Candi+Gilliland

** The Pete and C is so encompassing that by Wednesday participants suffer from information overload! **
 * What Did Candi Do At The Pete And C? I'm glad you asked! **

** Monday: ** · ** Jeff Corwin ** o Jeff Corwin presented an entertaining discussion on the wonders of nature, but it was not the most relevant session for me. o This session explained how to incorporate custom animation into PowerPoint presentations. I am pretty familiar with PowerPoint creation, but adding custom animation is something that I needed to learn more about. This was a helpful session. · ** iPad: Personalizing Learning, Creating, and Sharing ** o This session showed us some apps that are used in education. The ones that I found to be most applicable to my content were puppet pals, iThoughts, and pulse. Puppet pals is basically an app that would enable students to create visual stories. With this app students could create animated summaries of literature that we’ve read, retell literature from a different character’s perspective, or write their own version of a certain genre. iThoughts is a mindmapping app. Students could use this app in multiple capacities. It could be an organizational tool for their “hectic” lives. It could help to organize assignments and due dates. In class they could use it to brainstorm for writing assignments OR as a note-taking strategy. Pulse is a news app that contains videos of news stories. Students could use this with research, but I also think it could be used as a topic generator for a daily journaling activity. The following is a link that will enable you to access a wiki dedicated to iPad apps for the classroom: [|www.alaslearns.com]. · ** Creating WebQuests for Reflection with Web 2.0 ** o I didn’t think that this session was presented in the most organized way. However, the general idea of using WebQuests in the classroom is awesome. Basically, you choose a specific product that you want students to create and then provide some sites that contain the information students will need to complete their task. You can create a site for free at [|www.weebly.com] that will be the home of your webquest. You can also search webquests that have already been created that you may be able to use in your course. · ** Effective Use of Technology in the Classroom ** o I did not find this session to be helpful. It was basically a showcase of projects that they have used in their classes but without any detailed information on how we could implement them into ours.
 * ** Creating Dynamic Animations in PowerPoint **

** Tuesday: ** · ** Oh the Places You’ll Go-ogle! **  o This was by far my BEST session of the conference. On the google home page, after you do an initial search there is an option for Wonder Wheel on the lower left side of the page. You have to have Google Instant turned off to use this. However, it basically separates your search into subcategories. I thought this would be helpful to students when they’re doing their research papers. We discovered that this Wonder Wheel only shows up with certain settings. For example, it seems to work better with FireFox than it does in Internet Explorer. Another feature of the Google page is in the Advanced Search. You can actually choose the reading level of the sites that it finds during a search (Basic, Intermediate, or Advanced). This is helpful for finding resources in lower-level classes. Two other sites that help to establish reading levels for different sources is [|www.read-able.com] and [|www.twurdy.com]. You can also search for a specific file type. For example, you can limit your results to powerpoints only. The last bit of helpful info from this session is the Google site that provides electronic versions of primary sources: []. The presenter of this session works at an IU. Her wiki is filled with technology-related tips and topics: https://cliueducation21.wikispaces.com. · ** iPad Faculty Pilot ** o This was presented by a professor (I believe) at West Chester University. He discussed their use of iPads, reactions, mistakes, and possible future uses. It was interesting to hear what they did and provided some guidance for us WHEN we get them! · ** Connecting with Hard-to-Reach Learners ** o Tech4Learning was the sponsor of this session. The presenter showed us some projects that students have created using Pixie 2, Frames 4, and Share. These are programs for which our school would have to buy licenses if I wanted to have them on our laptops. However, they did give me a free license for one school computer and one home computer for each of these. They contain clay animation type capabilities that students would find cool, but the same can be accomplished in programs like Photo Story, which we already have. I did learn that [|www.Pics4Learning.com] is a site that has free pictures and clipart that teachers and students can use without worrying about copyright issues. · ** Mobile Devices in Classroom Instruction ** o iPads and iPod Touches were the focus of this session. We were given an iPad to use for the session. They provided us with a list of apps related to language and literature that we could explore. I didn’t get to explore all of these, but here is the list of recommended apps: ABC magic 2, iBooks, Evernote, ABC alphabet phonics, Exam vocab builder, Grammar up, Chicktionary, Jumbo WS, Wordfind, and Going Places. This session proved that there are TONS of education apps (FREE) to be used with the assurance that time is only going to provide more and more!

** Wednesday: ** · ** Web-based Testing for Homework and In-Class Quizzes ** o The basis of this session was online assignments and assessments using [|www.quia.com/net]. The presenter was not employed by this company. He was a teacher who uses this resource and likes it so much that he was advocating for other teachers to use it too. You can sign up for a free 30-day trial. After that, you must pay, but it is relatively cheap for what it does. It’s similar to setting up a test on BlackBoard. However, I feel that this is much easier to navigate. Aside from tests, it also has games/activities that you can customize to your content. · ** netTrekker Project 1-2-3: Research to Report ASAP: ** o This is software that the district would have to purchase. It provides articles on topics and has a built-in note card, bib card, and works cited program. I would not use it in the senior high. · ** Synergy of Technology and Differentiated Instruction: ** o I thought this would provide me with some technology-based projects that I could use to help differentiate my instruction. However, it really just turned into a discussion of the need to differentiate and the fact that technology can help. The presenter has a wiki that contains a lot of information on this topic: __http://tech4di.wikispaces.com.__