Technosized Academy

Get ready for HCS's 1st "Technosized Academy" on May 24th!

Oh my goodness, I'm so excited! We never expected such a large response! We've had 171 responses and 286 checked it out and/or started the survey process. The wheels are in motion...we sent out a save the date invitation, a survey to see the interest areas of our teachers, completed the walk through to evaluate technology availability at Cherokee, we have an open call for presenters form on standby, and we've already lined up a few people to present. We're gearing up for what we hope will be an annual event!

Many of you have emailed me about registering for the event. We'll send out more information once we have the sessions lined up and the presenters secured. Stay tuned, once I catch my breath and get with Rosie, we'll send out more information!

Other Tidbits

Websites:

Weebly - A few of you have indicated that you'd like an option, other than frontpage, to dabble at creating a free website. For a quick and user friendly suggestion, start with a weebly. The layout has drag and drop capability for easy editing.

Animoto - my old fav! I recently recommended this website to Julie Newland. I was so excited when Ms. Tamma Jackson (ChurchHill Intermediate) allowed her student to use this as a presentation tool in lieu of a poster board. Thanks for letting the kids infuse technology into your curriculum! The student had a blast and I heard that all of the kids enjoyed it! Side note: it's free for educator's, that's right...look for the link on the bottom left and sign up to get the $30 year membership for free!

Apps:

Zite - This app takes all your favorite sites & articles, from multiple areas, and turns it into one easy to read 'magazine'.

StoryLines - great app for centers with a few iPads but multiple students...assign a topic, put the students in groups, 1 student starts and the others add to it - excellent for small group activities!

Sharing Resources

Do you ever had a continuous thought running through your head and you just can't shake it? We do too! Rosie and I are constantly trying to think of ways to improve technology and curriculum integration in our county. For a rural county, we are proud to say that we have a large amount of current technology available throughout our district....over 1000+ iPads, 450+ Promethean Boards, iPods, video equipment, distant learning, and Moodle. 

We are blessed with AWESOME teachers that integrate technology and fabulous curriculum ideas into their classrooms! Alas, time is an issue and we rarely have the opportunity to sit down with everyone and share information. I know that both of us are often pressed for time and you are too. As we see it: we have a need, we have a potential solution, and we have great resources.

Our need: We have a hard time gathering, as a group, to share resources

Our thought: We want to host our 1st county wide Technology Academy Day

Our goal: Teacher's sharing resources with fellow teachers throughout the county

Our date: TBA (leaning on May 24th, you'll get in-service credit for the 2012-13 school year)

Our solution: YOU - the fabulous teachers!

Our Cost: FREE!!

This is a work in progress and we still need to iron out the details. For now, we are planning to do an open call for presenters. Our goal would be to select the presentations that would help our teachers the most. Ideally, everything would be something you could integrate into your classroom.

Tell us what you think....would you be interested in attending?