Suzanne's Ed Tech Reflections

I'm leaving on a jet plane. All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go. But I do know when I'll be back again! (Silly reference to a John Denver song - look it up) We are getting ready to leave for the 2014 ISTE Conference in Atlanta, Georgia (or "Hot"lanta as we have been referring to it - weather mostly, not the night life!). Used to the heat here in Phoenix but the humidity will be a bit different for us. In addition to all of the learning, collaborating, and communicating, everyone in our group is also presenting: flip classrooms, challenge based learning, creating book trailers with QR Codes. It's always great to share with others and help them be able to replicate projects in their own schools. Can't wait to get there and meet up with old friends, make new ones, and get great ideas to share with teachers! More to come...

Several Creighton School District classrooms participated in PARCC Field Testing this spring. Some did the Performance Based Assessment (PBA) and then later several classes completed the End of Year (EOY) Test. Some classrooms took the tests via paper and pencil; others completed the online assessment. And one of our iPad flip classrooms was able to take the test online using their iPads. (Note: we would have liked to have more classrooms use the iPads but we did not get to choose which classrooms took the tests or which ones did paper/pencil or online). One of our fourth grade classrooms used the iPads for testing. Prior to the test, the teacher had the students completed the online sample tests in the classroom. The kids were really excited to try out a new way of testing using their iPads - especially since they got to use the external keyboards! You can see how intensely they are all working! There were lots of thing to work on and figure out - like having to tap each

This is what happens when you share an online collaborative resource such as A Web Whiteboard with a group of technology literacy teachers! Yes they did just what students would do the first time they are introduced to a new tool. A Web Whitebaord ( https://awwapp.com/ ) is a nice way for students to collaborate with others - and you don't need an account. Users simply share the URL for the whiteboard with each other. Nothing to install and it works on tablets and smartphones too.