K12 Online Conference Final Reflection

[Cyndi Danner-Kuhn]

So here we go, what were your two favorite sessions, what was you Wow moment and list at least three things you learned. What impressed you ab out this conference. You thoughts and ideas about this online conference experience. Did you participate in any of the LIVE events and if so what did you think about that experience, if not why? Please be very specific in this reflection.

[Cyndi Danner-Kuhn]

This is the first semester in a while I have not done some kind ABC assignment.

[Dana Setter]

Step by Step – Building a Web2.0 Classroom by Drew Murphy was one of my favorite sessions. Tabbing rather than windowing was an “ah-ha” moment. I did not know to do this. Another one is file resizing, I didn’t know I could do this either. I really liked this podcast and learned a lot from Murph. My other favorite was EdTech Talk: A Network of Homegrown Webcasters by Alex Ragone and Arvind Grover. I liked this session because it made me finally realize that I do not need to be at the top of the technology food chain to participate. These people truly seem to enjoy sharing and teaching everything they know and are willing to learn what they don’t know. I am so appreciative of being assigned this project and having to listen to these presentations. Not only did I learn how to use many web tools from a technology stand point, more importantly I learned not to fear them. It is okay to make mistakes and to embrace the challenges I experience. I now know that help is willing available, that I am not alone, and that even though I am graduating from FHSU in the spring, my professional development and learning will still be at my fingertips!

[Cyndi Danner-Kuhn]

Yes, "I learned not to fear them" I am so glad, mission accomplished.

[Kelly]

Okay. So I just really like David Warlick so I am going to have to put him as one of my favorites.
Keynote Speaker-David Warlick
“Inventing The New Boundaries”
Oct. 8, 2007
7:00 a.m.
David discusses learning in new ways in this podcast. He uses trains and airplanes as analogies. I really liked this analogy. It makes sense that we need to teach like an airplane. We need to be able to let the students get off track and learn without boundaries. He says that some of these “no boundaries” are working with internet and new technology. We need to let them take these “sidetracks” because every student learns differently. We need to find how these students learn and allow them to learn on their own track or off the track. Another thing he mentioned was shaping and reshaping information. This is something we should continue to do in order to create new learning experiences. My favorite part of this podcast was at the end. I have heard this before and completely agree with it. We need to teach students to teach themselves. We can’t see the future and we don’t know what it is going to hold. We can only prepare our students to be the future and show them that they can create the future.
I just really like his podcasts.
I also really enjoyed Derek Wenmoth.
Professional Learning Networks Keynote-Derek Wenmoth
“Holding a Mirror to Our Professional Practice”
Oct. 22, 2007
7:00 a.m.
This was an analogy about using a mirror when we teach. We need to watch what we are doing and reflecting on how we are teaching. This is a way for us to rely on our reflections and not standardized approaches. He discusses how to go through reflecting on our teaching. I thought this was interesting. I think it would be hard to reflect. I don’t like standardized approaches and don’t think they are always accurate. That is why I thought this was interesting. Reflecting would be hard. You would have to critique yourself. They discussed how reflection is important. It is important and takes time. We need to learn how to reflect and critique our own work. We as teachers need to realize when we need to change something when it does not work. This is not easy, but a good way to make things better for our classroom. This was a good podcast to listen to and consider working on when teaching.
I think it is very important that we reflect over everything we do in the classroom.
My wow moment was with Shawn Nutting in “Creating a Paradigm Shift in Technology”. It would just be great to have such a good support system. It is so hard to teach technology alone. I have such a hard time keeping up with it. I think if the school officials support each other and work together to have a good technolgy-rich school, the students will definatley benefit.

[Kelly]

Oops, I forgot to do the last part. Anyway, I thought a lot of these were great. There were some that were okay and hard to listen to. Overall, I think they had a lot of great speakers who shared a lot of great ideas. I didn't participate in any live events because I didn't have time. I think it would have been a really neat experience after listening to some of them. I would have definately tried if I could.

[Katie Short]

I guess my favorite session from the K12 online conference would have to be "If All of my Classes Did This" by Wendy Wolfe. I thought that ToonDoo was a great way to let students express themselves. It goes to show how much kids would enjoy school if every subject was made this interesting. I know that it isn't realistic to make cartoons for every subject, but there are things that you can do and technology that you can use to make school interesting, enjoyable and intriguing all at the same time.

[nikki hernandez]

My two favorite sessions were:
1. Travel through space in time global awareness
2. Inventing New Boundaries by:David Warlick
3. My oh my gosh moment was at the beginning of the discussions when he said that with technology we can go beyond the boundaries and increase learning through an online conference, I thought to myself wow learning has really changed and it’s time teachers step up and use the teachnology we have.
4. Things I learned was that it’s so awesome how all these people can be together at the same place but thousands of miles away and you can hold a conversation with a large amount of people. IT’S AMAZING what technology can do! Antoher thing was the virtual tours and how easy they can be to get to and less hassle. The only thing is planning everything out. I also liked the Toondoo, I think its fun and interactive. I’ve tried it on my nieces and nephews and they love it. This is a tool that would be at one of my centers in school and I think the students would love it and it would be cool to see how creative they can get!

[Kelly Rogers]

I really enjoyed the K-12 Conference for the most part. I have to admit that sitting down to listen to 20 was a bit overwhelming of a task. However there were a few that I really enjoyed and hope to revisit for further professional growth and challenge. I love the fact that it is a conference offered on line. That in and of itself is wonderful. I could listen to seminars in my kitchen, at my leisure. I think the entire on-line staff development will simply change the way educators are learning. Unfortunately I was unable to participate on the LIVE chats. That is something that I would like to take advantage of in the future though.
I feel my very favorite session was done by Sharon Betts. It was entitled "Oodles of Googles". I really feel that my appetite was wet with all that google has to offer. I really need to just jump in and start exploring. I liked how she had video series to help aid the instruction. I will definitely go back and look at this session again before digging deeper into Google.
I also really enjoyed Kurt Paccio and James Gates' session entitled "The Electric Slide! The Twenty-First Century Style". The tool that they presented was www.spresent.com
This is a tool that I had fun just playing around with and will certainly use in the future. I like how you can add audio or videos to the site. I just think it is a fun way to showcase a students work or to introduce/share information. I loved it!

Overall, I just found the K-12 conference to be a wonderful experience. I think there are so many things that teachers miss out on because of funding that the thought that we can participate in this online is amazing. I really just feel that it has been a tool to challenge me professionally. I also like that I will be able to access the 2007 and previous years in the days and months ahead. I just am so glad that I can grow professionally in my home, in my timing. Thank you for the introduction to such a wonderful experience.

[Amanda Legleiter]

My two favorite sessions were Oodles of Googles and If all my classes did this. I love the idea of letting children submit assignments online, the not only enojy the computer time but its less stuff we have to haul back and forth from school to home. I also thought that ToonDoo was awesome, anytime you can make something into a cartoon is cool in my books, the opportunities are endless.
I really enjoyed the conference, especially since we could go back and listen to the audio. The toondoo was also the session that i participated in that was LIVE, it was a lot of fun and I plan on doing it next year and the years to follow. My Wow moment was pretty much the whole conference, I had no idea until this class that there was such a thing, it was a great experience.