Guest Post: Miffy’s Trip to Chicago

by recesstec Conferences SMARTBoard

I would like to introduce our readers to Miffy.  Miffy is our classroom foreign exchange student from Hilversum, Netherlands.  She is a perfect example of how using distance learning projects can connect student from across the globe.  We are excited, as a 4th grade class, to communicate with our classmate “Illini Bear” via our classroom blog.  Miffy just posted on her page  and I thought you might all enjoy a recap of our busy weekend last weekend through Miffy’s perspective.  She was a very well-behaved traveler! 

Miffy at IETC

Wow. I sure was busy with Mrs. Smith last weekend. I got to go with her to Chicago. That isn’t all. We also went to Springfield. But I didn’t get to see any of the Abraham Lincoln sites. We had to go to the Crowne Plaza hotel to present ways to use the SMARTBoard in the classroom. The room was packed full of teachers, administrators, and technology specialists. I was kind of nervous. Especially once I had the microphone clipped to my dress. Since I haven’t used the SMARTBoard too much, I was glad that Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Brachbill (Mrs. Smith’s mom) did most of the talking. They didn’t even get through their list of 10 ideas because the crowd kept asking them so many questions. It was pretty fun!

After we finished packing up all of the technology equipment, we went and listened to some other people speak about using technology in schools. It seems Mrs. Smith finds that to be pretty interesting, because she talks about it with anyone who will listen! I was pretty excited for what came next.

Check Out That VIEW!

We got to head to Chicago. That is me sitting on the dashboard of the car so I could see the city skyline. It was pretty incredible. The town where I am visiting, Tuscola, is pretty small, so getting to go to Chicago is a pretty big deal. We walked down Michigan Avenue. It is called “The Magnificent Mile”. There are a lot of shops and restaurants, and it was really crowded with people. I got to go to the famous Gino’s Pizza place where we stuffed ourselves full of deep dish Chicago Style pizza. It was YUMMY!

Miffy at IASB, IASA, IASBO Conference

On Saturday morning there was more presenting. This time we presented general technology ideas to a HUGE room with more than 300 people. The audience was school board members and administrators. Mrs. Smith and her mom wanted to make sure they knew how important it is for kids to get to use technology in school. They seemed to like the presentation because they laughed a lot and asked quite a few questions. This time I didn’t have to wear a microphone on my dress. I just had to stand really close to the microphone on the podium so the people all the way in the back could hear me.

The Magnificent Mile

 After the presentation, there was a huge festival downtown where they had a parade and fireworks. They lit up all of the trees along Michigan Avenue. It was really pretty! I had a really great time with Mrs. Smith, but it is nice to be back in Tuscola. I can’t wait to tell you all about my Thanksgiving with Benito! Talk to you soon, Miffy

One Busy Week

by recesstec Conferences SMARTBoard workshops

This week is going to be a super busy one! 

 We will be at the ROE in Charleston on Wednesday for an evening session.  Mom and I are going head-to-head for a Web 2.0 Smackdown!  Don’t worry, I will keep you posted on who wins.  If I had to predict, it would be me.  I might have a little competitive streak in me.  Just a little.

Friday we will be getting EARLY to head to Springfield for the IETC conference.  A SMARTBoard session is in order.  We have put together 10 Ways to Get SMARTer.  It was SO hard to decide what to include.  I wish the session was longer than 50 minutes so we could include more.  Including something for all levels of SMARTBoard users along with subject areas, and grade levels was a challenge, but I think we have managed to do it.

After the conference on Friday, we are heading up to Chicago to join @principalspage for the IASB convention.  While we have been attending this conference for quite a few years now, it will be the first time to present there.  We are teaming up with Dr. Richard Voltz for a Top 10 Technology session in which we will count down our favorite ways to incorporate the use of technology in our classrooms.  Dr. Voltz will be presenting his Top 10 and will explain how they apply from an adminstrator’s point of view.  We will present ours from the classroom perspective, obviously.  Can’t wait!

Updates will be posted once we have time to catch our breath.  It has been a super busy fall and I can’t believe that we have neglected the blog for as long as we have.  It is time for that neglect to come to an end.

Shannon

Christmas in August

by recesstec reflections SMARTBoard workshops

Cross-post from yesterday’s 365 Blog…

Shannon and I have been hitting it hard on the road for nine days straight.
And have we mentioned that it is hot?
And that tomorrow is my first day back to school?

So, this morning when we arrived in Fairfield for our second day
providing SMARTBoard training,
one of their wonderful teachers met us with a gift to welcome in the new
school year.
We have never received a gift from a participant before, and we were
delighted with her thoughtfulness and generosity.

We wanted to share her gift with the rest of you, and to let her know
how much it is appreciated.

To all of the teachers who have shared summer days with us,
from Shannon and me…

Thank YOU for your
attention,
enthusiasm,
patience,
willingness to learn,
willingness to share your ideas,
your love of children,
and your love of teaching.

Have a great year and make it fun…

8-12/365 ~Nancy

Aim High

by recesstec reflections SMARTBoard workshops

This picture, taken during our lunch break from Friday’s workshop, actually represents two ends of the spectrum. To one side you have a SMARTBoard that is, in every sense of the word, “inaccessible”. (Unless, of course, you stand on a well-used paint ladder and ssstttrrreeetttccchhh your arms as far as you possibly can to reach the other side. I joked that it would help if I were stretchy like Mrs. Incredible)
On the other end of the spectrum, you have a wonderful group of teachers who were very enthusiastic to learn how to USE their new SMARTBoards for the upcoming school year.
So what does one do in this situation?
Raise to new heights…(PUN INTENDED!)
I spent six hours on this ladder projecting my voice over a very loud wall AC unit and two fans that helped the teachers keep their cool throughout today’s SMARTBoard workshop.
All in all, it was fabulous. Tiring, but fabulous!
The teachers were able to recognize the irony of this misplaced SMARTBoard in their computer lab, and they completely understood that the whole point of implementing this awesome piece of technology lies in the fingertips of the kids!
That’s right… KIDS!

~Shannon

As I watched Shannon balancing on the ladder all day, I provided one-on-one assistance and “manned” the computer in the back of the room to reach the menu items and type. We usually stay at the board as much as possible to model its optimum use, but today was filled with exceptions.
We cannot speak more highly of a group of teachers as they worked through the activities, and their eagerness to learn made it all worthwhile.
We especially would like to thank Mary for inviting us to present, and one last thing…
We also appreciated the full-length “skinny mirror” in the girls’ restroom. We just felt that much better at the end of the day… 🙂
~Nancy
So…can you identify any other funny ironies in this picture? (Hint…take a look at the pens as well as the size of the projected image.)

Hey Thomasboro…Did We Leave Our Chocolate Basket?

by recesstec SMARTBoard workshops

As I was packing up the car last night for our week in Maroa-Forsyth, I noticed something was definitely missing from our “stuff”.  The saving grace to some workshop participants to get them through the day.  That’s right…the beloved candy basket.  I think we left it with the wonderful teachers at Thomasboro Elementary School.  These teachers ROCKED!  We spent two days with them last week and can honestly say they cranked out more Notebook files than any other group of teachers with whom we have ever held a Make and Take.  They are SO prepared for the beginning of school.  We helped teachers make lunch count slides, behavior management tools, classroom management tools, incentives, as well as a myriad of vocabulary lessons and interactive templates.  HOLY SMOKES…they were on FIRE!

So…Thomasboro…Did we leave our chocolate basket in your lab?  Because I can’t find it anywhere. And if you DO have it…please feel free to keep the leftover chocolate.  But could you give the basket to JR for delivery to Oakland?

This missing piece of gear, prompted a quick pitstop on my way to meet Mom this morning.  At Wal-Mart,  I grabbed a medium sized plastic bowl along with Hershey Chocolate Nuggets, Hershey Kisses, and Lifesavers for our participants today. (Don’t worry, I paid for them.) 

And quite frankly after listening to me blabber about proper SMARTBoard integration for 2 hours…they NEEDED it…BADLY!

This picture was also featured as our “Moment” of the day.  Check it out!

Glob = Globe

by recesstec SMARTBoard Turning Point workshops

Grrr… I hate typos.  I mean I really hate them.  It makes a person seem ignorant.  Like they can’t spell.  When in fact that may not even be close to the case.

Case in point.  I have been working all day on this week’s workshops for the Maroa-Forsyth School District.  Mom and I are headed over to Maroa High School for a 3 day training this week.  We were there last year and had a great time with the staff members that gave up part of their summer break to attend our beginner SMARTBoard sessions.  Well I decided, at the last minute, that I wanted to change some of the presentation as well as create a more detailed handout.

So…out came the external hard drive as well as the Turning Point to do some screen captures.  I wanted to include these updated screen captures to the handout to make things as clear as possible. 

(I hate it when I attend a session and things seem crystal clear only to return to a handout a month later and have absolutely NO IDEA what it means. Consequently, I try to avoid that for the participants in our workshops!)

So after getting all of the handouts finalized, creating viewable on screen PDF forms of them all, and creating the printed packets….you guessed it.  I found a typo.  Click on the glob icon should have been click on the GLOBE icon. 

So now the dilemma.  Do I point out my typo and plead with my workshop participants to believe it when I say I am not a complete idiot?  Or do I kill a tree and throw out the old handouts on account of one silly little e?

Grrr…  Have I mentioned that I hate typos?

Our Newest SMARTBoard Trainer

by recesstec reflections SMARTBoard tips workshops

We would like to welcome the newest SMARTBoard trainer as a member of the Recess TEC Inc. team of employees.  Pretty cute huh?  I love the tattoos and the ripped stomach muscles.

Mom and I have been in Camp Point, IL for the past two days to provide SMARTBoard training to teachers.  We love working with the folks at Central High School…but WOW is it a LOOOONNNNG drive.  At the end of the day today, Mom held up this drawing that was in the corner of the room.  I have absolutely no idea why it was drawn…I am sure that it had a purpose in someone’s class this spring.  Boy would I like to know the details.  I will probably ask the next group of teachers we train when we head back to Camp Point for our next round of sessions in July.

In the meantime, Mom and I enjoyed our overnight stay in Quincy and were able to find some pretty cute places to eat.  Dinner… and breakfast (we sat at the table right next to the Christmas tree in that image…obviously the tree was not there today). 

These are the pictures that Mom took of the two places.
 Tiramasu and The Park Bench

We have been noticing some different updates in Notebook software since our last round of training this past spring.  We love it when that happens.  It is like unwrapping a little surprise gift in the middle of a workshop.  One is that the shape pen no longer snaps into a shape perpendicular to the toolbar.  If you draw it at a slant, it will snap into place in the exact angle that you drew it.  This is a perfect update for one of my examples in the workshop.  Another update we noticed is the Image Group Generator.  One of our favorite tools has been the Group Generator all year.  Now we see there is one that can be used with images rather than words!  YIPPEE!  Did I mention we love new SMARTBoard “stuff”?

Ok…off to Thomasboro for the next two days…busy, busy!  Just the way we like it!

Summer… At Last

by recesstec reflections SMARTBoard workshops

Memorial Day has come and gone and we have officially begun our summer series of workshops.  Mom and I have already been pretty busy logging almost 1000 miles this week.  I am looking forward to posting our experiences throughout the next three months and learning so much from other teachers in other districts.  The funny thing about providing professional development is that if you allow yourself the opportunity to observe what is happening around you, there is a great chance the PD will be reciprocal for the presenter.  I love it!

We have had the chance to travel to Olympia for a morning of “playing” on interactive whiteboards for a consultation.  I definitely learned a ton that morning.  I learned that an interactive whiteboard is an interactive whiteboard.  6 of one…1/2 dozen of the other.  BUT…I also learned that the tool means nothing unless it is used efficiently and effectively in the classroom.  Mom and I pride ourselves in making sure we do just that with all of the technology we incorporate in the classroom as well in our workshops.  We decided that implementing a “best practices” session for any interactive whiteboard would be a great service we could provide teachers.  But we also learned that if we didn’t feel like we could provide teachers with training that WE would be happy sitting through, then we would NOT take the consulting job.

Wednesday gave us an incredible opportunity to present to Chicago area administrators in an IASA Administrator’s Academy with Dr. Rich Voltz.  Dr. Voltz contacted us and asked if we would co-present with him on the topic of Web 2.0.  We were delighted to do just that.  After all, we feel like the best avenue for change begins with administrators.  It was a good day with a good mixture of discussion, hands-on application, and demonstration.  Dr. Voltz shares our passion for technology integration and does a great job of sharing his experiences as an administrator with his fellow administrators.  He also sees the value in asking other educators for assistance in providing their experiences during his workshops to create a well-rounded presentation.  We were indeed lucky to be his assistants on Wednesday.

Thursday we headed to Palatine CCSD 15 to give SMARTBoard training to a fantastic group of elementary and middle school teachers.

They were fun, engaged, and super enthusiastic about the possibilities of implementing SMARTBoards within their classrooms.  We were thrilled with the amount of questions and discussion that took place during the demonstration portion of the workshop.  These teachers are definitely going to be changing the way they teach next year.  I could feel the mind-shift happening all around me.  In a word…exciting!

We are looking forward to  heading back to Camp Point Central on Monday and Tuesday to work with new teachers as well as follow up with some advanced SMARTBoard training for teachers we trained this past school year.

We will keep you posted!

~Shannon

Finding the Sun

by recesstec reflections SMARTBoard workshops
It was pointed out to me by a friend that MSN reported January 18th as the bleakest day of the year 2010.
 
We were fortunate then.
 
Several times that day Shannon and I looked out the window to view the gray and foggy skies and commented that we were happy to be conducting a workshop, and that the fact that it was such a dreary day provided no regrets that we were working on a day off from school.  Wonderful Teachers
 
In fact, we hardly felt like we were working.
First, It was a long trip since Shannon lives as far east from the center of the state as Camp Point is west.
It was also a relaxing trip and a “first” for Recess TEC in that we had to find a “room at the inn” due to the distance.
 
But most important, we had the good fortune to meet new friends at Camp Point School District.
The teachers there were, well….
“Enthusiastic” doesn’t even describe it.
They gave up their holiday to rise early, without pay, and join us for a day-long session in SMARTBoard training.
The morning was spent showing ways the board can be used in classrooms, and despite the fact that several had had their boards for a couple of years, they were never distracted and they were very focused on the new things they were seeing. They were open to sharing, helping, and making suggestions to encourage each other.
 
Bleak day? Can’t say that it was for us…

Sunrise ~ Sunset

by recesstec reflections SMARTBoard
Sunrise ~ 6:30 am (cst)
Sunrise ~ 6:30 am (cst)

From sunrise to sunset, Saturday rocked.  The two images you see were taken from my window as I was driving to and from Fairfield with Mom to conduct an all day SMARTBoard training.  Now don’t get me wrong, we didn’t hold these poor teachers captive from sunrise to sunset to show them how to use their SMARTBoards.  However, Fairfield is about two hours from home, so rising before the sun and getting home after dark were part of the package at this time of year.

In a word, these teachers were FUN!  They were smiling, laughing, and having an all around good time.  And while Mom and I try to use this blog for things we have learned while on the road, I think what we learned today is not at all related to technology.

The positive energy that filled the school made Saturday one of our best trainings to date.  Even when the participants showed signs of frustration or being overwhelmed by the implementation of their new technologies, they constantly encouraged and supported each other throughout the training.  There was definitely a sense of team.

For teachers, giving up a Saturday to learn something new on a beautiful fall day is not always easy…but knowing it will benefit the students in classrooms makes it easier to bear.  I think the biggest lesson from Saturday was that having a postive outlook can make a world of difference in how we learn…and teach!

Sunset ~ 4:35 pm (cst)
Sunset ~ 4:35 pm (cst)
Shannon is so right. We didn’t even really talk about it as it was happening, but both agreed that the day spent in Fairfield was nothing but fun. It was actually amazing that they would enjoy spending the day with us, especially at this time of year as we sense the “Countdown” beginning with the approach of “Black Friday”. For us, as well, this coming week will be filled with several presentations, a conference, Education Week and Midterm Progress Reports for our students. Add to this the fact that Saturday was forecasted as being a beautiful day with lots of sun, followed by a very gloomy Sunday. As you can see by the pictures, it was. It didn’t matter. It is easy to be excited about teaching when you are excited about learning. It just reinforces what Shannon and I both believe. It is important to surround ourselves with positive people and make the most of every moment. We did just that.