Last year Ditch That Textbook and Ditch That Homework author, Matt Miller, ran an absolutely incredible virtual professional development summit over the holiday break. The feedback was unbelievably positive. This year, he is it bringing it back and it is a total no-brainer…you simply have to sign up. It is completely FREE, watch the videos whenever you want over the window of the summit, and since it is virtual…you can make it PAJAMA PD! Here to explain everything is a guest blog post by Matt Miller

(Oh!!! And see below how you can watch my Ditch Summit video from last year which is now available again!!!)

The holiday break is a perfect time to lock the classroom door, recharge and refocus.

Put on the pajama pants. Get a mug of hot cocoa, tea or coffee.

It’s also perfect for taking some time for yourself.

After a busy semester of school, break can be a time to do the things you just didn’t have time to do.

What if you spent part of it gathering ideas and getting inspired to start next semester off with a bang?

If you’re like me — the geeky kind of educator that gets excited about those kinds of things — then I have something for you.

You MUST check out the Ditch That Textbook Digital Summit. It’s a completely FREE, completely online conference for teachers. You can get your FREE ticket by going to DitchSummit.com.

Plus, if you love PIRATE authors, the summit is featuring several: Explore Like a PIRATE author Michael Matera, Pure Genius author Don Wettrick, Ditch That Textbook author Matt Miller, and soon-to-be-published author Jon Corippo!

Here’s the digital summit in a nutshell:

• New video presentations are released every day from Dec. 15-23. They’re all pre-recorded, so watch any time you want.
• For any video you watch, you’ll be able to generate a FREE certificate for professional development credit.
• Download a PDF notes page to remember key ideas.
• Reflect and share with others! The #DitchSummit Twitter hashtag will be buzzing. Share short video reflections via Flipgrid and hear what others have to say about presentations.
• Video presentations will be available until Dec. 31. After that, the summit is over and videos will disappear.

I like to think of the Digital Summit as “PD in your PJs”. Watch when you want, where you want — by the fireplace, under a blanket on the couch, snuggled up in bed.

Some have said they watch the videos while cleaning out closets or doing the dishes — your choice!

If you don’t have your FREE ticket yet, go to DitchSummit.com.

Oh, and there are free prizes, too! Check out these two ways to win:

1. We’ll give away two FREE Acer Chromebook 15’s! To win, just be sure to watch the “Chromebook Crash Course” video on Dec. 22. There will be a special entry form for the Chromebook drawing. Thanks to Acer for being the Digital Summit’s giveaway sponsor!
2. You can enter to win prizes just for getting social about the summit! Tweet about the summit or post to Facebook about it to enter this giveaway. ***Be sure to include #DitchSummit and DitchSummit.com in your tweet/post for the entry to count. On Dec. 15, we’ll give away a Google Home Mini, a Chromecast and copies of my books (Ditch That Textbook and Ditch That Homework) to people who share about the Digital Summit on Twitter and Facebook!

So, the topics … what are the presentations about? Each year, I’ve brainstormed my favorite presenters in the education space and asked them to participate in the summit. And each year, they’ve all said yes!

Here is this year’s lineup:

• Dec. 15 (Fri) — When Tech and Pedagogy Collide with Tanya Avrith and Holly Clark
• Dec. 16 (Sat) — The Science of Happiness with Kim Strobel
• Dec. 17 (Sun) — Brian-Friendly Learning that Works with Dr. Pooja Agarwal
• Dec. 18 (Mon) — How in the Google Did You Do That? with Eric Curts
• Dec. 19 (Tue) — How to Learn from a World of Educators with Sarah Thomas
• Dec. 20 (Wed) — Plan Smarter, Not Harder with Edu-Protocols with Jon Corippo
• Dec. 21 (Thur) — How to Make Learning a Game with Michael Matera
• Dec. 22 (Fri) — Chromebook Crash Course: What You NEED with Matt Miller
• Dec. 23 (Sat) — What Schools Can Learn from Start-Up Culture with Don Wettrick

And if that isn’t enough, we’ve even made all of last year’s Digital Summit sessions available, too! In fact, from the time this post is published until Dec. 31, 2017, they’ll all be available! Last year’s speakers include Teach Like a PIRATE’s Dave Burgess, Learn Like a PIRATE’s Paul Solarz, my Ditch T

hat Homework co-author Alice Keeler, and more!

Go to DitchSummit.com/lastyear to start watching those videos now (until Dec. 31, 2017)!

If you’ve made it this far in this post and haven’t claimed your free ticket to the Digital Summit, what are you waiting for?!? Head to DitchSummit.com right now and get signed up!

Hey!! This is Dave again. Thanks to Matt for providing this amazing opportunity and I would really love for you to not only sign up for this year but PLEASE go watch the videos from last year, too!! Let me know what you think of mine…it is kinda crazy as usual! CLICK HERE to find mine and the others!