Day 14

June 22, 2017


   Mixture of rain and sun today.
'Cindy' has made landfall in Louisiana.
I'm really glad we are not heading south today! There is a chance of flash flood and storm surge all along the Gulf coast.


   A former GAETI participant, Ms. Billie Jean Fulton came and shared some technology tips she had started using since her experience at GAETI. We got complete instructions on using YouTube to record lessons in progress. I need to use something like this when we study new concepts or have learning activities that are difficult to explain to absent students. These could also be used for reinforcement and review before tests.  Another tool was Thinglink. I remember seeing this before but never using it. I could see using it for vocabulary practice. For example, students could be asked to find a picture of a house they like. They would then label items in Spanish.  I would investigate the possibility of students recording audio clips of themselves saying the words, too.

   At 10:00 we hurried to the Camtasia lab to work on our videos. Since we were not finished by 11:00, we put off the presentation until after lunch.  After some trouble 'producing' the video (changing it to Mp4 file), we managed to save it correctly. Then.... technical difficulties in the presentation. We had to re-save and present in the QuickTime player, not Windows Media. Ours was 6 minutes long! We were satisfied with how it turned out even though we didn't win. Almost every participant voted for their own group, anyway. Luckily, one person swayed the vote so a winner could be declared. The biggest take-away here was gaining more confidence in my ability to create a video, add callouts, audio, etc. I will try to use a video project this year. I have to find out what Apps the students will be able to use first.

  At 11:30 - we Skyped with someone's friend in England. He noted that the educational system in England was geared toward making students conform to a pattern. I was reminded of Pink Floyd's video "Another Brick in the Wall". The 'pupils' are put through a factory. They lose their individual identities and eventually are ground into 'sausages.' This is pretty far from American ideas in education, I think. We foster more independence and individuality.

   I am still working on my multi-media project (still cutting).
 I did finish carving out the Ouroboros (Serpent eating its tail) on my sgraffito plate.  I hope it turns out as cool as it looks now! It's also a good story ... it represents the cycle of renewal and re-invention of self. I think that represents me now as I'm changing schools after 34 years. I'm looking forward to this opportunity to re-invent my teaching and get away from the 'rut'.

Hasta mañana.