Instructional Technology Coordinator brings a Group of
Grant Teachers to GaETC 2008

Terri Smith,

Ben Hill County Schools,

Fitzgerald , GA

 

GaETC 2008 started off with a blast as Ron Clark shared his “out-of-the-box” methods for achieving student success.  The enthusiasm and excitement Ron displayed quickly spread among the crowd gathered at the Opening Session.  Ron was the 2000 Disney American Teacher of the Year and founder of the Ron Clarke Academy created for the low-wealth students from inner-city Atlanta .  He shared amazing stories of how these students made outstanding increases in test scores, conducted projects which captured worldwide attention and was even invited to the White House to be honored by the President on three different occasions!

Ron’s enthusiasm was contagious before the end of his session.  The group of teachers I brought felt rejuvenated and were ready to go conquer any classroom full of students!  Several insisted on planning a trip to Atlanta to spend a day visiting Ron’s Academy.  The conference had only been in session for less than 2 hours and we were already feeling recharged.

As the events continued throughout the day, we split up and went to various concurrent sessions. There were so many beneficial topics to pick from; it was often difficult to decide which one to attend!  By going in different directions, we were able to gain more valuable knowledge to share with one another. 

Our school system has installed Promethean Boards in almost every classroom throughout the district, so as the Instructional Technology Coordinator for the school district, I wanted to gather all of the information I could on ActivStudio.  I was able to attend many sessions; the following two were really impressive.

Jennifer Howell, from Stephens County , did a great job sharing “ACTIVStudio Bag O’Tricks”.   I loved all the examples she used while demonstrating some of the software’s features.  She had some excellent ideas that any teacher can use in the classroom to engage kids.  Jennifer even gave each participate a copy of her flipcharts on CD.  Some examples are listed below:

·         ‘Hide & Seek’ feature to create an interactive game for the students called “Word of the Day”; students click on the board to reveal clues and a letter of the word

·         Magic Hat – used as an interactive activity teaching synonyms and antonyms

·         Reveal Tool – students move the object to reveal the letter for the beginning sound of the picture; also used to reveal answers to math problems

·         Containers – students drag words to the correct box to indicate the part of speech

·         GameBoards – Chutes & Ladders (which can be downloaded from Promethean Planet); Connect 4; Tic-Tac-Toe; Hollywood squares

·         Interactive sites – websites can be embedded in flipcharts or used from the internet; pass the pen to engage kids; http://iknowthat.com ; http://www.sheppardsoftware.com

There were many other sessions which covered Promethean’s Activstudio software.  Maggie Paoletti, from Forsyth County , discussed the “Three Qualities of an Effective Flipchart”.  They included:  standards, interaction, and assessment.  She stated, “Add these attributes to existing flipcharts for greater student learning”.  Maggie had some great points that I plan to use when training teachers.  By including the standard in the flipchart, you and the student can focus on what you are about to learn.  By including the essential question and a type of assessment in the flipchart, a teacher has the entire lesson all together.  I have found it beneficial to even include a type of review after the student activity to refocus and reinforce the topic.

The teachers who attended with me were part of the Teacher, Teamwork & Technology Grant from our Middle school.  I included the conference fee and expense when writing the grant, so all 6 teachers plus our media specialist could attend.  The teachers had never attended the conference, and I knew this would be a positive experience for them.  By taking the whole group, we were able to cover so much and then we were constantly sharing ideas during the trip.  Some of the sessions they attended were: Podcasting, Creating Wikis, Combining Math & Technology, Computer Activities for Science, Technology Tips, Tricks & Tools, Doing So Much with an iPod Touch, and Going Green the Moodle Way .  We were even able to collaborate with other schools involved in this same grant in a session called “Birds of a Feather”. 

To add to our trip, MTC, a computer company that we do business with, held a social as a ‘Special Thank You’ to their customers.  To our surprise, every one of our teachers who attended received a brand new laptop!  Everyone was astonished – that’s a total of nine laptops!  We were completely overwhelmed!!!

What an exciting trip!  Everyone returned with so much to share.  My head is still swarming with ideas as I think about the trip.  My goal is to continue to share this information with the teachers in our school district and introduce others to the conference.  The experience at ETC with the grant teachers was very beneficial & I’m so glad they were able to attend.  I will definitely include this when applying for other grants when possible.

The teachers who attended the conference where part of the 3T Grant:  Teachers, Teamwork, & Technology.

Return to Professonal Development Articles