Alice Keeler is one of my Twitter colleagues who has a wealth of information you can subscribe to from her blog or twitter feed. In this post she shares a post from a teacher who is “tired, tired, tired” of Powerpoint presentations. The responses from the community give us plenty of alternatives to consider trying. Take a look: Alternative to Presentations

Also, while looking at the University of South Florida’s Technology Integration Matrix at mytechmatrix.org, I came across this gem called
Here is the address:
http://etc.usf.edu/presentations/index.html
Borders, banners, frames, navigation, figures…so many resources to add interest and excitement to your presentations.

The material has a very easy license for students and educators. Use up to 50 items with no permission required. If you use it for a website, they do ask for you to reference USF.

Contact me if you would like to try some out, or have me show your students how to use them.

I admit that I completely stole this from a presentation at this year’s FETC called “Redefine PD.” The original resource was created by STAT Teacher, Jennifer Dingle from Stoneleigh Elementary School BCPS (Baltimore County), and former STAT Teacher Shelly Mitchell from Lyons Mill Elementary School BCPS.I loved that it communicates the role of an instructional technology COACH, not someone who just trains on the tech tools.
Select Here: ITC menu

It also shows that I am HUNGRY to share a collaborative classroom experience with my teachers, not just do one-size-fits all afterschool workshops.
Bon Apetit!

In the video below, a teacher has added an image from his classroom to a VoiceThread and then posted it on his PLC blog. His comments were intended to start a discussion among his colleagues.
As you look at this image, notice how people commented on the picture. Some have typed text comments, others recorded voice comments, and one teacher posted their webcam comment. Scroll over the thumbnails to open their comments. Open to full screen for best results.
What comes to mind as you listen to or read their comments?
I wonder what response you would get if you added an image, quote or problem to a VoiceThread and shared it with your students for comments? Do you think they would be eager to respond?
Voicethread is super easy to use. Let me show you how!

New technology can be incredibly daunting for educators dealing with so many other challenges. Richard Snyder said that everyone in education must rise above their fear of the new. “Fearlessness is the most important skill,” he said. “Fear of failure, not having control and of someone doing it better — or having already done it — will keep us from trying something that may just change how we teach and how students learn. Be fearless with technological integration, and you can’t possibly fail.” http://thejournal.com/Articles/2014/01/22/10-Tech-Skills-Every-Educator-Should-Have.aspx?Page=4#X3Gx2qkG7qpUSym6.14

ISTE is the International Society for Technology in Education, and their annual conference is always amazing. Just today I attended 5 sessions and learned about so many new innovative tools that we can use to engage our students!
The big trends seem to be expanding our resources for students to become producers and publishers, (digital storytelling) and embedding QR codes that can hold many different kinds of information (the square bar codes you see everywhere).

I’ll share as much as I can through this blog as time permits, but certainly will be eager to share all I’ve learned.