Teacher Tech Camp & Student eCamp During Summer Break

A week after my school summer vacation began I spent a week teaching again. Three days dedicated to PD for staff and two days dedicated to technology fun with students. If you are looking for SEA Teacher Tech Camp Resources visit our Wiki resource site.

It was a very enjoyable week, even though I am exhausted... Time for real vacation to begin, but before that I would like to share with you one of the projects that came out of one of my student sessions. I will write a couple articles during summer vacation, but it will not be with the same gusto as once a week like I set out to do during the school year. Enjoy and have a wonderful summer!



On YouTube

The 4C's and iPads

Monday, June 24th, at the SEA Tech Camp Michelle Ledue, Jessica Melcher and myself are covering how iPads in the classroom can enhance the 4 C's (Creativity, Communication, Collaboration, and Critical Thinking). Embedded below is the Google Presentation we will be using to guide the sessions. The plan is to show  videos demonstrating how students are using certain Apps within the realm of the 4Cs and then have play time, questions, and sharing for the attendees before we move on to the next App. All sharing will be conducted via Apple TV. It should be a great day of learning and fun!

In case you are not able to view the embedded presentation, click here to open.

SEA Tech Camp 2013 - June 24th-26th

Graph Creator Tutorial

Not too long ago I wrote an article about Create a Graph by Kids' Zone and today I created a tutorial as a part of my presentation for Tech Camp this summer. At some point soon I will share the Google Presentation that a couple of my colleagues and I are creating covering how we are using iPads to foster the 4 Cs, Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, and Critical Thinking.

I still feel that Kids' Zone is the best site for creating a graph on a computer or a tablet. It has a variety of formats for saving, which will allow the user to use their graph in other applications. Therefore this is an extremely useful tool for education!

Fun With Vocabulary

A great way to help students remember vocabulary words is to allow them to pose or act out their words for a photograph or a video recording. Students love watching themselves so much that they will watch their creation over and over again reinforcing their knowledge of the words they are trying to remember and establish as part of their working vocabulary. Around 5th grade this activity may be hit or miss. I have witnessed some 5th grade students that still enjoy watching themselves on film while others become shy and self conscience around this age.

Students are quite capable of creating their own videos using Splice ($3.99) or Loopster (free) on iPads, iMovie on a Mac, or other video creating software. If it is not a project that a teacher wants students spending too much time on, the students can collect the footage and the classroom teacher can put together the video. Once the short clip is created, share the videos by embedding them on your blog or website. Students will want to share their brilliance with their parents, which creates more traffic to your blog or website.

Examples:

Photograph Example

Try our slideshow maker at Animoto.

Video Example

Robust Vocabulary from Jessica Melcher on Vimeo.

 (Click Here for More Ideas)