My day started at 8 am with Skype and ended at 5 pm with web design. It was a wonderful full day filled with new tools, tricks, and tips that I can't wait to share with BES. I want to share, first, the message from the keynote speaker - Leigh Ann Tuohy, inspiration of The Blind Side. This. Woman. Is. Amazing. And she reminded me why we do what we do. To help kids. We have to go the extra mile and get out of our comfort zone for the benefit of others. She really put things into perspective when she said that she is convinced that the inventor of the cure for cancer lives in inner city Memphis. Give someone hope and opportunity and the sky is the limit. Hope and opportunity. That's our job as teachers. Two words.
Here is a review of what sessions I attended today and what I learned:
Skyping with Authors
This session was AMAZING and really got my wheels turning about using Skype in the classroom. I know some of you are already Skyping, but we're going to take it to the next level by bringing authors right into your classroom!! During this session we actually skyped with two children's authors; Kate Messner and Steven Krasner. Many authors will do a free 20 minute session and some even do writer's workshops via Skype!!!
You Too Can Create an Elementary Film Festival
This session was also awesome!!! A tech specialist from Bryan ISD presented on how he helped a low SES school in BISD get on the map with a film festival. K-4 grade classes scripted, recorded, and produced Films in several categories including Public Service Announcement, Science Newscast, and Best Use of Music. They created a mock red carpet, dressed in formal attire, and even had trophies for the winning classes. The community really bought into it and it is now an annual event. Can't wait to do one for BES!!!
A Website is a Terrible Thing to Waste
This session really solidified how important our teacher sites are. The presenter said, "If you build it, they will come." I couldn't agree more. We need to all look at our teacher sites and make sure they are making our lives easier and engaging our students. If they're not - it's time to revamp. Here are some good points: hook them with your About Me page, your home page is critical-consider it like the cover of a book, create and maintain an assignments page! Remember, keeping an up-to-date website encourages your kids to visit it which promotes reading for information!!!
Some of the booths I visited and attended presentations at are:
AverMedia (I won a document camera at this one!!!)
Learning.com
Learning Resources (maker of EasySpeak mics-new toy called a Talk Points)
Schoology (like Facebook for your classroom!)
BrainPOP
Factsforme.com
Mackin e-books
Looking forward to another chilly, but productive day of technology awesomeness tomorrow! Hope you're all ready to dive right in when I get back!!!
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