Creating Online Digital Books – (free utility – Cast Book Builder)

Are you a technology user looking for something new?  Want to create online resources that can “read” to your students, where you can add graphics, recorded sounds, hyperlinks and even a glossary and a table of contents and have this automatically published to the Internet? Thanks to the originators of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and creators of the free, Book Builder, we have something just for you. Come prepared with a topic you want to develop. Follow along with our easy step-by-step instructions and leave with a completed project online and ready for your students.  Utilize the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and reach all your students.  Prerequisite: Strong computer skills Recommended for: Primary, ESL or any level teacher who wants to create materials for their students to use, as well as upper elementary and middle school teachers who want to provide students with a new way to publish their own creative writing or research

SMART Board Content Creation Camp

If you are an intermediate or advanced user of SMART Notebook software, and are enthusiastic about designing lesson activities using Notebook Software to increase student engagement and participation and are looking for additional ways to create professional, interactive and sharable lesson activities for your SMART Board Interactive Whiteboard, then register now! In this two-day workshop, you will have the opportunity to enhance your SMART Notebook Software skills and create content that you will be able to use with your students and share with other educators. Bring your curriculum materials and a flash drive to save your work and you will be ready to engage your students with the interactive units you create.
Recommended for: Intermediate and Advanced SMART Board users. Note: This class does not cover basic training

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Differentiating Instruction with Technology

Participants will learn about and explore available technology resources, tools, and activities that vary approaches to content, process, and product. Bring a colleague to help plan!
Recommended for: All educators 

Centers from Heaven...and Thinkfinity

Are you stuck trying to develop centers for your classroom? Do you have at least one computer enter? Then this is the class for you. Using the FREE (yes, FREE) site, Thinkfinity.org, you will leave this workshop with more interactive sites, lesson plans and ideas than you ever have at any workshop. This is a must for the first year teacher to the very seasoned teacher.
Recommended for: K- 5 teachers.

Thinkfinity: Free Resources for Your Classroom

Thinkfinity, Verizon’s education portal, provides the highest quality educational resources to teachers and students. Developed by world-renowned organizations who are experts in their fields, these standards-based resources include lessons plans, student materials, reviewed Web resources and interactives. Learn more about Thinkfinity’s free teacher resources and how to effectively integrate online educational resources into your curriculum to increase student achievement.
Recommended for: All Teachers

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Digital Day

Learn how to use a digital camera throughout your day to build your students’ reading and writing  skills. See how you can use these digital pictures to create personalized books for each student or activity in your room. You will learn to crop your photos, add text and print. Each participant will complete a short book (2-3 pages) to bring back to the classroom.
Recommended for: Teachers, therapists, parents.

SMART Board Across the Curriculum: A First Course

Make the most of your SMART board and watch class participation and engagement soar. First you will master SMART board basics. Then you will learn how to plan and prepare your SMART lessons on any computer using SMART notebook software. Come and take back interactive enhanced lessons to use with your SMART board. We will provide a list of websites that are particularly SMART board “friendly.” No more fumbling for transparencies, hyperlinks, diagrams, or files. Your lesson will flow seamlessly and learning will increase as students participate as active learners. Please bring your curriculum materials. Note: Smart board software is free to Smart board users and can be purchased for use on other boards
Recommended for: Anyone interested in using a SMART board

Integrating Multimedia into your SMART Board lessons

In this session we will define multimedia, discuss and demonstrate the different SMART Board tools and techniques that can be utilized to deliver a rich multimedia lesson.  Some of the topics that will be covered include: introduction and demonstration of the SMART Recorder tool, SMART Video Player and Page Recorder, inserting FLASH Video into SMART Notebook software, attaching sounds to objects in Notebook and different methods to reveal text on page. Participants should be familiar with SMART Notebook software prior to attending the session. No technical experience required.
Recommended for: Intermediate and Experienced users

Bells and Whistles for Your SMART board

You are in for a treat with the SMART recorder. As you lecture record your voice and every pen stroke and action on your Smart board to create tutorials, provide lessons for absent students, or establish an archive of teaching activities. Learn how to use Smart Response, SMART’s interactive clickers, to provide instant classroom assessment data to inform your instruction. You will have time to create a lesson using these exciting tools.
Recommended for: Advanced SMART board users. This course is not for beginners.

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Real World Math: Credit, Coupons, and Money Management

Show your students the real-world value of knowing math; how to manage their personal finances to get the most for their money. This workshop will provide you with activities involving banking and compound interest, comparison shopping, use of coupons, credit cards, check books and much more. All activities are correlated to middle school math content. You will leave this workshop with lessons your students will profit from for the rest of their lives. You may learn some things yourself. Now that’s a good return on your investment.
Recommended for: Teachers of math, consumer education, middle school economics

Incorporating Publisher in the K-8 Curriculum

So you think Publisher is only for making cards. Spend some time exploring the program and you will see that you can use this exceptional resource for making newspapers, pamphlets, newsletters, brochures, flyers, postcards and more. Learn how to use hundreds of templates that will boost your students’ knowledge and abilities. You will leave this workshop with a variety of ways to incorporate these tools into your daily curriculum.
Recommended for: Classroom teacher, secretaries, school newspaper staff.

Spreadsheets II: Microsoft Excel and Google Docs

Take Excel to the next level. First, get some tips to increase your efficiency: keyboard shortcuts, handy functions, and pitfalls to avoid. Then, learn to use the database analysis functions of Excel such as sorting and filtering. Finally, learn to create and use macros to automate those repetitive tasks. Learn how to collect data using Google Forms.
Recommended for: Experienced users of Microsoft Excel

Presentations II: Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Docs

Come and expand your PowerPoint skills. You will learn how to add hyperlinks, sound, and action buttons. Bring your own curriculum materials and/or an existing PowerPoint presentation and you’ll take back an amazing classroom ready slide show. Use Google Docs to make your presentation interactive and collaborative.
Recommended for: Participants who have completed Presentation I

Create More with Photoshop

Tapping the powerful potential of Adobe Photoshop, we will explore and apply some advanced techniques and tools. We will explore color in sophisticated ways that will make Andy Warhol jealous. Come learn hand colorization and apply special effects such as shadows, glows, and lighting angles to typography and photographs. This workshop is highly experiential; you will be working and having fun throughout the session.
Recommended for: Participants that have taken Time Travel with Photoshop or Advanced Photoshop users

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Scratch: Create Interactive Media

Treat yourself and your students (ages 8 and up) to a new, free way to create your own interactive stories, music, and art using Scratch, invented at MIT. Student creations can be shared via the Internet ( check out scratch.mit.edu). See why November Learning says, "The Scratch website has become the YouTube of interactive media." While your students are programming and sharing with Scratch, they will "learn to think creatively, plan systemically, and work collaboratively, while also learning important computational ideas.”
Recommended for: Teachers of grades 2 and above, technology education, and G & T

Building Schoolwide Literacy with FREE Web 2.0 Tools

Looking for ways to use Web 2.0 tools for elementary literacy skills safely and effectively? Concerned that Web 2.0 tools may be too “difficult” or unsafe for elementary students and teachers? TeacherFirst shares a model where students focus on one new tool per year in grades K-5 or K-8 to build literacy skills from basic phonics to the subtleties of writing. Find inspiration in specific, grade-by-grade project ideas, and enjoy TeachersFirst’s unusual pragmatic details to leverage the power of Web 2.0 for literacy learning in your school. Why not explore this model as you plan professional development for yourself and your colleagues? Here is the link- http://www.teachersfirst.com/schoo;widelit/index.cfm
Recommended for: Elementary general and special education teachers

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Blogs, Podcasts and the Classroom

Blogs and podcasts form a new partnership in communications media. Students and teachers can become personal publishers and broadcasters in ways that connect the subject area with writing and speaking skills. In the morning we will explore the world of blogs and how a blog can relate to your instructional goals. You will establish a blog on the Internet for future use. The afternoon will be devoted to the world of podcasting. You will learn the vocabulary, the tools and the process used to locate, download, create and publicize your own podcasts. Find out what all the buzz is about and learn how these tools can amplify student projects as well as your own listening interests.
Recommended for: K-12 teachers, all subjects

Podcasts in the Classroom

All you need is a computer, a microphone, a free sound editing program, some ideas and you are ready to turn your students into newscasters, literary critics, learning consultants and problem solvers. Your students will record radio-like programs to be shared with your school or the world via the Internet. Podcasting is a motivating tool which strengthens language arts skills while deepening knowledge in any curricular area. This workshop will show you how to get the software you need and how to get started. Bring the excitement of podcasts to your classroom.
Recommended for: All teachers

Effective use of Google Search

Web search is one of the most popular online activities and, for an increasing number of students, a primary starting point for research and learning. This session will offer some fundamental concepts, strategies, and tools to help you teach your students search more effectively. The session will cover techniques to search smarter, assessment of search results credibility, and advanced Google search features.
Recommended for: Internet searchers