ITTIP Monthly Newsletter
May 2014
Monthly Megabite Classroom Visits From ITTIP Staff As the teachers and students prepare for SOL testing and the wrap up of the school year, ITTIP staff continues to visit classrooms as a follow-up to last summer’s workshops. “It is great to see how the teaches are implementing in the classroom what they learned during the summer workshops and to see the excitement in the students,” said STEM Specialist, Dr. Paula Klonowski Leach. During a visit to Nottoway County Middle School, two classroom teachers were observed from VA STEM CoNNECT’s summer workshops. Ms. Carrie Campbell scheduled an observation during a lesson with her students designing and building their own cereal boxes. Students were challenged to work in groups to come up with a design that would hold the largest volume of cereal. This was part of their review unit on measurement and geometrical shapes. Ms. Andrea Shell showcased a review lesson on angles and their different characteristics during her classroom visit. Other observations during the month included visits to teachers from the Elementary SCIEnCE workshops. Ms. Katherine Renfro of Amelia shared her lesson on planets, while Ms. Erin Casey of Colonial Heights shared her lesson on soil. ITTIP staff will continue to do classroom obAbove: Students work collabora ve- servations through the end of the school year. ly to design and create a cereal box The culminating summits for last summer’s that will hold the greatest volume. workshops will be held throughout the month
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Up-Coming Events May 3rd
VA STEM CoNNECT, Cohort II Summit, Longwood University
May 12th Longwood University & 26th Closed May 17th Middle School SCIEnCE Summit, Longwood University May 20th Engineering Our Way Through Mathematics, & 27th Webinars May 31st Elementary SCIEnCE & CISTEM Summit, Longwood University
What to find in this month’s Megabite: Page 1 ITTIP Observations Page 2 Upcoming Webinars Page 3 OER Panel Page 3 ITTIP Upgrade
ITTIP Monthly Newsletter
May 2014
ITTIP Recruits for Upcoming Webinars Longwood University's Ins tute for Teaching through Technology and Innova ve Prac ces (ITTIP) recently recruited twenty-five 5-8 grade mathema cs, science, and CTE teachers for two webinars scheduled for May 20th and May 27th. During the webinar, par cipa ng educators will explore mathema cs through engineering ac vies. The webinar will be facilitated by Dr. Virginia Lewis, Assistant Professor of Mathema cs Educa on of Longwood University. Correspondence and recruitment flyer went out to Southside Virginia Regional Technology Consor um (SVRTC) technology coordinators in mid-April, while available webinar spots filled up in less than two weeks. While ITTIP is looking forward to the upcoming webinars, we also look forward to hos ng addi onal webinars in the 2014-15 school year.
ITTIP takes Technology Moovly Around the World Moovly is an online tool that allows users to create anima ons and presenta ons. Although it does have paid versions, the free version permits users an unlimited number of Moovs and exports to YouTube, Facebook, and SD video (480p). It gives you access to two standard templates to start your crea on. The free account will also let you have up to 10 minutes in content length per Moov. The paid versions allow for exports of video in HD (1080p), more file type exports, templates, uploading of video clips, and more. The gallery has several pages of images that you can add to presenta ons, including an op on to add your own images. You then choose to add anima ons and text to liven up your presenta on. You can edit and change the meline within the online tool, as well as add sound and recordings for narra on. Check out Moovly’s gallery for an idea of some of things that can be created, or sign up for a free account and get on the Moov for yourself!
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ITTIP Monthly Newsletter
May 2014
ITTIP STEM Specialist Gets An Upgrade ITTIP is proud to announce we have another doctor in the house! Dr. Paula Klonowski Leach has been a student at Virginia Commonwealth University’s (VCU) Doctor of Educa on (Ed.D.) Leadership program for the past 3 years, involving 48 credit hours of comple on. While also working full me for ITTIP as a STEM Specialist, Dr. Klonowski Leach has already shared her exper se and learning with our team throughout her schooling, helping ITTIP flourish. ITTIP not only celebrates Dr. Klonowski Leach’s success and hard work over the past three years, but also having her on the team. While VCU’s gradua on is May 10th, officially we have an upgrade: Dr. Paula Klonowski Leach
Dr. Talavier Guest Panelist for Open Educational Resources Forum Dr. Mano Talaiver was honored to be a panelist for a forum hosted by WHRO on open educa onal resources (OER), April 3rd. Approximately thirty par cipants, including Instruc onal Technology teachers, Instruc onal Technology Coordinators, and administrators, joined the discussion virtually. The purpose of the forum was to inform and discuss with educators what are the best open educa onal resources out there and are being used successfully. Dr. Talaiver’s presenta on focused on the open educa on resources (content, tools, and pedagogy) that has been implemented effec vely in classrooms as part of ITTIP’s grant opportuni es. She also discussed the support teachers need rela ng to infrastructure, polices, technical support, and professional development. She challenged par cipants to ask themselves that despite the support, connec vity, and resources, can every teacher be expected to be an effec ve OPENER? To learn more about what an OPENER is, check out Dr. Talavier’s presenta on online at h p://www.i p.org/index.php/presenta ons. 3