I picked the boys up last night. Ethan was working on a workbook, something he loves to do. I coudn't help but notice his box of crayons. Check it out...I think every time he uses a crayon, he puts it back in the right spot before getting another one out. Ethan is 4! I know my kids' crayons usually ended up in a bucket or something. And when I was a kid, I was super excited to get the box of 64 crayons but I don't ever remember them staying in order....
This is just another example of how Ethan reminds me of the character Sheldon Cooper on the Big Bang Theory! His expressions and seriousness and the way he thinks and you see him thinking...plus the fact that he is very literal and doesn't miss a thing...all make me smile and want to call him "Sheldon." And then there is Drake.... Aren't we lucky that kids are unique? That we see all kind of children in our jobs and our lives? That we don't have clones in families or clones in schools? My parents had six kids...all very different. We all found our way in life at different paces, places and paths. But we all made it! Lynne, Roger, Cheryl, Mark, Peg and Kerri: Programmer, Teacher/Computer Engineer, Teacher, Accountant/CEO, Teacher, Accountant. (I see a recurring theme of teachers or math-types!) We can't fit students into the mold we think they belong. I stumbled upon this video and it seems appropriate to share it here. Enjoy! (Click the link) A story about a dog I love to run races! I love to be around other excited and crazy people going the same distance as I am that day! I love pinning on the number, lining up at the start line, checking my watch, and chatting with the other runners. And afterward, it is always a joy to trade "war stories" with my family and old and new friends.
One of my favorite "running pals" is my grandson Ethan, or E as we call him. He has run 3 or 4 races and always finishes with a huge smile on his face! Last summer we ran the 5K in Cairo. Jimpa, his grandpa, was going to push him in the double stroller with his brother during the 3.1 mile event. But right at the last minute he decided to run with his mom. He took off fast then stayed with me a little, then Jimpa finished the one mile loop with him. He did an awesome job running that far! And true to any other road race runner I know, E had to share his "war stories." He told us all about the wind and how "he just died when he turned into it!" I wrote this piece for our ESU10 Board meeting in August, 2014. I thought I would share it here.
ISTE 2014, ATLANTA, Georgia 16,000 plus registered attendees from 60+ nations! 500+ exhibitors with 1,300+ booths! 900+ sessions and 3 powerful keynotes over 4 days! What an awesome experience in Atlanta, GA at the end of June!ISTE's (International Society for Technology in Education) annual conference is a huge and impressive EdTech conference held each year. Educators come from all over the world to immerse themselves in educational technology and I was fortunate to have been one of those 16000 people this summer. It was my third ISTE but my first as an ESU 10 Teaching and Learning Coordinator! It was the best one yet!From the opening keynote to the last session I spent several days drenched in technology and inspiration! I didn’t want to miss a thing so I did not even break for lunch or attend the vendor expo, and I managed to attend 13 exceptional hour-long presentations with some some poster sessions tucked in between! One of the sessions I went to was called Ignite, which featured 20 educators sharing their passion in 5 minutes or less. The brain overload over the four days was so worth it! In recent years, there has been a shift in the focus of EdTech conferences, and I noticed this phenomenon especially at ISTE. The sessions have become less about a specific “tool” and more about having students create something that teachers can use to assess learning. At ISTE, I attended quite a few sessions on Project Based Learning, Literacy and basic tech integration. But in most of the sessions I went to, and all of the keynotes, one thing I really noticed was that nobody was really pushing a specific technology! Instead it was about student creation and forming relationships. I believe students learn best when they take ownership in their learning. Creating projects, regardless of the device, is a marvelous way to get students to own their learning! Instead of having students all do the same worksheet, teachers can have them create a unique project that can be shared digitally to an authentic audience! Students are certainly more engaged and because they create their own project, they can’t “copy” someone else! And if the students get to choose the tool, they own the learning even more! Many of the presentations I attended, and especially the keynotes, had another message that I found reassuring: “It’s all about the relationships between teachers and students.” Even at the NETA conference last April I heard a similar theme. Technology is a fantastic tool to provide your students with the resources needed, but technology is definitely not “IT.” However, a great teacher is! And if you look around at schools to find the best teachers, you will find those teachers who, while possessing great skills in their content areas and classroom management, more importantly, have a way of connecting with their students--making relationships. ISTE 2014 had a lot to offer me and others. But of all the opportunities that were presented, I think that Kevin Carroll's keynote on day two inspired me most. In his keynote, Kevin inspired me to make sure to “work hard, play harder, and inspire hardest.” I want to inspire teachers in the ESU 10 district to give their students the very best experience they can and to realize that they are the biggest asset in their classrooms. Technology gives students experiences far beyond we ever imagined, but the teacher is truly the best “app” in the room! (Thanks Mr. Badura for that quote!) In addition to the big picture of creativity and relationships, I also learned a great deal from all of the breakout sessions I attended! I can’t wait to delve further into some of my favorite presentations which include “Mastering the Common Core with Project Based Learning,” “Untangling the Web,” “Digital Storytelling for the YouTube Generation,” Animation,” and “Getting to the Common Core--Technology Integration and Literacy.” I’m even more excited to share my learnings with my colleagues and with ESU 10 educators!
Originally posted 4.1.14
Thank you Mr. Badura for creating the App Smash Challenge! I love it! The more I do it, the easier it is to think of ideas. I love seeing all the great ideas and examples shared at #appsmashchallenge. What a great resource this challenge has turned out to be! My new favorite app/tool is ThingLink, although I have been using it for two years now! Someone shared it at NETA12 and I have loved it ever since. I even used it for the presentation I had to give at my interview for my current position at ESU10. My topic was blogging in the classroom, but I used ThingLink for delivering my content. It was a hit! Now that ThingLink is an iPad app, I have found it to be even better! It is also a hit with whomever I share it! Teachers love it! Students love it! What a great way to make an interactive image rich with multi-media content. Then kick it up a notch by creating the background image in another app! The links that you add in ThingLink could also link out to multimedia projects that you created with yet other apps! (Tellagami, Haiku Deck, ShowMe, etc!) The possibilities are endless! Use Pic Collage, Popplet, Word Cloud, Skitch, Story Me, etc. to create relevant images, then tag your image in ThingLink with text boxes or links to other sites or videos!
I am also sharing an appsmash that was created at one of our iPad workshops here at ESU10. Granted, these were adults, not k-12 students, but we all know that sometimes adults are tougher to get to try something new! The task was for an art teacher to pair up with a music teacher and create a project using two of the apps they learned that day. Then they used iMovie to create the finished product. Enjoy!
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AuthorI taught math and science for 21 years before venturing out into technology integration. I love to run, garden, read and be with my family! Archives
November 2021
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