Tammy Worcester Keynote at OKCPS TechDay09

I’m live blogging Tammy Worcester‘s keynote at Oklahoma City Public School’s Tech Day today! The title of her keynote is, “Beyond Copy and Paste: Building Integrated Technology Projects.” We’re starting NOW!

Since the text inside an embedded CoveritLive archive is not accessible from an iOS device or indexed by Google, I’m pasting the text of the LiveBlog here as well:

9:41
wfryer: This is Tammy Worcester’s keynote at OKCPS Tech Day

9:41
wfryer: http://www.tammyworcester.com

9:42
wfryer: The learning community Ning for today is on: http://tech-day.ning.com/

9:42
wfryer: Think about yourself as a 5th grade student

A lot of time kids now never read what they are copying and pasting

David Warlick came to ESSDACK where I worked about
10 years ago

David was doing a workshop about harvesting multimedia content from the web: photos, movie clips, etc
– when we started thinking about that from the student perspective that got very scary
– question from the audience: how do we keep our kids from just plagiarizing the work from other websites
– David’s answer: you as a teacher shouldn’t be assigning tasks that allow students to do that

David then discussed “building blocks”
– students gathering different blocks of information from different places
– once students have those blocks of information
– this led to our model at ESSDACK

Building Block Model
1- Collect blocks (gather information)
2- Organize blocks (critical thinking
3- Build new structure (product / presentation)

this model stands up over time

What if a student was asked:
– NOT to “write a report about an animal”
– but INSTEAD “write a journal from the animal’s point of view”

this forces the student to do something with the information, and build something new

another exmaple: Write a children’s story about the animal, include at least 5 facts about the animal
– students can be creative, learn so much more

today we are going to learn about how we can use technology in the three steps of the building block model
– I used to separate these steps, but now tools help us both gather and organize information at the same time

Now demoing PowerPoint in WindowsXP Professional on her MacBook

I love PowerPoint, it is never blocked, I think we should keep using PPT as a tool
– If you have students start with a blank presentation, they can use all the drawing tools
– this is called the Pizza glyph

9:43
wfryer: showing the circle tool in PPt

9:43
wfryer: two circles

9:43
wfryer: making a pizza

9:44
wfryer: larger circle the color of my hair

9:44
wfryer: smaller circle that is white

9:44
wfryer: using smaller circles, a triangle, and a rectangle

9:45
wfryer: ask kids to use different shapes and colors based on specifications you give them

9:45
wfryer: ask compare and contrast questions to your students to compare their pizza glyph

9:46
wfryer: ask data questions about the pictures you’ve created

9:46
wfryer: this is a very simple activity you can do to gather data

9:46
wfryer: How many of you use Google as your primary search engine?

9:46
wfryer: How many of you were saavy enough to buy Google stock about 5 years ago?

9:47
wfryer: For normal Google searches, it can be difficult to tell how old the information is

9:47
wfryer: Example: I’m interested in iPhone rumors and what Apple is going to annouce next week

9:47
wfryer: A simple search for “iphone rumors” (without quotations) might bring up websites several years old

9:48
wfryer: so I can go into Google advanced settings

9:48
wfryer: I can click on DATE and choose results that are more current

9:48
wfryer: (using Mac OS X text zoom to show this)

9:48
wfryer: You an also setup a Google Alert to do this

9:4
9
wfryer: http://www.google.com/alerts

9:4
9
wfryer: Choose your search terms, the frequency you want to receive the alert, and your email address

9:50
wfryer: I have also set Google Alerts for ESSDACK, the company I work for

9:50
wfryer: If ESSDACK is ever mentioned in a blog, in the news, etc. I know it

9:50
wfryer: The site sends me an update

9:50
wfryer: I use this for my name, since I have an unusual name

9:51
wfryer: How many of you use Google Docs

9:51
wfryer: ANOTHER QUESTION WE COULD ASK: HOW MANY OF YOU WOULD LITERALLY DIE IF GOOGLE DOCS CEASED TO EXIST?!

9:51
wfryer: Google docs is a free online version of Microsoft Office

9:51
wfryer: You do need a free Google Account

9:52
wfryer: MY THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS HERE ARE IN ALL CAPS

9:52
[Comment From Liz Kolb]
I use Google Alerts for Current Research Trends such as “sexting”—thanks for live blogging Wes!

9:52
wfryer: Good idea Liz! And you are welcome! 🙂

9:52
wfryer: We can edit documents togeter but we all need Google accounts

9:53
wfryer: Google Spreadsheets as of last summer now opens the gate to let ANYONE edit and contribute, WITHOUT having a Google Account

9:53
wfryer: I’m now going to show Google Forms

9:53
Liz Kolb: hmmmm….would we be willing to pay for Google Docs? Not sure…

9:54
wfryer: I definitely would pay for Google Docs at this point, but am glad I don’t have to!

9:54
wfryer: Now doing a survey as a Google form: How many years have you been in Education?

9:54
wfryer: I THINK SHE IS GOING TO SHORTEN THE URL AND LET US SUBMIT IT.

9:55
wfryer: Going to use http://tinyurl.com

9:55
wfryer: She is now explaining how to use TinyURL

9:56
wfryer: Here is the form link: http://tinyurl.com/pnac7v

9:56
[Comment From Cindy Grabe]
Google Docs are especially nice in working with pre-service teachers. They have no excuse that they do no have the software. Also get to know the students better as access is constant to their work.

9:56
wfryer: (Please click the link and submit! – It is just 1 question)

9:56
Liz Kolb: Just submitted!

9:57
Cindy Grabe: Me too!

9:57
wfryer: You can also use an iPhone or iPod Touch to submit this

9:57
wfryer: Where are you all located today?

9:57
Cindy Grabe: Grand Forks, North Dakota

9:58
wfryer: Just lost power to the projector in the room

9:58
Liz Kolb: Ann Arbor—at University of Michigan, getting ready for a meeting

9:58
wfryer: Tammy is still going

9:58
[Comment From Dean]
I submitted one too. She should’ve had a question: “Where are you from?” Me, El Paso.

9:58
Liz Kolb: She’s a pro!

9:5
9
wfryer: I just let Tammy know she had some folks from Michigan and North Dakota submit!

9:5
9
wfryer: yes, she should have included that as a question

9:5
9
wfryer: the tech guys are scrambling and got the projector back on

9:5
9
wfryer: nothing like a little excitement in the middle of a keynote!

9:5
9
wfryer: Ok the projector is back on!

10:00
wfryer: Over 67 people responded to this in less than 3 minutes

10:00
wfryer: 🙂

10:00
Cindy Grabe: Gives an opportunity to show flexibility – a good skill for students to see modelled.

10:01
wfryer: Good idea Dean: she should have included names

10:02
wfryer: Tammy asked: are any of you in a situation where all students have a laptop? (audience laughed)

10:02
wfryer: ACTUALLY THEY DO HAVE MOBILE LABS AVAILABLE IN OKCPS

10:02
wfryer: She just showed results for 82 people, and the graph

10:02
wfryer: the “ah ha’s” came from the audience when she showed the live graph, this was a great demo

10:03
wfryer: How many of you didn’t have a computer in high school?

10:03
wfryer: Now showing http://www.bibme.org

10:03
wfryer: students do need to have a login, teachers may want to setup logins for students in advance

10:03
[Comment From Barb In Nebraska]
How many people are in the room, Wes?

10:04
wfryer: 350 PEOPLE HAVE SIGNED UP FOR TODAY AND THERE IS A WAITING LIST, I BET THERE ARE ABOUT THAT MANY HERE. THE AUDITORIUM HOLDS 500.

10:04
wfryer: Now showing how to find a book or film, and “add to bibilography”

10:05
wfryer: THE WAY TAMMY IS SHOWING DIFFERENT TOOLS HERE REMINDS ME OF MY “DIGITAL MAGIC TRICKS” SESSION. http://handouts.wesfryer.com/magic – LOTS OF oos and ahs…. 🙂

10:05
wfryer: You wouldn’t have students look up all the bibilography info, the BibMe site looks that up

10:06
wfryer: You can enter a website URL and have it load that info

10:06
wfryer: you choose the format, like MLA

10:06
[Comment From Barb In Nebraska]
Great numbers!

10:06
wfryer: Now click download

10:06
wfryer: It creates a complete bibliography for us

10:06
wfryer: Opens in MS Word

10:07
wfryer: OK I THINK ALL THE TEACHERS ARE ABOUT TO RUSH THE STAGE WITH EXCITEMENT 🙂

10:07
wfryer: MY 8 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER IS SITTING BY ME AND IS VERY IMPRESSED WITH THIS!

10:07
Barb In Nebraska: The thing that impressed me about Tammy when she presented at NETA was how calm she was. She’s a professional!

10:07
wfryer: Ok now we are going to talk about building something new with the information we have gathered

10:08
wfryer: strategies: Acrostic, Post Card, Building Healthy Bodies, ABC Biography, Who/What Am I?

10:08
Barb In Nebraska: I used her Acrostic idea for our mother’s day present. We then posted it on Bubble Share.

10:0
9
Barb In Nebraska: http://smmroom113.wikispaces.com/Mother%27s+Day+200
9

10:0
9
wfryer: this forces students to learn a lot more, an Acrostic is a great way to have students learn more, can do in all content areas

10:0
9
wfryer: Often we think of tech projects as things which have to take a lot of time (weeks and weeks) but they do NOT

10:
10
wfryer: for some reason the following comment from Barb didn’t show, so here is a repost: The thing that impressed me about Tammy when she presented at NETA was how calm she was. She’s a professional!

10:
10
Barb In Nebraska: I too have rethought how I use tech. It doesn’t have to be ‘extra’ it’s a part of what I do normally. I just find the Web 2. 0 tool that helps.

10:
10
wfryer: now showing tiny postcard with facts and a picture about stonehenge

10:
10
wfryer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrostic

10:
10
wfryer: Now showing “Building Healthy Bodies” example

10:11
wfryer: PPT example

10:11
wfryer: 1st slide: add rectangle for left side of the book

10:11
wfryer: smiley face on right side from autoshapes

10:11
wfryer: 1st page is cover of book

10:11
wfryer: next slide, 4 ways to build healthy bodies in rectangles

10:12
wfryer: kids print these and cut them out

10:12
wfryer: Tammy is showing the cutout head, rectangular body, with arms and legs

10:12
wfryer: lots of oos and ahs from the audience

10:12
wfryer: print slides 2 up for smaller version

10:12
wfryer: print with white background

10:13
wfryer: that is another reason I love to use PPT for publishing

10:13
wfryer: now skipping ahead to my favorite example to show

10:13
wfryer: lots of teachers instead of saying “write a report about an animal” teachers think they are stepping up saying “make a PPT about an animal”

10:13
wfryer: Now PPT on “Guess what I am?” activity

10:13
wfryer: kids give clues about who they are, and reveal a bit of a picture on each slide

10:14
wfryer: clue: I was originally invented in 180
9 by Hymphry Davy, an English chemist

10:14
wfryer: I was revised to a safe and affordable form in the early 1
900s

10:14
wfryer: I am made of glass and metal

10:14
wfryer: The glass part of me is transparent and filled with gas

10:14
wfryer: Inside me, an electric current passes through me and a thin filament

10:15
wfryer: There are lots of jokes about how many people it takes to change me

10:15
wfryer: A light bulb?

10:15
wfryer: Isn’t that activity so much better than just “create a report” assignment? Involves more creativity

10:15
Cindy Grabe: This is fun for the students to do for parent’s night – structuring it with general to more specific clues as to “Who Am I?”

10:15
wfryer: I wish I had more time to show you how to make the picture reveal a bit at a time

10:15
wfryer: If you come to my session later today I will fit that in

10:16
Barb In Nebraska: Got to run! Thanks Wes for live blogging this. Good luck with your presentation later today. 🙂

10:16
wfryer: Thanks for joining Barb!

10:17
Cindy Grabe: I didn’t do anything differently.

10:1
9
wfryer: OK, had to leave and run to my session which starts at
10:30!

10:20
Cindy Grabe: Thanks for live blogging.

10:20
wfryer: Cindy: you were fine, I was confused!

10:20
wfryer: My 3 upcoming sessions will all be live on Ustream

10:20
Dean: Excellent job, Wes! I had a few things reinforced following this and got a few new ideas as well.

10:20
wfryer: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/Moving-at-the-Speed-of-Creativity-live

10:21
Cindy Grabe: Thanks – plan to follow. Good luck with the presos.

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On this day..

• Brainstorming Ideas to Improve Industry and K12 School Connections in Oklahoma #workforceok – 2011
• Educational Pipeline Challenges in Oklahoma #workforceok – 2011
• Resources from today’s #icil2010 presentations – 2010
• Ready for the tablet glut? Meet the 2 x 14″ Kno – 2010
• Stop Motion Animation ideas from Charlie Mahoney – 2010
• Digital Storytelling on a Shoestring – 2009
• Our musical performer tonight is George Bush – 2007
• $100 laptop prototype demo – 2006