Rita+Kyker

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 * Monday **


 * Big Idea:** The WOW factor - finding out that the educational technology world really is in touch with what industry is looking for in our students. I had no idea how big the technology world was out there.

Session I: I spent the entire morning exploring all the poster table and the exhibit hall. The most useful table for me as a math teacher was //table P31, mPower with Technology//. The Ontario, Canada school instructor explained how they use Gismos, Sketchpad, CLIPS, Explorelearning.com, and bitscriptsforschools.com in the classroom. Their district has a Math association to network with other math teachers called OAME (Ontario Association for Math Education). My goal is to explore these sites this summer and plan ways to implement some of this technology in my math classes (instead of just the TI-83).

Session II: //3D Modeling with Google Sketchup - Ken Shelton// Ken showed a fantastic **//free//** 3D modeling program used to augment any project absed learning environment. I was able to construct a non-animated dog house using a 3D vector-based grid system and applied geometric functions with art. I am excited about this because I do a brick project with my students every year to apply geometric, measurements, and fraction work and this will allow me to get my students excited about the project. He recommented the book "Sketchup for Dummies".

[|www.explorelearning.com] [|www.bitschriptsforschools.com] [|www.oame.on.ca] [|www.gizmos.com] [|www.sketchup.google.com]
 * Links and Resources so others can pick up on what you learned

Tuesday


 * Big Idea:** Math and Science day - My goal was to find **//__free__//** math technology and observe how teachers use it.
 * Session I: I spent an hour in the poster section at table P08 - //Math and Technology: Bringing Research to Practice// with Kathleen McClaskey. She was fantastic and game me many interactive teaching and leaning ideas to use in the classroom with free technology (listed below). First she emphasized math vocabulary (which I emphasize heavily) with the math dictionary for kids web page designed by Jenny Easthers. Then explained various uses of Explorelearning.com and the National Library of Virtual Manipulative (NLVM). She went through an easy to understand approach to understanding how to use these different web sites for math technology iliterates like me. She truely was a master teacher!!!


 * Session II: //A Dose of Twitter for Everyday of the Year// by Kathy Schrock. She was excellent at presenting all the neat uses and challenges of twitter but it is not a tool I can use in my classes. I wanted to find out the differences between facebook, twitter, blogs, and IMing and this session helped me understand more. I know feel I can talk the lingo with more understanding.


 * Session III: //EnableMath360: Webbased, Continuous-Progress Math// - not Free! I found this program to be similar to Accecerated Math (AM) with some added features for immediately tracking student growth through data tables. it allows students to work at different paces and to do work at home which allows for differntiation in the class. It also allows parent interaction. Two major drawbacks: it's not free and it rquires a lot of upfron loading time to enter student information and assigning passwords. It looked terribly time consuming. With our Infinite Campus and new Teacher Portals, I don't see a use for this.

CLIPS public domain - free [|www.mozilla.com/firefox/] [|www.amathdictionaryforkids.com] [] - not all free but some trial examples are useful [|www.explorelearning.com] you can explore Gizmos on this web page but Gizmos is not free. [] //Maine Impact Study of Technology in Mathematics// - a great research study [|www.enablemath.com]
 * Links and Resources so others can pick up on what you learned


 * Wednesday **


 * Big Idea:** continue finding new technology to use in Math and find out how High Schoold are using technology so i can have a better vision of what my students will be facing in theri future education.
 * Session I: //3D Animation: It's not just for Hollywood - Dan Cornell and his students// Dan has implemented Art, Math, and Science in his HS classes and it's phenominal!!! He and his students showed the tools they use to create animation for engineers, artists, doctor candidates, and even forensic scientists. He explained how he needed various programs and equioment to implement this level of student learning and SmokyHill HS has what he needed. Some of the equipment is expensive but very well worth it when you see what is being done for these students to move on and get internships and scholarships in a competative industry. This session was a bit over my head but he showed me how even IB students with non-Art emphasis are using his classes to expand their education. Here are some of the programs he mentioned: Autodesk Maya, Toonboom, Wacom, HP, NextEngine (a new 3D scanner), Adobe photshop, Piologic


 * Session II: //Using Google Apps Education Edition to Improve Learining// - Roger Nevin Roger showed some excellent ways to integrate these free Google Apps into the classroom. A lot of what he showed involved students writing repoerts and papers and how teachers can interact with students without using USB ports and printing on paper. I have students do reports in my math class so this app isn't useful for me. The video and spreadsheets and forms apps are the apps I want to use . The video app is like youtube but with more time. I can use this for giving tutorials for students to use at home and to simply video any of my lessons and show it to the classes instead of me lecturing! I can use the spreadsheets data collecting without having to use Mircosoft Excel and cutting and pasting data to tranfer from home to school - it's all on the web. The forms apps can be used for parents and student surveys and newsletters. I think this is what our Administrators need to understand and get on board with!


 * Session III: //Grab a Mouse, not a Hammer: Tools for Student - Sharon Bower of the National Institute of Aerospace -// This was a very high level tachnology tool for HS students and teachers. It's used to integrate technology with critial thinking skills. It is a NASA based program using eCLIPS video segments (free) and NIAUniversity. Sharon explained the difference between scientists and engineers and how to understand STEM to apply technology knowing these concepts. It was a bit over my head but very fun to do a tutorial on my laptop using a virtual concept. Avitars and anctual instuctors were on line across the country to help assist and that was a new playground for me to experiment with. Though fascinating, it's too advanced for what I teach.

Postini - filters emals for security itsrips for schools [|www.nasa.gov/education/nasaeclips] [|www.niauniverse.org] [|www.niauniverse.org/down.php?file=nia1037.exe] [|www.3dteachers.com/] [|www.3dstudents.com/] dcornell2@cherrychreekschools.org
 * Links and Resources so others can pick up on what you learned


 * Keynote and other Special Sessions **

Implications for your Classroom ** ( Final / overall reflections on how you plan to integrate what you learned at ISTE into your classroom )
 * Big Idea:** I didn't attend any keynote sessions but the special sessions included the ones mentioned above including the poster tables and exhibits.
 * 

This entire symposium was fantastic, overwhelming, and fun! I learned many things I can use in the math classes and also things that are going on beyond my expertise and subject area. I mentioned above how I plan on implementing many of the tools I learned but one aspect of this entire couple of days made me realize how much time is needed for doing just that - implement. I need time to plan how I can integrate many of these methods in my classes. Time is something we teachers aren't given in this district.

The most impactful thing I've taken from this symposium is that we in DPS are so very far from the technelogy used in this nation. The professional development we receive is irrelevent to what is really needed for teachers to learn. If the district and our school used our PD time to teach teachers this technology for our specific ubjects, student learning would increase tremedously as all the studies I observed here show. I was awaked to how much our administrators have no clue what is needed. Our district dictates what math we have to teach in middle school and that program (Connected math) doesn't allow the freedom to implement this 21st century technology. If we do, we aren't using the scope and sequence required of us and then we are evaluated negatively for doing that. How does that allow teachers like me, who want to go above and beyond, do what we can to improve student learning with technology? The problem is, now that I have this insight, the district will want me to teach other teachers and administrators, but I don't have the time to do that if I'mspending all my time planning for my classes with this new technology. We need the professional that were here at this symposium to do the training of teachers and administrators. It's frustrating to say the least. Ihtink Dots has the big picture but they cana't do it all.

Thanks for the opportunity to attend this great event. It opened my eyes to many new things going on in education, in the real world our students are entering, and the world as a whole. It is always important for teachers stay tuned into what's going on in the world of our students.

Rita Kyker