FETC So Far

Yesterday was a busy day and with trying to fight off a sinus infection too I was pretty run down by the end of it. My day started out with the first timer's session and was a great way to get introduced to the conference and what all is available.

Then I moved onto Web Tools to Enhance the Classroom Experience with Jerry Swiatek, Technology Specialist at Citrus HS, in Inverness, FL. Found some great free websites to use, such as dipity.com, a website that you can make timelines out of and add links and http://studio4learning.tv, a website that contains instructional videos on a variety of content areas, especially math. Jerry also created a wiki on pbwiki.com to hold all the websites he talked about at Fetc.pbwiki.com.

I debated for awhile on my next session, but finally decided on a SmartBoard session. I was a little leery on doing this because I have attended sessions with SmartBoards before and it turns out that it's just a selling pitch and I learn little to nothing except how great the salesperson thinks SmartBoards are. Granted, I think they're great too, but I want to know how I and other teachers can use them better in a classroom and not just as a presentation tool. This session promised that teachers were involved (as well as the salesperson) and plenty of examples of how students have used them. So I gave it one more chance. I should have gone to the Google Docs session; later I heard it was great. Why is it that whenever there is a session with SmartBoard at a conference, I never learn anything more about it than what I have already taught myself? I want to see what other teachers are doing with them!

Frustrated, I moved onto Tammy Worcestor's session on her Favorite Tech Tips. Much better! I first heard about Tammy last year at VSTE and heard you don't ever miss her sessions! Very true. Got more great free websites. One of the best websites I heard about was vocaroo.com. It allows you to record your voice and then email it! So, students can practice reading, practice a foreign language, and then email it to their teacher. Great idea! I also liked issuu.com, which creates ebooks for free. Students can upload books, teachers can upload handouts, and then you can turn the pages and also embed in a blog, wiki, etc. Go to www.tammyworcestor.com and select handouts and then FETC, you can get the whole list of websites Tammy talked about.

That was the last session of the day as the opening ceremonies began. Our keynote speaker, Phillipe Costeau talked about his experiences with education and how he has tried to give that back to students. One of his first expeditions at sea, he brought high school juniors with him and shared the experience of the oceans with them. They all want off to college to study something with the environment. After that, I got the great opportunity through the DEN, to go to a reception where I met Mr. Costeau and had my picture taken with him. I also got an autograph! Thank you DEN!



Then a bunch of DEN members were invited out to dinner at Front Row Friday's. Overall a great day!

Today, I'm starting out with "It's Not the Tools You Have In Your Math Class, But How You Use Them".