Tech Integration: From a Child's Point of View

I am home from my wonderful trip to Washington, DC and had a great time. I met many great people of which I will speak about in various upcoming posts. I want to start with one of the sessions that stood out the most to me that I hope when I take it back to my colleagues they will feel the same way!

At NECC this past week I had the awesome opportunity meet an eleven year old teacher. Yes, I said eleven year old. Her name is Adora Svitak and she is a very talented writer at this young age. Yes, she is gifted in this area, but she has been totally encouraged by her parents and tutors to pursue this interest and grow in her passion. As I sat and listened to Adora speak about writing and integrating technology, her vocabulary blew me away. Not like some "nerdy" kid trying to show off with big words, but just like listening to another colleague speaking to me in a PD or PLC meeting. Adora travels the country conducting writing workshops for teachers and students. What could be more motivating to kids than hearing it straight from someone their own age?

Adora's grasp of technology use both in her day to day writing and in her presentation skills was also amazing to watch. She was brought to NECC this year by Promethean, one of the premiere Interactive White Board manufacturers. Just watching her use the ActivBoard and student response system in her presentation to us again blew me away. I hope her message from the child's point of view can be heard by teachers and administrators. She talked about the wonderful engagement and defferentiating opportunities that are available through the use of these interactive tools.

Her goal in life is to inspire kids to love reading as much as she does, and to let them know it is the basis for whatever they may be interested in. Through her writing workshops kids and teachers alike are able to hear from a child's perspective the importance of engaging instruction.

Take a look at Adora's books that are listed on her website http://www.adorasvitak.com/ when you get a chance. If you have not seen or heard her speak search YouTube for Adora Svitak.

I've included an interview that was done this week with Adora by one of the local DC TV stations. Toward the end of the interview she references that she will be speaking to a group of teachers at 3:45 that day. I was fortunate enough to be in that session and was given a copy of one of Adora's books and got to meet her briefly!

More NECC posts to come soon!
Susan

Packed and Ready to Go!

Well as I sit here on Saturday afternoon I think I am packed and have remembered everything for my big trip to Washington, DC for NECC (National Education Computing Conference). This is a great opportunity to meet colleagues (educators and other technology users) from across the country to talk and share what is going on in other school districts. I am looking forward to bringing back some new knowledge to my co-workers and the the teachers I work with here in Bullitt County.

My goal is to try to blog my experiences each day either in the afternoon/evening or during a particular session I may be attending. I'll do my very best to update as much as possible. However, if I don't get a chance to blog I will defintely be "tweeting" my experience on Twitter. You can follow me there: @ssjenk6. My Twitter updates are also synced to my Facebook at www.facebook.com/ssjenk6!

Everyone enjoy the weekend!

Susan

M.I.A.

I've been a little MIA (Missing In Action) on this blog lately! I see that my last post was at the end of March. Since then we had Spring Break and then the whirlwind started with testing and the end of the school year. I kept in touch through Twitter, so if you follow me there or on Facebook you know that it's been a busy ending to the school year.

Taking care of seven schools with Technology Integration is no small task. I do love my job and wouldn't have it any other way. The highlight of the month of May was helping several teachers with slide shows to present to their class, end of year programs, etc. I am proud of all of those who I helped and some who did much on their own. The pride I see in a teacher's face when they learn a new way to use technology is golden! Many teachers "graduated" from the old inserting pictures in PowerPoint and fighting to make the music work to the easier MS Photostory program. Some even tried using Windows Movie Maker. Not only did some teachers try to attempt making Photostories themselves, some even collaborated with my co-worker and I came up with projects for the students to work on. What a perfet project for students to help keep them focused after testing is over.

I am now enjoying my first day off for the summer. I am off this week and then will work next week for our state Tech Conference (KYSTE).

I hope to blog a little more often now that summer is here. I definitely plan to blog when I take my trip to Washington, DC at the end of this month for NECC (National Education Computing Conference)!

Happy Summer Break!
Susan