Clif's Notes

Back-to-School EduTweetUp (August 2010)

The first Memphis EduTweetUp was such a success that we all agreed to have another once the new school year began. All K-12 educators are invited to join us for food and fun as teachers from many different schools and districts connect and share ideas. The evening will conclude with a Web 2.0 Smackdown during which attendees can volunteer to share quick demos (under 3 minutes) of some of their favorite Web 2.0 tools and services. Note that free wi-fi will be available in the dining room. We’ll also have a computer projector and screen.

We’ll be meeting at Panera Bread (4530 Poplar) from 5:30 to 7:30 PM on Tuesday, August 31, 2010. Please help us spread the word via Twitter, Facebook, on your blog(s), email, etc., and include the event tag: #metu. Note that Non-Twitter-using teachers are absolutely welcome to join us, too. There is no registration fee but please help us make appropriate restaurant reservations by RSVP-ing using the buttons in the Tweetvite widget below.

Proposed Agenda

• Mix and Mingle
• Supper
• Upcoming Opportunities in Memphis Area
• Web 2.0 Smackdown

Event Tag: #metu

• Memphis EduTweetUp (May 2010)
• Memphis EduTweetUp: About the Web 2.0 Smackdown
• Wrap-Up of Memphis EduTweetUp (May 2010)
• Together We Learn More

Requesting Your Assistance: Making the Curriculum POP!

One of the professional development workshops I’m facilitating this week is titled Making the Curriculum Pop. We’ll be focusing on the use of digital media and alternative text selections to engage students’ interest in “pop” culture. I would appreciate any ideas for connecting music, TV, movies, newspapers, magazines, etc. with the curriculum, as well as links to images, audio, video, resources, etc. that you can share. I’ll certainly credit you for your suggestions, too.

• Connecting the Classroom and Outside World (Feedback Requested)
• Connecting the Classroom and Outside World
• Developing Better Presentations
• Kids Get Creative with AudioBoo

Professional Development Meme 2010

I’m a big fan of goal setting. It can provide a road map for the short or long-term and can be an effective motivational strategy. I have set a few professional development goals for this summer and have challenged a few of my friends/colleagues to do the same thing. In 2008 I realized that I could set this up as a blog meme and hopefully encourage some of my online friends to achieve a few items from their To Do Lists. There are a myriad of ways to approach this, but I’ve opted to take the short-term, easy-to-assess approach, but I’ll leave some wiggle room for you to customize it to meet your needs. The official information is below.

Directions

Summer can be a great time for professional development. It is an opportunity to learn more about a topic, read a particular work or the works of a particular author, beef up an existing unit of instruction, advance one’s technical skills, work on that advanced degree or certification, pick up a new hobby, and finish many of the other items on our ever-growing To Do Lists. Let’s make Summer 2010 a time when we actually get to accomplish a few of those things and enjoy the thrill of marking them off our lists.

The Rules

NOTE: You do NOT have to wait to be tagged to participate in this meme.

1. Pick 1-3 professional development goals and commit to achieving them this summer.
2. For the purposes of this activity the end of summer will be Labor Day (09/06/2010).
3. Post the above directions along with your 1-3 goals on your blog.
4. Link back/trackback to http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/3669.
5. Use the following tag/ keyword/ category on your post: pdmeme2010.
6. Tag 5 or more bloggers to participate in the meme.
7. Achieve your goals and "develop professionally."
8. Commit to sharing your results on your blog during early or mid-September.

My Goals

1. Read at least 2 of the books on my book wish list.
2. Implement idea for new blog feature.
3. Submit at least 1 of the articles currently in progress for review.

I Tag…

• Professional Development Meme 2009
• Professional Development Meme
• Meme – Passion Quilt
• Planning District-Wide Technology Professional Development

Wrap-Up of Memphis EduTweetUp (May 2010)

Memphis’ inaugural EduTweetUp was a great event. Eighteen teachers from many different schools and districts in the greater Memphis area, Tipton County, TN, and Byhalia, MS, enjoyed an evening of food and fun as we networked and shared ideas. The Web 2.0 Smackdown was a fun way for us to share online technologies and services and discuss strategies for integrating them with teaching and learning. A special thanks to Melissa Smith for co-organizing the event.

Below are the slides from the meeting followed by a few resources from the evening.

Review the tweets and links using the event tag: #metu.

EduTweetUps for the Fall are already in the works. Please add your information to the Memphis EduTweetUp database to receive information about future events.

MidSouthEdTech is a Google Group open to anyone in the region interested in educational technology.

Here are the links from the Web 2.0 Smackdown.

• Memphis EduTweetUp: About the Web 2.0 Smackdown
• Back-to-School EduTweetUp (August 2010)
• Memphis EduTweetUp (May 2010)
• This Afternoon at EBC

Memphis EduTweetUp: About the Web 2.0 Smackdown

We’re planning on concluding next week’s Memphis EduTweetUp with a Web 2.0 Smackdown. Here are a few details for those unfamiliar with a smackdown.

Rules and Organization

Volunteers will choose one of their favorite Web 2.0 tools or social technologies and quickly demo it for the group making sure to share ways that it can be integrated with teaching and learning.

Each demo is allowed a maximum of 3 minutes. Finish in under the time limit or face the Smackdown!

Warning: This is fast and frantic (and lots of crazy fun) — Thus the term SMACKDOWN!!!! The goal is to involve as many people as possible and learn about as many new resources as possible.

Please RSVP
Please help us make appropriate restaurant reservations by RSVP-ing regarding your attendance here.

Invite Others
Please help us spread the word via Twitter, Facebook, your blog(s), email, etc., and include the event tag: #metu.

Event Tag: #metu

• Memphis EduTweetUp (May 2010)
• Back-to-School EduTweetUp (August 2010)
• Wrap-Up of Memphis EduTweetUp (May 2010)
• Why Twitter?

Memphis EduTweetUp (May 2010)

All K-12 educators are invited to join us for food and fun as teachers from many different schools and districts connect and share ideas. The evening will conclude with a Web 2.0 Smackdown during which attendees can volunteer to share quick demos (under 3 minutes) of some of their favorite Web 2.0 tools and services. Note that free wi-fi will be available in the dining room. We’ll also have a computer projector and screen.

We’ll be meeting at Amerigo Italian Restaurant (1239 Ridgeway Rd.) at 5:00 PM on Tuesday, May 11, 2010. Please help us spread the word via Twitter, Facebook, on your blog(s), email, etc., and include the event tag: #metu. Note that Non-Twitter-using teachers are absolutely welcome to join us, too. There is no registration fee but please help us make appropriate restaurant reservations by RSVP-ing using the buttons in the Tweetvite widget below.

Proposed Agenda

• Mix and Mingle
• Supper
• Upcoming Opportunities in Memphis Area
• Web 2.0 Smackdown

Event Tag: #metu

• Back-to-School EduTweetUp (August 2010)
• Memphis EduTweetUp: About the Web 2.0 Smackdown
• Wrap-Up of Memphis EduTweetUp (May 2010)
• Day of Discovery in Memphis

Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media (TAISTI)

I’m back in Nashville today for the TAIS Technology Institute. I’m excited about having opportunities to work with and learn from classroom teachers, media specialists, administrators, and more. I’ll be sharing a workshop on Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media. The PowerPoint presentation is below and the full workshop notes are available on my wiki. Note that the links and logos in the PowerPoint presentation are clickable.

• Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media (NCTIES)
• Multiple Representations of Understanding with Technology
• Day 2: MECA 2010
• Web 2.0 Technologies for Elementary and Middle School Classrooms

Upcoming Opportunities for Professional Development

TeachMeet Nashville
April 1-2, 2010
An event organized by teachers, for teachers, at no cost.
Event Website

DEN Summer Institute Applications Due
April 12, 2010
“Attendees will have the opportunity to connect with fellow STAR Discovery Educators from all over during an exclusive, intensive, week-long networking and professional development event.”
Learn More

EdCamp Philly
May 22, 2010
“An unconference devoted to K-12 issues and ideas!”
Event Website

EduBloggerCon
June 26, 2010
“EduBloggerCons are about conversations that teach. Questions are asked, problems posed, experiences shared, and everyone learns.”
Event Website

ISTE Conference (Formerly NECC)
June 27-30, 2010
The premiere event for educational technology professionals.
Conference Website

Podstock
July 16-17
“It’s a conference. It’s a conversation. It’s family.”
Conference Website

Laptop Institute
July 18-20, 2010
“An international think tank for schools using or considering laptops or tablets as tools for learning.”
Institute Website

• NECC Buzz Has Begun
• Deadline for NECC Proposals Approaches
• Great Opportunity to Learn More: BarCamp Memphis
• Not Going to NECC?

Free PBS Webinar: Copyright and Fair Use in the Art World and the Classroom

Computers, software and even cell phones have radically altered our relationship to mass culture and technology, providing consumers with the tools to become producers, or “remixers,” of their own media. But long before everyday people began posting their video mash-ups on the Web, hiphop musicians perfected the art of audio montage through a sport they called “sampling.” “Copyright Criminals,” a documentary by Benjamin Franzen and Kembrew McLeod, examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the ongoing debates about artistic expression, copyright law and (of course) money. (Source)

Wednesday
March 10, 2010
8:00 PM — 9:00 PM EST
Full Webinar Details here

• Webinar: Web 2.0 in K-12 Classrooms
• A Lesson in Copyright and Fair Use
• NECC This Afternoon
• NCTIES Conference

Web 2.0 Technologies for Elementary and Middle School Classrooms

These are the slides for today’s presentation at the NCTIES Conference. Examples of how both teachers and students have used these tools are included. The full set of notes and resources from this session are available on the wiki. Thanks to everyone that attended, participated, tweeted, shared resources and ideas, etc.

• Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media (NCTIES)
• Multiple Representations of Understanding with Technology
• Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media (TAISTI)
• Planning District-Wide Technology Professional Development