November TIS Report

I continued to learn about an use the responders in class. I still need work on using the MOBI. Started sending out responder and MOBi tip to the other teachers. I did have some teachers tell me the tips were helpful. I am learning more about the outdoor electronic sign and have been putting up more messages with different effects. I still can't get pictures on the sign. I have been working on loading a virtual business software on the computers in the laptop cart. I am also putting PhotoStory3 and MovieMaker on the computers. The students are not allow to use the computers since we still do not have deep freeze for the laptops. I have contacted the board office about the problem but might as well have talked to the wall. I have assisted teachers with Edline problems and help them find files on the jump drives. I started attending webinars on teaching Sports Marketing. They will pick back up in January. I have made several suggestions to administration about showing teachers how they can use technology (Edline) on our collaborative Wednesdays. So far there has been no response to my suggestions. I feel like we are in a holding pattern. Our computer lab is old! We have newer computers that were donated to the school but the lab has not been changed out yet. We started a new GED program and they use the lab in the afternoon. Several computers have been torn-up.

October Post

The main thing that I was involved with was the IPI (Instructional Practices Inventory) course with Dr. Jerry Valentine. This allowed me to take a test to determine whether I could be certified as a data compiler, observer or qualify to be a trainer. This is a teacher driven program where brief walkthroughs are conducted multiple times a day in all of the classes in the school. The main focus of these observations is to gauge student engagement on the IPI scale and using this as a starting point for discussions about making students active participants in their education as opposed to passive observers.

The next thing that I did that focused on technology was a multiple day workshop on PBL’s. This training focused on ways to incorporate technology into my curriculum and develop units or lesson plans that keep students motivated, engaged and excited.

Nov. Tech Report

Webinars, webinars, webinars...I completed a webinar on balanced science programs and "attended" a Virtual Tech Forum. The Tech Forum was set up like a conference, with sessions, virtual vendor area and chat sessions. It was one of the best and most interesting webinars/webcasts I have ever participated in. The three sessions I completed were High School 2.0: Talking Change for Today and Tomorrow, Cells in the Classroom: From Banning to Embracing and Internet 2 and High-Bandwidth Connectivity: How and Why to Jump on Board. I shared information from all these session with our director, especially about bandwidth. We have serious lack of bandwidth issues now that our Welding and Building Construction labs are use ToolingU and our Automotive lab is using Today’s Class.

October post

During the month of October, I was busy learning many new technology things. The first thing I did was to attend with my CTE Director WorkKeys certification training at WVUP at Parkersburg. We attended a one day training session for the online portion of the WorkKeys test. I am now a certified proctor for both the paper and pencil and the online portion of the WorkKeys test. Two days after that I went to the state DECA advisors academy and became certified to be a DECA advisor. Even though the main emphasis was not on technology, we discussed many ways in which to implement technology in Business and Marketing classes and ways in which technology is used at the competition level. For example, students create electronic portfolios to be used at the state competition. The following two school days I was a member of our school leadership team that attended the regional High Schools That Work data workshop at Lakeview in Morgantown. Technology use in the classroom was definitely a major topic in our sharing sessions there. The technology focus team at our school hosted a MOBI training for teachers at our school during October with Mike Semones from eInstruction. I finally installed my software and am now able to use my classroom set of MOBIs, and they are now ready to let other teachers use them also. I then attended an afternoon training session at Job Force in Morgantown on KeyTrain with my CTE Director. We are now able to set up our students accounts for KeyTrain online. We have given all of our completers and many other juniors and seniors the Quick Guide pretest. Now they are able to do their assignments online either at school or at home. I helped teachers get all of their students through the first round of Acuity benchmark testing, and we are now preparing for the second round. Marian Covey, coordinator for WV HSTW came to our school and helped our leadership team, of which I am a member, get all of our teachers through their online survey. We are now preparing for our technical appraisal visit, and I was asked to go on a technical appraisal visit to another school in February. If you have never done this before, it is a good way to get lots of good ideas (especially in the area of technology). I don't think I could fit any more into a month!

October Blog Report

What technology activities was I involved in during the month of October?
· I attended WVEIS ON THE WEB Train the Trainer Workshop
· Meet with County Technicians about mobile lab problems and updates.
· Did technology orders for Elmos and software.
· Meet with RESA Technology Specialist and had refresher training on MOBIS and clickers.
· Set up trainings for teachers for MOBIS, clickers, and Whiteboards.
· Updated T-drive (teacher resource drive on network I created)

What technology activities did I share with my students?
· Meet with TECHIE Team every Thursday morning. Techies are assigned teachers to assist with technology maintenance and other technology needs.
· Worked with students on WV Writes Program.
· Helped 6th graders and new students utilize our online grading program—SnapGrades.
· Students utilized Quia.com and Actden.com for class activities and tutorials.

Other CTE educators?
· Loaded software and updated computers for various teachers.
· Set up access email and SnapGrades
· Gave an in-service on WOW (WVEIS on the Web)
· Troubleshooted the Distance Learning Lab and various teacher laptops.
· Created a Technology Newsletter which will be updated once every month to our school webpage.
· Created a list of students without Internet access—school newsletter and technology newsletter will be emailed monthly. Students without Internet access at home will receive a hard copy.

November Blog Report

What technology activities was I involved in during the month of November?
· Presented a workshop to our feeder area elementary school on WOW, Quia, and SnapGrades.
· Added student pictures to our online grading program—SnapGrades. Teachers can no see a picture of the student for use during team meetings or class. They also can create seating charts using student pictures.
· Updated teacher computers, added Mozilla FireFox for use with WV Writes program.
· Troubleshooted various teacher computers.
· Assisted new teachers with WOW and inputting grades.
· Updated T-drive (teacher resource drive on network I created)

What technology activities did I share with my students?
· Worked with students on WV Writes program
· Meet with Techie Team every Thursday. Taught them how to download spyware and Malwarebytes programs to help clean up computers.
· Students viewed and Audacity tutorial and worked with Audacity to merge music and recorded voice.
· Students learned to work with online yearbook program.
· Students worked with Windows Movie Maker to create movies for their Power Point presentations and the school webpage.
· Students used Wordle to create an “All About Me” piece of art.


Other CTE educators?
· Assisted teachers in locating curriculum resource sites to be used in the classroom.
· Demonstrated how to use whiteboards.
· Worked with teachers on the class web pages.

WV TIS-CTE: November Report

WV TIS-CTE: November Report: Great news! We have started using Tooling U in a couple of classes this month with some success. A nice feature that nobody thought about about Tooling U is the use of specific topic lessons that cover mandated reading, writing, and special topics like Constitution day as quick ready made lessons to cover topics we do not normaly cover. I had to give a presentation to our curriculum advisors which are mainly business owners in our community that have affiliations with our trades. They enjoyed the content ready nature of Tooling u and was wondering if it was available to their employees.

October Technology Report

What technology activities were you involved in during the month of October?

I attended the NCPN (Tech Prep) Conference held in Dallas, Texas. While I was there, I attended some technology workshops including Movie Maker, Adobe, Camtasia, PowerPoint, and one workshop on creating digital portfolios.

In my classroom I installed a program called Turning Point Technologies on my teacher laptop. This program enables me to use student response remotes (clickers) with my classes. My students enjoyed using this.


What technology activities did you share with your students?
I have just completed a unit in Microsoft Word. All of my students have a K12 e-mail address which they use to send assignments to me. I also use the Quia.com web site to administer assignments online.

What technology activities have you shared with other teachers?
I have been sharing technology lesson plans with other teachers in my department. I have also established a tracking system to follow students through the vocational program so we can be sure they are taking the classes necessary to become business completers.

WV TIS-CTE: Sept Tech Report

WV TIS-CTE: Sept Tech Report: "Technology activities that I have participate in this month are: Layed the ground work with our staff to initiate using "Tooling U" online classes. Had an informal meeting with our administrator about the advantages of using ready made curriculum for new teachers and to enhance existing programs of study. She was very receptive.

WV TIS-CTE: October Report

WV TIS-CTE: October Report: "What technology activities was I involved in during the month of October?
Sorry for all the late posts but have been keeping notes for each month on what I have attempted and have completed. Work has been to outrageous and with the changes coming up in CTE curriculum I got a feeling its going to get worse as the year comes closer to and end. Was asked by Dr. Gene Coulson to participate in the Southern Regional Educational Boards new project for West Virginia and 11 other states to write new programs that will blend Career and Technical and secondary high schools. I have brought up the possiblilty that these could be done online due to the needs of a Career Tech. teacher having to oversee the technical aspects of the projects.

October Report

What technology activities was I involved in during the month of October?

Well life sure hasn't slowed down much for me ...... I have been busy working with my Multimedia II students helping them to prepare their first video to be shown to the school during our AA period. Our first one will revolve around homecoming week and the festivities and our second one will be on a recent Gear Up trip to New York City where selected students were taken to NYC. It was a great trip and boy did my camera get lots of use...LOL!!! Looking forward to seeing the end results and creativity of my students hard work.

What technology activities did I share with my students?

My multimedia I and II students have been busy learning how to use the digital cameras and video cameras. They have been uploading pictures and learning how to change how the pics look which includes cropping and red eye deletion. They love taking turns with the cameras and camcorders going throughout the school and activities taking pics and video.

Other CTE educators?

I attended a county CTE meeting for book adoption....I am excited to get new books next year with all the new technology available and am hoping that my computer lab gets replaced next school year.

Jill's November Blog

Wow, In catching up on break with all of your blogs, I am so jealous of some of you and feel somewhat inadequate but I too have been busy my room got painted over the summer by some local incarcerated workers, so basically my room was a nightmare when I returned to school still putting things away in my lab, Have got my whiteboard mounted on a stand and working on getting it up and running, have very little help from our tech person but considering he also teaches full-time I totally understand, anything I would want on my computers has to go through him when he has time, all my computers(7) plus (3) laptops have deep freeze and we are not allowed to know the password( guess we arnt trustworthy ) the laptops dont have deepfreeze but one is missing a powercord so it is sharing with another, and none of them will hook up to the wireless network, and you guessed it, I have to fill out another paper to get the tech guy to fix them, I am not sure what is up they worked last year the only one he should have to put the wireless on is this new one from this grant, I think it is our schools system!!!I put the workorder in to him at least a month ago and still have yet to hear from him so I am tied to a blue cord when using this one or my other laptops. This year I have been using the computers, about as much as last year, with the new schedule change and new director and principal it has been a big adjustment, I am hoping to get to work with some new programs soon, I am planning on going to the conference in flatwoods in December, hope to see you guys there, well going to work on some TIS things so will post again soon.

November Report

Well, I have been busy this month!!! I have contacted my Superintendent because I want to do a Cyber Bully presentation. After talking to her, we decided to make this event county-wide. The Technology Coordinator for my county met with me and we discussed plans. She has invited me to attend the monthly technology meetings. She was very impressed with how active I want to be in my role as a TIS. We have 2 TIS people in our county and they are not active.

Next, I attended the TIS meeting at RESA 7. This was very interesting. I was able to work in a group with other TIS's. We learned about Digital Storytelling, were introduced to 2 very good charts on how to visualize are technology integration, and created a Digtialstory on what we learned. This was fun!!

Just when I thought I was getting ahead, my computer crashed! The RESA tech was in my room all day...I may not have a computer when I return to school!!!

Brandi

October

What activities were you involved in during the month of October? I loaded the responder and MOBI software on several teacher's computers. We had our training and I started trying to use the MOBI and the responders. The students were very helpful with the responders. When something wouldn't work, they would suggest that I try this or that and they were usually correct. I'm getting a little more creative on the outdoor sign but I still can't get a graphic to turn out right.
What technology activities did you share with your students? Other CTE educators. I continued to work with staff members on the attendance spreadsheets. There are 3 teachers that I found it was easier to just make their spreadsheet and put it in the correct folder than try to undo the mess they made. I still did some Edline refresher work with a few teachers. We got the lap top cart moved into my room. I started putting our virtual business software on the computers but we still can't use them because they do not have deep freeze. I contacted Gary Taylor about deep freeze. No response yet. The students like to use the responder and think it is funny when I try to write using the MOBI. They would rather write on the whiteboard than write on the MOBI.

September

Sorry I am so late doing these blogs. I wish I had a really good excuse like I was abducted by aliens but I don't. I have been so covered up with "stuff" that I sometimes wish the aliens would come get me. But anyway. . . .
What activities were you involved in during the month of September? We started sending our classroom attendance to the office using a spreadsheet and our inter school e-mail system. I spent a LOT of time trying to show other teachers how to use the spread sheet and trying to undo when they saved their attendance to the template. I put a lot of shortcuts on desktops to the attendance spreadsheet. I spend a lot to time looking for missing spreadsheets. People though they were copying their spreadsheet but they moved it out of the attendance folder into strange places. I also learned how to put messages on our outdoor electronic sign.
What technology activities did you share with your students? Other CTE educators? As I mentioned before, I spent a lot of time working with the attendance spreadsheet and our staff files. I also helped several teachers with the Edline getting them started, posting reports for students, etc. I set up a training date so we can learn to use the MOBI and responders that were purchased this summer. They have been locked up in the storage closet since they arrived. I didn't get to do much with the students because the lap top cart does not have deep freeze installed and we are not allowed to use it until all computers have deep freeze.

October TIS-CTE Monthly Report

Provide an answer to each of the following questions.

What technology activities were you involved in during the month of October?

What technology activities did you share with your students?

Other CTE educators?

Starting in January 2011, look for techSteps lessons in career and technical education.

Oct Tech Report

It's November already (Maggie's will be 6 months old Sunday--unreal). October was a whorl-wind month.

In the interest of job security, I volunteered to pilot the GED-Option next semester. There was a void in my morning schedule next semester (TIS would have been enough to fill it), but at the risk of not looking as if I were working, I took on this new program. To teach and prepare high school students for the GED, the teacher (me) has to be ABE (adult basic education) certified. So on October 19th, I attended the WV Adult Education Association conference at Stonewall and October 25th attended a RESA V ABE training to earn hours toward this certificate. Some technology will be used to help students study for the GED. I attended one session in which CPS student responders were use to drill students. Also software such as Compass Odyssey and Plato will be used. These GED-Option students will still be responsible to take the WESTEST 2, therefore I think Acuity will be used to prepare them.

October 21st-23rd, I attended the WV Science Teachers Association state conference in Wheeling with all three girls and mom in tow. I look forward to this conference every year and find it very beneficial. Sessions I attended were on green schools and technologies and also GIS implementation in the classroom. I am looking into a certification process for my students to become ARC GIS certified after completing the Environmental Tech program. That has been one of our drawbacks as a CTE program, no certification after completion. Also, I presented with some colleagues on a watershed project we completed last year at the Career Center and one of the feeder high schools. It was well received. While at this conference, I missed our ISE day. Faculty members presented their MovieMaker videos. Our director was very impressed with their work and looks forward to faculty promoting their programs at our feeder schools.

WV TIS-CTE: September Technology Report

WV TIS-CTE: September Technology Report: "Provide an answer to each of the following questions. What technology activities were you involved in during the month of September?
Uhh. Webinar with PLTW for assessment. Working with sysop to get email accounts for students, setting up the networking site for student access of curriculum.
What ..." student shares: Developing a list serve for wvde emails, using ppt presentations and research techniques.

September Blog Report

What activities were you involved in during the month of Sepember?

• I attended a workshop sponsored by Kagan on how to improve math through the use of Kagan software and materials.
• I attended the train the trainer workshop on WVEIS on the Web.
• I attened a workshop given by Apple at the FSU GEAR UP conference on how to utilize the iPad.
• I attended a workshop on CFWV.com (College Foundations of WV).
• I attended a workshop on the Numonics Whiteboard.
• I attended a workshop on how to utilize my new book online and all of the software which accompanied the book.

What technology activities did you share with your students? Other CTE educators?

• I assisted in the FACS educator workshop on how to utilize our new book. I also shared several beneficial websites dealing with FACS and computer curriculums.
• I trained my staff on WVEIS on the Web.
• I trained my staff on our online grading program SNAPGRADES and introduced them to the new Discipline Log which we will be utilizing this year.
• I trained my staff on how to utilize our online calendar. ( www.calendarwiz.com/lmseagles) I also introduced them to our school webpage. I explained that I am the webmaster and would assist them on updating their class webpages.
• I trained my teachers on how to utilize our T-drive (LMS Teacher Informational Drive) which I created for our staff. This drive has a wealth of information on how to integrate technology into thier classroom.
• My students created a movie utilizing our flip cameras and Windows MovieMaker which was used in their All About Me PowerPoints.
• My students were trained on how to utilize my class webpages (QUIA) and class blog.
• I trained my students on how to utilize CFWV.com
• Students were chosen through an application process to become members of my "TECHIE"team (student technology team) which I am the advisor. These students will be assigned a teacher to assist throughout the school year with technology related items.

Sept Tech Report

Technology activities that I have participate in this month are:

• a webinar on Social Networking Security, which the afternoon Career Center students participated in along with people from 6 other countries and 49 states
• our staff had a working lunch where we shared our recruitment videos create with Windows MovieMaker
• our staff had an after-school training on our iPads, GEAR-UP provided our school a class set of 25 with a Mac Book

Technology activities that I have shared with my students are:

• students produced a safety video using Windows MovieMaker, our new Kodak camera and a flip video
• labs utilizing our Nova5000 dataloggers, temperature, pH and light probes
• some online activities including a peppered moth simulation

Technology activities that I have shared with my staff are:

• Windows MovieMaker to create recruitment videos to share with students of our feeder schools
• GradeQuick assistance to take attendance electronically and recording grades
• Shared some websites I thought would be beneficial for their programs of study

Life as a Teacher Educator with Technology

I am sure that most of the fellow TIS educators have entered the classroom with the new tools of technology that were acquired with the summer workshops. As for myself, my challenge has been looking for ways to integrate these new methods into my CTE Teacher Education program at TECH.
I have set some goals on what would be needed to be integrated into the program and had conversations with the WVU TECH staff.
The use of blog sites to encourage reflective practices of the new teachers is my first method to integrate into the curriculum.
The use of a course platform such as "Brain Honey" and use the site for blended activities in the required courses are in the process of being developed.
The challenge is finding the time with the beginning of school activities and other scheduling needs and researching what could be incorporate into the CTE Permit process.
I have some goals in mind and a receptive staff and that will help in the incorporation of technology into the program.

September Technology Report

Provide an answer to each of the following questions.

What technology activities were you involved in during the month of September?

What technology activities did you share with your students? Other CTE educators?

You Might Be Interested:
Explore this new website by the U.S. Department of Labor to assist your students with career information. http://www.myskillsmyfuture.org/

Do you need a website about West Virginia? Then go to http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/

Just Like Camp

So much fun! But I am glad to finally have a night at home with my kids!

The last day at Charleston was probably my best yet. I loved the idea of having the ability to set up a blended learning classroom. I like the format of the Manhattan Project. The large buttons and the way you manage classes make it easy to use. I cannot wait to get my class assignments.

Overall, I am so glad that I have had the opportunity to go to this conference. I have not been a teacher that long, but long enough to have been through my share of CE's that were too simple, or not relevant. This week has been different. There were no sessions that I attended that were not worth going to. I cannot wait for the conference in Florida! Until then. . .

Live Long and Prosper!

Steve

Last Day

The last day was very informative. Anne Meadows' class on BrainHoney was extremely interesting. I have taken classes on Manhattan and Moodle, but I think I like BrainHoney the most. After the session, Anne stayed and worked with a few of us more on BrainHoney and Voki. I have arranged for her to come to my school in October to present to my faculty. Next, I attended the workshop on Quantitative Reasoning and Critical Thinking, the presenter gave us a packet of examples of how to use it in various subject areas. My brain didn't want to wrap itself around this session.
After the video competition, I hit the road and was home in record time. Way to go Team 1--2nd Place! It was so good to get to hug my boys!

The EdVenture - Country Roads Take Me....

Even though I did not stay in the local accommodation's that Charleston provided, my trip back down I-64 was just as enjoyable. Knowing that during the week, I was able to gain some important skills and knowledge that I could use as professional educator allowed me to reflect and feel accomplished. During the week, the connections and networking will be valued as we all begin the new school year in our respective schools.
In yesterday's work session with Anne Meadows, the use of Brain Honey will allow my department and fellow staff members to use a convenient platform for blended delivery. By modeling this new technical process, the teachers that the Department of Career Technical Education serves will hopefully integrate the methods and strategies in 21st Century teaching.

Best wishes to ya'll as you begin the 2010-11 school year.

Gwen Miller -- Friday, August 6

At first the online learning platforms all seemed very scary. I decided to go with Brain Honey. I will be having Geek Week training on Manhattan Project next week. I though Ann Meadows did an excellent job. It was very helpful to actually start designing and putting in information. It seemed a little like constructing a wiki. I know I have a lot to learn but after today I think I can, I think I can.

Chuck Friday post

Wow what a great week!

As I was driving home a white vehicle went by me like I was parked, however I was doing 80. I think it was Janie and she was late for happy hour!!

On a serious note Brainhoney was great, a little intimidating but I think with a little practice it will be a great addition to my "blended" classroom.

I am glad that Anne Meadows offered to have some virtual conferences to cover more of our questions at a later date.

The lunch was great, and the company was even better.

I can not wait to see you all in Florida, I hope we keep in touch and find a way to meet in the '
fall!

Chuck

Janie's Friday Blog

Friday's sessions were very informative. I think I might want to try to create an online class, but I'm not sure yet if I have the expertise to do so. I thought Brain Honey might be the easiest, but I'm not quite sure of that now. Ann Meadows is so knowledgeable. I wish I had her for a personal tutor! I like how Brain Honey automatically grades some of the online assignments. I also liked the idea of the lessons on the digital computer. This could be used in Digital Imaging.

Overall, it was a great conference and a great week with everyone. Abby, thanks for everything. I look forward to seeing you all in Florida.

The EdVenture -- Show me the Money

As I sat at the table for lunch and listened to the announcements of the awarding of grants to the various schools and counties, I was amazed to the amount of money that was given. As I tried to calculate the figures in my head, I think it totaled around 2 Million dollars. That was a lot of zeros after the 2. The money is to be used to integrate and implement technology in the awarded educational districts. It is apparent that the state of West Virginia has a priority in improving education in the schools and making the product which is the students competitive in the Global business world.
In the one session that I attended, a group of IT professionals discussed problems with security and procedures in the educational system. Those in attendance included representatives from Higher Education as well as local and state leaders in the field.
And to all in the CTE Cohort, I enjoyed the creativity of each groups project and congrats to Steve and Gwen for their presentation.

Janie Thursday's Blog

We attended a session on teaching Adult Education. This was extremely helpful to me as I would like to begin teaching Adult Education classes again. She gave us lots of pointers on helping them with resumes, interviews, job applications, and some websites and resources we could use with adults. She was very knowledgeable and kept our attention!

Twitter is great. However, I won't be able to use it because it is blocked at my school. I guess I will just have to wait until I get home to tweet with all of my TIS friends. He helped us set up our accounts and I am already following and being followed!

The guest speaker was not near as good as the opening speaker but he did have some good points for technology. It was hard believe the amount of money that was awarded to some schools. That is great for technology in West Virginia.

Our competition was also great. Congratulations to everyone on their projects. I think we all learned so much and will be able to take all of this back to the classroom for our students. Thanks to everyone for a great week.

August 5, 2010 Chuck post

First, I want to thank everyone for a fantastic week! It is hard to believe I have only known you folks for a couple of weeks, I feel like we are practically family. I will miss everyone (except Brandi and her Reader! HA-HA Just Kidding) and hope the first of the school year goes well. We really should get together this fall and keep in touch through our blog/twitter.
The first session I went to this morning was the interactive classroom. The information was great but it was a lot of material to digest in such a short period.
The second session I attended was Introduction to Twitter with Greg Cruey. I have always shied away from tweeting but Greg allayed many of my fears and I think I will try it with my fellow TISs. He covered many of the pros and cons, showed several links and shared many uses and ideas.
The next session was technology in the adult classroom. The information was geared towards ABE teachers and adults, but many of the ideas will fit into my curriculum and many high school and middle school classrooms. She gave us all of the information and resources on a CD, which is a resource I wish all of the sessions could provide.
After lunch, we had a great and lively group meeting and went over all of our digital products. I think all of them were great and very creative. Congratulations to our winners and great work placing second overall!
I will see some of you tomorrow and hopefully I will see the rest of you soon. Take care, be safe and enjoy our last week of summer. L

Thursday blog--Sharon

Ahhhhhhh.....home sweet home!!! What an exciting, invigorating, and exhausting week. I can not even begin to how excited I was to be in the BrainHoney session this morning....it was great and Anne Meadows did an amazing job on the presentation and I can't wait to get it set up for one of my classes this next week. The luncheon was very nice and our own Brandi won her own personal reader!!!!! How exciting Brandi!!!! We then continued to our breakout groups and did our digital presentations which turned out very well and congratulations to the winning team who ended up placing second over all!!!! Great Job guys!!!! As excited as I was to get home, it was bittersweet leaving our group....it is amazing how great our group is and how much fun we all have together. I miss you all....I hope each of you have an amazing start back to school and look forward to hearing from all of you on our blog!!!! Take care be safe and happy blogging!!!!

Gwen Miller -- Thursday, August 5

Sessions I attended today:
SAS Curriculum Pathways 8:30 -9:20
Introduction to Twitter 9:30-10:20
Take Your Edline Website to the Next Level 10:40-11:30

The SAS session was informative. I learned how to get a password. My daught taught her first year at Princeton and wanted to use SAS but no one at the school could tell her the password. I told her I leaned how she could get it. Learned a lot during the twitter session (but I still don't get it). Might get an account and try it. I had to fight to stay awake during the Edline session. She turned off the lights. You have to be a superuser or have permission from the superuser to make changes. I did NOT enjoy the speaker at lunch. I was really thrilled I had to go to the bathroom so I could get up and leave. I was pleasantly surprised our digital story did so well. I needed a new umbrella. Betty Bulldog ate mine.

Fri 8/5 - Dog Tired

Our group did an amazing job working on our digital photostory this morning. I was also able to attend Storytelling in the Digital Age which demonstrated the use of photostory3. I appreciated the middle school and secondary examples and implementations. The speaker today not so dynamic. The CTE group's photostories were all great! Everyone travel safe.

WVSTC - August 5

Meetings today- I worked on project and socialized while attending the Win Anderson session this morning. Not sure what would work the best for my classroom, smart boards or using the sensors. Will get estimates and contact vendors for prices.

Attempted the edline web session, too crowded to get much out of the presentation. Would love to have more information on that session. The edline web production would be used by myself and a lot of the school personnel.

The CTE competition was definitely interesting- your method of voting was not the usual. Enjoyed watching everyone's contributions, very interesting stuff with a variety of interpretations.

The grand finale was interesting too. Technology through the Mountains - is that a TIS slogan?

test post

This is a test of the National weather system.

I won a DIGITAL READER!!

HAHAHAHA CHUCK!!! I won a digital reader!!!!!

Wed Blog-Sharon Cole

OK finally getting on a computer (still not my own) .... :(......On Wed am I attended Prezi which is a great topic but presenter was a little frazzled....then I went to Cell Phones which was absolutely wonderful and can't wait to use it. Met with my group to work on Digital project.....fun fun fun times!!!! The lunch was ok and I then attended Google which was wonderful and my absolute favorite session was the Webquest session....great job! The winning group then spent the entire evening together, minus me for approx 1 1/2 hours that I met a friend for dinner then rejoined our group.....which I might add is going to be the winning team.....keeping our fingers crossed.....LOL LOL!!!! Over all it was a stressful yet productive day!!!!

August 5, 2010 Conference/Digital Afternoon

Looking forward to reading your posts and watching your digital projects.

Thrusday blogs 8-5-10 Rmorgan

Session one....Interactive Classrooms.



A very good session where the practical intergration of white boards, elmo, computers and internet were introduced to the instructors. It was a great session maily because the presenter was realy enthusiastic about what he did. His system of choice was a very simple system that can be extremely mobile, versitile, and extremly portable system that doesnt rely on an "electronic" white board. This system will work on a simple wall, dry erase board or even an older pull down screen.



Session two....Formative assesments in a virtual mathmatics classroom.



Gave reasons for the need of increased and more immediate feedback for students, equity of work, and potential to reduce faculty workloads. I attended this workshop mainly because in electronics the majority of work in the front end of the class are learning Ohm's Law, Kirchoff's Law, and XL and XC formulas. She had a great point about when we are loosing students in lower levels because of bad math practices and bad math teachers.

Session three... Using Prometheus for math in the k-8 classroom.

Actualy I was walking by and some cute teacher who was giving the presentation told me that I needed to be in here, so I went in. What the heck I say. Was actually pretty good and I did get an idea of allowing my students to do tommorrows math as a homework assignment the night before so they can have more time for hands on work instead of doing "book work" then doing hands on. That way the student gets an input on the class flows and would give a student a bit of motivation to come to class knowing that he will be in the lab area where they absolutly love to stay.


What a week, would like to thank everyone for being my family away from home. Have had a blast with everyone and appreciate all the help and team work from each and every one of you.

Janie's Wednesday Blog

The Prezi session was good. I like Prezi. It is similar to Animoto. The presenter was nervous, but she was informative. I downloaded Prezi and plan to use it with my students during the presentation part of BCA I and BCAII. She answered our questions well.

Then Team Technology went to a private session on the Promethean Interactive whiteboard. We played a whole jeopardy game on the states. We had a great time while learning about the board. Students would love the game also. The presenters were very nice and helpful.

I wanted to attend the SMART board session because I discovered that the board they were using was the one I ordered for my classroom. We learned about the Notebook software and several resources that can be used with the board. We tried out exchange.smarttech.com and found several lessons that may be used with BCAI and BCAII classes. I'm excited about learning to use my board and trying out all of the resources I have learned about at this conference.

Our last session we attended was about Webtop, Webquest, infomercials and Goggle applications such as gmail. It was interesting, and I am anxious to use my Webtop and get rid of my flash drives. I've already discussed getting Webtop schoolwide for my students and teachers at my school.

I think I've learned more from doing our project than from anything else. Again, I want to use Prezi, Animoto, Photostory and MovieMaker with my students during the presentation section of BCA I and BCA II. We'll all be so relieved when our own presentations are due and we can relax!

8/4 Cloud sessions Dennison

-Classrooms in technology Adam Feazell, the best kept secret. I learned the use of web2.o, more edline tips, glogster.com (to make posters), Voicethread.com (like digital storytelling), fotoflexer(editing software)FREE, Wordle(visualize writing) awesome way to have students see documents they created and the word most often used will be bigger and in a fun format,highlight points etc. Importance of permission forms phones etc.
got lost left one session, brain based learning(too much math that early) to be tardy for the next
-Welcome to the real world-Career Cruising. oh no I am asked to complete the profiler...for all to see...%^*$(my punishment for being late)Turns out just like me...Special Ed was listed first because I am special, Outdoor Ed(maybe I missed my calling to be a fly fisher guide...oh...still can)
-Cell Phones in the classrooms-Lori was fun and interactive...time fley and I will be using this...hope my administrator stays out of my room as usual...will get permission from parents...when I get a cool lesson that works well...then we will invite our principals!
Phantastic Photostory-catchy title but the book does say you will walk away knowing the many uses for this program...
Google classroom-I think I will start putting all mydocs in google docs to find when I forget where...am struggling between google docs and edline calendar etc...using edline tools is easier logisticly(spell check please).
Webquests-Sarah Chenoweth is just getting ready to start student teaching...cool! She incorporated computer programs, flipcam, cell phones and more into her Creating an Infomercial...a must see when it hits the web...won't we be able to find all these presentations...where?
Ipods-Out of my league here...amazing technology...they have an appletouch for the blind...that is truly remarkable to me...soon this laptop will be a dinasour(spell check please). For someone who thought about skipping to go get on the treadmill, the session was still going at 5:10...HURRIED to the Holiday Inn Lobby to meet Kris, Richard, and D...we worked until we could no longer produce...hungry, tired and the baby was being missed dearly...I want to hold her...and smell her...I love how babies smell! Ordered food and worked on behind lessons...still wondering what I am doing wrong on quiz?
Well, I have been up since 4:45 worrying about our completion of digital project but am confident that we will all pull this together...it is just the tension in my neck!!!!Ouch
It is 6:40 and I will go exercise before beginning more sessions...Have a peaceful day!
Oh and Abby, I feel like "the rookie" but I want you to know, I have had a few thoughts about...well, not throwing you over the bridge but...lol! I am enthusiastically overwhelmed and though I feel behind my school year can not be as hectic as my summer has been...please God...no! Peace

The EdVenture Continues and IT IS a WINNER

Sitting with some of the conference participants at lunch, I made the comment about never winning the door prizes at events like the Technology Conference. At the 3:05 session that streak was broken when I won the "Handheld Interactive Whiteboard" (The Interwrite Mobi). At a couple of the other sessions, I saw the presenters using the hand held tablets and I coveted the technical tool. In my mobile traveling class, I knew that I could use it, so as the eInstruction representative collected the sheets of papers, I said a quick prayer and as the name was drawn I could see my name on the sheet. Amen Hallelujah
The rest of the day provided the opportunity to make contact with a representative of the WVU Office of Instructional Technology. Ashley had previously presented in a AM session about the PREZI program. In the 2:15 session, representatives from the IT department at Marshall had presented about a interactive program WIMBA that is utilized with the current online course platform Blackboard. I was informed by the MU reps that WVU also had the site license. Upon leaving that session, Ashley was able to link me with the WVU website for training and approval.
Also in the PM session, I participated in a discussion forum with other Higher Education faculty in Teacher Education about the integration of technology in Teacher Preparation programs. This session was sponsored by the Office of Professional Preparation.

Jill's Blog Wednesday

Well today not as productive for me, had a late evening since my husband and two youngest kids came down and did not want to get up today so I was late to the prezi session and didn't get much out of it. We then went to reassociate ourselves with the wonderful vendors :) we ended up playing jeopardy and it was really fun, after that we took some much needed time to work with TEAM TECHNOLOGY on our digital project. We then had a lovely lunch. After lunch we went to the Smart responders, really informative, I am getting a smart board this year will definately look into getting these, we have a set of transponders at our school they are called Quizdom. our last session was webquest. lots of information, but again like the hands on the best. Then we had another lovely meal today at the capital, after that we went to Embassy to work on completing our digital project......beat now headed to bed...nite all.

Technology Conference--Aug. 4

Abby,
Started my day with the Prezi presentation. The software is amazing, but the presenter was very nervous--she didn't do such a great job. Next, I attended a Promethean demonstration. I am going to recommend it to my principal. We'll see how far that goes! Spent quality with my TIS mates working on our digital project. For those who are competing against us--don't talk the talk unless you can walk the walk. In the afternoon, we attended the Smart Board presentation. Exchange.smarttech.com is a web site that contains some great technology lessons. Jamie and I realized that we both ordered this type of Smart Board. Next, I attended the WebQuest presentation--learned how to create a web portal and infomercial. Ended my day with a tour of the capital and a fantastic meal.

Gwen Miller -- Wednesday, August 4

The sessions I attended:
TechSteps To Go from 8-8:50
Using the Edline Class Page and School Home Page 9-9:50
Let's Use Those Cell Phones in the Classroom 10:10 -11
Phantastic Photostory 11:10 - 12
The Next Generation Collaborative Classroom powered by eInstruction 3:15 - 4:05

I wanted to attend Time Saving Tips in Using Gradequick at 4:15 but could not and still be at the capitol by 5 p.m. The TechSteps presentation was very informative. Before you attempt a project there needs to be lots of planning and preparation in class before entering the computer lab. They gave us a wiki website they created to visit. The Edline session was standing room only. This dealt more with designing your home page rather than using the program (That is why I wanted the Gradequick session also) I enjoyed the Cell Phone session. One site discussed would be excellent for coaches or other activity sponsors. The Photostory session was a disappointment because of all the technology problems. Nothing worked for the young girls. I felt sorry for them. I didn't win anything in the eInstruction session. We are suppose to have responders and MOB's at MCTEC this fall. Steve and I worked on our Digital Project during lunch and the 2 p.m. session. At the Cultural Center I was in the glass/pottery room BY MYSELF and the electricity went off. It is REALLY dark down there.

Blogs August 4, 2010

Enjoyed reading your blogs about the Statewide Technology Conference. I'll be looking forward to your digital project presentations on Thursday and your blogs for Wednesday.

Hi, Abby
Sorry for the late post this morning! Now for today's information.
First session at 8AM-The TIS Revolution focused on how to make your county TIS more important. There were supposed to be six presenters, but I only heard from 2.

Second session started at 9 AM. Using the Edline class page and school page. The presenter was delightful and gave tons of new information. The most important of which was the online training that she pointed out. I can't wait to start using the new information at my new school.

This is Janetta Burdette for Steve. Pray for him to get home safely. It's raining so hard he can barely see. He will finish as soon as he can.

I finally made it home! Rain so bad that 25 mph was taking your life in your hand. Now, on with my post.

From 10:10 to 11:00. Using cell phones in the classroom. There are good reasons to use cellphones in a classroom setting, but overall, I do not think that the kids are mature enough to use them responsibly. While I think that phones can be a great learning tool, and can be used as virtual clickers, texting to the teacher, etc., there will always be a significant portion who will not use them correctly. I know that argument has been used many times in the past for new technology, but these phones can be used very discreetly. Until phones can be openly monitored, I fear phones will be taken advantage of.

The disappointment of the day came from my 11:00 session, Phantastic Photostory. I only downloaded the program last night, but I gleaned no new information from the presenters. In fact, there were a couple of things the presenters said that were incorrect. The program is very simple, but good for a beginning introduction to a different way to present information.

Lunch was great! But it was to long. Gwen and I took advantage of the long lunch to work on our digital project. With very little time to collaborate, we decided to forgo the first afternoon session and work on the project together. My last session of the day was learning about personal learning networks. This was mostly about using Twitter. I am hesitant to use it, but I can see a great potential. In fact, I signed up for a twitter account during class!

The day ended with a tour of the capital. I cut that short in order to take my daughter to band camp (which I am late for now!)

Later!

Steve

Wednesday, August 4: Techie Yet?

Good stuff, really good stuff. Sessions I attended today were: CompassLearning Odyssey Virtual Access, Let's Use Those Cell Phones, Phantastic Photostory, Google Your Classroom, My Flexible GIS and techSteps K-12: Top 10 Tips. The most valuable session to me was the DEP's My Flexible GIS session. The Dept. of Environmental Protection has a nice online, interactive GIS application utilizing ESRI and USGS information. The website is gisonline.dep.wv.us.gov and seems to be user friendly. There are several filters and shows the industry's use of GIS. I enjoyed the Let's Use Those Cell Phones session. It was very practical and valid uses of cell phones. Photostory and Google were very full sessions and had useful information. I really had fun playing Jeopardy on the Promethean whiteboard with Janie, Jill, Donna and Chuck. Also, I was able to visit several vendors during this time.

Wednesday

******This blog is from one of the member's of the WINNING GROUP!!! TGIW!!!! Today started out rainy, but I guess I will not melt (but, don't ask Rick!) My first session was on Prezi. I have decided to focus on Prezi's, so I am attending all the sessions on Prezi. I have created my first Prezi, and I must admit, not that bad!!! Go Brandi! The second session was standing room (and then some) only, so Lisa and I went to the vendors, shopped, and then worked on our photo project. The next session was on cell phones--very neat! Hopefully, I will not get any problems from our admin on trying to incorporate them into the classroom. Next, we went to a presentation that was cancelled...I guess I really need to READ! By the time that we realized that it had been cancelled, it was too late to pick another session. So, back to vendors...also, a few of us talked about what we have learned so far and we shared ideas. Next, lunch...really good!!! Door prizes...I am not a winner!!! The next session was on Prezi's. You know that you have chosen a good session if Mark Moore sits in on it!!! It was really good and the presenter helped my on Prezi. Next, I went to Website Organizers. It was ok, but not what I really thought it was going to be. Finally, Lisa, Susan, Rick, and I are going back to the hotel to work on our projects. We are going to incorporate what we have learned (Prezi, PhotoStory, Animoto, and Audacity) I really wish that they would have scheduled some work time for us TIS'S...I hate to not attend something, but when you have homework, you got to get r done!!!! The vendors are giving out some amazing things!!
Brandi

STC August 4th 2010

Classroom in Technology was very informative. Adam discussed several sites he uses to keep the kids involved, including Glogster which is blogging with a poster effect. I could use that in my classes. He also uses many Web 2.0 tools that I am just learning about and I thought the applications were informative and useful.





Blended Delivery is most likely the future of learning and the session with Anne Meadows showed me how to get involved in the online techniques. She mentioned Xerte as the available free software to create a self paced lesson on specific topics for the class. Keeping open communication between students and other students as well as with the teacher.



Using cell phones in the classroom. Three websites that will allow cells to be used as transponders can be effective and useful, specifically for immediate feedback from students to get a good idea on whether concepts were learned. In addition, the google SMS site can provide a lot of immediate information that can be used in the classroom.



Lunch was good today. My unlucky self was not chosen as a freebie winner. Maybe better luck tomorrow.



Google Your Classroom: Jamie explained lots of ways of going paperless in the classroom. The idea of keeping forms, assignments, calendar dates, etc. available to students would be great. And using the "cloud" to store documents, then giving students or specifc coworkers access to your documents can be a huge timesaver. The downside might be keeping up with status of each document and keeping updates in a timely manner.



Organizing the cloud: Various methods of getting organized following Merrill's Wisdom, that is:

• Stop trying to remember everythink


• Swap filing cabinets for scaffolds


• Redefine organization as search

GradeQuick software- great ideas on using so many of the selections. I use adding footnotes, hiding some grades when showing another student their grades, marking exemptions, and using the ** in a few different ways. I hadn't used fill the current column or the various short-cut menus. Ideas on managing the gradebook were really good. Also, lots of great discussion on what's really going on out there with GradeQuick.

August 4 Statewide Technology Conference

What sessions did you attend and what did you learn that could be shared with othersa?

Wed 8-4 Sessions....will just keep adding to this one today.

First session was about Classroom in the Technology. It was listed as a 2 hour session but its only a one hour so ignore the times in the book. Was pretty good information about how to integrate EdLine, ISTE Calender, Glogster, and Web Tools 2.0 with cell phones for immediate student responses. I can see tons of uses for this type of integration in the modern classroom and it had great features for student interaction with their projects they created.



















Second session was about Design and Planning Stratagies for Cisco Wireless Lann Deployments. Was a nice compliment to last weeks Cisco classes. This session is based on 802.11a and g wireless formats, scalability, stand alone access points, wireless LAN controllers, and newer suggested network setups for better efficiencies. The session is a Level 2 information level for Cisco and it seems that the Unified Wireless Network will be Cisco's new push for the next few years until any new standards get developed. With the restrictions on wireless systems in our schools this is going to hinder any realistic use of setting up the more efficient systems. The current usage policies need to be updated so we can move forward with classroom technology.











Third session is titled....Meeting the Needs of Struggling High School Learners Before They Fail.


This session talks about using Odyssey to avoid a credit recovery program. This session focused on the 9-12 version of their software. Odyssey is web based and can be used from home or school. Students can be assigned one of the 4 core programs or can take all 4 if needed. My county uses this program for credit recovery and their passage is directly related to their test scores on Odyssey. I didnt seen anything for career and technical schools for credit recovery classes. The main reason that students were in credit recovery were due to excessive absenses. When they miss the high schools they are also missing career and technical schools. They need to develop a system for career tech in a bad way.









Fourth session was about using the Photo Story 3 software. The software is a very easy way to bring out the creativity in students. They had several very nice student made projects that really were extremely well done productions. The room was packed and people were sitting on the floor. I could actually use this software when creating how to videos in my classroom. The software is very easy to use and has only 4 easy steps to finish a project. Would also be a good "get to know you" project in the beginning of the year so students can get ahead in their social integration with each other.

Fifth session...Smart Board Training.

Pretty straight forward introduction on how to install, support, write lessons, and the major features. Gave good information about how the system works electronically and physically. Was good info on where to get materials on several subjects and classroom setups. Showed how you can use the Smart system for instant feedback from students on lessons and tests.

How to design a Webquest Informercial using Google Docs.

Extremely informative and helpfull for all classes. Gave some great tips about getting students motivated in engaging how to do a full production from beginning to end. I can see me using this to create my "how to" videos in a quick manner so not to loose alot of down time in the class. This is a great idea in its usage in the class room and would make some great home assignments and senior projects.

Abby?

I do not know if you received my posts from last week....can you please let me know? Thanks, and sorry for being such a pain!!!!

Brandi

Late Post (Sorry Abby)

Sorry for the late post Abby. With a traveling freshman and spending 4 hours just to go to Camp Caesar and back, I am a little surprised I know what day it is!

Of course, spending time with our TIS friends is always great and I appreciated the time getting some of our issues with the Intel CD resolved. The digital project got started off on the right foot, thanks to you. I really liked the opening session with Sean! Although I had not seen the movie, that did not detract from his message of cheerful giving. After the opening session, off to the vendors. I hope it was worth giving out so much personal info. Maybe I will get that IWB!

The next session was with EInstruction. I used an older generation interwrite tablet, but I drooled over the newest iteration of the Mobi! Alas, I did not win the Mobi teacher unit. I will, however, take my enthusiasm back to whichever school I end up at! ;-)

My next session was supposed to be on Second Life, but that died (lol), so on to Highlights of the ISTE 2010 session. I LOVED IT!!! These two ladies gave us a once-over on a lot of different web sites and web 2.0 applications that will be a tremendous help in the classrooms.

I am not supposed to go to Webster county tonight, so my post should be on time tonight.

Steve

WVSTC Tuesday

The morning session with Abby was very informative and helpful. I appreciated the time to work on our digital projects. I got a lot of questions answered. We went out and about and took many pictures for our project and worked on it for most of the morning. Lunch was much better yesterday--especially the dessert.

Sean was phenomenal. We had seats on the front row. His message was inspiring and motivational. I wish our students could hear him speak. We all need to heed his lessons. We left there and went to the vendor area where we got lots of information and freebies. The books were sold out, but we got Sean's autograph and had our picture taken with him for our project.

The cell phone session was really fun. Again, hands on sessions are the best. I had heard about poll everywhere at the Bridgeport session. It would really be fun to use in the classroom. The message website she introduced would be very easy to use, and I may try it this year. I knew about the google phone number lookup but not to that extent. Technology is truly amazing. I plan on sharing all of these ideas with my students. I was thinking about maybe having a tech tip of the day or something to that effect.

Denise Stalnaker, as usual, was very interesting in her presentation about Globaloria. She knows so much and presents very well. We had applied for Globaloria, but we only had a few students interested. I think we need to try again to get this program in our school. I liked that she had a student presenter with her. There are so many good sessions, and I wish we could attend them all. I am anxious to try everything I have learned with my students.

Jill's Blog Tuesday nite ;)

Hummhhh......there seems to be some misconception on the Blog tonight b/c obviously "TEAM TECHNOLOGY"~ aka~ Chuck, Jill, Janie & Donna are definately gonna win the digital project!!!!!!!! someone even had the audacity to say they was going to kick some butt!!!!! lol , I have had a great day, first we had some much needed time w/ Abby where we went over blogging and then we worked on our Digital project, we were really motivated and got lots of inspirational ideas today :). Then we went to lunch which was much better than yesterday. Then after lunch we heard Sean Tuohy speak and I must say he is a great speaker and his message is words to live by...sometimes you have to "turn around" to get where you are supposed to be in life. I have not seen the movie as of yet only excerpts of it but it looks really good. We then went Vendor shopping got lots of goodies to share w/ our students. Then we went to the cell phone session which is something I have been trying to incorporate into my classrooms-despite administrations ranting and ravings of "no cell phones" lets face it they are here and they are not going away, so why not embrace the technology that your students already have and know how to use. Then we attended Globaloria, I think that this has the potential to be a massive time sucker and it looked like a lot of work for what seemed to me elementary level games for high school students, but maybe they will enjoy the making of the game, not to sure about this one but it is going to be in our school next year so time will tell. Then after we were done TEAM TECHNOLOGY got together and worked on our digital project..... so all you "OTHER GUYS" better put your thinking caps on !!!!! see you all tomorrow !!!!

Technology Conference--Aug. 3

Abby,

I believe all of us appreciated the opportunity to meet with you this morning to clarify some questions we had. It was very beneficial to have time to collaborate with our team members for the digital project. The speaker was truly inspirational. He made all of us believe we can "turn around" and make a difference. As teachers, we have the opportunity to touch so many lives. I really enjoyed the session on cell phones in the classroom. As soon as I returned to my hotel room, I called my daughter (who always seems to know more about cell phones than I do) and told her about the Google feature. She had never heard about that feature; she was very impressed! The last session of the day I attended was Globaloria. It was presented well, but I don't believe it is something I would want to become involved with at this time.

Gwen Miller -- Tuesday August

The breakout program group session was very helpful. The time to work on the digital project confirmed that I am NOT a good photographer (unless it is grandbabies or dogs) The general session was both entertaining and had a good message. I visited all the exhibits. The first session I attend was Prezi from 3:00-3:50. This is definitely something I am going to try. It was PACKED in this session. They had to bring in extra chairs. The next session was Desktop Security from 4:00 - 4:50. It was an interesting class. All the programs I use put my computer at risk.

The EdVenture Continues Day 2

Meeting as a TIS-CTE group was informative and encouraging, as we caught up on life in general and got some of the assignments cleared up. I appreciate how everyone in the group assists each in the TIS process.
The opening session speaker had a great message to the educators present. His message on how we can touch the lives of our students is just as simple as "making the turn around."
Again as I search for methods and strategies to improve myself as an educator and look for innovations to improve the CTED at WVU TECH, I found the session of Moodle a way to accomplish both efforts. Our department is looking for a online platform that can be accessed by by both the WVU Tech students and the Marshall Graduate students that we serve. Moodle provides options and opportunities that need to be explored.
Ready for day 3 in the AM

Tuesday Sessions

Abby,
I agree with Brandi and how helpful it was to meet with you this morning and I also agree that our team is going to WIN the competition!!!! The opening session with Mr Sean Tuohy was absolutely wonderful and I got goose bumps as he talked because that is what we are suppose to be doing as teacher is turning around and picking up the lost child. I then attended the session on Moddle....it was ok, not exactly what I thought it was going to be. The presenter was ok he just went very quickly and was not able to answer specific question on how we can actually set up our own webapge....until the very end....then he quickly told us the steps to follow. It was an OK session and hopfully tomorrows sessions will be more informative!!!!

Tuesday, August 3

The morning was very informative and I appreciated the time. Sean Tuohy was a wonderful speaker and was motivating. I did get my books signed. YAY! Sessions I attended after visiting the vendors were: Infrastructure Best Practices and Policy 6200 and Globaloria in Education. Our networking technologies instructor was in the session and help me with some of the jargon. We both realized we are lacking in infrastructure at our facility. Globaloria was gaming software and interesting but not something I would implement in my classroom at this time.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Thank you Abby for reviewing with the entire group what we are doing, where we should be, and where we are going! During the am meeting, our Photo team decided on a project theme. A note to the other teams, WE ARE GOING TO WIN!!!
The general session speaker was amazing! He was very inspirational! Too bad that they ran out of books! I really wanted a signed copy!
Next, I went to the Prezi presentation by Mark Moore. I am very interested in using Prezi instead of PPT for mine and my students' presentation.
Finally, I went to the Assessing Authentic Student Work by Karen Petitto. I wanted to take this session because I want to learn different ways to "grade" my students work.

On a side note, lunch was WAY better!! The oreo dessert was worth EVERY calorie!!!

Tuesday August 3 Rmorgan

Excited to start the electronic project and kick Chuck's teams butts. LOL.

General session was great. Very good speaker and enjoyed him immensly. I could have listened for another hour. The vendor area was very nice but a bit overstocked on the white boards and white board software. I did find a couple that I am really interested in because of the mobility features they offer. I know I will need to travel from room to room extensivly and need a portable system that doesnt use an electronic white board.

Prezi was very impressive from a beginners standpoint. It looked very simple and fast to setup and run. I set up an account and will start using Prezi instead of Power Point. Presentors seem to be a bit anti MicroSoft though.

The Assessing Authentic Student Work was about the practice of authentic learning and assessment in k through 12 and the use of informative assesments in the classroom. She talked about alternative grading for lower levels. An example is that instead of a, b, c, d, and f's you will get either an A or S grade up to the 5th grade. This is going to be used in Harrison County here in WV. I think I like an alternative grading system but I am a bit leary that the grades are so black and white.

WVSTC Tuesday

I appreciated the opportunity to regroup this morning. I needed to get a better picture (pun intended) of what needs to be done. Anyway, I believe that getting the work done in a timely manner might actually be possible after all.

The speaker was so entertaining and interesting. I believe in his message and am inspired to try harder to be that kind of person myself. I didn't want to stand in line for the book, but I plan to read it one day.

Moodle started with a video and music. I'm taking notes now for future reference on their techniques.

August 2 - Monday

The highlight of Monday was dinner with Sandy Foster, my mom and the girls. Sandy was my high school English teacher and spiritual mentor. It was relaxing and great to laugh after the overload Monday.

Overload Monday...new cameras, new ThinkFinity, podcasting, whiteboards and responders, WV Writes, ePortifolios and a digital photo story! I think WV Writes could be benefical at our school; to have CTE instructors assign writing assignments, they grade for content and the WV Writes assesses for structure...techademics.

Technology Conference--Aug. 2

A wealth of information and technology was presented to us today.
The ThinkFinity web site presentation provided me with some great ideas I can share with my staff; however, I found it difficult to keep up with the pace of the presenter.
Mary Purdue's overview of the digital camera was very helpful, but I still have a few questions about our digital project. My favorite session was Podcasting. The hands on approach made the presentation very effective. Bruce Cole's presentation on portfolios gave me the confidence I needed to begin adding artifacts to my portfolio. The session on WV Writes would have been more interesting if we could have used our computers.

Gwen Miller -- Monday August 2

Enjoyed the session on ThinkFinity. Hope I can find something that can be used in Technical Education. I was impressed with everything our camera can do and just hope I can make it do the same thing. I need a lot more information on the digital project. I think my students would like to use podcasting. I can see them making commercials and public service announcements. I don't have Smart board. I have a Numeronics board and wish I had one of the new Smart boards. I was impressed with everything it did. I wrote down information to find resources I hope to use. ePortfolios was interesting. This is something I will need to give some thought. I'm not sure what to use as artifacts. I had a hard time staying awake during the WV Writes session.

Jill's Blog

Well I forgot to Blog yesterday evening, my bad but I will do it know. We got our cameras and got to start taking pictures for a mystery project that no one seems to know anything about, We had several breakout sessions and there was alot of information, it seems that we also have a profile associated with our TIS and not the webtop, it would really be nice it the state could get togeather on this and have one profile place instead of 2 but learned how to create a podcast which was pretty cool and we also went to the eportfolio site and we also have a session on whiteboards which was more of a show than hands on alot of information but i am sure with time it will become easier, after that went to eat to the mall then collasped into sleep :)

Rmorgan

Forgot to blog on the ThinkFinity Website. Anytime I can see a presentation or demontrastration and walk away with ideas for changing my teaching methods to fine tune them means that it was definatly worth my while. ThinkFinity is an excelent site for some great ideas and techniques to help in getting information to the students. Mark Moore did a good job in the delivery of the materials and I wish we had a bit more time for him to go more into detail about the site.

WOOT!!! New toys Rmorgan

Was a pretty good day. Loved the new camera and was great we got to use them immediatly. White boards section was extremely informative and picked up alot of new ideas for my classroom. I like the use of the responders. Thats the first time I have gotten to actualy use them live.

Ann Meadows pod casting session was my personal favorite because I do tons of digital editing and the software was pretty cool to use. Its a simple multitracking system with easy controls. You can lay down a complete pod cast with minimal effort and cant wait till we assemble our pod cast.

The eportfolio had alot of information but the delivery was dry. Mr. Cole did have alot of information to cover and it went pretty fast paced with alot of things to pick up in a short period of time. It wouldnt hurt me to work on this more extensively on my own time to get used to all the features that the eportfolio entails.

The WV Writes session had some good pointers for non technical teachers but not so many for true career and technical classes. I can see using the information for prepping for the SAT Work Keys test and for our individual writing assignments but not much more than that. The use of extra essays that were used for the artificial intelligence for grading is the main reason why. There isnt an abundance of technical essays in each proffesion to train the AI in my opinion.

The New EdVenture - CTE-TIS Monday August 2

The start of the new week was the beginning of the new EdVenture for CTE-TIS training at the Charleston Civic Center. The day was full of new experiences and technology challenges that will prepare me in my position to train the CTE instructors that I serve.

As our department at WVU-TECH continues to research strategies and methods to improve the distance delivery method, the day's agenda had new technologies that would benefit the effort to improve our effort in the state-wide mission. For instance the combination of the digital camera use and the potential of the program Audacity, could be utilized by developing instructional materials for the present courses in the CTE courses.

The introduction of the ePortfilio for the WV Learns course also stimulated ideas of how the CTED at WVU-TECH could implement the use of the electronic portfolio with the New CTE Instructor program in the collection of documentation for Professional Performance Assessment as these professional educators develop in the education profession.

The presentation on WV Writes suggested some potential activities for the integration of Technical Literacy in the CTE class/lab. These ideas could be presented in our CTED 308 course by the teacher education staff. I would like to see the rubric used by the WV Writes system and investigate on how it could adjusted to meet the teaching and learning needs for CTE.

The exposure to technical teaching aides such as the "SMART" board and the I-Pad provided the thoughts of opportunities and challenges for me as the teacher educator and for the CTE instructor. The opportunities are the excitement of the new equipment the potential of the new class methodology. The challenges are finding the time to practice the use of the new aides having be a natural utilization in the educational environment.

WV TIS-CTE: Monday August 2, 2010 TIS-CTE Training

WV TIS-CTE: Monday August 2, 2010 TIS-CTE Training: "What did you learn in today's session? What did you learn that can be used in your classroom and with students?"

Got to the Civic Center at 8:00 and got my new camera! Yea. Then I went to welcome with Vicki Allen A.D. Office of instructional technology. The next session I went to was the new Thinkfinity website presented by Mark Moore. This session was very enlightening, unfortunately, it was too short to explore the actual site, but rather we were given a broad synopsis of the site.

The next session was the camera introduction presented by Mary Purdue. She was very knowledgeable and engaging, however, I have been using digital cameras at home and in my classroom for several years now, so the information was a little redundant. This was followed up by The digital project introduction by Ms. Wilson, although the session was enjoyable, I came away with more questions than answers about the goals of the project.

Then I went to the Hands-on Podcasting session presented by Anne Meadows. This was my favorite session for the day. The information was delivered in a hands-on, interactive method and I learned many new tricks to have my students incorporate into class projects. Then we broke for lunch.

The next session I went to was the ePortfolio session with Bruce Cole. The information was good but due to technical difficulties, there was very little hands-on time, which hampered the learning and enjoyment of the material.

The next session dealt with the WV Writes information and did not have a direct impact on my duties at this time. It sounds like they have made some very beneficial changes to the program. However, I will withhold judgment until I hear feedback from teachers and students in a real-world application.

The last session I went to was the interactive white board presentation. I really liked this session; however, it made me even more depressed that we have mnemonics boards in my school instead of a true SMART board! All in all this was a great day; I hope the rest of the conference continues like today!

Chuck Parker

Monday August 2, 2010 TIS-CTE Training

What did you learn in today's session? What did you learn that can be used in your classroom and with students?

Gwen Miller - Friday July 30

I went to the breakfast but did not stay for the meeting. I attended the first session on the performance assessment. I was glad to hear that completers might be dropped down to 3 core classes instead of four. I hope that all the proposed changes will take place before the spring assessments. The second session was the Marketing Area meeting. Betty gave us a CD with all the forms and dates and information. It was a very short meeting.

Friday July 30 -- Conference Notes

The breakfast meeting hosted by the WVACTE was attended by some of those in attendance. The WVACTE leadership provided updates on the progress or lack of progress of membership in the state organization. It concerns me that as present members retire, the new CTE instructors do not see the need and/or to support the national and state CTE organization.
With the membership at the state level, the national organization will not have the financial and grass roots support to promote CTE to the political leaders in government.
Debra Kimbler presented to the Administrator affiliate the "GED Option." This program hopes to address the high rate of high school dropouts and give students a option to have a graduation credential. From Ms. Kimbler's presentation, the program sounds similar to a program that was offered in Cabell County during the late '80's and early '90's. Having the students combine a academic component with a CTE program.
In the closing session, Dr. D'Antoni elaborated on a 5 and 10 year vision. This vision was developed during the department's retreat last week. There was 6 key points that will assist the leadership in the planning stage of reform.

As for next week, I will be making the commute from Huntington and my cell is 304-544-9990.

Conference Notes 7/30

Abby,

After our meeting this morning, I attended the session pertaining to project based assessments for completers. I agreed with all the suggestions that were made today. Professional development for teachers and administrators would be a great way to start so we can know exactly how to prepare our students. I believe students should be given the rubric before testing so they know in advance what the stardards for the testing will be. I was especially excited about the idea of allowing a student to be a completer with three required courses in the cluster. In the past, we have always had many students who lacked only one course to attain completer status. Hopefully these suggestions will be implemented.

The second session with Kathryn Mace could have been much better if we were not in the same room with other groups. The information she was presenting to us was very useful, but I simply couldn't hear everything she was saying. I am looking forward to working with her; I believe she will welcome our input.

I will see everyone Sunday evening. I will be staying at the Marriott. My cell is 304-261-6866.

WV TIS-CTE: Contacts for next weeks class

WV TIS-CTE: Contacts for next weeks class: "Could everyone post a blog with the following information? A cell phone number Where you will be staying next week Will you be meeting us S..."

Hello I will be staying at the Holiday Inn Express, I will most likely meet everyone at Embassy at 8:30 and my cell is 240-446-8423

Friday at the CTE State Confernece

Performance Assessment with Donna Burge-Tetrick
This session provided open dialogue about the necessary changes to the Performance Assessments. Overall the discussion was positive, reassuring and benefical.

Vision for CTE with Kathy D'Antoni
I sat in on part of this session with my director. Dr. D'Antoni began by stressing marketing of our programs, students and success stories. Focusing on purposeful and personalized (another P word) instruction for students was also discussed.

Got home, hugged the big girls, kissed the hubby and started dinner. Tomorrow will be laundry day, church on Sunday and start all over again! Hope everyone has a great weekend.

WV TIS-CTE: CTE Annual Conference, July 2010

WV TIS-CTE: CTE Annual Conference, July 2010: "Part I: Please list all sessions you attended, along with the day and time they were presented. This would include general sessions. Part II..."

Started off by attending breakfast with the ACTE. It was the slated business meeting and I was not well informed about much of the issues they were voting on. The breakfast was good and I won a nice shirt as a door prize. I also found out that I won a vendor raffle prize (career and professional development software suite) so I am very glad I went!!

The next thing I attended was the session on the completers test and related issues. Although I do not have to give any of these tests, I was glad to see how receptive Ms. Tetrick was to teacher input and trying to support us as we try to do the best for our students.

The last meetng I attended was the information and discussin by Ms. Mace. She had some really good information but it was very difficult to hear much of the conversation. They kept two groups in the same room and for some unexplained reason, we had both groups right next to each other in the front of the room trying to talk over each other.

Have a great weekend everyone, and I look forward to seeing everyone next week.!
Chuck

Well it is Friday, I am finally home for the second time today!! First went to the meeting at 9:15 with Abby, who told us to be sure to blog and what to bring next week , Then went to my HOST meeting with MR. MARK MOORE!!! and I will have to say that today was the best day of the whole week for me, he was very informative , talked about Thinkfinity(our school had already began exploring this site so it was not new to me) but alot of the information he gave us about the webtop was very helpful. It will be so nice to come home and pick up where I left off at school if I need to, this will be a great thing. Also love that they are kinda giving us our own personal "schoolbook" where we will be able to communicate with our coworkers, and students, I know that this will be a big hit with the students as soon as they are introduced to it. I also liked that as educators we will now be able to get some YouTube videos if we want for our class, this also will be a big perk:) overall I will have to give today an A+, I will have to say the big surprise this year was the number of attendees at the conference I felt there were about one third less people this year, so after leaving right before noon I got home around 1:50 and had to climb right back in and go get my daughter from band camp at Camp Ceasar in Cowen so just got home around 7:30, ready for bed.....but have to water the flowers that are wilted and drying out...lol looking forward to seeing everyone next week.

Last Day

This was an interesting week. topics ranged from financing to testing and everyhing in between. today's first topic on last years completers testing was interesting and I am glad it didn't turn out to be a gripe session. I think that next year will go much smoother. The last session would have gone better if we could have been ion a room separated from other classes. Overall, I was impressed with the quality of the conference and look forward to next week!

Contacts for next weeks class

Could everyone post a blog with the following information?

A cell phone number
Where you will be staying next week
Will you be meeting us Sunday night at 8:30 PM at the Embasy Suites hotel.

My info is....304-923-5670 and I will be at the Embasy. Will be at my friend Eds house in Chas.

Friday's Blog Rmorgan

WV TSA

Kathy Gillman had some really good points about using the TSA program in middle schools as a preparatory for Skills-USA and for deciding a career in a technical school. Was also nice to know that you had pre-approved CSO materials for all grades K through 12 which made this a wide reaching program of study and something you can reach kids that may not be aware of what Career and Technical centers offer. It would be a great recruitment tool for low population centers if teachers and administrators would allow time for instructors to mentor middle school candidates in the TSA programs. Would also be a great tool for cooperative learning between academic and tech centers with ready made curriculum's.



WV SkillsUSA Updates

Cobey and Rick presented last years numbers for medals won, national attendance, and new information about where Skills-USA will be held in a couple of years. Its nice to know that the organization has grown so large that they are going to be using a new facility in Louisville Ky. to accommodate the massive growth. The most productive part of the session was finding out what improvements over last years competition to make it run smoother with less confusion. Some of the new features will fix several problems like people leaving early, integration of non contestants and the public, and they are putting in an immediate grievance system to correct any perceived discrepancies in judging or procedures. Overall it was a very productive session and was pleased it didn't turn into a gripe fest.


My overview of the conference.

After teaching for 10 years this is my first conference and I feel now that I should have been coming to these some time ago. I have learned alot about how the system works and what goes on at the state level and with the new faces in upper seats of power this will be the year for Career Tech. Ed. in West Virginia. I hope we dont try to get a million items incorporated in the first year but prioritize them from most important (ie. curriculum, testing, monies). I didnt agree with a few comments of Curt Bunting on how much time needs to be spent on coordinating between teachers mainly because his inclusive school setting that he presides over is very different than our stand alone facility. Other than that my thoughts on what I saw and heard are very positive towards this school year.