Guest Blogger-Kate Pfeffer

Today is the Lindbergh UnConference. With a glorious Starbucks pumpkin spice latte (a true sign of Fall, warmth, and comfort on a drizzly day away from students) in my hand, I had the pleasure of attending the librarians' session: Cool Tech Tools & Tips.

Wow, those ladies had a wealth of information to share. It was great that they put all of their resources on one wiki; I could easily bookmark it and return to it later. No keeping track of handouts in file folders--huzzah!

http://cooltechtoolstips.wikispaces.com/

My Truman pal, Vicky Stanford, presented on present.me. I am totally interested in this new resource! The basic idea: upload slides and video to a website, record yourself, and have these two things play simultaneously. So groovy. One thing Vicky discussed as a possible use (which I actually thought about while she was talking!) was to use this for days when you are away from the classroom. Perfect for ELITE 3 days.

The free subscription allows you to use/create three 15 minute presentations a month. I always panic about being away from my classes; I never feel like I can convey my ideas and lesson plans appropriately to a substitute teacher. Enter present.me. I could easily (or at least I think easily) upload a Powerpoint that goes with my lesson, and then I could record video of myself actually teaching the lesson. All a sub would have to do is press Play. They could even go back, replay, and then go on. The negative: a 15 minute time limit. I'd have to limit myself to a mini-lesson. But I could do it! It's as close as I could get to actually being there with my students. AND then I could post the link to present.me on my website or on our team Facebook page. Pretty. Awesome.

My hope: test this out before our next ELITE 3 day.

Comments

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