Diary of a Techie Chick: memories

Showing posts with label memories. Show all posts

Reflection of Disney World....

Every 4 years the PHS band kids take a trip to Disney World. I had the pleasure of being one of the sponsors along with my husband. Both of our sons are in the band, James a junior plays the trombone and Ethan a freshman plays the drums. We departed for Orlando on Monday at noon, 28 hours later we made our arrival. 28 hours on any bus is 28 hours way too long. We didn't hear too many complaints as everyone was very excited to be on the trip. The 60 or so high school band students worked hard fundraising to help pay for the expense. The band board members worked just as hard running the concession stand at the home football games, the chili soup dinner, and this year the ugly toilet fundraiser. I only played a very small part, but was happy to lend a hand when I could.

Throughout the bus ride the kids made the best of it. During our meal stop the kids made the most of their freedom from the bus. A softball game broke out during one of our meal stops. There was even a game a Twister going on. In between stops a movie or two was played. Kids listened to music and even streamed YouTube video clips, and played video games.

Once we arrived at Orlando everyone was ready to be off the bus. They guys didn't even complain when we spent our 1st night in the Down Town Disney shopping. I think most of us were ready to really stretch our legs even if it was at a shopping area. I was in 7th heaven just looking at the wide variety of shops. Our 1st full day in the most happiest place on earth was spent at Epcot. We flew from Orlando to LA, went into the future, and even took a trip back into the past with out even leaving the park. We even walked around the different countries from around the world with finally having dinner in China. We got to meet Mickey, Minnie and Goofy. We even found Nemo. We had the pleasure of bringing our 6 year old daughter along with us on the trip. She was in heaven when she met Mickey and gang. When it was her turn in line she literally ran up and hugged Mickey, like they were long time best friends.

While at our time in Disney the kids attended a band clinic. They got to work with a professional conductor and recorded music to a Disney movie. I do believe they recorded to the Tarzan movie. I can't wait to hear their recording. I am sure they sounded amazing, they always do.

There were several kids on the trip with us that had never seen an ocean, some never really been out of our little town. Watching their faces as we walked on Coco Beach, was watching a kid at Christmas. I was glad to be apart of their experience. I enjoyed meeting the Disney characters, including having lunch with Mickey, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy. My daughter loved meeting Tinker Bell, Cinderella, and Rapunzel. The shows at the different parks are amazing. For the kids it was all about the rides. For us it was all about the memories.

Over all I believe the trip was a success. They kids really enjoyed it and tons of memories were made that week, including the very long bus ride there and back.

My Reflection of Podstock '14

Podstock is one of my favorite conferences to attend. I have only missed 2 of them since they started. When I first met this group of educators and they were all dressed up like hippies I had my doubts, but they open their hearts and welcomed me in just like family. The conference is more than just about learning it is about building relationships with other educators from around the world.

Even though I live little over an hour away from Wichita I like to stay overnight and participate in the extra activities. This year Podstock added a Pine Derby Car race. It was a lot of fun connected with others while sanding, painting, and decorating my little car. I do have to say that my little car did beat a guy or two. The reception is always a lot of fun as well. The 1st year, if I remember correctly, the dance was both online via 2nd Life and in person. I highly suggest that if you attend Podstock you should really participate in the little extras, it is always a lot of fun. You never know you might win the next Photo Scavenger Hunt.

During the conference I attended several really great sessions. I am trying to get out of my introvert shell so I picked session that I thought would help me do that. I also tried to take selfies, which is very hard for me to do. The Improv session was a amazing. I never stopped and thought about some of the "Improv Games" that you play could relate right back to education. If you think about it you are developing listening skills, character building skills, speaking skills, problem solving skills and face it, it is a lot of fun being a little goofy.

I try to submit a proposal every year to be a presenter, so far every time I've submitted I've been approved. This year I did a presentation on creating augmented reality. My goal was to have a hands on session were by the time the attendees left the session they had created an augmented reality trigger. In a perfect world that would have been amazing, but that didn't happen. I learned that I need to have my own hot spot so I don't have to battle with a conference's WiFi, now only if I can convince my husband. One of the things I hope the attendees of my session took away was that you can turn anything into a trigger. For the conference I had made my avatar a trigger so when you scanned it you got more information about me. I also designed a shirt for Podstock and turned that into a trigger, so when you scanned it you got information about Podstock. To help others I created an Edmodo group and a Google+ community were educators can connect, get help, and share their experiences with augmented reality. I have tons of pre-made AR triggers saved in the groups and a list of AR apps. Feel free to join the community or group.

Resources:

Growing and Connecting via a Global Project ....

Winning LOGO Design

I attended several teched conferences, workshops, and webinars right before school started this year. They inspired me to create a global project. I am really big into scrapbooking and thought how cool it would be to have a living digital scrapbook that students could use to share their stories.

I decided to use Edmodo as my platform to connect, collaborate, and to share my dream for my global project. The Global Digital Scrapbook Project for 2013-14 was then born. I created my goals and posted the outcome I wished to achieve with this project. I needed a sign-up form for those who decided to join me on this journey so I created a simple Google Form that I shared with anyone and everyone who would listen to me. By the end of October I had 75 schools from around the world that joined me in this amazing journey.

Within our Edmodo Group I created several small groups for students to use to post, collaborate, share, and connect with the other students that were participating in the project. The students can post into groups such as art, economics, culture, school life, and etc.... My favorite group is the Spanish-English group where students can share and learn either in Spanish or English. I did create yet another Google Form for students to fill out and and request to join the small groups.

This project has been a huge learning experience. When I started the project I had to be the trainer to the teachers that joined in. Most of them didn't really know how to use Edmodo or had never used it before. I created little video clips to help those that needed it among answer tons of emails and messages. I would like to think it has been a success since it is now February and the communication within the small groups seem to be running smoothly.

Some of the ways I've used Edmodo beyond just communicating with the thousand plus students and teachers was holding a LOGO submission for our project. Students submitted their LOGO designs and then I created a Quiz so that kids could vote on their favorite design. I used the Quiz feature because I could add an image to each choice. I also post the "Page or School of the Week" and I am able to see how many times that link has been clicked on. This helps to know if the participates are looking at what I post. Teachers in the project also post polling questions and discussion questions within the small groups. Students then receive either a grade for journaling or participating. We are trying to teach the students not to type in Text talk, write in complete and proper sentences, and digital citizenship all at the same time.

Now the goal is to get all of the schools to add something to the Global Digital Scrapbook. Again most of the teachers have not used the website creator I am using to host our scrapbook so I have to put on my trainer hat again. The goal is to have a completed Global Digital Scrapbook by May. I have faith that this will too happen. It takes time to get a thousand plus people all on the same page and understanding what is needed so keep an eye on the project as it grows daily.

Tools Used for the Project:

Edmodo
Google Forms
Weebly

The Global Digital Scrapbook Project (gdsp2013)

My Global Project for 2013-14....

My Global Project for 2013-14....
There has been a change to the URL!!

After attending a "Follow Me" presentation at Podstock '13, a presentation for a "Global Read Aloud", and hearing the words from yet another presenter "Lets do something Great together", have inspired me to create a "Global Project". I want to connect my students with other students from around the world. I want to knock down the walls of our school and let my students experience cultures from around the world.

Last year my Social Studies students sent out a plea for postcards. We did end up receiving several postcards from around the world, but most of them came from friends and family of my students.

I thought to myself what can this small Kansas town teacher do as a global project? Then it hit me, a Global Digital Scrapbook. My mind has gone crazy thinking how can I organize this project? I've decided to use Edmodo as the platform to collaborate and Weebly as the house to hold our Global Digital Scrapbook.

Now I need your help. I need you to spread the word about our "Global Digital Scrapbook". I would like to have as many people as possible involved in this project, the more the merrier. I would love to see it grow. I know with your help this project will be amazing and powerful.

To participate in this project please visit the home page of our "Global Digital Scrapbook" for 2013-14 and fill our the Sign Up form.

The NEW URL = http://gdsp2013.weebly.com

My Recap of Podstock 2013....

Every time I attend a conference on educations plus technology I get inspired and energized. I love meeting and connecting with new people that have the same interest and passion as me.

This year I did a poster session for Podstock on how I did Flipped Instruction within my classroom. As I was thinking how I was going to accomplish this and make my mini session with people rememberable. I decided to "Flip" my presentation. I made my presentation interactive with the use of Augmented Reality and kind of let it speak for itself. On my board were trigger images. You scanned the different images with the app Layar and either a student created work appeared or a tool and or resource would appear. One of the resources was a little video I created in front of my Green-Screen on the different tools I used in my classroom. I also turned around and made my little handout interactive as well. I explained that just like my board you could scan the images and magically the resources would appear for them including the video I created explaining the tools and the resources I used.

I love to share what I have learned so below are links to the notes I took while at Podstock.

Game Changing Apps with Two Guys and Some iPads - Brad Waid and Drew Minock
Technology Tools and Techniques for Fostering Student Creativity with Curtis Chandler
Using Student Voices for Assessment via Mobiles and Screencasting with Paul Shircliff
Launch Me with Kevin Honeycutt
When Teachers Start Thinking Like Game Designers with Curtis Chandler
Creating an Educational Follow Me Project with Sarah Beeghley
How I Did Flipped Instruction in My Classroom with Katie Ann Wilson

When I learned that there was going to be a Photo Walk my heart sang with joy. Below is the link to my Podstock 2013 Photo Walk. I really enjoyed sharing that passion with others and can't wait how they saw and captured our little walk.

Podstock '13 Photo Walk Album

I also love to create something to help me remember my time at conferences. Sometimes it will be a scrapbook page or two, a collage, or even a slide show. So this year I took my iPhone and captured a few moments while at Podstock and mashed it all up to create this little video. I had a hard time picking my favorites.

Podstock 2013 Mash-UP

Thanks for the great connections and I hope you keep in touch.

Preserving Life's Memories

Now that I am a mother I wanted to preserve my family memories. 14 years ago I started paper scrapbooking. I spent hours upon hours cutting, glueing, and scrapbooking our precious family memories. I started to burn out on it since it took a lot of my time.

As I got more into scrapbooking I thought I would use some of my baby pictures, but realized I didn't have any nor did anyone in my family. This made me even more discouraged.

We added to our family just recently and wanted to find a better way to scrapbook. I found several online/digital scrapbooking sites but again became very discouraged. I started calling these sites cookie cutter scrapbook sites. They wouldn't let me modify the layout to better fit my pictures. I finally found the answer when a friend introduced me to Heritage Makers. I feel head over heals in love with the program. I loved it so much I decided I wanted to teach others how to perserve their life's memories, so I became a consultant for the company.

It doesn't matter which way you decide to preserve your life's memories as long as you just do it. I have been digital scrapbooking for the past 3 years and have some amazing projects as a result. I really no longer go to the store to purchase cards any more. I try to send personalized cards, either with my photography, pictures of our family, or from the amazing art work provided by the company.

I prefer digital scrapbooking due to the fact all I need is my laptop. When my family is watching something I just really don't care for I pull at my laptop and scrapbook. My newest project is now preserving our family heritage. I have been busy scanning old photos and slides. I have been using a Hand Wand Scanner for this. I found it to be very use to use and I don't have to remove the old photos for their books. Which is good since they are glued down. The project has really taken a life on all its own. I have learned a lot about my husband's family that I would have never learned otherwise.

I receive several comments on how do I have the time to scrapbook. It really doesn't take me a lot of time. I like to do it while I watch T.V. or when the family is watching something I don't care for. I also make the time. I decided if I don't do it who will?

To help you start preserving life's memories I have a few links you can check out.

Preserving Life's Memories
Heritage Makers