NEOTIE February 2015
Thank you to the staff that attended the free NEOTIE Educational Technology Conference at Beachwood. I know the weather was crazy but the sessions were fantastic. I know I sent this in a previous email to staff but wanted to mention again that resources from every session are available at http://neotie.org/ . There is literally something for every classroom. There will be another event coming in the future. I will announce it to the staff as we get closer.
I am a big fan of sessions that allow teacher's access to free technology resources because we are all facing tight budgets.
One of my favorites was Movenote. Movenote is a sight that allows you to take documents and turn them into a video presentation. This is a great way to introduce or review lesson material with your students. You can choose to put yourself into the video or just the audio. It's a great way to insure that your presentation of the material travels with the student.
Another is EDpuzzle. Edpuzzle is a terrific tool for taking video content from Youtube, TeacherTube, Vimeo or even your own content and turning them into an interactive tool. You can add quizzes, audio and even edit the video to match your classroom needs.
InstaGrok.com is a site that provides searchable concept maps on a wide variety of topics. You can can customize and share them. It has a free version you can use immediately.
These are just 3 of the 15 resources contained in the presentation above. I encourage you to click on it and find something new and exciting for your classroom. Please let me know if I can help you with any of these.
15 Awesome Websites
NEOTIE was filled with awesome sessions.
One of my favorites was:
I am a big fan of sessions that allow teacher's access to free technology resources because we are all facing tight budgets.
One of my favorites was Movenote. Movenote is a sight that allows you to take documents and turn them into a video presentation. This is a great way to introduce or review lesson material with your students. You can choose to put yourself into the video or just the audio. It's a great way to insure that your presentation of the material travels with the student.
Another is EDpuzzle. Edpuzzle is a terrific tool for taking video content from Youtube, TeacherTube, Vimeo or even your own content and turning them into an interactive tool. You can add quizzes, audio and even edit the video to match your classroom needs.
InstaGrok.com is a site that provides searchable concept maps on a wide variety of topics. You can can customize and share them. It has a free version you can use immediately.
These are just 3 of the 15 resources contained in the presentation above. I encourage you to click on it and find something new and exciting for your classroom. Please let me know if I can help you with any of these.
PARCC and TIDE Testing
Our staff should be very proud of the amazing job done during the first year of online testing. There have been a few glitches along the way but in almost all cases, they were the equivalent of a trip to the pencil sharpener to fix a broken pencil. This only happens due to teamwork. Every department and staff member had a role in preparation and implementation. Thank you for the extra time and leadership that each of you put into making this a great experience for our students. I had the chance to see how this was working at all 4 buildings. Thank you for the quick reporting of issues and the time you spent preparing for testing. We were able to stay very close to all schedules due to your support.
Our students also should be commended because they were incredibly flexible and handled this new process and any issues with behavior that says alot about how we teach our kids. This is brand new to everybody. We have a great deal to be proud of.
Trouble Reporting Tips
One of our goals in 2015 is to improve the error reporting process so we get to your needs faster. This requires a little help from you. Please make sure you report issues early. If something is a reoccuring issue, please let us know so we can help. Don't let it get to the point of frustration.
For High School: Please email HSTrouble.Reports@westg.org
For Elementary and Middle School: Please contact your AV/Tech Supplemental Holder. They will put is a Trouble Ticket that will make us aware of the issue. This is important because it allows us to organize and keep track of progress.
Information that we need from you:
Date:
Time:
Room Number:
What is the problem you are having:
Were there any error messages?
What were they?
Does this happen all the time or in specific situations?
The more you tell us, the faster we will pin down the actual problem and be able to resolve you issue.
How to schedule a time to meet?
The easiest way to contact me is through email at sean.whelan@westg.org. Please let me know what you'd like to meet about, your room number, free periods, and any other info that might be helpful to me in order to prepare for our meeting. I'd love to meet with you to see if I can help facilitate any issue you might be having.
