Presentations & Resources from CCR 2013

Here are all the presentations, resources, links and documents that I and my wonderful co-presenters shared at Murray State's College and Career Readiness Seminar 2013.  Use and share as you like, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

• Creating Assessments with CIITS - Haiku Deck Presentation w/Notes

Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad

• Our First Year With iPads - Implementation Reflections - OneNote, Outline, and Resources
• Co-Presenter - Rusty Back, MISD Chief Information Officer (@rustyback)

• Twitter For Teachers & Administrators - Prezi  &  Resources
• Co-Presenter - Lou Carter, Murray Middle Principal (@lcarterdas)

Ms. York...Please Don't Make Us Do PowerPoint!

I have heard the groans and the gripes from my students on more than one occasion when any murmur of having to do a PowerPoint is brought up.  The fact is that as adults we're tired of watching boring PowerPoints, but we also can get through them when they have a purpose and it's necessary.  Really, when you just need to show a few pieces of information PowerPoint serves just fine.  Our students however, don't think PowerPoint is cool.  No matter how you swing it.  I also know that if I want students to really feel connected to the work they do, they need to enjoy doing it.  With Prezi, I feel like students can get creative and be engaged all the while showcasing their work.  As a bonus while Prezi is still new they might pay more attention if you use it instead of PowerPoint.  So here are some tips for using Prezi with your students and learning how to use it yourself, along with the resources and presentation I gave today at TeachMeet Nashville.

Tips for Using With Students

• Plan, plan, plan....and then plan some more.  
• No matter the age level I've found students need some time to take in Prezi and really learn to work with it.  Because of this they often have trouble with the general organization of their presentation.  Just like students need to plan their writing, they need to plan their presentations as well.  In fact I use a modified SPAM packet (our school/district uses SPAM as a writing format/plan) for all my students to plan their presentations.  I'd modify it as needed for different projects and grade levels, but it's always essentially organized the same no matter what.  Here's what my Pre-Write sheet looks like...feel free to borrow or steal.
• Show MANY Examples
• I told this story in my presentations today, and it happened in more than one class and grade level every rotation of students without fail.  I would show a class an example of a good Prezi, and ALL of their Prezi's would come out organized the same way.  So make sure you show your students examples so they can get ideas, or let them explore ideas on Prezi, but either way don't send them off on their own with one example or you'll have 20 more of the same example to choose from for next time.
• Sharing Students' Prezis
• I taught middle school in 6-7 week rotations so I only got to see some of my students for 30-35 class periods all year long.  We definitely didn't always have time to set aside 4 days for class presentations, so I still found ways to have them share their work and receive authentic feedback.  Edmodo is great for posting Prezis, they can be embedded in posts on class walls so all students can look at them and make comments.  I've also used Kidblog and had students write a summary of their work along with sharing links to Prezis so that their classmates had a chance to comment on their work.

Resources

So after all of that rambling here are the resources that I either used in my presentation today or promised to share.  You'll also find information on the Presentation tab at the top of this blog.

Prezi (on Prezi)Prezi Guidelines (I share with students)More Prezi Resources

5 Great Sites to Start the Year Off Right

There are so many resources out there for teachers now that the problem is no longer.. "I can't find..." but it is instead, "How can I sort through all of this?"  Although there are a lot of resources out there...here are 5 that I can't live without as I start this new school year.

www.edmodo.com

This website transformed my classroom last year as I struggled to find a way for students to submit assignments electronically.  Create classes, have discussions, turn in and grade assignments, and most importantly keep connected with your students.  I used it with 4th-8th graders, and all students were equally excited.  In recent months Edmodo has pushed teacher communities and they have grown exponentially.  Now it's extremely easy to join communities related to subject areas and connect with other teachers. 

edu.glogster.com

This is a wonderful site for students and teachers alike.  Create interactive posters with pictures, links, video, and audio.  Students will have a great time creating these and sharing them with their classmates.  As a teacher I have also used Glogs to share links and instructions with students in a fun interactive manner.  The Glogster EDU site has a free teacher version where you can create 50 student accounts.  The only downside of the free version is you cannot create student usernames (they are gibberish letters/numbers), but students will get used to that.

www.cybraryman.com

This website was a lifesaver more times than I can count.  If you are looking for any type of resource, literally anything, you can find it here.  Jerry Blumengarten has created a very simple site that is updated quite frequently with resources on everything from Smart Board resources, to Graphic Organizers, to Special Education.  One of my favorite things about this site is that as special events or news stories arise he compiles links and resources that are relevant for you and your students.  This is definitely one to keep bookmarked and frequently check up on.

 kidblog.org

 Kidblog is a great site for any age level and subject area.  Create a free teacher account and student accounts to manage student blogs and comments.  There is no limit to what you can do with student blogging including writing constructed responses, having students write results of research, for formative assessment, and to do collaborative projects.  Need some ideas on how to use student blogs? Check out Cybrary Man's Student Blog or Class Blog Pages.

Google.com

A never ending favorite, I always seem to find some use for Google Tools in my classes.  In particular my favorites are:

• Docs: Collaborative document work with students, i.e. multiple students working on the same project at once
• Earth/Maps: Exploration of everything on earth and even beyond
• Books/News/Etc.: Customize your search for news articles, books, images, and much more 
• WDYL: Stands for "What Do You Love?", type in any topic and see the search results relating to just about everything and that topic.  For instance see pictures, 3D images, translations, search interest, videos, maps, and discussions all on one page.