Introductions!

[Jana Craig Hare]

Please introduce yourself, tell where you're from, and share your greatest technology "a-ha" in the classroom!

[Cynthia]

Hi! My name is Cynthia Behrens-Vaughan. I have been teaching a SID/PID class for two year now and I just love it. I currently live in Cumming, Ga. The best technology item I have in my room right now is a switch adapter for the computers in my room. This allows my student to use thier BIG MAC to help control the computer

[Ryan Page]

My name is Ryan Page and I am Special Education teacher. I currently teach at Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia. The technology that I use most in my class is the E-clickers. This allows me to quiz my students at anytime while they use the clickers to answer any questions.

[Mr. Worsham]

Hey! My name is Michael Worsham I am currently working as a Land Surveyor and hoping to score a teaching job this summer. I'm a little worried with all the layoffs and the economy. I live in Northeast Georgia and so far Hall County, about 1 hour NE of Atlanta, has let go of 100 teachers.

[Megan Stephenson]

Hello all! My name is Megan Stephenson. I am from Atlanta, GA and teach an SDD-K class - I absolutely love it. My biggest a-ha moment in the classroom thus far with technology has to be the discovery of educationcity.com. If you do not have this program at your school you should absolutely look into it. educationcity.com offers several educational "games" for every grade level in all content areas. My kids absolutely LOVE it. I have a student work station in my classroom and I allow children to use it as a free center when they have had a good day (S+). I have all the standards on there like KidPix for them to play on but I had to have my LSTC come back and download educationcity.com on my students' request. They love playing these educational games even more than they love the rest of the free centers in my room!

[Jacob Jenson]

I am an educational technology developer currently residing in Utah. My most recent a-ah came during a focus group that examined a website redesign. We had carefully placed links to all of the subject areas covered by the university on the page so students could jump straight to the resources they needed. When the students looked at the pages their eyes glazed over, they stared and stared at the page. One of them said “I just want to find stuff, how do I do that?” One click was too far away. Even though it about kills my colleagues we now have a giant search box on the library home page and students are finding stuff, but only heaven and their professor will know if it’s the right stuff.

[dionne alexander]

I am a student at GPC and I need a tutor in sign language.

[Tom Savage]

Hi there, My names Tom Savage and I am an English teacher from North London. The greatest technology I have found so far is pod casting as a form of AFL. This is really beneficial in terms of speaking and listening tasks as you have a permanent record of student interview etc which you can come back to and assess later rather than having to mark on the spot. I am also starting to use green screening in lessons and scared my pupils by jumping on screen during the middle of a film clip.

[Theresa White]

My name is Theresa White, I am a K-5, 9-12 music educator in New Baltimore, MI. I love finding ways to use technology in and out of the classroom (I think I'm a junkie!). Looking forward to meeting and networking with you!

[Sheri Edwards]

I teach grade 8 reading and grades 5-8 writing in a small, rural public school in Nespelem, WA.

My most recent 'a-ha' moment was this spring. With the girls attending their softball game, the very active fifth grade boys began class with Power Writing, which they love. Next, the boys worked on their writing projects, drafting and revising on our wiki. We discussed where each student was, then I told them that at 1:37 we'd play Verb Battleship, an online computer game. They were delighted to be offered the break. At 1:36, I said, "Ready yourselves for the Battleship game." But ALL the boys called out, "No! Can we keep writing on our wiki?" Well, of course. :)

There's just something about online writing and sharing that is intrinsically motivating; I wish all students had that access.