TAIS Tech Institute 2015

Last Friday I attended the annual Tech Institute hosted by the Tennessee Association of Independent Schools (TAIS). The conference was held in the outskirts of Memphis and covered topics from augmented reality to 3D printing (hello!) to technology projects in the foreign language - and a variety of other technology and learning related topics. I presented a session on "3D Printing Made Easy". The conference was smaller in number - I think we were missing quite a bit of the middle TN and East TN contingency - but it was good to connect with other educators and have a conversation about 3D printing in schools.

The Design Den is busy this week. Projects include...

• 6th Grade English - Distinguished Women Project - Students research a distinguished woman, either current or from history, and take on the persona of that woman during a science fair style presentation. Girls must prepare a three minute speech about themselves and dress in character. This year, the Design Den is a new element as girls must design and create an object that symbolizes their woman. The girls have several days in the Design Den and are encouraged to create something original and try new things. Every tool except the 3D printers is available to them. Below are some of the ideas the girls have come up with - some, but not all - many of the girls are very excited and have ambitious plans! I hope to post some pictures and a reflection at the end of the project.
• Campaign poster (Hilary Clinton) - designed in Word, etched in cardboard
• Book covers (Julia Child, JK Rowling) - designed in Paint, etched using laser cutter
• Scale model of the annex (Anne Frank) - floor cut from wood, walls cut from acrylic, furniture created using foam
• Silhouette in an enlarged heart locket (Jane Austen) - designed in Paint, etched on wood with laser cutter
• Microphone (Aretha Franklin) - sculpted using modeling clay, covered with aluminum foil and painted
• Test tube rack (Marie Curie) - rack made from cardboard, test tubes cut from PVC pipe and painted
• Honors Geometry (9th/10th Grade) - Dream Dollhouse - Students learned about proportion and scale, then designed 3D pieces of furniture using Tinkercad. The house itself is being built with birch plywood using the laser cutter, jigsaw, wood glue, clamps, and various other hand and power tools. The girls are having a ton of fun working with all the different tools. Some of the girls are jumping in boldly and embracing the newness, whether it is using the jig saw, drill, or even just the shop vac!

Four posts in April... kind of all over the place, but it happens. An early happy May to everyone!

The Boys in the Boat (Daniel James Brown)

• The first American intercollegiate athletic event of any kind: Harvard-Yale Regatta in 1852
• In 1869, Harvard met Oxford in a rowing match on the Thames, such a well publicized event in the United States that "it produced an explosion of interest in rowing. It also imbued the sport with an aura of elitism that has lingered to this day." (111)
• On the famous racing shells Pocock built:
• "... something about the deliberate application of strength, the careful coordination of mind and muscle, the sudden unfolding of mystery and beauty." (127)
• "Craftmanship required though, and thought required a quiet environment." (136)
• More wisdom on building racing shells from Pocock himself:
• "The ability to yield, to bend, to give way, to accommodate, he said, was sometimes a source of strength in men as well as in wood, so long as it was helmed by inner resolved and by principle." (215)
• "You had to give yourself up to it spiritually; you had to surrender yourself absolutely to it. When you were done and walked away from the boat, you had to feel that you had left a piece of yourself behind in it forever, a bit of your heart." (215)

Daniel James Brown writes heavy stories - this one of triumph, others of tragedy - but the grandeur of his inspirational stories will sweep you up and take you in. Brown used a wide expanse of resources, from first person interviews to weather reports, to create as complete a picture as possible of the boys' journey to the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Starting with freshmen tryouts at the shell house in Washington and ending with a triumphant win over Germany for the gold, the reader will not only learn about rowing but also what it meant to live during that time.

This is a great book for many different readers - those who enjoy history, inspirational reads, sports, or just a good human interest piece. Not just for rowers, The Boys in the Boat shows a glimpse of the American spirit - what it means to perverse through difficult times and overcome challenges.

April Showers Bring... Conferences and Presentations!

Some of my recent mid-April activities...

Graphite is a platform designed by the wonderful people at Common Sense Media specifically for educators to find the best technology tools to use in their classrooms and schools. I am a Graphite Certified Educator, meaning that I contribute content to the site including app and website reviews, lesson flows, and blog posts. Today my blog post Hands-On Learning Goes High-Tech was published. The post highlights the school I work at, Harpeth Hall, and how our girls engage, expand, and explore using design thinking and our new Design Den maker space.

This past weekend I presented at the second Southern Regional Conference through the Tennessee chapter of the International Dyslexia Association. The presentation topic was Technology Tools for Strategy-Based Reading Instruction in grades 5-12. I presented with the rock star technology integration specialist at Currey Ingram Academy, Ashley Kemper.

I am currently working on my presentation for the Tennessee Association of Independent Schools Tech Institute on 3D Printing Made Easy - will post once the presentation is complete. I am still reading The Boys in the Boat, but hope to finish that soon and get back to book blogging. Main purpose of this post was to show that yes, I am still here and no, I have not shut down my blog just yet!

April Already?

Here we are in April, and I have not posted since March 17... starting and maintaining a blog is difficult with distractions spring break, warmer weather, preparing for conferences, and crew. The picture for this post is a sunrise seen at the end of one (very) early morning crew practice on the lake.

Speaking of conferences...

On March 27, I presented at the first Tennessee Google Apps for Education Summit in Manchester, Tennessee (also hometown of the giant music festival Bonnaroo). I last attended at GAFE Summit in Raleigh, NC in October 2013. The GAFE Summits are great opportunities to connect with other like-minded educators and be inspired by how others are educating and innovating using Google Apps (and beyond). My presentation was on Google My Maps (attached here). 

Some highlights from the conference...

• Being inspired by Kyle Pace in his opening keynote and seeing how his district uses Google Sites to stay connected as a community
• Connecting with other Middle TN educational technologists, but also with educators around the world as three GAFE Summits were happening on two different continents at the same time
• Discovering the 4 C's and tons of Google Apps resources with Mark Garrison
• Learning about cool new tools in the high energy, fast paced Demo Slam (resource list here)
• Seeing the excitement and joy of educators discovering the power of social media (hello, Twitter!) and technology

But wait... there's more. Upcoming conferences and presentations include...

• Technology Tools for Strategy Based Reading Instruction in 5-12 at the TN IDA Conference with the lovely Ashley Kemper
• 3D Printing Basics at the TAIS Tech Institute
• Mobile Learning Network events at ISTE 2015

More book blog posts to come... 

I read the 2015 Printz winner recently, I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson, which I loved, but have not written a review yet. I just started The Boys in the Boat by Danile James Brown, which chronicles the 1936 USA men's Olympic eight-oar rowing team... great read during crew season.

Here's to my next post being published before May!