Janet+Draper

Lesson: Energy: Renewable and Non-renewable

Resources: Teacher Domain, Jason Project online games and visuals, graphic symbols for energy types (from Jason Project.)

Monday

At ISTE, I attended a demonstration of a “Newton’s Rules of Physics” demonstration lesson. A non-profit called CILC (Center for Interactive Learning & Collaboration) has a library of recorded and real-time lessons that can be presented with digital equipment. Though grants for distance learning and conferencing might be available on the DOE website, I plan to learn more about free sharing applications such as Skype and web-cam interfaces.
 * Big Idea:** On Monday, I learned about video conferencing, Excel for math, and the general locations for presenters at the conference.
 * [|Forces and Motion: An Introduction to Live Classroom Videoconferencing] (Video conferencing equipment by Kodak starts at $10,000.) Skype, a 2.0 tool, can be used for free.
 * [|Spreadsheets: Magic Beans for Exploring Math, from Roots to Clouds!]
 * Note: this spreadsheet class was good for beginners, but the presenter failed to provide a relevant password. This site might be good for examples of types of problems that could be taught using Excel.
 * []

Tuesday

Participants had to have Google Earth and ArcExplorer loaded on their machines: http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html http://www.esri.com/software/arcexplorer/download.html O'Reilly Ignite http://ignite.oreilly.com/ Short attention span radio sasradio.blogspot.com Short attention span stories: []
 * Big Idea:** On Tuesday, I experienced several Bring Your Own Laptop sessions. The NOAA has developed great, easy video games to teach about wetland preservation. Google Earth tools engage visual learners and connect writers with "Place" to establish a writing setting or emotional memory. Math vodcasts are short, concept-based media presentations which engage all students.
 * [|Where Rivers Meet the Sea: Serious Science Games]
 * [|Thinking Spatially: Using Geographic Tools to Enhance Learning]
 * **Vodcasting Math Essentials - uses Mimio content to teach short math concepts**
 * Math vodcasts capture concepts:

Wednesday


 * Big Idea:** Video games to teach and challenge students in math and science:
 * 1) Edutainment Video games – I attended two STEM-thread sessions which invited students to learn science through video gaming.

[|SCAN: Teaching Kids to Think and Write about Complex Issues] This collaborative, online tool allows students to offer opinions on controversial issues in either small groups or anonymously. There is an annual fee for the site, but it does seem worthy of consideration if a teacher in social studies or journalism would use it. [| Wozniak_BasicRubricforaSCANSession.pdf] **46.4 KB** (SCAN rubric) [| Wozniak_CellPhoneControversyScenariorevised.pdf] **61.4 KB** (Cell Phone Scenario) [| Wozniak_SCAN_enrichment_and_assessment_activities11.pdf] **219 KB** (SCAN enrichment and assessment ideas) [| Wozniak_lockersearchmiddleschoolrevised.pdf] **179 KB** (SCAN Locker Search Scenario) ||
 * 1) The first, created by NOAA and community college game creators is called __Where the River Meets the Sea.__ It’s free and online at [|http://games.noaa.gov]. There are also other educational games, resources, activities, and projects on the NOAA site. The difficulty level can be adjusted in the games. This is a very cool, fun, educational, useful science website for K-8. I think ELA students would learn language skills as well as science as they play the interactive games.
 * 2) NIA (National Institute of Aerospace) has designed __Realworld__ and __Inworld__ to foster engineering design skills, build essential knowledge for careers in science, and encourage students in grade 9-12 to solve problems collaboratively. Students teams must register to participate in an online challenge. Selected teams work online in a 3D model and “chat” with graduate students as they build 3D models of the Webb telescope, the future successor of the Hubble telescope. This is a sophisticated digital world which looks like contemporary video game, but requires persistence, problem-solving, and design skills. High school students in IB physics and calculus should definitely register for this at [|www.nasarealworldinworld.org]. I will spread the word to advanced science teachers and students.
 * Primary URL: || http://www.yourtake.org ||
 * Handouts / Papers: || Available at []

[|Grab a Mouse, Not a Hammer: Tools For Student Engineers] [] http://system.tstc.edu/forecasting/reports/dgames.asp This complex game requires video game skills, create problem-solving, and persistence, as future engineering students design equipment for a real-world space project. High school physics teachers are encouraged to contact the presenter to sign up a class or group to participate online. Students communicate in real-time with graduate engineering students through online chatting.

Keynote and other Special Sessions

Here are a few learning activities and applications which I will use this year, and into the future:
 * Big Idea:**
 * 1) Mimio– Mimio.Connect provides access to lessons in various subject areas. The lessons are based on National Standards. The interactive white board allows students and teachers to discuss, test, draw, view, and change video, slides, diagrams, and text. I was able to purchase a Mimio board last year. At the conference, I viewed model lessons, discussed the hardware set-up requirements, and discovered several ways this technology can be adapted for students in K-8 classrooms. I am especially keen to work through relevant STEM lessons for math and science.

Implications for your Classroom As a Gifted & Talented Itinerant Teacher, I often collaborate to differentiate lessons for individuals, small groups, and whole classes. The ISTE conference offered a ton of mew ideas and chances to improve instruction by incorporating more technology.

1. I have joined the Mimio online lessons groups for math and science and I plan to pre-view existing lessons that can be displayed via the Mimio board equipment. 2. The Google Earth maps can be used to engage writers, teach history and mapping skills, and to engage visual learners.

I chose to attend STEM ISTE sessions because math and science teachers often ask me how they can challenge their quickest learners. After attending this conference, I have many more resources and projects to use in collaboration with K-8 teachers for our students who need accelerated curricula or projects.