Here are a selection of notes that I took while at the Georgia Educational

Technology Conference (GaETC) November 4-6, 2015.

---------------------------------------------------------------------Flirting with Film: Making PD Easily Accessible for

Teachers
Presenter: Aubrey Harrison, Inst. Tech Specialist of Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Twitter: @harrison_aubrey
PD Problems (#CNLPD)

Follow through, space, teacher resistance, differing skill levels,

the nay-sayer(s), teachers unable to leave classroom/school to get PD
CLN (CMSLearning Network)

Video (Shows) they offer:

CMS ITW (Instructional Technology Weekly)

Exposes teachers to what is

going out there in ed tech

App of the Week

Focuses on one app, how it

works, how to implment it in the classroom

Tech Minute

1-minute how-to video

Focuses on things like looping a

YouTube video or how to use Google Slides

Done daily

Probably going to move to doing

these by request

Fun:

They work to make these videos fun and engaging

Two of the CMS ITSs work on these together

Have fun working on these! It shows!

Love:

Give things away to teachers

Recognize teachers

CMS does "Innovative Teacher

of the Month"

This person gets a

certificate and recognition.

Align with Initiatives:

Keep videos aligned with district initiatives

CMS talks about GAFE, Canvas,

Digital Literacy, and Personalized Learning (they offer
tours of these schools), they also offer blended

learning options --i.e. every student from grades 6-9

has access to a Chromebook when at school.
Reachable:

Items you present must be accessible, i.e. have a

YouTube Channel

They send out a newsletter

They maintain a blog

They work to extend the

conversation from the videos into the blogs. They
make sure to continue their personalities as well.

They also make sure to keep everything short,

because teachers have limited time.

Shows:
https://sites.google.com/a/cms.k12.nc.us/cmslearns-tv/shows
Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner

Videos from CMS used for other trainings (at local

school level)

Reached an audience outside our school district

Included in district recordings

It has opened doors for other

videos for the district
Teachable Moments:

It is challenging to create videos that satisfy both

teacher's needs AND their administrators' needs

i.e. teachers love "top

Chromebook tools" versus "Classrooms of the Future"
for adminstrators

Team KISS

Keep it verrry simple. They do 3

hours on Friday of video and a lot of work on the
weekends. Decide what is the best use of your time.

What are your goals? To

educate educators or get likes?

Keep it Regular

If you plan to do something

daily, do it daily, etc.

Somebody is watching

Just know this is ALWAYS the

case

Offer Topics Selection

Survey the teachers to see what

they want

Offer a fresh face

Gain inspiration from conferences and places where

others are doing what you are interested in doing

Reach out for help

Be sure to be prepared to be let

down though
Don't let that discourage you
though! Keep reaching out!

Great starts are critical!

A green screen and some space is just fine

Fun, Love, Initiatives, Reachable, T

Other Nuggets
Digital badges for varying levels of proficiency and completion
CMS has MS 365; they are on Windows 8

Check out their video on Digital Citizenship that looks like a

DirecTV commercial

"Not everyone is meant to present"

Google Apps for Education District

State of North Carolina purchased Canvas as the state LMS

Apparently it is a bit of a sensitive issue (off the

record observation)

If you use one of his videos, just give him a shout out on Twitter.

Free, promotional t-shirts (and other free things help)

---------------------------------------------------------------------Going Digital without Devices

Presenter: Jennie Magiera; Chief Technology Officer of School District 62 (near
Chicago-O'Hare Airport); @MsMagiera; www.teachinglikeits2999.com
Think about instruction before the devices; before the classroom
could glow in the dark.

Is your 7th grader more geeked up about prime

numbers now with a MacBook than they were before

Think of technology as a vehicle to get somewhere.

We have always had the goal of helping students

become better versions of themselves.

Just like a vehicle, you have to have a license.

With great power comes great

responsibility

There are three things that must take place to make it more
meaningful:

Agency

Have students take charge of

their own education.

Show students that they matter.

Choice

What are students choosing to

learn about

Voice

How much are we "shushing"

How much are we curtailing

our students?
their voice?

"Ant Voices" or

"Level 0"

Tools to use:

YouTube-

It's addictive and people (kids,

especially) binge watch.

Utilize the channels

www.youtube.com/
mathademics

Think of it as an active medium.

Have students
watch ed videos and review them,explaining
why they appreciated it or not.

101 Qs
www.101Qs.com

Dan Meyers

Get kids to be authentically

curious about concepts.

His site has pictures that ask

students to identify whatever comes to mind.

www.todaysmeet.c
om/atlantaquestion

Have students
continue to ask questions until it gets
awkward (or really, until they become more
substantive).

These could be used in all

subject areas.

Generate
questions,

Daily writing
prompt or "Do Now/Opening"

Mystery Skype

Have students essentially do 20

questions so they can research the answers.

www.education.skype/mysterys
kype

Kidblog

www.kidblog.org

Blogging needs an authentic

audience

Teach students to write to their

specific audience

Provides students with voice

Twitter Tuesday

Students respond to a prompt

With smaller students, the

teacher can have the students respond on paper, draw
the top 10, and tweet these responses out.

#NTALearns

All grade levels participate.

They can tweet to

other classrooms and interact in that manner
as well.

Plickers

Picture clickers, use a version of

a QR code.

Super awesome! I <3 Plickers.

www.plickers.com

Confessionals/The Power of Video

Give students time to record a

30 second confessional at the beginning and the end
of the year.

Beginning of the
year, the students share their hopes and
dreams for the year. The end of the year
video will be a reflection.