Anne+Witwer

=Please fill in the information below=


 * Monday **


 * Big Idea:** Potential and Limits of Technology in Teaching
 * Creativity 2.0: The Quest for Meaning, Beauty, and Excellence
 * BYOL: Magic Bean Counting -- Using MS Excel for Math
 * Student Showcase: Integrated Research: Engaging Questions, Higher-Level Thinking and Powerful Learning
 * www.stager.org/iste


 * Tuesday **


 * Big Idea:** Vendor Sales or Real Reform?
 * Separating Truth from Fiction:Information Literacy for Elementary Students
 * Easy Integration of Technology in Elementary Grades (Boni Hamilton)
 * http://easyintegration.wikispaces.com/top+websites
 * teachersfirst.com
 * storyboards.com
 * Bookhive
 * Johnny's Story Place
 * Into the Book
 * Websequiturs
 * (many others at link above)


 * Wednesday **


 * Big Idea:** Great Examples From Elementary Teachers
 * Linking Literature to the 21st Century Classroom
 * Beyond Boundaries: Exploring Global Themes in the Elementary Curriculum
 * Critical Transformations in the Elementary Classroom
 * http://model.rss.k12.nc.us/groups
 * jlancaster.pbworks.com
 * http://westtisbury5.wikispaces.com
 * Voicethread
 * Animoto
 * ActivInspire
 * Glogster.edu
 * digitalhistory.uh.edu
 * Brainpop
 * Learn Central
 * ExtraNormal
 * Links and Resources so others can pick up on what you learned


 * Keynote and other Special Sessions **


 * Big Idea:** Miscellaneous posters and student showcases
 * MotivatingBoyWriters.ca
 * realebooks.com


 * Implications for your Classroom **

Attending the ISTE Conference felt like a wild ride. Between learning how to negotiate a conference of this size, interacting with vendors who have both interesting products and powerful profit motive, and listening to real teachers explain how they have used technology in fascinating ways, I felt quite overwhelmed, confused and inspired. SMART, Promethean, eno, and others are making a LOT of money selling systems and are investing a huge amount in convincing us that they are central to good teaching. The cynical part of me says that good teaching does not depend on having an interactive white board and student response system. Rather, as my first presenter noted, creative project-based learning requires a sense of purpose; time; mateirals; and involve questions meaningful for the learner. Moreover, a good project is complex, connected, and shareable. He described the Reggio Emilia model which, though ideal, does not exist in our data-driven, high-stakes testing world. His argument for technology was simply that it made certain types of creation accessible to a much broader group of learners. For example, music-writing software can make everyone a composer. That being said, I walked away from the conference feeling that I did need to bring my classroom into the 21st century, and that I'd like to write a grant to equip my classroom with state-of-the-art equipment. The whiteboard will improve mini-lessons; that's for sure. In addition, clickers can make it easier (and more engaging) to measure student understanding -- especially on knowledge-based questions. However, more important than that, the access to additional computers, cameras, ipods, and the like greatly increase the ways students can engage with information and share what they have learned. Over time, I would like my classroom in DPS to become of model for appropriate, exciting use of technology -- a place where other teachers can visit and become motivated to implement their own changes and technological upgrades.

On a final aside, the most important conversation I had during the conference was with a teacher from Littleton Public Schools whose students were sharing a year's worth of work organized around essential questions with final products in PowerPoint. I would like to visit her classroom and see more about how she is using integrated learning (and technology) in an age of scripted, compartmentalized, standardized-test-driven curriculum.