The Wired Classroom

Did you miss CSD’s Movie-Making in the Classroom class in June? Don’t worry! You still have a chance to work with one of the applications covered in that course- iMovie.

Here’s the scoop: Using iMovie ’08  in the Classroom 
Tues., July 22 | 1-4 pm | $63 CSD member; $89 non-member  

iMovie ’08 makes viewing & working with video as intuitive as enjoying your photos! A built-in library automatically organizes your video, so clips you’ve captured and movies you’ve created are just a click away. With its revolutionary interface, iMovie makes it quick and very easy to browse your library and create movies. You can add movies to your website, publish them on YouTube, and create versions for iPod, iPhone, & Apple TV. 

Apple’s Morrie Reece teaches this class step by step, allowing for plenty of time for you work with the application. By the end of the afternoon, you will feel confident in creating a film using iMovie!

To sign up, go to www.csd.org/tele. 

Here is the rest of Carolyn Lesser’s 2008-09 interactive videoconference offerings through New Links to New Learning. For pricing on programs, contact Rebecca Morrison at CSD.

Custom-designed writing videoconference for educators and/or students… This program is offered to give the most flexibility to planners and educators.  Embedded in this program is total control over the content, the number of presentations, the issues and concerns most important to your district or schools, making your enrichment dollars pinpoint accurate at addressing your needs.  Collaborative planning is one of the riches of this custom planning as it brings the element of support and professional development for the efforts of educators concerning writing.  It is a real collaboration between educators and an author.  To view some of the possibilities, visit Carolyn’s website for presentation options.  

Writing Nonfiction Prose or Poetry…#1
Session #1…30 minute conference call from teachers to plan for students
Session #2…45 minute interactive presentation to students…assignment
Session #3…45 minute interactive reading/positive feedback to student work

• Carolyn will choose writing topics appropriate for grade level
• Students will participate in a professional nonfiction writing process
• Teacher input is important…come to conference call with ideas
• Carolyn engages students with enthusiasm for the nonfiction process

Writing Nonfiction Prose or Poetry…#2
Session #1…45 minute conference/call from teachers to plan for students
Session #2…60 minute interactive presentation to students…assignment
Session #3…60 minute interactive reading/positive feedback to student work

• Specific writing topics chosen by teachers/students
• Professional nonfiction writing process tailored & relevant to curriculum, teacher requests, goals
• Teacher input/requests/goals discussed in the conference call
• Added time for student questions following our work together
• Carolyn brings inspiration & enthusiasm to each session

Custom add-ons to any series bring depth and relevance to students & staff~

Now that the school year is over, I think people are starting to this about next school year-  and for high school students and their parents-  about college prep. Cooperating School Districts’ New Links to New Learning offers both an ACT Prep Class and now a PSAT Prep Class, both over videoconference. Trained instructors from The Princeton Review conduct the course and CSD gets you connected to the course. For more info, contact Rebecca Morrison.

Here’s some info to think about:

• Public Missouri high school students who completed The Princeton Review PSAT Clinic averaged of 12.1 pts higher on the PSAT, and the top 50% of student scoring 21.6  points higher, which is equivalent to an SAT scaled score increase of 216 points.
• According to The Princeton Review, when students attend all of the sessions, take all of the practice tests, and complete all assigned homework, average ACT score improvement is three points. 

Last year’s videoconferences on forgiveness & empathy were so popular that we’ve decided to do a series on forgiveness this upcoming school year! We’re working with Lynne Lang of BJC School Outreach & Youth Development to put together five or six professional development sessions together. These sessions will be part of New Links to New Learning’s Mental Health videoconference series. Our target audience is high school staff for the forgiveness series. We’re still working on dates, fees, etc., but once those are set, we’ll post them.

We are also doing three of our traditional one hour videoconferences. Those will start in January and run through March. The interactive videoconferences always run 4 to 5 o’clock central.  2009 topics include: dealing with the death of a classmate on January 8; media literacy and teen behavior on February 12; and peer versus sibling bullying on March 12. 

If you have questions about the Mental Health series or if you want to sign up for any of the videoconferences, contact me, Rebecca Morrison, at rmorrison@csd.org. 

Midwest Education Technology Conference
Call for Presenters!
Strands, Levels of Presentations & Tags

METC 2009 invites you to apply as a presenter for a breakout session or hands-on workshop. More than 1,500 attendees from across the nation are expected to participate including technology specialists, teachers, library media specialists, staff developers, administrators, instructional technology teachers, counselors, and information technology/network specialists. Preference of presenters will be given to those submitting proposals related to the program theme, Technology Tools of Engagement: R U There? or one of the program strands. While presentations may address several of these strands, please indicate the primary strand that best describes your proposal. Strands include:

For complete details on submitting a proposal to METC, visit this link: http://www2.csd.org/csdrpdc/metc2009/presenter.htm. METC is a program of Cooperating School Districts: www.csd.org.

Not only does the Virtual Learning Center utilize Moodle with our tele classes, we teach Moodle classes in the tele! Here are the details for the Moodle classes later in the summer:

Moodle Basics: Using a Course Management System to Increase Teacher/Student Connections
Aug. 1,  9 am-12 pm | $63 CSD member; $89 non-member 

+

Intermediate Moodle: Creating Your Own Course  
Aug. 1,  1-4pm | $63 CSD member; $89 non-member 

MOODLE BASICS: Heard of Moodle, but don’t have a clue what it’s all about?  This workshop is for you!  Come find out what this powerful course management system is, how to use it as the one stop website for your class, and how to get your own for free.  Participants will have an opportunity to see how other teachers are using Moodle, and try their hands at setting up various features of this powerful course management open source software.  This is for beginners with no prior knowledge of Moodle.

INTERMEDIATE MOODLE: Already familiar with Moodle and have a pretty good idea how it works?  Now it’s time to practice developing your own course.  Learn the advanced features of this open source course management system and have time to practice them.  Lots of hands-on time provided to create your own sample class and organize it the way you want.  Prerequisite: Moodle Basics class OR prior knowledge/use of Moodle.

To sign up, go to www2.csd.org/tele. You will receive a confirmation letter about two weeks before your class runs. If you do not get a letter, call CSD and ask for Joan Forrest: 314-692-1259.

Show-Me a Movie is an annual digital storytelling contest for Missouri students to demonstrate their creativity & digital movie making skills. Based on curriculum and with a content focus, videos will showcase what students know, care about, and are able to do. What does your class have to say?

There are 3 divisions: Elementary: Grades 2 - 5; Middle School: Grades 6 - 8; High School: Grades 9 - 12. There are 4 categories: Show Me Something New; Show Me a Story; Show Me a Challenge; and Show Me Your Community.

Furthermore, each 2 minute video is judged in five categories by a panel: Content, Creativity, Storyboarding, Videography for Live Action or Videography for Animation, and Reflection.

The deadline to submit the 2 minute movies is December 15, 2008 at 5 p.m. Mailed entries must be addressed to: 

Show-Me a Movie
Cooperating School Districts
1460 Craig Rd.
St. Louis, MO 63146
(E-mailed entries should be sent to mbogart@csd.org - just remember to also submit the paperwork before 5 p.m.)

For complete rules and details, like teacher checklists, please visit  http://www2.csd.org/showmemovie/index.htm.  Winners will be showcased at a reception during METC 2009.  Questions about Show-Me a Movie? Contact Martha Bogart at 314-692-1258.

There are quite a few technology in education conferences taking place in July. As you know, I will be attending and presenting at the Missouri Distance Learning Association (MODLA) Annual Conference at Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach (that’s July 9-10).  Ruth, Martha, Nancy and Stacey will head to San Antonio, Texas the first week of July to attend NECC- the National Educational Computing Conference.  In addition, Successlink is holding the 6th Annual Technology Innovations Conference  July 17-18, also at Tan-Tar-A. There, Stacey will present on Web 2.0. Martha and Nancy plan to present at Successlink’s conference on several topics: Internet Safety, SMART Board, and Discovery Streaming.

In other education conference news, CSD’s CHARACTERplus is holding its 14th Annual Character Education Conference in St. Louis this summer. Dorothy White, who does an awesome job on the Midwest Education Technology Conference with Nancy and Joan, also works on CEC with a great group of folks from CHARACTERplus. CEC runs July 16-18.

Movie-Making in the Classroom: Creating Digital Stories & Photo Essays   
- Two Graduate Credits Available -
June 23, 24 & 26 |  9 am-4 pm each day
$298 CSD member; $447 non-member 

Help your students create their own digital stories through by experiencing the process yourself.  This three-day workshop teaches the pre-production, production and post-production phases of movie making. You will have an opportunity to choose one of three easy software programs to use: Windows MovieMaker (PC), iMovie (Mac), or PhotoStory 3 (PC).  The class is a cross between a writer’s workshop and a movie-making symposium.  You may bring a story to share, or you can select from one of the stories provided.  Participants will come away with their own 3-5 minute movie & plenty of ideas about how to help students create one of their own! Register at www2.csd.org/tele. You’ll get a confirmation letter roughly two weeks before class starts.

 Also, the tele still has openings for the July 15 Classroom Projects Using Digital Cameras class. CSD members only pay $125. Sign up at www2.csd.org/tele. You’ll get a confirmation letter if you have successfully registered for the class. Didn’t get a letter? Contact Joan Forrest at 314-692-1259 or jforrest@csd.org.

Today Lindbergh’s Cindy Lane taught Using Digital Media in the Classroom (Featuring Google Earth) for a class of eager learners in the tele. Cindy is a past Midwest Education Technology Conference presenter and will also be presenting at METC 2009 at the St. Charles Convention Center in January.

The Virtual Learning Center also wants to congratulate Cindy for being selected to become a Google Certified Teacher- she will represent the Show Me State later this summer when she travels to California for her certification! Great news for a great lady! We can’t wait to learn even more ways to incorporate Google Earth in the classroom…