T.I.E. Day #4

The last day of TIE was my day to present. I was wondering if anyone would show up, since it was the last day of the conference, and many people may have left after the TIE party Wed. night. I missed the TIE dinner (which was included) and party, since I had scheduled Wed. from 6-7 p.m. to load files onto computers. I wanted to be sure everything was working correctly, and that all files could open. When I finished and went back to the Conference Center for dinner, they had already packed everything up, and karaoke was in full swing in the ballroom. I drove back to Frisco at around 9 to get a good night's sleep.

On Thursday morning, I checked out of my room and got to Wheeler Hall about 45 minutes early. Everything was working, so I passed out the CPS remotes. Much to my surprise, the room was at capacity by 8:30 a.m., when I began my presentation. I used CPS to get some background information about my audience, as well as showing attendees how CPS works, and its benefits. I asked three questions:
What grade do you teach?
What is your skill level with PowerPoint?
How do you and/or your students use PowerPoint?

It was helpful information, and I found that the majority of teachers answered #3 that BOTH they and their students use PowerPoint in the classroom. I spent a few minutes talking and doing an overview of the skills I'd be presenting, and then let teachers begin exploring how to do a Google image search, copy images, and paste them into a PowerPoint slide. There were some "oohs" and "aahs" when I showed how to rotate an image on a slide. What's great about TIE is that people are willing to share their knowledge with others, and I wound up learning some new PPT techniques. A guy in the front row showed me how to CTRL-click on an image in PPT, which allows you to layer images to the front or back. I didn't know you could do that!! Next came adding captions to images, and then adding action buttons to create a non-linear slide show. For the last activity of my presentation, I shared a Jeopardy template, which was done completely non-linear. By 10:15 or so, people were starting to leave, so I did a post-presentation CPS activity to determine what was most and least useful, how likely are participants to use the skills presented in their classroom, and their overall rubric. The vast majority of responses were positive in each area. I also noticed very few people leaving in the middle of my presentation, which I took to be a good sign, since I often notice people leaving sessions when it's not what they expected, myself included.

I look forward to next year's TIE conference, and will continue to apply to present at future conferences. Still not sure what topic I will submit, maybe the same thing as this year, since it was such a success. As I continue to learn new skills in the ILT program, as well as through my district, I look forward to sharing my knowledge and enthusiasm with others at TIE.

The documents created for my presentation are available at:
http://www.joelsolomon.com

T.I.E. Day #3

It was another rainy day here at Copper Mountain. But the slightly wet weather didn't deter me from golfing with some of my fellow "Cherry Creekers". This morning I was part of a threesome consisting of myself, Tom Gaffey, Manager of User Support for Cherry Creek Schools, and Dave Craven, Director of the Office of Technology. It was a little intimidating to golf with these 'big-wigs' in the district, considering that they are also avid golfers! And yet, there I was, golfing on an 18-hole course for only the 5th time in my life! You see, my golf experience consists of par-3 courses, where you only need a chipper and a putter. Luckily, the green fees included a set of rental clubs, and these babies were NICE! I didn't embarrass myself too much on the course, and even managed to make par on one hole. As for the rest of the course, let's just say that I'd like to forget most of the holes we played. It was still fun, though, and Tom and Dave were good company. It rained a few times while we were out there, but we managed to play the entire course. We also learned that at over 9,000 ft, the course at Copper Mtn. is the highest course in the country!

You might be wondering, why is this guy playing golf when he's supposed to be attending technology sessions? Well, part of the whole TIE experience is to have opportunties to network with people, meet reps from various companies, and get to know the people in our district. I could have attended a morning session by myself, or go golfing with two very important people in my district. I think I made the right choice.

After golf, I had to drive back to my hotel room in Frisco to change my shoes, since they got quite wet while golfing. I attended an afternoon session called "Visual Literacy: Images and Ideas" presented by Karen Winfield. Based on the description, the session looked like it would involve how students interpret visual images. This ties right in with my work with the CPS system, since I've been working on questions that ask students to make meaning of editorial cartoons. Much to my disappointment, the session was mostly about how to design images for publication. The focus was on design principles like contrast, text, alignment, background, etc. There was nothing that would help students make meaning of images, but instead was about HOW to create images that are visually pleasing. After about 30 minutes, I walked out on the session, feeling deceived by the session description. These things happen at conference like this, so instead I decided to update my blog. Aren't you glad I did???

Tonight is the closing dinner and party. I still have to go to the room where I'll be presenting tomorrow to set everything. I'm scheduled to present from 8:30-10:30 Thursday morning. This is the last time slot of the conference, so I'm hoping folks will still be here to attend my presentation. I'll let you know how it goes.

The official description of my session is:
"PowerPoint: More Than Just Slide Shows" Although PowerPoint has traditionally been used for slide show presentations, there are many other uses of PowerPoint to enhance learning in your classroom. In this session, participants will learn how to create image-collages, make non-linear presentations, and use Internet resources to find content-specific images and templates that are sure to be a hit with students!

T.I.E. Day #2

Today I attended two sessions:
1) "Let's Get Digital: Using Cameras, Imaging, and Multimedia to Construct Learning"
2) "Reach for the Remote: CPS System" by Steve Huff

The morning session was from 8:30-11:30, and we learned how to use digital cameras in the classroom. Even though I was already familiar with using a digital camera, I figured I might get some good ideas to use with our iBook cart and two digital cameras at school. As soon as the presentation began, I realized that the presenter was a representative from Tech4Learning, the company that makes ImageBlender. What I thought was going to be an unbiased presentation turned out to be a product overview of ImageBlender. I attended an ImageBlender class last year at TIE, and wasn't very impressed. However, this session did provide some good ideas that I could use with students. For example, we each got a digital camera and were told to take some pictures of buildings, pictures that show a math concept, a feeling, and a concept. We then took these photos and transferred them to our computers. Using ImageBlender, we were able to draw on top of our pictures, alter them with artistic filters, and add text. For example, I took a picture of some steps, and then drew a bright yellow line over the acute angles shown, and labeled the picture with text. COOL! What a great way for kids to see a real-life example of the geometric shapes that are all around us!

The second session interested me because we are about to start using the "Clickers" this year, thanks to the grant I wrote for our school. I've talked to Steve Huff, the Colorado representative from eInstruction, the company that makes the CPS systems. He even gave me a loaner set to use for my presentation at TIE this year. I learned some great techniques using CPS. We experimented with writing questions that align to state standards, participating in team assessment activities, and using CPS to spark a discussion among students. All this CPS stuff is getting me really excited to start using them with our students. I can't wait to show teachers in my building the potential of having this kind of technology available at our school!!

T.I.E. Conference Day #1

Monday, June 28th

I arrived at T.I.E. at 8:15 AM, and had to rush to get to my first session, which was supposed to begin at 8:30. The format for this year's conference was a little different from ones in the past. Instead of signing up for specific sessions, participants select a "Track" which features several sessions on the same topic. I chose the Information Literacy track. Other tracks offered were: Technology Integration for Elementary or Secondary Teachers, Technology Leadership and Support, or Digital Media and Emerging Technologies.

The Information Literacy session I chose was "Rally Round Research" by Kathy Haywan, Overland High School. This session was geared primarily towards secondary teachers, but there was some information that could transfer to the elementary level. Kathy shared how she goes about the steps of doing research with her students, beginning with an 'essential question' and narrowing down the focus to a specific topic. From a teacher's standpoint, we also learned how to align research with state and district standards. The handouts for this session consisted of 14 pages of organizers, links, and templates that students can use to go through the steps of research. The best part of this session were the Internet links that were provided. I now have ONE place to go to for relevant information about research. Everything from standards to templates, to sites that describe higher level thinking and asking good questions. This information was also useful for a project I am doing for UCD's (University of Colorado, Denver) Masters Program on asking good questions.

The afternoon sessions I attended were only an hour long, as opposed to the 3-hour morning sessions. After lunch I tried to get into a session called "Great Google" about how to do advanced searching with Google. However, every seat was taken, and there were people sitting on the floor and standing in the doorway. Rather than try to poke my head through the door to try to see what was going on, I decided to attend a different session instead, called "Intro to CPS (Classroom Performance System)." This session was about using the 'clickers' which is an interactive assessment tool where each student gets a remote control device that they use to answer multiple choice questions. I recently received a grant from Cherry Creek Schools to purchase one of these systems for my school, so I am very interested in this technology! I've already used this system to set up classes and questions for my Masters project, but I found out that this session was simply an introduction to CPS, and I already was familiar with the basic operations of CPS. However, I did get to speak with a representative from the company named Steve Huff. Steve and I have been talking on the phone about CPS, and he even was kind enough to give me a 'loaner set' of clickers to use until our grant moneys are available. It was nice to finally have a face to go with the voice! Steve suggested I attend his 2-hour session on Tuesday that will go into more detail on using CPS to its full potential.

The last session I attended on Monday was called "Blogging" by Martha Wilcox. Although I was somewhat familiar with blogs already, I thought I'd attend this session to see if some new resources would be provided in the hopes that I could learn something new.

As a result of attending this session, I was able to set up the BLOG you are reading right now! Pretty cool, huh? I will use Blogger.com to post my reflections on TIE, and eventually add some other blogs relating to education and technology. The session was only an hour long, but Martha showed us some good examples of how Blogs can be used in the classroom. I have used LiveJournal.com to do some blogging with third graders, and am excited to start using Blogs more next school year. Blogs are a great way for students to have a wide audience for their writing. The Internet is a very powerful tool, and students need to know that the Internet can be an interactive experience to share their thoughts and views on various topics.

The TIE conference is good for exposing teachers to new technologies, and to get us excited to use these technologies with our students. Last year was the first time I was exposed to the CPS System, and as a result, I applied for a grant to purchase them for my school. This is a perfect example of how T.I.E. has made me a better teacher as well as a leader in acquiring the latest technology for my school.

T.I.E. 2004

Here I am, at the TIE Conference at Copper Mountain. T.I.E. stands for Technology in Education, and it features workshops and conferences for technology specialists, teachers, media specialists, district leaders, and others in the field of education technology. More information about my experience at TIE coming soon...