EdCamp NYC

edcamp ppt and notes

Sat, 05 May 2012 11:42:58 -0700

-smack down google doc page https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RVpikHjRLX4kuD8BLXZ0nvxK6hWKuVbVU5yAi-YVORk/edit

-Here is my ppt from my mobile presentation in gdoc https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ZLfG142wo1bPwzo-MDrksB6zfxw0vRdmFCAnXe98G9o/edit

Melissa

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Re; inline text version of my notes from EdCamp NYC

Sat, 05 May 2012 11:17:54 -0700

Notes from EdCampNYC
Feel free to add links and notes!

Session One: App Script by Andrew Stillman

Open a Google spreadsheet (Script Gallery)

Flubaroo: auto-grading script
Autocrat script (found in Script Gallery)
formMule: can send templated smails and auto-create calendar events from docs.

Podcasting:

need computer, internet connection,recording program (Audacity, Garage Band, etc.), microphone

Have a script (literary component for students)

quiet space
Google Docs could be used as a script
4-6 people in a group
handout on Twitter to see a sample

record on headsets
Where can I find a podcasts? On iTunes, Podcasts, iTunesU
Example of a podcast: What’s right and wrong? Music playing at the wrong places.
dig.ccmixter.org (already tagged with artists’ info)
Podomatic for posting podcasts
sample podcast assignments from @mseideman:

https://docs.google.co m/document/d/1Xs3uohaP5-jixg1jOwcP04jmH89JgWv48s8qKNrmOG8/edit?hl=en_US

https://docs.google.com/document/d/17joTkVRuh9vSJTfYMxP_U3P4hRHgqLk_SqDbiXKR3wE/edit?hl=en_US

http://notanotherhistoryteacher.edublogs.org/files/2012/01/VFW-Kristina-and-Brit-2g8dbrj.mp4

Audacity; free software; most icons are not important

record sound/talk

save intro
second file is the speaker
Can amplify (can harmonize voices to music)

add music (dig.ccmixter.org): Music from unsigned artists. Don’t use songs with lyrics

Drag music into Audacity
Can edit and fade the music

Cool things to do with an IWB

Convert PDF to Notebook

Can’t move screen down with digital ink layer

Go to File, Print, drop down menu (Smart Notebook Document Writer)--ink moves with document!

Google SketchUp
Transparent Background (can select backgrounds); clear television screen;you can manipulate the screen even though the notebook is open; ex: pentagon around the Pentagon; create a button (link in object); you can take notes on each page.

Smart Recorder
Qwiki: Universal Design for Learning; has visuals, audio, and written text; compiles a story from multiple resources; has to be cited in multiple areas; support material (1-2 minutes in length)

Connect an iPad: ; App: Tour Wrist: 360 view;

Set Picture Transparency
Audacity
algodoo

Gapminder

Skype in the Classroom:

cybraryman.com is a great resource (love this page)

test Skype out first
get a wireless microphone or a USB connector for a wireless mic

iPads in the Classroom: Research, Create, Share
Skitch: screenshot and text
Tour Wrist

Click on home and take a screenshot (fieldtrips)

creative writing
ShowMe: can look up different things; create videos for iPads only. Can watch it on website on computer (good for Flipped Classroom)

can share on Twitter, Facebook, Evernote, Edmodo (via link), Smartboard Notebook, Prezi, etc.

Can embed other people’s work
iPad stylus (cheap versions, handmade) would help with handwriting
Google Translate: translation app (ex: five things they want to know in the language, talk with parents who speak another language)
QWiki: 1-2 min videos about various topics
Merriam-Webster app: voice search; powered by Dragon Dictation
Unicode Character Map
Dragon Dictation

Common Core
Dropbox
PlainText: txt.files

TagPad: import files;
Scribble Press: Can make an iBook (lots of markers for art, clip art, text, written text) ; example: all about me book; can share out; Mad Libs activity

Smart Notebook App!!! Can’t control the board, but can create a notebook file; and push it to students and then have then send it back to teacher

Popplet Lite: graphic organizer app; organizational chart; can add pictures; can export

Splashtop: makes iPad into a remote mouse; can look at iPad and use it

AudioNote Lite: practice fluency with students; can annotate as you listen to students’ reading; they will know what to practice; can email the notes

Via Twitter; QR Codes in the Classroom

How Can I Be a Connected Educator

alternatives to Twitter: Todays Meet; MyBigCampus, Edmodo, Wikispaces

Twitter allows students to communicate with teacher

Backchanneling during videos; they ask questions and comment as they watch the video

Connect with teachers
Teach 3rd grade
Social learning is something we’ve always done.

In order to foster discussion about technology and the need for tech/connections, use class blogs to educate parents, colleagues, and administrators. Send out a group email in order to share projects. VoiceThread is also a good option for student projects (WallWisher, PInterest, Animoto).

Mobile Learning Devices--Using Cell Phones in the Classroom

My Big Campus: has more features than Edmodo (chat feature, YouTube videos, links, groups, library, blog, etc); app for iPad;

Backchanneling option in My Big Campus
How to start off kids with backchanneling: have them make five purposeful comments and see the discussion take off; it shapes the kids’ learning
Celly is a great option for texting in class.

give a parental permission slip which also gives parents the option to join the group

texting: for questions, announcements, and homework

can text you questions about an exam

can text parents
send reminder texts
personal numbers and names are not shown

increasing communication with parents
can text from phone or from website
can schedule messages

keeps a log of all conversations
can change settings
best thing for field trips

can use for backchanneling
you can subscribe by texting the user name
“text a friend” option (ex: Did you vote in the last election? Why?) Use this once a week.
Tell students to flip their phones if they’re not using them
Tell them that it is a privilege to use their phones in class.

Digital Citizenship “Live”
Internet Safety and Privacy
Have students discuss safety issues and present them
Social Media Boot Camp and Makeover
Show students screen captures from actual FB pictures
Rate the images (ex: If the person is applying to be a camp counselor, What about this image is negative?)
Ask students what these images say about the person? How would an employer see this image? How could this image be positive? How could this image be negative? When would this image work (if the person was an artist? A teacher?

When students are applying to college, what do their profile picture say about them?

Sharing and connecting with others beyond your classroom walls

Flat Classroom Project

Edscape Conference in October

Memes: positive and negative (sometimes students push the limits of what’s funny))

The class decided that they didn’t want their school represented in this light and then flagged inappropriate comments

Teachers created Facebook (FB) groups

could post pictures and links

alternatives: Edmodo and Schoology
The nice thing about FB is that students are already there.
Kids posted pictures of themselves reading The Hunger Games to convince the school to add it to the reading list
teachers created a FB group that was originally a summer reading book club, but morphed into a collaborative space
You need to understand that there are different types of learners.
Digital Citizenship board on Pinterest inspired colleagues to share ideas (love this idea)
Examining controversial topics that have been shared by the mediaa
Bias and media influence
The best homework is what the student wants to do on their own. They need to be active in the process.

Every school has a responsibility to have an online supportive environment for students to prepare them for the real world. You’re teaching collaboration as a skill.

Face-to-face collaboration is vital; it reflects what you’re doing in the virtual world

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#EdCampNYC wrap-up and next steps

Sat, 05 May 2012 11:02:58 -0700

See the full gallery on Posterous

Back in January, Andrew Stillman (@astillman) and Ali Shama (@alishama) approached me about having an EdCampNYC at Francis Lewis High School, where Ali is principal. While having EdCampNYC at The School at Columbia University is incredibly convenient for me, having it in Queens enabled Ali's faculty, a variety of DOE teachers, and many people new to edcamps to participate. There were about 110 people gathered today for three sessions and an amazing BBQ lunch served up by Ali, his administrative team, and student volunteers.

The unconference schedule (created this morning by attendees of today's edcampnyc) included sessions about mobile computing, being a connected educator, Google Apps scripting, iPads in the classroom, digital citizenship, podcasting, engineering projects, QR codes, standards based grading, prototyping digital learning, public speaking for educators, ELL needs, Skype in the classroom, SMARTboard troubleshooting, Mathematical art, and more.

Important links:
Follow the @edcampnyc account and the #edcampnyc hashtag on Twitter

The online session board is at http://tinyurl.com/edcampnyc

Add your photos to the edcampnyc Flickr group at http://flickr.com/groups/edcampnyc and tag your photos with edcamp and edcampnyc

Post any notes or reflections from the day to this digital archive at http://edcampnyc.posterous.com by sending an email to edcampnyc@posterous.com (with a title for your post in the subject line of the email and your notes in the body of the email)

Consider hosting your own EdCamp or adopting the UNconference model fir a faculty meeting or Professional Development day at your school or campus! More info at: edcamp.wikispaces.com

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Notes from EdCampNYC

Sat, 05 May 2012 09:15:28 -0700

Some notes from today:

EdCampNYC - https://docs.google.com/document/d/18WUtGtp0calO5dNWWioGBe98Ga2dhAlB-PE0LRkj130/edit

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Reflection on EdCampNYC

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:17:02 -0700

Hello,

Below is my reflection that I recently posted on my blog.

----------------------

"It's In Your Hands" by Mary Rice-Boothe

“All of us do not have equal talent, but all of us should have an equal opportunity to develop our talents.” ~JFK

This past Saturday I went The School at Columbia University, not to drop my daughter off at school but for my own learning. EdCampNYC was an unconference that gave me the opportunity to continue a learning that has been fast and furious since I joined the education professional learning community on Twitter.

I attended workshops on passion-driven learning and how to integrate choice into the curriculum. I avoided the technology workshops because so many of the educators I work with are not blessed with the technology needed to implement the ideas presented. As I reflect now a theme of the conference and the workshops I attended was 'self-driven learning'.

The first workshop I attended was facilitated by Lisa Nielsen. It focused on a recent article she has posted titled, "20 Things Students want the Nation to Know about Education." The question of principals' perspective came up. The attendee stressed the importance of having administrators on board in order to see systematic change. I was signaled out because I was a former principal- uncommon in this unconference. I explained the accountability and tight timeline for success that is hung over principals' head and if there is a desire of principals to do school differently, they will do it even if they face pressure. In the second workshop, I found two principals but neither from the NYC Department of Education.

I know that it's scary being a principal in New York City. No one wants to end up on the front of The New York Post. However, as I listen to new and veteran principals there is so much to share. One new principal talked about her desire to continue to be a learner. She wanted to continue to read and stretch her thinking like she experienced the former year during her training. However, attending EdCampNYC never crossed her mind-she had never heard of an unconference.

For me, EdCampNYC was one of the vehicles I used to continue my own learning. I gave up my Saturday to not hear from a 'celebrity' educator but from those people I have had countless conversations with on Twitter.

On Saturday, October 15th, I will be presenting a workshop on using social media as a tool to reflect, reinvigorate and relate for principals across the country. In the 90 minutes that I have, I hope to tap into a passion in principals to reach out beyond their schools to learn from each other.

It's in our hands to become the learner we want our students and teachers to be.

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Let's talk ePub and iBooks!

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 14:24:52 -0700

Katie and I had a blast talking about ePub with everyone! Here are some resources we discussed, and some we didn't get to! Thanks to everyone who joined us!

dotePub
This website is a great way to make online content into an iBook... super easy, and super quick!
http://dotepub.com/

Creative Book Builder app
This is the app that we quickly demoed, easy to use and allows for text, hyperlinks, images, video, and audio. ($3.99)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/creative-book-builder-create/id451041428?mt=8

Book Creator app
This app has a great interface, but lacks the ability to add video. It is still worth checking out! ($6.99)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/book-creator-for-ipad/id442378070?mt=8

Webinar for Using Pages to Create iBooks
I did a webinar a few months ago for Classroom 2.0 Live about how to use Pages to create an iBook. This link will take you there and provide some more thoughts and resources about ePub.
http://edreach.us/2011/06/19/who-needs-textbooks-when-you-can-iauthor-your-ow...
ePub Bud
This website advertises themselves as a website where you can publish, convert, store, and download free children's ebooks online for the iPad... worth checking out.
http://edu.epubbud.com/

An ePub Wiki
A resource with examples...
http://2epub.wikispaces.com/

Firefox Plug-In
Allows ePub files to be read/viewed, but multi-media is not supported.
http://www.epubread.com/en/

-------------------------------------------
You can chat more about ePub and iBooks with Katie and I on Twitter:
Katie Krueger @KHirt
Meg Wilson @iPodsibilities

Happy iAuthoring!!!!

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Had A Great Day

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 10:09:52 -0700

Smackdown.pdf Download this file

Edcamp NYC was truly magical for me this year. Each session was incredibly engaging, and I left with about 10,000 new projects to try. I'm going to pick 1 or 2 to tackle first, but all in all I am constantly overwhelmed by the high level of expertise in the educational community. Teachers, you truly are experts. You rock.

One of my favorite moments of this year's Edcamp NYC was at the end of a session I led with Kevin Jarrett and Kim Sivick. With about 10 minutes left to go, we spontaneously broke into a SMACKDOWN. Spontaneous SMACKDOWN?!?!? Yea, it was awesome. (One person in the room perked up and said, "Wait. What's happening right now?" We all laughed together and explained it. Then she shared a tool HERSELF.)

I've attached a list of the apps that were shared by almost everyone in the room during those final minutes. Enjoy.

Thank you to all who spent time organizing the event. I really had a great day.

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5 ideas for responding to what kids want the nation to know about education

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 08:19:06 -0700

I had the pleasure of attending and presenting at EdCampNYC this year organized by some impressive and innovative educators such as my friends Deven Black, Karen Blumberg, and Ann Oro. I did a session based on a popular article I wrote recently called 20 Things Students Want the Nation to Know About Education and also incorporated elements of my talk about connecting school life to real life. In the article students tell us that they need to be seen as people, not just students. They want to feel loved. They want to feel like they belong and are a part of something. In short, they want teachers to know that mattering to them will go a long way toward fostering learning. Interestingly, several commenters to my post on my blog and in the Huffington Post railed against this idea with push back being, that a teachers job is to teach and this other stuff was someone else's job (i.e. parents, ministry, guidance counselor, etc.) The teachers who came to this session were not those teachers.

In the session the focus was clear. Educators and the former principal (YAY for administrators) who attended wanted to know how we can hear the children and show them they matter, we love them, and we want to honor their unique passions, talents, interests, and abilities. We discussed a lot of great ideas. Here are five ways we discussed addressing what students want from education:

Rather than bubbletests, measure student progress with personal success plans.
Rather than report cards and transcripts allow students to showcase their learning with an authentic ePortfolio.
Rather than work that only has the teacher as the audience, empower students to do real work that matters to them and has a real audience.
Rather than telling students how to meet learning goals, empower them to drive their own learning as participant Deven Black explained he does (visit this link to see how).
Have conversations with students about what their talents are. You can use the videos in this article that feature students sharing stories about their talents.

One particularly insightful participant, Kevin Jarrett, said he appreciated these ideas, but for those who may feel overwhelmed by the complexity some entail, he asked,

"What is something we can start doing today to bring this to life in each of our own environments?"

When he asked that, one person came to mind. Angela Maiers and her You Matter movement. Angela's simple suggestion is 1) To get kids talking about why they matter 2) Get teachers publicly acknowledging why their student's matter 3) Have students recognize why each of their peers matters. As Angela says, "These two little words can make a big difference." To me, this goes a long way in summing up much of what our students want from us. They want to know that we think they matter and they want us to help them figure out why.

If you want to see what it looks like when kids begin realizing that they matter, watch the You Matter video at this link.

Thank you Angela Maiers for showing us what this looks like from the eyes of students who have started the "You Matter" conversation. How are you going to start helping your students discover how they matter where you work?

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Introducing the #edcamp model to a district

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 07:28:08 -0700

Yesterday at #edcampnyc I attended an excellent session on how to set up an #edcamp. At the end, we had a #smackdown of less than 10 minutes, where a whole lot of useful information was shared by about 8 different participants.

For several months we've been having some discussion in my district about having an #edcamp. After yesterday's session, I realized that it might simpler to introduce the model in pieces. We have a required monthly PD hour after school. I'm going to see if we can have a smackdown during that hour. Our district is always looking for good ways to use the hour. A smackdown is the whole edcamp experience, compressed into a short time frame:

Participant led and driven
It's free
What is shared, arises out of the group's needs and interests
Even if the current speaker doesn't seem to have anything that connects to you, they've only got a couple of minutes. And you never know if what they say might connect to something later on.

I think an advantage at my school will be that some of us have attended edcamps. Those people people can prime the pump, modeling what a smackdown minute or two looks like. I might even show a YouTube clip if I can find one.

The smackdown yesterday ran out of time but I found myself composing one in my thoughts while it was happening. Then by a series of coincidences, I met a group traveling back on the same train to NJ. While we were waiting for our train in Penn Station, we continued to share information, as teachers often do. I explained how to sync Google Chrome to a group of computers (see link below), and heard about some good resources from the other teachers.

Syncing Google Chrome to a group of computers: http://goo.gl/FGWQ1 send any suggestions or feedback to davezirk@gmail.com

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Tools or Tech

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 17:54:22 -0700

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iPads & Assessment: Explain Everything

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 15:39:27 -0700

I convened a session to talk about iPads and Assessment. I am doing my graduate research on the intersection of formative assessment, multimedia design, and mobile learning. I did a very short presentation about some of the underlying principles in my research, followed by some show and tell of an app that was developed to help me do this research. I didn't want it to seem like a vendor presentation since it is a paid app. I think everyone in the room had lots of interesting things to share as we spent time discussing the tools that are available to assess student learning in a more meaningful and contextualized way than ever before.

Resources are available here: http://edcampnyc.wikispaces.com/iPads+and+Assessment

Reshan Richards
@reshanrichards

Director of Educational Technology
Montclair Kimberley Academy

Department of Math, Science, and Technology
Teachers College, Columbia University

www.constructivisttoolkit.com
www.explaineverything.com

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iPods, iPhones & iPads in Special Education

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 15:30:19 -0700

Here is the slide deck and some resources from the session on iPods, iPhones & iPads in Special Education... Thanks to all who joined in!

A few great links:

Apps for the Inclusive Classroom in the App Store
http://t.co/7DjTMwnr

Luis Perez's site:
http://mobilelearning4specialneeds.wikispaces.com/
His Twitter handle: @lfp72

Apps For Children With Special Needs

http://a4cwsn.com

Apps for AAC
http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/iphoneipad-apps-for-aac

EdCeptional podcast on EdReach.us

http://edreach.us/category/edceptional/