Making Content "Stick"

Lynell Burmark gave two insightful sessions on how to make content comprehensible, both focusing on using visuals to foster life-long learning. First, she demonstrated how to effectively use PowerPoint presentations -- less written information, with more visuals and oral explanations. Secondly, she modeled teaching techniques to promote long-term retention of information. Giving students a visual image that connects to the information allows for deeper comprehension. Overall, appealing to the senses will greatly improve student learning and attainment, both for their present and their future.

Google Earth for Gifted Education

This session showed how Google Earth can inspire and expand the challges to gifted students.

Google LIt Trips was first demo. This link is on Jennifer's links on our Teacher page. Like a Trip Tik for google earth.... following journeys in novels, non-fiction, etc.

Under Places (in Google Earth) you can create folders to organize "trips".

Get Google Earth Pro for free if you are a teacher!

Utilize lots of stuff already existing for journeys, projects, etc.
GEEC@google.com to be sent a qualifing questionnaire!

Image overlay on the maps are interesting!

Podcasting

Audio "pushed" to users and easily accessible. MP3 files. Using RSS feeds makes it convenient.
Audacity (free download) can be used for audio recording directly to pc, or to edit mp3 recordings.

Principals creating podcasts "with a purpose": newscast... what's happening at school site,
CUE community for all presentations from sessions.

BAckground infor about creating podcasts.

Best practices:
Recording additional information to supplement class. Interviews, music.
iTunes University (free?) portal for institutions to provide content to audience.
Stanford: anyone can access it.

iPod can be used to create with iTalk.
Stanford University good example.
itunes.stanford.edu

Can access stanford lectures for purpose at school: select lectures and play in class or for homework.

Great idea: audio/video announcements or weekly school news by media class.

Digital Story Telling

This was a broad look at samples for audio, photo and video "story telling".... this is a very flexible way to be creative.

Audio-only ideas include mock interviews, radio NPL book reviews, while photos and short video included short documentary.All very doable, and aligned to the summer institute session I attended earlier. Audacity and other free software available.

Wiki classroom

This session showed how teachers can use wiki as the base for online classroom.... assignments, templates, online turnin, collaboration, tagging page, viewing the input by individual stuents, etc.

She was really fast, talked a mile a minute. But she was full of ideas. Students use hyperlinks in text to link to "expert" text on the subject. also students are embedding files, photos, etc.

She uses tags to have students mark things turn in and she would then change the tags to graded when she is done grading. RSS feeds gives her a way to have "virtual turn in" for assignments. Every edit comes to her through her RSS feeds.

She also uses Google Reader to manage the RSS feeds for her assignments done on wiki.

This session was jam packed with info that will take me some time and practice to sort out.

wiki is hawaiian for quickly!

Steps to Flatten Your Classroom

First things first: the session description provided in our program did not match what was actually presented.

Intrigued by learning more about how to connect with classrooms from across the globe, I decided to give this one a go. Unfortunately, it wasn't really a "how-to" as much as it was a "let's do". The first 45 minutes were spent describing the great success that Vicki Davis, our presenter, has had (an continues to have) with her Flat Classroom projects. Eventually we got to the "7 steps," during the last 5 minutes or so, which were actually "principles". It wasn't a complete loss as I mangaged to walk away with some links and some suggested reading. Here's hoping the next one is a bit more informative.

Professional Development- Summer Institute

This group presented an idea for summer tech training for teachers in a combined face to face and distance learning format. 30% of the workshop was in a group setting, while 70% independent/online. Our Whipple Hill services (My Louisville) would serve as the forum using a community group specifically for this institute.

the format presented was:
4 weeks long
10 hours per week
one 3-hour meeting (Mondays)
7 hours of assignment/projects
one or two other optional group sessions for those preferring more instructor time

Three topics were "humanities" type tools: Photo, Audio, Movie that would relate to English, SS, F. Language and Religion.

Louisville takes CUE by storm!

After a 4 1/2 hour drive (including pizza stop) we arrived at the beautiful Wyndham Hotel in Palm Springs. A big CUE spotlight on the lobby floor welcomed us. We had a nice "meeting" by the firepit before calling it a night.

We are excited about the sessions today, and will keep you posted of discoveries and ideas.