METC Over and Out

Every time I go to METC (this was my 4th year) I feel like the day has flown by!  It's a whirlwind of information and there are so many choices that it is hard to know if I made the right decisions on the sessions to attend.  This year, I would say I learned something new in each session, but because of the MET program and all I have been learning over this year, I learned the least of any year I have gone.  Partly, I think it was my choices of sessions, and I think it is because the MET program is leveling my knowledge with those of the presenters.  I did enjoy volunteering as a facilitator.  I got to meet Chris McGee, the CEO of Connected Learning and the "Tech Guru" in the Webster Groves district.  I follow him on Twitter and now I got to see him present.  It's like knowing a celebrity! Exposure to the technology world outside of that conference and having a PLN is REALLY giving me a distinct advantage over my colleagues.  I can't wait to share things I have learned with them in our Friday morning tech sessions, but for now I will share with whoever will read my post.

METC 2014 (Tuesday attendance)

Keynote: Kevin Honeycutt-Creation is Key

This man is a hero!  He inspires me to be more creative, to build meaningful relationships with kids, and to remember that teaching is such an important role to have. His stories of his own life and teachers who saved him are enough to bring you to tears. I left his keynote feeling better about my career choice and that even my bad days are not as bad as they could be.  Thanks, Kevin, for your inspiring words.

Planning For Project Based Learning
A FH French teacher presented this session and I have met her on our district tech committee.  She was telling about how she front plans her projects, uses lots of rubrics for each component and then just gets out of her students' way.  They made videos that had to have certain types of grammar.  All of it was spoken in French.  She shared that she found a French school to correspond with on epals.com and she used Edmodo for the communication tool between them.  They used Google Earth to build background knowledge of the location of the French School and to form questions they wanted to answer before beginning the project. She pointed out that students should have a larger audience for their publications and there is so much more learning when they know someone is really going to be seeing their work outside if the school walls.  I really want to use this format for my book clubs this quarter.

Flip Your Library!
This was a session I facilitated in.  I was looking for some information on how libraries are being transformed.  This session was also led by 2 FH librarians.  Since I work in FH, I was curious about how our libraries will be used and changed into Learning Commons.  Our own librarian is being asked to collaborate with our grade level to integrate more technology and to help us do more research with our students. I have my library certification and am very interested in obtaining a library position very soon.  I try to attend at least 1 library session every time I go to METC.  The biggest take away from this session is that our fiction sections need to be de-Deweyed.  This librarian pair took every book in the fiction section and classified it by genre instead of putting the books on the shelf by author's last name.  They said it transformed the way students approach the library.  The kids know what genres they like and will keep coming back for more.  They also do something called Speed Booking to share info about popular or new books.

Story Matters Here: The "Write" Way to Teach Digital Storytelling
This session focused on the difference between a digital spectacle and an actual digital story.  The presenter gave tips on how to be sure students have used tone, voice, and have answered a dramatic question. He stressed economy, being that less is more. He showed examples of stories that use only a few still pictures and the content was emotional and hand a point.  There were others that had no apparent main idea and used too many pictures.  So these were more of spectacle. He stressed the importance of writing our a plan before hand and having time to practice the fluency of what they are saying.  These were all great tips to getting quality stories from our students instead of just letting them slap anything together for the sake of using technology.  The last thing he shared was a site called Video Notes.  You can watch a video a student has created and then comment on the exact second that something happens/changes to give feedback.

One Minute Readers with the ipad App
Well, this was another session I facilitated, and was a mistake to go to.  It was an advertisement for One Minute Readers.  I was impressed with the app and what it can do for fluency, however it is very expensive.  Out district already uses AIMSweb for testing fluency and I know they are not going to switch any time soon, unless a lot of us band together to get it changed.  I did learn that there is one book at each level you can download for free. Again, not the best session but at least I know the tool is out there now.

Treat Professional Development like Burger King: Have It Your Way!
I am planning on having a position that is like the presenters some day.  Technology coach, technology integration specialist, etc.  That is why I chose this session.  (And because I wanted to facilitate and meet Chris MCGee). I want to be able to think like a PD expert now while I am still in the classroom.  I don't want to lose what it is like being in the classroom and having to learn a new approach to teaching.  This session was a presentation more for administrators and how to build PLN's.  I didn't learn a lot of new resources.  Chris mentioned Twitter and Feedly, he showed Nings and Twitter chats.  It was a brief MET course in 50 minutes.  My own principal was in this session too, so I know I will be able to talk with him on how to get the teachers in our building to start building their PLN.  Next Friday I am presenting at our tech session before school to show them Feedly.  Baby steps!