ISTE+Reflection+and+Implementation+Papers

==__**ISTE Reflection and Implementation Papers**__Hope everyone that went to the ISTE Conference had a GREAT time! There was a massive amount of learning done by all and we can't wait to have everyone share their sessions with all!==

Jill Mitchell



[|RoxaneISTE summary.docx]

ISTE CONFERENCE REFLECTION Gayle Vrooman/6th Grade Math at Miller I enjoyed attending this national conference, and I�m taking some great ideas into my classroom to spice up my 2011/2012 school year. The first session that I�m writing about is the �They Snooze, You Lose�. It was a fantastic breakout session by Lynell Burmark. I had a refreshing message on the importance of making your lessons snappy and entertaining. Her ideas were easy to follow and improvise with. I purchased her book consisting of numerous ideas to use in my classroom. I will definitely perform the one�s she showed in the session. She had gone to Walgreen�s and picked up some neat colored balls that you could throw to answer questions. I know this would be an easy way to keep the students engaged and ready to catch and respond to questions. I always have one that raises their hand so fast and I call on them because I see their hand right away. When I realize it, I often have to say someone else�s turn, but I�m glad you know. This way I can mix it up. I used a close pin desk system now that takes too long to do. The cute, colorful balls would be so much easier. I am going to follow her book suggestions on the easier ways for students to read on presentations. Lower case letters are quicker to follow while reading. Background colors and how they blend with other color being used are mentioned on a chart. It explains the ones that blend and standout better with others. I want to focus on imagery with my reading stories. There is a great lesson on giving a word out loud, allow them 10 seconds to visual it, have them share their image with another student, and then show a few slides on different perspectives of the picture. This allows them to see and share different ideas, but they will make a connection to the word. I will use this book in my language arts classes a great deal.

The second session that will help me be a better teacher was presented by Tom Lucas. It was �Turn Your Boring Lesson into a Fun and Engaging Game�. It had some wonderful ideas to make lessons more appealing to students. I created a lot on interactive Smart board lessons with a few of the ideas mentioned in this session. One thing that I discovered that I do already, but not in digital way, is to catch their attention with a short activity or trivia when they first enter the room. I�m going to create some slides and word documents that can be interactive on the Smart for the first few minutes of class. I plan to tie this in with reading vocabulary and comprehension of the stories in the text. There will also be some math puzzles or word problems to solve. Our textbook has some to use, but I know now they will be more engaging if it is incorporated into digital style. I will definitely use some of the ideas in this session, but time is always an issue to create them. I have started some of the short engaging activities to get attention right away. I learned many free features to use and explore with Google aps in another session I attended. I am going to mix some of these activities to put them to good use. A virtual tour on a location of the setting of a reading story will be fun. The kids can each create their own tour and choose the key points they discovered and liked. These sessions are always helpful for reviewing on the importance of making connections to learn.

The last session I want to try in my classroom was about using the number one tool that all students have (CELL PHONES). I�m going to meet with my principal and request permission to use this piece of technology in my classroom. The presenter gave super reasons for why they are a sensible tool to use. Some reasons being: Most schools that have joined the bandwagon for the usage of this powerful tool in the classroom testify they would not quit it for any reason. They have found ways to regulate problems that might occur during the usage. Every time there is new idea or revolution for making education better, pilot programs are established. The schools that are using these can be great places for schools to go and ask questions about areas of concern. I am hoping to convince my administrator to let me attempt a few tests activities through texting and some research things if they have internet capabilities on their phones. This will be a slow process, but it would be well worth the effort. These are only a few ideas that I acquired at this conference. As usual, a teacher gets so many that your head spins and you don�t know where to begin to get started. I am glad we were required to pick three sessions to focus on. It has made me focus on things that I know I will be able to attempt and use in my lessons in math and reading. I am thankful I was a candidate allowed to attend this beneficial convention.
 * 1) Mobile
 * 2) Video and movie capability
 * 3) Affordable
 * 4) Easy to use
 * 5) Training already done(most have them and have used them)
 * 6) Necessity
 * 7) Accessible (kids have them so not a school expense)
 * 8) Engaging without creating lessons
 * 9) Communication and feedback
 * 10) Gather information and research capability

Sandy Sivertsen Miller School District ISTE 2011 Philadelphia was one of the best experiences I have ever had. The keynote speaker of Steve Covey was amazing along with the 7 Steps of Leadership. I am in hopes that my principal will explore the possibilities a program like this would expand the students� performance and grow leaders right before our eyes.

Readlicious: Delicious Digital Reading Treats was the best breakout session that I attended. The website url is http://readilicious.wikispaces.com/ The ideas to encourage lifelong readers were great. I was amazed that you could embed an edu.glogster into a wiki page. The wiki page has a great look and if you change the glogster it will also change on the wiki. On the book hooks tab students created mini videos with animoto to hook readers into the books they read. After exploring some of the videos I can see that students were very creative and engaged with the books they read. Students also used Blabberize. I checked this site out and it looks like one I will use to be able to help students create unique videos to hook others into reading. They will have to have a picture and then they will be able to make their picture talk by recording their voice. Voki is similar to Blabberize. However in Voki students can select a picture and then record their voice. Paper slides is a vimeo where students video their pictures and talk about them. They also used Photo Story 3 and Flipcams. I use Photo Story 3 with poetry, but can see how students would be able to use it for Book Hooks as well. The wiki/glogster even has a link to how to create a book trailer.

Book Talk includes some web tools such as wall wisher, Voice Thread, Kid Blog, Wordle, Flipcams, and Edublogs. Book Talks are meant to engage the learners in the books they are reading when they share with the class and in their groups. Wall Wisher could allow the teacher to ask engaging questions that students can answer or discuss with each other. They can also use Wall Wisher as a research tool where the students can post sites that the others can use. Kid Blog is a safe blogging environment for students and will engage them in writing for a purpose. I plan to use Kid Blog for journaling and other projects. I was not able to get Voice Thread to work for me, but I am willing to check it out and try again. I can see that it would be a great tool for teachers and students to use. I tried to use the Voice Thread on the site under Book Talk and I could not get it to work. There is also an edublog site there as well.

Story Creations is to promote retelling and writing about the stories and books that students read. Mixbook, Glogster, Voki, Blabberize, Story Bird, Tikatok, Slide Six, Go Animate, and Zooburst are the programs suggested to use to retell and write. Mixbook is a site that you can create a book from photos that you have taken or use from other sites. You upload the photos and write your story. You can view it online or you can have a printed copy for a fee. I have already discussed Glogster, Voki, and Blabberize. Storybird is a website that you can use to create stories. It can be used in the lower grades and two or more people can use it, but cannot be both logged in at the same time. Tikatok is another site on the internet that you can use to create books. I liked the fact that you can scan student created illustrations and upload them into the book. You can share the book online or purchase a hard covered book as well. Go Animate is a website that you can create an animation with different characters and you can use your own voice for talking. We read a tall tale about the third week in the year and I thought it might be fun for students to create their own tall tale with Go Animate. Zoo Burst is a 3-D pop-up book that can be created online. I like the idea of the pop-up book, however, they did not have any examples to look at.

Under the Reading that Sticks icon, you can view what one teacher did when she read a book about cats. She asked questions on her glogster and students would be able to view her glogster at her wiki. Interesting way to keep students engaged in learning.

Under Digital Reading Treats the presenters showed some ways to keep readers reading even on line with book flix, Tumble Books, and ConnectEd. Some students love to read on the computer, others enjoy the books. However, students need to presented opportunities for their interest.

Research Rocks contains a wiki site that helps students think about how to research and gives them some printable worksheets that can help them. This allows students to analyze and use higher level thinking skills.

I really liked the Readilicious presentation and also the ability to access the information at my convenience.

The second session I would like to share was a model lesson title Vocabulary Evolution: Making it Rigorous, Relevant, and Real! To incorporate Mrs. Goodnights ideas into the classroom will be fun and easy. I plan to include a slide for each vocabulary word at the beginning of each story on my smartboard file and possible definitions as she did in her presentation. I know that we have a student response system but it is currently in the lower grades. She has also converted her files to pdf and word so I can save them and use them. She used 4 strategies throughout the week. Day 1 Pre-Assess (which is what I will be adding to my smartboard file for each story) Day 2 � Teaching/Learning � she used an online dictionary to copy the definitions onto a document either with the computer or ipod. Then she had the students put the definitions into their own words. Day 3� Review � Students can choose different ways to show they know the word�s meaning. Some choices are Vocabutoon, slideshow, trading cards. She has templates made for the vocabutoon and trading cards. I feel my students can use power point if they choose the slideshow. Day 4-5 Assess (Showing Mastery through creation)� Students again have choices how they will show they know the vocabulary. The choices are Garage Band Vocabulary Song, Vocabulary Game Board, Vocabulary iMovie (possibly flipcam for my use),Podcast/Broadcast, Vocabulary interviews using Photo Booth (flipcam for my use). I think students will love these ideas and grow with using the different programs. You could even have students create a glogster for the assessment. She stated that a post assessment should match the pre-assessment. When I create the slides to go with each story they will be used for both the pre and the post assessment.

The third session I would like to discuss is the Keynote session with Steve Covey. I have listened to 3 CD�s of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and was excited to hear more about what he had to say. I have not read his books but they are on my reading list for the rest of the summer. I am going to share both books and ideas with my principal. I am hopeful that she will begin the new year with the ideas found in these books. I think our students can benefit and make a difference in our school and community with these books.

I feel truly blessed to have been selected to attend the ISTE Conference. I know that it will make a difference in my classroom this year.

�Mobilism� and Mobility in the Classroom David Steele Sanborn Central Classroom ISTE 2011 Session Summary and Applications

This was perhaps the most eye opening and applicable session I attended during my stint at the conference. Once a school system (administrators, school boards, parents, and students) conform to the idea that America is a mobile society, education too, must adjust to this facet of American life, business, social interaction, and mere functionality.

In the last fiscal quarter more �smart-phones� were purchased than standard cell phones. These devices, essentially, are computers in the pocket of the consumer that allow them to connect to data, content created materials, web based applications, and cloud based content. Predictions seem to follow this trend, with cell phone manufacturers predicting that by 2014, every student in America will have a smartphone from grades 2-12. This seems implausible on the mere socio economic status of some students in American classrooms. However, one would be remiss to acknowledge that prepaid cell phone services such as cricket, boost, and straight talk, already offer smart-phones at a substantial reduction in price compared to post paid major cell phone companies also known as the �big three� (Spring, AT&T) and Verizon. While these devices tend to be two or three years behind the newest technology in the smartphone market, they still allow access to the aforementioned capabilities.

What does this mobilist society mean for teachers and schools? We must adapt or we will become irrelevant to how students communicate and learn. No longer is rote memorization of a minutia of facts relevant when Google is in the pocket of today�s learners. We must change how we teach and offer content and curriculum if we are to stay relevant to the students we teach. Curriculum must include the use of mobile devices and communication on these devices. Daily lessons need to include mobile aspects and students must be able to connect to school related content (grades, lessons, class updates, notifications, etc) via their mobile devices. Early research shows that students value teachers using such capabilities in their classrooms more than those who do not. This value is seen in a desire to take such teachers classes, higher rates of homework being completed, and students sharing a sense of relevance in classes taught by teachers using this technology within their classrooms.

The real question in mobile devices within the classroom is not the ability of the student to make it work, but rather that of the individual teacher and school district to make it feasible. As made reference in this session, nearly every business in America, health care providers, banks, etc. have converted to mobile access and relevance for the consumer, so why not schools? It is a poignant and valid question. In addition, many teachers have tried to justify their resistance to learning and using new technology with the retirement argument. �I will retire in five-ten years so why should I learn this new medium�? the answer is simple, technology moves one hundred times over during such a time frame and the teacher�s refusal to move with it does a disservice to their students.

Much to the dismay of health care providers, parents, and teachers, the average school aged child today has 7.5 hours of �screen time� a day (computer, cell phone, TV, video games). If one puts this amount into perspective, that is nearly half of the time they are awake during the day. If we don�t use screen time in the classroom, we are failing to be effective, because this has become life as they know it. As pointed out during this session not using screen time today, would be like teaching math with an Abacus instead of a calculator; it simply is ineffective and outdated.

Almost 7/10 classrooms in America do not use enough or relevant technology to interest and spark the creativity of today�s learner. Whether we as teachers want to admit it, that falls on us. Budget issues will always be that issues; but we as a community tend to make those issues excuses. There are literally thousands of free web based technologies teachers have access to that can spark the interest of students. Like most, these include mobile versions that can be used on cell phones. It falls on the teacher to search and learn these applications so they may be used in the classroom.

Creating a mobile learning environment has started on the grass roots level. Many schools have begun breaking the ground and have gone one-one using mobile devices. These pilot schools are reporting trackable data that suggest what anyone who works with today�s youth already knows, these devices are having meaningful improvements on learning, standardized test scores, homework completion rates, and overall sense of learning relevance amongst the students themselves.

The idea of each student having a personal computer seemed impossible ten years ago. Hence, it is plausible that within five years, each student will have a smartphone in our classrooms. The real question, will be whether instructors and schools are ready and willing to take advantage of this fact.

Tweet Tweet Twitter is News ISTE Conference Session Summary and Application David Steele

More than half of teachers in America have little or no knowledge of Twitter. Less than 20% have an account. By comparison, 75% of all American high school students have a twitter account and check it over a dozen times a day. How many of them open a text book a dozen times during the day? The message here is simple, we are failing to use a free and easy application to enhance our lessons and sense of relevance with students.

A recent report found that over half the students in colleges today consider Twitter their main source of �News�. After the killing of Bin Laden, Twitter had over a billion Tweets in the hours that followed the breaking news. In perspective, the Superbowl is watched by less people. This fact is even more remarkable, because a Billion Tweets meant a Billion people interacting, not merely watching. People in China were interacting with people in Israel over one piece of news. So why don�t teachers use this in the classroom?

Technological apathy is perhaps the biggest problem facing American education today. �The kids use it, but it�s for play, not for school� seems to be a sentiment held by many teachers today. However, as Twitter has proven, what started as a social network at it�s birth, has morphed into a relevant source for news, information, and reflection, as well as a social networking tool.

Some of the teachers in this session from inner city Los Angeles stated during the session, that they saw a remarkable increase in home work completion by merely Tweeting reminders to students and Tweeting positive feedback. This is a simple and easy practical application to the use of Twitter in the classroom. Another teacher, reported that students Tweeted relevant curriculum benchmarks during the summer when school was out of session. One Tweet read �The Grand Canyon is as cool as Mr. Adams said it was, hope I don�t fall off my donkey�. Had that teacher not incorporated Twitter in his classroom, would he have taken the time to share his experience with his classmates in the summer on a topic they covered in the fall, probably not.

Twitter is exceedingly easy to set up and use, therefore one has to wonder why more schools are not using Twitter with their students. Twitter is mobile, meaning students have access to school related content at the discretion of the �poster�. Changes in due dates, cancellations, events, etc, can all be shared in realtime with students.

One teacher has students Tweet about the day�s lesson at it�s conclusion. He notes that �Students are more engaged simply because they want to post the most clever Tweet at lessons end. If a Tweet keeps their attention on me for thirty minutes, then my motto is Tweet Tweet Tweet�. Again, here we see a simple way to engage students using a free mobile based application.

The real effectiveness of Twitter or any technology in the classroom, rest on the teacher who is willing to learn it, incorporate it, and make it relevant. Twitter itself is the tool, the teacher must be the one who uses it.

Schools Waste Money on Books ISTE Conference Summary and Application David Steele

�The use of books in the classroom is like chiseling cave drawings during the renaissance�. This sentiment on technology and the world we live in was repetitive during this conference and some of the following were points made in several sessions that seem to support this statement.


 * 1) E-books outsell hard copy books by more than double.
 * 2) I library on the iphone is the average Iphone/Ipad users �library�.
 * 3) College students, if given the choice, buy e copies for classes they take 80% of the time.
 * 4) The Book is becoming as relevant to people 35 and under as the relevance of a VHS tape.
 * 5) Students are increasingly reporting that unless the teacher assigns questions from a book, they don�t take the book home. In addition, students in classroom climate visits report that the thing they dislike about school the most when it comes to course work is �Book Work�! Read chapter 5 and do the review questions has become a painful task for students today.
 * 6) The internet has made work sheets irrelevant or at least has changed them to an interactive assessment rather than a pencil and paper task.
 * 7) As of last year 30% of schools were paperless. (teachers don�t run off assignments, test, or assessments) A few years ago that number was half that.
 * 8) A majority of people under 30 don�t buy hard copy books or magazines, they have them on their mobile devices. These same people don�t receive bills or bank statements, they do these task on their mobile devices as well. What will our students likely do?
 * 9) With free content on the web and the content known by teachers, what are books needed for?
 * 10) Book learning is outdated and teaching that way is a disservice to students.

What struck me at this conference was how accurate many of these messages are and how many teachers have put the book away in favor of gathering web materials to meet curriculum demands. One teacher I met from New York mentioned he hadn�t purchased books for ten years and his school recently went paperless. He alluded to many of the aforementioned points as to the reasoning behind his personal decision and then that of his school. However, he mentioned teaching from the book was not only boring his students, but him as well. As he stated �Why would you teach from one source made by a company when you have thousands of sources free to you on the internet�. He makes a good point and I guess I don�t know why you would.

ISTE 2011 - J. Slim Schneider

Traveling to Philadelphia for the ISTE 2011 convention was an incredible opportunity for me.

I spoke with dozens of educators and presenters from all over the country. I found the commonality was the desire to become a better teacher/presenter (read life-long learner). I learned that we all have similar obstacles to overcome and quite often found that, though our communities are of immensely different sizes, the solutions we came to were remarkably similar.

Technology coordinators in liberal, technology centric Oregon use many of the same free, open-source software programs that I use in the most conservative (and tiny) county in South Dakota. The ponytail wearing gentleman I refer to uses Kompozer, Audacity, OpenOffice, Gimp, all of which I use. I find it ironic that, of all the choices out there, a self-proclaimed computer geek decided these programs that I use ,were also the best choice for him.

The world is truly getting smaller. In the airport in Chicago I got a phone call from a friend who lives in Platte. His Facebook profile picture pops up on my phone when he calls. So I'm in the Chicago airport for 15 minutes when my phone rings. I grab it and see the Wrigley Field Sign! How ironic!

I left a session near lunch time and decided to venture out on my own to find something to eat. A friend who lives three blocks away calls. He moved to Armour from New Jersey and knew the city of Philadelphia (separated from New Jersey by a river) and gave me advice on where to eat. The world is truly getting smaller!

Session Reviews are linked here! Open Office format Word format

Lenn Braun's Power Point about ISTE & Technology in the classroom