2018 Using Technology to Make a Difference Conference

Connect to other educators and grow your global PLN with Twitter.  

Participants will be introduced to Procreate App; the most powerful sketching, painting and illustration app ever designed for a mobile device, built for creative professionals. This complete artist’s toolbox helps you to create beautiful sketches, inspiring paintings, and stunning illustrations anywhere you are.  Participants will have the chance to win a free Procreate App license for their iPad.

Learn new applications and websites such as Flipgrid, EdPuzzle, LearnZillion and many more that integrate with Google Classroom.

In this session, you will learn ways to integrate design thinking into your lessons while utilizing a blending learning approach as an instructional method of teaching.

Learn some ways to use Virtual Reality in the classroom using Google Expeditions & NearPod.

The #FlipgridFever is the fever you WANT to catch!

Flipgrid is one of the best free video discussion platforms where students verbalize their learning. Students record short, authentic videos and can reply to each other’s videos.

Participants in this session will view and create Flipgrid videos while learning ways to integrate Flipgrid inside and outside of their classrooms!

Please download the Flipgrid App prior to attending the session. The Google Slides Presentation can be found bit.ly/utechflipgrid

Participants will learn how to use Google Drawings to design authentic, learner-driven differentiated activities where students create in an innovative, digital learning environment.  Bring a laptop or Chromeobook for hands-on learning!

Social Studies classrooms are filled with complex text. Students must become proficient readers and writers in order to adequately meet the expectations of the social studies TEKS. In this session, participants will learn about technology tools and strategies that can support literacy in the social studies classroom.

In this session, participants will be guided through the process of AppSmashing in the classroom. AppSmashing will allow students to demonstrate understanding through the use and integration of various apps, giving both the teacher and students a choice. This approach will prompt creativity and boost engagement allowing the teacher to assess mastery and skills.

Make music online together by recording and using loops. Invite friends to collaborate. It's free and no download is required.  

Learn about the Apple Teacher Program, earn badges for what you already know, and deepen your Apple skill set!

Join us to learn about Everyone Can Create, a new program from Apple designed to help unleash the creative potential in every student. Everyone Can Create includes a collection of free project guides that teach students how to develop and communicate ideas through video, photography, music, and drawing. And it gives teachers fun and meaningful ways to bring these skills into any lesson, topic, or assignment.

In this session, we will go over step-by-step instructions on how to utilize the different elements of Google Sites as an extra resource to create student projects.

Seesaw is a student-driven digital portfolio. Students “show what they know” using photos, videos, drawings, text, PDFs, and links. It's simple to get student work in one place and share with families, and nothing is shared without teacher approval.

In this session learn how several of the Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality tools that can be used in the classroom. These tools are a great way to allow students to create and to engage in learning by being able to visualize abstract concepts.  

Do you need to incorporate technology into your classroom for an upcoming walkthrough? Are you tired of having to lug around hundreds of papers come grading time? Are you interested in making quizzes that grade themselves the second your students submit them? Join us for Tips, tricks, and tools from the trenches on how to incorporate Google Classroom into your classroom and GREATLY increase the efficiency of your teaching practice. Teachers of all technology experience levels and subjects are welcome!

Google Slides is not just for presentations.  Learn amazing ways on how you can use and integrate Google Slides into your classroom or workflow.  You'll learn how to create ebooks, choice boards, digital interactive notebooks, the possibilities are only limited by your imagination!  Come take a new look at what Google Slides has to offer.

Access to presentation/resources:  http://bit.ly/lovegslides ❤️

Learn all the features of Quizlet and how to make learning vocabulary a fun learning experience.  

Engaging students has always be a task for all teachers. In this session you will be introduced to an engaging app/web-based assessment generator named Quizziz.com. This app/web-based tool will help with review of content and bring out the competitiveness of students to assit with learinng and retaining content.Bighugelabs.com has been doing cool stuff with digital photos since 2005. Come learn how to create a magazine cover and a  movie poster to present content.

Drones play an integral part in our society. We will explore industrial and educational drone use. Investigate colleges and universities that offer drone related degrees and become familiar with the latest FAA regulations. We will also examine how drone technology can be used to incorporate STEM into your curriculum.This presentation will feature a drone flight demonstration.

Sway allows users a way to demonstrate their learning and exhibit projects.  We will navigate the process of using Sway and highlight the main components. 

Teachers will learn how to incorporate FlipGrid at the secondary level in order to make connections with text and the outside world. Flip grid allows students to connect and share ideas and interesting information. It is also a great way to develop speaking and presenting skills.  

The Region I Library Services and Instructional Resources Cooperative provides a comprehensive collection of high-quality instructional resources and services that help students develop information and digital literacy skills. In this session, educators will explore the resources within the Virtual Library Cooperative housed in MackinVIA. They will learn to use engaging Virtual Library resources that tap into their students’ interests and imaginations. The Virtual Library of resources offers tools to support differentiated instruction, language support, and standards-based content to help all students. All resources in the Virtual Library are accessible to both students and educators for use anytime, anywhere.

Link to Materials
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QBf3iCsxoBxMl_CVs7CQr549oP4G7IAN?usp=sharing 

WHO HAS ACCESS TO THESE RESOURCES?
The following districts/campuses are members of the Library Services and Instructional Resources Cooperative for the 2018-2019 school year:  

SCHOOL DISTRICTS  
Brownsville ISD
Donna ISD
Edcouch-Elsa ISD
Edinburg CISD
Harlingen CISD
Hidalgo ISD
Jim Hogg County ISD
La Feria ISD
La Joya ISD
La Villa ISD
Laredo ISD
Lasara ISD
Los Fresnos CISD
Lyford CISD
McAllen ISD
Mercedes ISD
Mission CISD
Monte Alto ISD   
Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD
Point Isabel ISD
Progreso ISD
Raymondville ISD
Rio Grande City CISD
Rio Hondo ISD
Roma ISD
San Benito CISD 
San Isidro ISD
San Perlita ISD
Santa Maria ISD
Santa Rosa ISD
Sharyland ISD
South Texas ISD
United ISD
Valley View ISD
Webb CISD
Weslaco ISD
Zapata CISD

Charter Schools
Excellence in Leadership Academy
Horizon Montessori Public Schools
IDEA Public Schools
Vanguard Academy Charter School

Private Schools
Blessed Sacrament School (Laredo)
Covenant Christian Academy (McAllen)
Episcopal Day School (Brownsville)
First Baptist School (Brownsville)
Guadalupe Regional Middle School (Brownsville)
Juan Diego Academy (Mission)
Marine Military Academy (Harlingen)
Our Lady Of Sorrows School (McAllen)
St. Augustine Elementary/Middle School (Laredo)
St. Augustine High School (Laredo)
St. Mary's Catholic School (Brownsville)
St. Peter's Memorial School (Laredo)
The Pharr Oratory Academy of St. Philip Neri School System
United Day School (Laredo)

 Come learn how our district is using Google Classroom to support Mathematics instruction from the District level to Campus to the Classroom. 

Developing a Design Thinking framework around your lessons will add a new dimension to your teaching. Come and learn the principles of the Design Thinking process and the many possibilities to integrate them into your lesson.