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Jen's Journal

Creative Commons

8/11/2019

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Creative Commons (CC) licensing is a resource use to label work for public use and redistribution. It's important for educators to label their work accordingly and teach students about the appropriate re-use of images and work found on the internet. 
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jennifer_hall_-_infographic_-_creative_commons___1_.pdf
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#StudentVOice - Flipgrid

7/21/2019

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Flipgrid is one of my favorite tools to foster student voice and allows countless ways to engage learners. The video platform is easy to use, can be utilized in any content area and with all age learners. I have helped teachers use Flipgrid in numerous subject areas including math, science, social studies, English/language arts, Spanish, French, orchestra, and band.  
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In my role, I use Flipgrid as a reflection as well as presentation tool; I facilitate the use of the video tool during professional development sessions as well as when co-teaching or modeling lesson with students. 

​Having teachers experience Flipgrid before using it with their students, allows them to view the tools through a students’ lens and think of ways they may want to incorporate the video tool in their classroom, with their content.

There are many new updates to the app/platform for students scheduled for the start of school, including the new clips feature and AR. I had the opportunity to attend the Flipgrid Live event during ISTE and see all the updates and new features. 
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Working with schools in my district, I am excited to collaborate with students to explore the new features and develop ideas for using the new clips and AR features.

​I am always amazed by students ingenuity when exploring new tools and creating new ways to use tools.

​Flipgrid is an ideal tool to foster digital citizenship and empower learners. Having students produce and publish appropriate content is essential and students are able to comment/respond to their peers’ work. Having this opportunity encourages digital citizenship, because students need to think before posting online and use their voice to be encouraging and constructively critical. 
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Flipgrid allows for an engaging classroom experience and provides an easy to use tool for both educators and students. Being able to have students (and adult learners) reflect on their learning, showcase new knowledge, comment on colleagues work, demonstrate their creativity, pose questions, and connect with learners around the globe are just a few of the benefits of using Flipgrid. Utilizing such a tool can be transformative because the ways to use Flipgrid are limitless, most importantly providing learners a voice.
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Flipgrid is such a versatile tool and addresses several ISTE student standards including Empowered Learner. Digital Citizenship, Creative Communicator and Collaborator.

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ISTE19 & MY PLN

6/28/2019

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I am always amazed at the power of champion educators gathering to learn and connect. I spent this week in Philadelphia attending the ISTE (International Society of Technology in Education) Conference along with more than 20,000 educators from around the globe. ​
My first ISTE was in Atlanta; I was a classroom teacher at the time and had been awarded money for a professional development opportunity. I had no idea that my first ISTE would lead to such an amazing journey in EdTech. I was inspired and in awe of all the tools and resources I learned about during my first conference five years ago. With all honesty, I would not have imagined, while sitting in the audience listening to Leslie Fisher talk about tech gadgets in 2014, that I would eventually be sharing with such inspiring educators. ​
This year’s ISTE was both rejuvenating and exhausting.
​I was honored to have so many opportunities to share;
I co-presented my first BYOD sessions with Becky Goddard and Wanda Hanley (
Google Drawings: Let's Get Creative! & Multimodal Strategies for Creative Literacy), we chatted with educators during our poster session on Digital Learning Communications for College and Career Readiness,
I shared the awesomeness if zSpace in the Expo Hall, and shared tips and tricks for using DoInk for green screen during the Arts and Technology Playground. 
Many educators asked how the three of us (Becky, Wanda and I) from different cities and two states (Georgia and North Carolina) were connected and we eagerly shared how we met through the DEN (Discovery Educator Network). “Because of the DEN” (DENSI 2016 & Day of Discovery 2016) and our time at ISTE17 in San Antonio we have had several opportunities to share at conferences. I count myself blessed that our paths have crossed and we are able to support each other and push one another professionally. 
Of course one of the biggest draws at ISTE is the Expo Hall and while strolling up and down the endless aisles I chatted with EdTech Gurus and companies that create or share tools that enhance learning experiences and engage students. ​
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Love seeing BrainPOP's Moby.
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Great fun in our first BYOD session.
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Winning in the Expo Hall.
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zSpace booth
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So awesome to meet Tan, my #ClassyVideos classmate.
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Ready for our poster session.
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Green screen fun in the playground.
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Leveling Up at #GaETC18

11/9/2018

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I have “leveled up” after spending three days attending the Georgia Educational Technology Conference (GaETC) in Atlanta.
​I was fortunate to have the opportunity to attend the annual #edtech conference and connect with champion educators from around Georgia and beyond. As a learner, I always relish being around other avid learners.  
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This year’s theme was to “level up your learning!” So my goal for the conference was to gain new ideas, tools and resources that I can share with the Atlanta Public Schools teachers, staff and students I support. With #edtech trends constantly evolving, I am always seeking tools and resources that can enhance instruction and engage students.
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Fostering students communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking skills is essential for college and career readiness. I think another important C, that ensures students’ success, is choice. Of course tools and resources to foster 21st century skills were a focus of this year's sessions.
I was honored to have the opportunity to share during two sessions this year. My first session was “Get Going with Google Drawings” and I was thrilled to have a room full of educators eager to level up their Google Drawings skills. Drawings is probably my favorite Google app because of its versatility.
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​During my session, I shared ideas for teacher utilization and student creation; I highlighted student projects completed during science and social studies lessons facilitated at Inman and ML King Middle Schools. Participants also got a chance to complete tasks to get some hands-on experience with the tools in Drawings, while creating original emojis and memes. By the end of the session, I think quite a few people leveled up with Drawings.
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Full house for "Get Going with Google Drawings!"
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Dedication, they made it to the last session.
My second presentation “HyperDocs, Say What?” was the last session of the day at 4:30 PM and I was excited by the number of dedicated educators eager to level up with #HyperDocs. I was thrilled to shared the "what, why and how" of hyperDocs. I highlighted the benefits of using hyperDocs to provide engaging and differentiated content for students. We explored examples and ideas for implementation. Attendees participated in a hyperdoc lesson and experienced different Web 2.0 tools used for a lesson introduction (Powtoon), student-response (Answer Garden) note-taking/collaboration (Google Doc), assessment (Quizizz), and reflection tool (FlipGrid).
Getting to share at GaETC was an awesome and humbling experience. 
My goal was to learn, share, and connect during the conference. Connecting with passionate educators and learning from #edtech gurus is energizing.  
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​It was great getting seeing Steve Dembo (@Teach42), his session on
digital literacy was interesting and timely, as we need to support
students as they become critical consumers of information.
​The session addressed analyzing as well as creating content such as memes. I am excited to share
www.historicaltweets.com  with my social studies teachers. 

I attended an engaging and relevant session on Visual Literacy with Ken Shelton (@K_Shelton) and found his observational analysis activity to be a great way to help students hone their viewing and critical thinking skills. As much as I enjoy video production and working with students to create projects, I loved the video creation and analysis tips shared.
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As always, I learn great tips and tricks from Tony Vincent (@TonyVincent) and his “Friendly and Free Photos Clipart and Icons” session did not disappoint. When he showed how you can edit free images available on www.OpenClipart.org with their online editor I was blown away.
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As a avid user of Google Drawings, his session “Create Learning Activities in Google Drawings” provided some ideas to share with my teachers.

A fast-paced and idea infused session “21 Things Every Educator Should Try in the 21st Century" with Carl Hooker (@MrHooker) provided some new tasks to try including drawing a virtual world with www.panoform.com, hosting a student-led podcast, creating student portfolios with www.bulb.com and more.  
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Of course I had to grab a front row seat for “Leftovers with Leslie (a tradition)” with Leslie Fisher (@Lesliefisher) and was amazed by the Google Experiments especially Creatability. The Mystery Animal by Google was amusing and a great way to engage students in life science.

​ Two favorite drawing apps
Quick Draw and Autodraw are great creativity and critical thinking activities. Of course Leslie loves to share AR & VR tools (MSQRD, Quiver Masks) were a hit.  I am also inspired to start using my Rocketbook.

The closing message from Adam Phyall (@Ask_Adam3) was humorous and inspiring.  You have to "get salty!"

I loved that he had the audience dancing in the aisles.  
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Attending and presenting at educational conferences affords me the opportunity to learn best practices, implementation ideas, technology tools and motivates me to grow as a teacher trainer and presenter.

​This year’s GaETC was no exception. Thanks to all the presenters, facilitators, attendees and the conference team. I am excited to share my leveled up learning and already looking forward to #GaETC19.
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Reflections from ISTE 2018

6/30/2018

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I am very fortunate that this was my third time attending ISTE. My first time was as a techie ‍middle school language arts teacher in Atlanta (2014). My first time attending I didn’t know what to expect and was overwhelmed with so much to see and do. I do however have fond memories since I interviewed for my current job as an Educational Technology Specialist the day after the conference ended.

My second time attending ISTE was last year in San Antonio (2017) and it was a whirlwind of excitement and information.

​​The best part of attending ISTE is getting to meet and chat with #edtech leaders and members of my Twitter PLN.
I’ve learned that ISTE can be both exhilarating and exhausting. It’s the occasion to learn and network with champion educators from around the globe.

​This year, I had a blast seeing fellow Discovery Education Network (DEN) Stars at the 13th annual DEN birthday party. I connected with fellow Google Trainers Eric Curts and Wanda Terral (Sketch note expert) at the Google for Education Certified Trainers & Innovators Meet-up. I got #FlipgridFever at the FlipGrid Speakeasy and chatted with two of my favorite #edtech gurus Tony Vincent & Leslie Fisher.
  
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​The best part of attending ISTE is getting to meet and chat with #edtech leaders and members of my Twitter PLN.
​During my time in Chicago, I walked 73,939 steps (33.36 miles). Hence, I am #ISTExhausted.

​Throughout the four days I was dashing around the conference center listening to meaningful keynotes, engaging presentations, humorous and relevant panels as well as exploring the innovative poster sessions and playground.
Of course I spent time in the expo checking out new #edtech tools and resources and visiting some of my favorites. (Quizizz, Kahoot!, Air Squirrels, BrainPOP, Boxlight, Google for Edu, Microsoft EDU, Nearpod, zSpace, NewsELA, BreakoutEDU, Soundtrap, and more). I did manage to add a few more t-shirts to my collection. ​
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More T-shirts for my collection. 
​For me, the highlight of this year’s conference is that
​I had the opportunity to present two poster sessions.
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​​* Check out my Green Screen
​   & Video Production Page
For me, the highlight of this year’s conference is that I had the opportunity to present two poster sessions. This was my first time presenting at ISTE and admittedly I was nervous. My first poster session was “Lights, Camera, Action! Video Production & the 4 C’s.”

​I was eager to share about what the amazing students of Atlanta Public Schools are doing including my middle school Shakespeare Film Project and Film Fest as well as other literature based video projects for middle & high school based on The Crucible, The Outsiders, To Kill a Mockingbird and Beowulf.

All student projects I shared about were engaging learning experiences which fostered 21st century skills (communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking). I discussed the project process, planning resources, devices/apps used and and film fest evaluation.

* Check out student films on my Tech Tips 411  YouTube channel. 🎬
 I shared tips and tricks for getting started with green screen video and my favorite iOS app from DoInk.  

​I even had a basic green screen set-up for attendees to get hands-on time with the app.

 I highlighted project ideas for all content areas and grade-levels.  I felt the session was a success, it was awesome meeting new people, sharing ideas and answering questions from educators interested in getting started with green screen video.
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​My second poster session was “Let’s Get Googley!” sharing ideas and resources for using Google Apps for Education to foster the 21st Century 4 Cs.

I highlighted resources for projects using Google Drawings and other apps. I shared about two of my schools’ initiative to get all teacher’s Google Level 1 Certified (with nearly 50 teachers passing the level 1 exam).

​A number of the teachers I spoke with are using Google apps but not really using Drawings; which is my favorite app in the G-Suite.
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​I showcased student projects and shared Quick sheets for my Planet and Travel Poster Projects as well as creating memes and graphic organizers.

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​A number of the educators were excited about the resources and I have added to my #edtech PLN. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to highlight projects I am working on as part of the Instructional Technology Department.

​I am looking forward to carrying forward our projects this coming school year and integrating new ideas and resources gained at #ISTE18. I hope to continue my professional learning and networking next year in Philadelphia. ​
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    Jennifer Hall is an Educational Technology Specialist for Atlanta Public Schools.

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