Back from day 2 of the Smart Ed. Services "Ohio Free Tech" conference and all I can say is "WOW"! First, it was free! 2 days of quality presentations, for the most part, and I came away with as many ideas (some more practical then others) as I discovered in the 2 days I was at the eTech conference in early February. I think the biggest difference between the conferences was that the focus in planning seemed to be on the attendees. Pre-registering for sessions allowed them to hold the largest sessions in the largest room. eTech just squeezed as many as possible into 1 room and then shut the doors. I think many of the presenters at the Ohio Free Tech presented a couple of times and that allowed more people to attend their sessions.
I was particularly impressed with 2 of the presenters. Tammy Worcester presented loads and loads of free and practical tools for teachers from a variety of sources. I've "known" Tammy (never met her in person, just followed her in the ed. tech. world) since my beginning days as a technology coordinator and she was a complete ball of energy! She was quick and gave many ideas/resources/concepts in a short time frame. Very organized and I was impressed! Jim Klein is the IT person for Saugus Schools in California and he presented numerous ideas for both Open Source solutions and a variety of Learning 2.0 ideas/themes. I was interested in Jim's session on Open Source software because we run Ubuntu on our data server and I think that when we first built the server, we were almost ready to ditch commercial software for the Open Source solutions. For a variety of reasons and multiple changes in the volunteer department, we didn't proceed. Jim's passion and enthusiasm for what he does is obvious and I now really want to take a second look at what we've planned for and how we could make some important changes. I think the best idea that Jim presented was that all of the technology in the world doesn't "make" students' learn, we must give them a platform to share their learning with the larger community.
The conference also included many other fantastic presenters. Dr. Jamie McKenzie was on hand both days and shared with us his ideas for higher order thinking skills and how technology integration can move on from being "scooped up and smushed" information to creating original content. I've read many of his articles and it was nice to see him present in person.
I certainly give kudos to the Smart Ed. Services people for planning and pulling off events like this one. I hope they continue to do this type of conference and continue to attrack quality presenters like this year. Very well done!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Next Novels for Literature Circles
Still trying to finalize which novels the 5th and 6th graders will be reading in the next few weeks. I've consulted with our History teacher and the 5th graders are studying the Revolutionary War so I think we'll go with that theme. Novels I'm considering currently include: "My Brother Sam Is Dead", "George Washington's Socks", "The Fighting Ground", and "Hope's Crossing". I still need a couple more choices for the 5th graders.
I had titles ready for the 6th grade, but then decided that maybe featuring African-American authors might be a great theme. Some titles for the 6th graders include: "Elijah of Buxton", "Bud, Not Buddy", "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry", and "A Friendship for Today". I think those titles provide some variety for the 6th graders to choose from. I'd like to find a few more choices. I still have a few days to decide. For the 6th grade novels, I'll be including some author activities as well as having the students study where the novel takes place. That along with their regular Literature Circle jobs should lead to interesting discussions. For our last class novel, we didn't do the Literature Circle jobs and I think the kids liked changing things up a bit!
And I've decided...I'm a book junkie! I could spend hours at the library finding books and even more hours reading them!! Have a great week!
I had titles ready for the 6th grade, but then decided that maybe featuring African-American authors might be a great theme. Some titles for the 6th graders include: "Elijah of Buxton", "Bud, Not Buddy", "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry", and "A Friendship for Today". I think those titles provide some variety for the 6th graders to choose from. I'd like to find a few more choices. I still have a few days to decide. For the 6th grade novels, I'll be including some author activities as well as having the students study where the novel takes place. That along with their regular Literature Circle jobs should lead to interesting discussions. For our last class novel, we didn't do the Literature Circle jobs and I think the kids liked changing things up a bit!
And I've decided...I'm a book junkie! I could spend hours at the library finding books and even more hours reading them!! Have a great week!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Reflecting on eTech Ohio 2010
I had to return a day early from eTech to attend a funeral, so unfortunately, I missed 1 day of motivation and exciting presentations. One of my colleagues and myself attended both Monday and Tuesday sessions last week. One of the things that I find the most interesting about attending a conference is the amount of new energy I return with and the willingness to jump in and try new ideas. Because this was a technology conference, I was particularly interested in how I can energize my teachers with new project ideas and resources.
It had been a couple of years since I last attended the eTech conference and I was pleasantly surprised at the availability of wi-fi throughout the conference center. I only wish that sessions that were totally filled could've been live streamed for those of us who couldn't get into the room. I attended a few sessions on making movies in the classrooms using a variety of resources. While we've used movie making before as a project outcome, it was helpful to see other options and ideas. I really like the idea of building "digital backpacks" for students to utilize when they tackle a movie or digital picture project.
Twitter was another popular topic for a few of the sessions at the conference. I use twitter mostly as a professional development resource. I follow lots of other educational technology folks and I learn alot from them, even though I don't always "tweet".
Monday's keynote for the afternoon was David Warlick. I've followed David for a few years now and he's certainly someone who knows of what he speaks(although now when I read what he's written I hear it with a southern accent!)! I could've listened to him for another hour. He talked about building your Personal Learning Network (PLN) and showed us some new and some not so new tools for adding to your network. To me, personal learning networks are the heart of my personal professional development. They are key to helping me discover new, sometimes better ways of accomplishing tasks. They provide resources and support when needed. I'm a firm believer in not re-inventing the wheel and my PLN helps me greatly!
Overall, I was glad to have attended the conference and hope that my enthusiasm continues. It is the kind of "re-charging" I need in February! Now, if we can only find the funds to do what we want!!
It had been a couple of years since I last attended the eTech conference and I was pleasantly surprised at the availability of wi-fi throughout the conference center. I only wish that sessions that were totally filled could've been live streamed for those of us who couldn't get into the room. I attended a few sessions on making movies in the classrooms using a variety of resources. While we've used movie making before as a project outcome, it was helpful to see other options and ideas. I really like the idea of building "digital backpacks" for students to utilize when they tackle a movie or digital picture project.
Twitter was another popular topic for a few of the sessions at the conference. I use twitter mostly as a professional development resource. I follow lots of other educational technology folks and I learn alot from them, even though I don't always "tweet".
Monday's keynote for the afternoon was David Warlick. I've followed David for a few years now and he's certainly someone who knows of what he speaks(although now when I read what he's written I hear it with a southern accent!)! I could've listened to him for another hour. He talked about building your Personal Learning Network (PLN) and showed us some new and some not so new tools for adding to your network. To me, personal learning networks are the heart of my personal professional development. They are key to helping me discover new, sometimes better ways of accomplishing tasks. They provide resources and support when needed. I'm a firm believer in not re-inventing the wheel and my PLN helps me greatly!
Overall, I was glad to have attended the conference and hope that my enthusiasm continues. It is the kind of "re-charging" I need in February! Now, if we can only find the funds to do what we want!!
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