

2016 Amistad Commission Summer Institute for Teachers
Wwork in collaboration with knowledgeable historians and scholars at this year’s Amistad Commission Summer Institute for Teachers. Attendees will experience multimedia history-based presentations and using primary resource materials provided by the Amistad Commission and its team of experts in the field. The institute’s content will focus on topics related to the transition period from slavery through 1877

Southern Region
Location: Galloway, NJ
Dates: July 25-27, 2016
Pricing: Free

Northern Region
Location: Union, NJ
Dates: August 1-3, 2016
Pricing: Free

Summer Edcamps

Edcamps are participant-driven professional learning experiences that allow content to emerge organically as an “unconference” format. We’ve compiled a list of Edcamps taking place this summer, and all within driving distance of NJ.

Edcamp Exit 8A- Reimagining Learning: The Time Is Now

Members of NJPSA/FEA, NJASCD, and The Madison Institute, teachers, and school and district leaders will be present.

Monroe Township, NJ

Date: July 27, 2016

Pricing: Free

Downington Tech Chat
The CCIU will be giving Act 48 credit for the attendees. There will be time for networking during continental breakfast and lunch sessions. More than half of our attendees are expected to come from outside of the Downington school district.

Location: Downington, PA
Date: June 23, 2016
Pricing: Free

Edcamp Hershey
Requests for this year’s follow up Edcamp Hershey began before last year’s conference even finished.

Location: Hershey, PA
Date: July 18, 2016
Pricing: Free

Local Workshops & Conferences

Marlboro Google Summit
New Jersey Association for Educational Technology’s two daylong conference will focus on deploying, integrating and using Google Apps for Education and other Google learning tools. Conference is comprised of keynote speakers, breakout sessions and pre-summit workshops.

Location: Marlboro, NJ
Dates: June 13-14, 2016
Pricing: $249

SB Summer Technology & Learning Conference 2016
The South Brunswick Summer Technology & Learning Conference (TLC) was inspired by educators who are passionate about sharing and learning innovative ways for teaching students how to search, think deeply, invent and self-direct their own learning. This day was designed for educators to come together for an inspiring day of new ideas, conversation and collaboration.

Location: South Brunswick, NJ
Dates: June 23, 2016
Pricing: $40

District Leader Two-Day Mini-Course: Blended Learning in a Digital Age
Learn how to effectively and efficiently use technology in curriculum delivery and management of schools in this two-day minicourse, hosted and facilitated by Rutgers CESP's very own Dr. Rob Zywicki. Attendees will leave with with research-based digital leadership knowledge and skills to plan, implement, manage, and evaluate the use of blended learning throughout their districts.

Location: Rutgers Continuing Education Center at the Atrium, Somerset, NJ
Dates: July 14-15, 2016
Pricing: $450

2016 Ed Tech Summer Institute Series Presented by Springboard Media
The 2016 Ed Tech Summer Institute Series offers teachers and IT professionals an opportunity to learn new skills and practice using technology in a relaxed atmosphere. Attendees will get a chance to dig deep into technology and be ready for the next school year.

Location: Philadelphia, PA
Dates: July 20, 2016
Pricing: $70-150

NJAET's Summer #TechSplash
Topics include Twitter, iMovie, Google Classroom, Google Apps and more! This is a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) day. Free WiFi will be provided.

Location: Allentown, NJ
Dates: August 2, 2016
Pricing: $25

Games in Education 2016
Games in Education Symposium is a two-day event focusing on the use of technology to supplement & inspire education in the classroom. The symposium has run annually since 2007 and is free for educators to attend.

Location: Troy, NY
Dates: August 3, 2016
Pricing: Free

IT Hot Topics for the "Non-Techie" School Leader
On August 4th, school leaders from across NJ will come together for a one day training that will provide them with a working knowledge of IT tools and implementation strategies. Dr. Robert Zywicki will guide attendees through a comprehensive list of IT topics—from web recruiting to WiFi network security to district technology audits.

Location: Rutgers Continuing Education Center at the Atrium, Somerset, NJ
Dates: August 4, 2016
Pricing: $225

World Congress on Special Needs Education (WCSNE-2016)
The WCSNE is dedicated to the advancement of the theory and practices in special needs education, promoting collaborative excellence between academicians and professionals from educational and industrial sectors.

Location: Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
Dates: August 16, 2016
Pricing: $500

National Conferences

Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication
The 40th annual Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication (SIIC) is one of the premier gatherings of professionals in the field of intercultural communication. All SIIC 3-day and 5-day workshops qualify for academic credit.

Location: Portland, OR
Dates: July 2016; dates of workshops varies
Pricing: $415+

ISTE 2016
This three day education technology conference and expo is jampacked with 1,000 professional development sessions of varying formats. Over 16,000 educators are expected to be in attendance. The conference organizers have broken the conference’s PD content down into five major focus areas:

Digital Age Teaching and Learning—covering all aspects of technology use in the learning environment.
Leadership—focused on integrating technology into educational programs
Professional Learning—focused on the training and development of leaders, teachers and other educators.
Technology Infrastructure—covering requirements of building a technology infrastructure for effective learning, teaching and administration.

Location: Denver, CO
Dates: June 26-29, 2016
Pricing: $199-$409

National Charter Schools Conference 2016

The National Charter Schools Conference is a great professional development and networking opportunity, featuring 130+ breakout sessions. Plenty of formal and informal networking sessions have also been organized. Over 4,000 educators are expected to be in attendance.

Keynote speakers include:

Howard Fuller, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Education and Director of the Institute for the Transformation of Learning, Marquette University
Nina Rees, President & CEO, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
Andre Agassi, Charter School Founder and Tennis Great
The Honorable John B. King, Jr., Secretary of Education, U.S. Department of Education
Sugata Mitra, Ph.D., Professor of Education Technology, University of Newcastle, United Kingdom
Marc Brackett, Ph.D., Director, Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence

Location: Nashville, TN
Dates: June 26-29, 2016
Pricing: $475-$575

NSPRA 2016 National Seminar
The theme for this conference is “Leading Through Communication: Solutions for Challenging Times.” The NSPRA National Seminar is designed to help attendees become communication champions for their district or organization, providing tools and tactics for attendees to tackle tough issues and enhance their school’s communication strategy. This conference is consistently ranked as one of the best values in school PR professional development.

Location: Chicago, Illinois
Dates: July 17-20, 2016
Pricing: $205-$765

International Literacy Association 2016 Conference
Thousands of education professionals will be convening at the International Literacy Association 2016 Conference & Exhibits to discover new teaching methods, materials, and tools for literacy development. Their 300+ sessions and 200+ exhibitors are expected to draw 6,000+ attendees.

Keynote speakers include: