NECC 2003 Notes

A Synopsis of Theo Smith Activity (7/1/03)

Ok, let's get the nasty convention stuff out of the way first!

I arrived at the convention center at 8:15 ish to check email at one of the email stations (the only time yesterday that I would be able to have time and access to a functioning internet connection). Following that I went to the Choose my Keynote hosted by Dr. Knezek (?...I'm not good at names!), the ISTE CEO. He mostly talked (in his Texan bravado) about "getting real" with students, teachers, administration, and technology. I was a fairly enjoyable session, but as of now I cannot remember much of specifically what he said. Prior to the speech, awards for various services provided in integrating technology were provided.

The next hour and so was spent in the exhibit hall continuing my ever-present search for Maple (which I'm going to check at the University Bookstore for, and if I don't find it or the other thing that I'm looking for, I will just give up for the time being) when I came across a Sibelius booth. Sibelius is a music notation software that can be used for composition. (Ok, here comes a side story)

I've come across a lot of fragmented parts in which I either have a score (a document showing simultaneously what every part is doing) and no parts or all the parts and no score. I have been using Sibelius to recreate the missing factor by hand which is rather tedious. (Back to the story)

The Sibelius guy demonstrated to me the PhotoScore Professional version which allows me to take printed music and scan it into Sibelius. This has now become my #1 item unless Maple (if I ever find it) is more expensive. I will use my stipend to purchase the more expensive of the two packages and save the others for a later date. Currently I have the PhotoScore valued at $179.99 but I will comparison shop a little first before 2pm today (7/2/03). Other exhibits that interested me were the Smart Music (which the guy there yesterday didn't have as much to say as the guy that was there the day before and therefore the software fell to the bottom of my list.

Next, a session regarding the use of laptops in the education of preservice teachers (which was really a misnomer because this was done on the graduate level which could imply previous service). There was a team of five women (laptop woman, faculty-interviewing woman, student-interviewing woman, survey woman, and PowerPoint operating woman). The discussion was regarding a pilot program at National-Louis University in the Chicago-Milwaukee area where teacher candidates on the graduate level were provided with the opportunity to have laptops for this grant-sponsored program for a course entitled TIE 500 (5000?) technology in education in the Master's in Art of Teaching degree. Through this program the student all have laptops provided by the university and are expected to use this techonlogy to create and implement quality lesson plans as well as contact and submittal of assignments by teachers. This was one of the more well-received and well-organized presentations that I have been at in the conference.

(Lunch, see accompanying story...can't create a link because I haven't written it yet!)

Following the break I attended a session dealing with how teachers need to make students aware of internet content. For example, what are the differences between the following websites?

http://martinlutherking.org and http://thekingcenter.com

The first is a website that paints the Civil Rights Era icon in a highly unfavorable light and is linked to White Supremacist groups while the second is the legitimate website for the King family. How would a young child know this?

Try this...I'm looking for the White House:

http://whitehouse.com http://whitehouse.net http://whitehouse.org http://whitehouse.gov 

These are all legitimate websites but only one is the real one! This session dealt with the advocacy of media literacy on the internet (BTW, the whitehouse.gov is the real website...whitehouse.com is a pornographic site...the other two are political spoofs decrying the White House (although one is stronger than the other)). It was highly highly informative and a must check out...if I could find an email address for the presenters for the PowerPoint presentation, I will post it here as a reply.

The final session I went to caught my eye because it involved music technology and taking music to the students in the elementary schools. This was a very much exciting thing for me to find! However, the presentation bombed with a lack of punch behind the presentation and the already small crowd refused to participate (because of the juvenile nature of the thing) or because of the infancy and lack of sophistication as exhibited in earlier presentations. I did not leave because I believe something can be gained from anything.

Some suggestions that would have made the situation better:

1) The exact same program could have been given to a set of non-musical administrators and teachers to attempt to show how music has a rightful place in the core curriculum (really there shouldn't be such a term as core curriculum because for a well-rounded member of society ALL subejcts are important...ancient Greeks...or Hellenes to be more correct...knew this!).

2) Instead of a presentation, this could have been presented as a Birds of a Feather Session for ideas. The impression that I got was that this was the first real grant that they had established for themselves and this was the first such program that they had created so that they could have used ideas.

Comments: Another reason why I stayed is for networking purposes. For example the host college in this presentation was Winthrop College (Univ?) in Rock Hill, SC and either the immediate or current president of the South Carolina Collegiate Music Educators National Conference (CMENC) attends this school. This is good for me because I'm currently the president of the Georgia chapter of CMENC. Also, think about the underlying message we send that contradicts our educational message: when we see something that isn't as high-quality, we abandon it. Could some of this not potentially transfer over to students? I felt a moral obligation as a teacher (as yes, I might not be T4 certified yet, but I do teach things, just not in a standard public school classroom) to provide assistance to make it better or to provide feedback on why it was good.

This was the end of my day. Beneficial to the max. For alternate activities from around the conference, please see my entry under the "Stories" section.

Theo

"Bringing Literature Circles to the Web: Blogging about Books"

Read the notes here that I posted about this great look at blogs in literature and reading classes at DV for Teachers.

A Synopsis of Theo Smith Activity (6/30/03)

First things first, let me take care of some housekeeping procedures: as I sit up here typing responses to most of your posts I can't help but notice that it seems almost as if we are posting for the sheer obligation of posting. Let's respond to a few choice items a day, spark conversation, employ our brains and challenge each other's viewpoints and make each other think. I spent as much time as I could possibly stand tonight working on responding to people because I want you to know that I did read your thoughts and now I would like follow up just to encourage discussion. I think we owe it to the grant committee to actually engage in discussion as opposed to the mere posting of facts (also, by the number of reads on some of the documents it seems like some have not even been read!)

I know that I tend to disappear a lot from the crowd. Nothing against anyone, but I have my own agenda. My professional activities can be documented here under News items and my private escapades through Seattle can be detailed through "Stories". Please read and provide commentary!

I preface my entry by stating that I went with no given plan...I had no prerequisities for my attending a certain seminar...I just made a decision about 10-15 minutes ahead of time and went. None of my choices were closed. I also went alone mostly to freely formulate my opinions without the interference of others until my thoughts were firmly cogent. Here goes!

My day: Newcomer's session...hmm...dowithoutable if the maps had been provided somewhere else (like an information booth).

I, as a few others, attend D. Macquarrie's CBL (computer based lab) session. While it was informative, I worry that the topics discussed may be beyond the scope of a lot of teachers that I know. This is why I wonder if there are ways to either water down the technology for lower levels or the content of the lessons. In my opinion this was not as clear. Also, in a time of increasing pressure on standards-based assessment, how much time can one seriously devote to such experiments (especially when teachers themselves had difficulties initially performing the experiments in question)? He answers by eliminating the fluff, but in my opinion this involves the massive task of streamlining curricula for the suceeding grade levels to ensure that if "fluff" is removed, that it is removed entirely.

The next session I attended caught my eye because it simply had "music" in the title ( I don't remember the exact title but it had something to do with the WAM NEXUS). It involved a series of stories (very touching ones in deed) regarding videoconferencing and progressive student achievement. Of course the videoconferencing didn't work, but the idea (called the Collaboratory) was impressive nonetheless.

Next was a break for some business and lunch (see accompanying business under "Stories" for more details)

Upon return to the convention center, I attended a session regarding keeping standards and technology unified (it's currently midnight local time and I can't remember!). This was not aimed at students...or even teachers for this matter. I feel that this was something best gleamed for administrators looking for advice from outside educational consultants. Nice PowerPoint presentation though.

Lastly was Pam Keys (?) presentation on using Excel in the classroom. I had the feeling that a lot of people were on edge because her comfortability with the subject matter, while good in theory, was not shining through. This was coupled with the fact that a lot of people in the audience were obviously more proficient with Excel than she was and the fact that people were continously leaving.

Lastly, a trip to the exhibits. I don't take free stuff from vendors (at least not in that manner). I don't want to parade around in equipment that I don't firmly believe in. If I'm going to be an advertisement, I have to believe completely in the product that I'm advertising in. I thought it was mostly going to be a bust (because I still haven't found that MAPLE program that I'm looking for) until I ran across musicians! (Finally!). I'm going back tomorrow to check on the presentation for Smart Music, a program that I've used before and will comment on later. There was also a demonstration on Finale 2003 (but I own Sibelius...their chief competition software).

Now for what I did in between the conference: check out today's story!

Theo

Audrey W. Beard, June 30, 2003

The keynote address was excellent.  I am hoping that the talk will be placed on the wesite.  I am sure that I can use this information in the classes that I teach.  It is imperative that we train teachers that can take children from diverse backgounds and take them to higher levels of achievement.

 The Browning of America is a phrase that depicts the children of color in America's schools.  There is a need to prepare future teachers of color to work with students of color.  We should strive to elimate the Digital Divide in the area of cultural diversity and awareness. This information was current and important to the educators of the future.  We must first know ourselves prior to assisting children with loving themselves.

Electrified! Using Standards-Based E portfolios for Preservice Teacher Assessment.  The NCATE process requires that we track the growth and development of the candidates that the university prepares.  The session demonstrated how to utilize Task Stream as a tool to show what candidates can do.  This is important work to add to our knowledge base.

Audrey W. Beard, Albany State University

PEER MENTORING

This was an interesting workshop that told how the OpenWorld Learning Center uses student mentors to help students in the computer labs.  Most of the students are primarily from the Latino community.  This programs helps the students learn leadership and teaching skills.  Once a student masters one of the curriculum task they are given the chance to become student leaders.  A student leader is between the ages of 10-13.  It was interesting to know that once the student became 14 the OWL center could begin paying them for the work they did as a student mentor.  It appears that they have had a good success with the program and they gave wonderful websites and other information that can be incorporated into the classroom setting to aid teachers that may use peer mentoring.

Also I started visting the exhibits.  There were so many I got overwhelmed. But I do recommend the Knowledge Learning Exhibit that featured the JumpStart Program.  We viewed the Study Helpers Program.  It is an excellent resource that can be used in the classroom to aid students with spelling and math.

 

Cultural Diversity and Awareness in the Digital Divide, D. Lawton

This workshop was very interesting! The moderator of the session was Mr. John Smith who works for the Washingston State Superintendent's office. Smith lead discussions on various issues pertaining to the issue of technology in the public schools as well as the faith-based community. There were three panelists, two of whom were of Indain desent and one mixed with Indian and Irish. All three panelists used their own cultural background as supporting evidence and response to the discussions in the seminar to further prove their point about cultural diversity - especially about the subject of MINORITIES. Furthermore, there were other Washingston State officals that worked for the State Superintendent's office that shared their views on the cultural divide of technology and how it pertains to education today across the globe.

-David Deon Lawton, Fort Valley State University

Cultural Diversity Workshop. L.Williford

Today I attended the cultural diversity workshop. There were several discussions about the topic. The workshop was lead by Mr. John Smith and a couple of panelists.
I thought the seminar was good because the attendees had ample oppurtunities to lead and interact in the discussion along with the panelists.
The worksop was very benefitical because at the end everyone received free software to take home and browse. Maybe this software can enhance my visions and perspectives of the digital divide in technology.

LaShonda Williford, Albany State University

Cultural Diversity and Awareness in the Digital Divide, D. Lawton

This workshop was very interesting! The moderator of the session was Mr. John Smith who works for the Washingston State Superintendent's office. Smith lead discussions on various issues pertaining to the issue of technology in the public schools as well as the faith-based community.
There were three panelists, two of whom were of Indain desent and one mixed with Indian and Irish. All three panelists used their own cultural background as supporting evidence and response to the discussions in the seminar to further prove their point about cultural diversity - especially about the subject of MINORITIES.
Furthermore, there were other Washingston State officals that worked for the State Superintendent's office that shared their views on the cultural divide of technology and how it pertains to education today across the globe.

-David Deon Lawton,
Fort Valley State University

Technology Conference

Hi Guys,

I tried several times to click on the web site to enroll in some of the workshops.  I was unsuccessful.  Everytime I clicked on the website, it took me back to the e-mail page.  I was hoping that we could enroll in some workshops ahead of time, but, it seems that it's not going to be possible.  Is anyone else having trouble enrolling?