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TIES 2014 - Day 2

Let's just say that day 2 was JUST as amazing as day 1!  I forgot to mention a quote that Mark Garrison shared in his session and I BELIEVE IT SO SO MUCH!!

Whatever is it you do, know you can do better! - Rushton Hurley


 Isn't that the truth! Now, we have AMAZING peeps here in Barnesville, but things can ALWAYS be done better and we are learning that each and every day - we ALL are!
Session 1:  Reading Comprehension: Digging Deeper Using Digital Devices - Sara Speicher and Julie Walthour gave AMAZING ideas on websites and apps that help with reading comprehension!  Here are the things they talked about.  Many we have used, some were new - all great!


*Thinglink – link hot spots to pictures – use with vocabulary – kids can create a channel and you can click through it
*Newslea – read the article one time at the lowest level – take quiz – move up to the next Lexile level and read again – continue moving up to improve vocabulary
*Readworks – has both informational text and literal text – K-12 site that is more of a resource that allows PDF files – can differentiate with Lexile and content
*The New York Times interactive stories – works on iPads
*Padlet – interactive storyboard
*subtext app (free)– annotate text and collaborate reading – you can upload your context – public domain books free, leveled articles with quiz
*Wonderopolis – it’s about wondering – there’s a daily wonder and a video – can listen to story with audio – can search topics and a new one comes daily
*Smithsonian Tween Tribune – can go with lexile  - comment and blog on here – shorter articles for class starters
*Think CERCA– audible text that kids can also just read – can set up account with kiddos – you can then assign articles to classes and have kiddos sign in with class code – leveled by grade levels
*Haiku Deck – create presentations with one image and few words – share a book, do with a vocabulary word to show meaning, etc…
*DogoNews – google app
*Rewordify - changes the wording of texts to make it easier to understand!

They were SO engaging and SO SO funny - loved this session!  Be sure to check out these sites - ALL free and ALL easy to use - and ALL work on iPads:)!

Session 2 - Professional Development: Become a Digital Educator.  This session focused on the importance of creating and using online presences and social media.  I can't remember the presenters, but one was a gal that is a media specialist in a Cities school and the other a gentleman that is a tech integrationist.  They talked a lot about Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, MediaScapes, Flexible Spaces, tweet decks and an app called Pocket.

Session 3 - Creative Vision with Focus and Clarity: Ryan Box, Becker Schools.
This guy is terrific!  He does SO many things for the districts he works for and his ideas are just outstanding - so I always try and listen to him in a session or two as well.  Becker Schools is also using Clarity by BrightBytes to survey their teachers, parents, and students on technology.  He basically went over what Becker is doing, what to think about when you do this, and how to use the data to help drive questions you needed answered.  I totally agreed with him when he talked about how decisions get made in our schools - EVERYTHING is like, "We HAVE to get this done THIS YEAR."  What's wrong with waiting?  What's wrong with having decisions made over a course of a few years - knowing that you are making the RIGHT decision because you have taken TIME to make them?  Great things to think about........

 

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