This summer, I was lucky enough to attend ASCD’s Leader to Leader (L2L) event on behalf of the Massachusetts affiliate of ASCD.  The purpose of the conference is to bring together affiliate leaders and members, building capacity and fostering collaboration.  During this event, ASCD staff and affiliate leaders shared Ignite sessions, which are, by definition, five-minute presentations that are comprised of 20 slides, each displayed for exactly 15 seconds. The slides move forward automatically, despite the presenter’s readiness, which creates a very quick, engaging, and dynamic atmosphere.  The slides often display visuals, as opposed to traditional text-based presentations.  The Ignite structure forces presenters to be succinct and clear, in addition to necessitating movement, energy, and preparedness. If you are interested in learning more, check out the history of Ignite events via Wikipedia or some additional information about what Ignite talks entail.

I also wanted to share with you the Ignite session presented by Massachusetts ASCD affiliate leader and alum of Lesley University’s Educational Technology Master’s program, Suzy Brooks. Suzy is a third grade teacher, in addition to serving as an EdTechTeacher consulting instructor.  Suzy created and shared an inspiring blog post about the experience of creating and sharing an Ignite session, describing each stage of the difficult and quite rewarding process.  Ignite talks can be an exciting vehicle to kick-off and set the tone for a class, meeting, or conference.