Newsletter May 15, 2015

TIS AND THAT June 2015

Volume 3—Issue 18

TEST DAYS...

Tips for Test Prep

By Anthony McIntyre

As with my experience last year, thoughts of Spring bring thoughts of warmth, flowers and fun, but also, the stress of testing. With the shift to Smarter Balanced from prior testing, many seem nervous or concerned. We were fortunate enough to be able to pilot some of the testing last year in Wirt County. Over the course of a day, I had several classes take practice tests and provide feedback. Students enjoyed the idea of it not counting and they got to assess the assessment. I received a lot of responses from the kids.

While there were the almost obligatory “this is stupid” or “I hate testing,” there were also some very helpful things we discovered. The most significant was that we found if the resolution was not set to specific settings, the test failed to fit the page. I believe that has been remedied for this year and your tech folk should have the specs on that for this year. Students also seemed to like that the only tools active were the ones usable for that question. It took a lot of guess work out of the equation. Another big win was the manipulatives. Being able to move things around seemed to make students more receptive to the test overall. One area of mixed review was the calculator. It only served for what was needed. Initially, many students and teachers expressed the calculator was unfamiliar. Many changed that perspective as they realized it was like the tools mentioned above; it would only allow them to do calculations needed for a specific project.

Regardless, test preparation remains fairly consistent. Do not cram for everything the night before, get a good nights rest, eat a good breakfast, etc. I have included a couple of sites that provide more specific information if you wish to use them. It may be advisable to collect a few of the more important points and send them home in a flyer or email for students and parents to review.

These sites may help: https://www.teachervision.com/study-skills/teaching-methods/6390.html

In This Issue 

Test Prep

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Wax

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Check it Out!

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Thoughts and Tips from the 2015 PETE&C

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A Few Appy Thoughts

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Reflecting on the Journey

http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/school/teststress/article10.html http://www.aps.edu/aps/7-bar/TestTakingTop25.pdf

Save the Date!

2016 West Virginia Statewide Technology Wax—A New Way To Present

Waxing It Up

By Anthony McIntyre

As a classroom teacher for over a decade, I was a strong proponent of authentic assessment and project based learning. Doing something with the material always creates a much more indelible learning experience for the students, and it makes learning fun. In the end, is that not what learning should be? Some of my cornerstone projects were newscasts and newspapers. While Publisher is a great tool for the latter, the former was often generated through paper, paint, cardboard and various other art supplies and imagination. Well, now we have Wax!

Conference July 21-23 Waterfront Hotel—Morgantown

There!

I was introduced to Wax by a teacher who was utilizing it and invited me to come see what the kids were doing with it. I had never heard of the program but the description provided really got my brain racing with ideas.

Let me tell you a little about this program. The link is included at the end so you can access it yourself. What can it do for you? As mentioned, I would use newscast projects to allow students to convey what they learned and this takes that idea to a whole new level. My students would mimic the news with weather and live broadcasts and so on. This program allows the student to record their subject matter then place any scene as a background. So if the anchor person wants to send the report to the ‘on the scene’ reporter at the battle, accident, or location...they just drop it in the background and they are there. How incredible right?

This can also serve as a historical tool so reports can be done at the battle of Lexington or during the D-Day invasion. While moving images are possible, it is a far more complicated process that requires some sophisticated software to go with Wax. With that restraint, still images work just as well.

You do need a “green” background like any green screen technology, but a student came up with a wonderful idea that has worked wonderfully so far.

Rather than finding green paper or painting a green wall, he came up with taking the Smartboard and projecting a green screen that way. It has been flawless and we have not discovered any issues thus far. Of course, everyone may not have that option, so green paper will work just as effectively.

Waxing It Up Cont...

This is a wonderful application that has endless possibilities. I do hope that you get the chance to try it, or at least, check it out on some free time over the summer. If you are anything like me...your mind will race with ideas. Enjoy!

http://www.debugmode.com/wax/

Thoughts and Tips from the 2015 Pennsylvania Educational Technology Expo and Conference.

By David McCollam

Hershey, Pennsylvania not only had it’s typical wave of chocolate permeating through the air, but a huge wave of technology as well at the 2015 Pennsylvania Educational Technology Expo and Conference. Over 3,000 educators and hundreds of exhibitors gathered for the 4-day event. There were so many sessions to choose from (285 to be exact), the conference had to be divided into two hotels (Hotel Hershey and the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center) with a bus going back and forth between each.

With so many options, it created some difficulty choosing which sessions to attend. Thankfully, the conference created an App where anyone could keep track of what sessions were available, which ones they signed up for, and even an option of taking notes for each session.

Some of the more interesting sessions I attended were: 3-D Printing (anyone need a kidney?); App Attack (60 apps in 60 minutes!); Gamification (turning your classroom into a ‘quest’ type of game—I think I would have to take a 3-hour class to get this one down); Augmented Reality (focused on the Aurasma App and how it works); and Minecraft.edu (using a special version of minecraft to teach math, science, and history lessons). One of the coolest tools I discovered was ‘Kahoot!’ This is a game-based classroom response system where you can create your own assessments or pick from thousands already made.

It’s free and easy to use at http://www.getkahoot.com. I have used this in several classes, and the students absolutely love it!

I have only mentioned a few of the great things I discovered at the conference. So if you’re looking to snag up some professional development hours next school year, consider crossing the Mason-Dixon Line to attend the 2016 PETE&C next February. It will be well worth your time!

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Zoom in and out with these new contact lenses!

http://tinyurl.com/px6lm75

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Magic Leap— Taking 3D to a whole new level! http://tinyurl.com/msgvhfl

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Just how smart can your clock be? http://tinyurl.com/p94u9tc

A Few Appy Thoughts Smiley Sight Words-flash-card app with over 1,500 common English words. Customize a word-list or choose from pre-made lists organized into 40 different levels. Progress reports are created after each session! ($0.99 on iTunes) Monster Physics—students can build, create, and work their way through various missions and challenges utilizing the laws of physics. (Free or $0.99 on iTunes)

Telestory-students will have a blast creating their own newscast! Choose from different themes and backgrounds based on the topic of their story. It’s fun and user friendly! (Free on iTunes)

Scanner and Translator—take a picture of any recognizable text, and it can be translated into any one of 90 languages! ($1.99 on iTunes)

A Few Appy Thoughts cont…..

Aurasma—augmented reality app where you create ‘auras’ by taking a picture of something and creating an overlay for it (text, photo, video).

When that photo is scanned with Aurasma, the text, photo, or video associated with the picture will appear. (Free on iTunes and Google Play)

Contact Us (Only if you want)

Anthony McIntyre amcintyre@K12.wv.us TIS-Wirt County HS My Blog http://wchstech.blogspot.com/

Reflecting on the Journey

By David McCollam

David McCollam dwmccollam@k12.wv.us Lincoln High School

I cannot begin to share all I have learned on the first leg of this TIS journey. It would be more than anyone would probably care to read. I can say that it has transformed the way I think about delivering content to students. However, even though the infusion and integration of technology will allow us to engage more students than ever before, it will still not reach 100% of our students.

One of the biggest game-changers this journey has provided so far is the concept of blended learning through an on-line Learning Management System. Being able to post videos, learning games, interactives, quizzes, and have on-line discussions have engaged my students so much more than the traditional lecture-worksheet method. Creating digital projects has enhanced engagement and created more learning opportunities than enduring a typical lecture-notes session.

The process has had, and still has bumps in the road. Most students and teachers are not used to learning or instructing this way. While many teachers resist it, some students even do. They are uncomfortable when asked to create something as opposed to simply filling in the blanks. Also, the students who rarely pay attention when a teacher is instructing tend to have difficulty paying attention when they are being instructed on a video.

Some just want to ’click’ their way through assignments without learning the content. Most students are getting better in this respect. However, the content is still the content, and I feel that no matter how it is presented, a small percentage of students will still not ’buy in’. Even with technology, we do not have enough ‘pathways’ to reach every student (another article for another time).

Finally, another crucial thing I have learned is that the learning cannot stop or even slow down. The specific technology we are learning now will likely be obsolete (or at least out of date) within a few short years. As long as we are working with students, we will have to stay alert and open to new and exciting ways to engage our students.

This summer…. don’t

Take