Tech Star: Lori Prewitt, BES

Not many teachers get as excited about technology as Lori Prewitt - or if they do, they don't show it like Lori does. She recently earned enough Tech Bucks for an iPad and when I took it to her, she started jumping up and down and so did her students! It is truly refreshing to see a teacher and her students so happy. When she found out that she's this week's Tech Star, she did the same thing; she jumped for joy. Lori's enthusiasm is contagious and she is willing to help those around her with technology integration, AND she doesn't mind sharing the cool things she learns in Coffee Break with Technology sessions (and she's been to quite a few!). Lori is a member of the BES Smart Tech Team because she is a technology leader. Her project for "Celebration of Learning" Day at BES includes photos and each of her first graders telling their favorite memory from this year using the web 2.0 tool VoiceThread. What a fun way to end the year!

Motivate Me on Monday: New Spice | Study like a scholar

Think Google Thursday: Docs Voice Comments

Did you know that you can leave voice comments in a Google Doc? Wouldn't this make grading/commenting on student work EASY? This quick tutorial explains how you add the Voice app so that you can record your comments rather than having to type them.

Wednesday Web: Meograph

Meograph

Create a 4D Timeline or Story
www.meography.com

Tech Star: Chris Robertson, BJH

Inspiration... What is the definition?  According to Google it means, "The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, esp. to do something creative."  Chris Robertson, Social Studies teacher at Brenham Junior High, was inspired when a colleague demonstrated THINGLINK.  I was told that he went home that night and stayed up past midnight creating ThingLink presentations!!

Mr. Robertson taught an excellent lesson with ThingLink related to the Vietnam War.  Starting from a map of Vietnam ThingLink, his students traveled to a jungle ThinkLink, President Nixon's Office, and more.  He included images, sound bites, YouTube videos, and text.  The students were totally engaged.

Forget Powerpoint, get inspired with ThingLink and Chris Robertson. 

Guest Post: Clarice Lampe, BHS

My classroom is “flying high” with SlideRocket, a Web 2 Tool that allows one to create or import power point presentations. This tool has many great features which include embedding YouTube videos, adding sound tracks, importing graphics, and inserting movies. In addition to these enriching features, SlideRocket has an analytical component that tracks the amount of time spent viewing both the entire presentation as well as individual slides.

When I heard about this program in one of my sessions at TCEA, the presenter made it sound so simple to use I decided to test it out on my first day back in the classroom. This was even easier than I originally thought! It took less than 3 minutes to import a 35 slide lesson from my existing PowerPoint presentation, and to top it off, I was able to password protect the published presentation to limit viewing to my students.

My favorite outcome from my TCEA experience is I now convert my physics lessons to SlideRocket presentations and share them in my Google groups. Students have told me that they really like having immediate access to lessons for both making up work and for studying for exams.  

                                                                                                                                                                 Image@siliconangle.com  

Motivate Me on Monday: BISD iEnvision Clouds

Check out BISD staff members sharing their "iEnvision" clouds with all of the shiny buttons they've received from BISD technology training this year!  The Technology Department delivered over 1000 hours of technology training to BISD staff members this year.  Amazing!  Go #BISDwired team!