My Gains From Not Attending ISTE 2014

I've always wanted to attend ISTE Conferences!  I never have due to a variety of reasons.  In the past, I've followed the conference via social network on a hit or miss basis.  However, this year, I focused on growing my Personal Learning Network (PLN) by viewing the #ISTE2014 Twitter stream.  I wanted to add new people that represented a variety of educational backgrounds.  From national speakers to elementary teachers and from Australia to my home state, Wisconsin I truly found amazing educational leaders that I didn't even know existed prior to this week!

And so I took this to heart!

Please view these ISTE Conference contributors through my Haiku Deck.  I took screen shots using my iPad, edited them through the camera roll, and then added them to my Haiku Deck.  Haiku Deck is an amazing simplistic, elegant presentation tool.  The most impressive part of Haiku Deck is that the user experience is the same whether it is on the iPad or on a Chromebook/computer!  Perfect for students who start content creation at school on a school technology device and complete it at home on a personal device!

While this is not an all inclusive list, these are great educators added to my PLN creating important gains for me without attending ISTE 2014!

Telling Spanish Stories With Haiku Deck

Our high school Spanish teachers were looking to integrate a technology tool that would enable the students to explain their Spanish story in an innovative way.

Haiku Deck was chose so that students could use either Chromebooks or iPads while at home or in school.  Having the same user experience on any device at home or in school propels Haiku Deck to the front for creating presentations.

While I don't know Spanish, I do know that the stunning images along with one sentence provides a clear story.

As one Spanish teacher, Mrs. Tewes, stated, "Students enjoyed using visuals to help tell their stories."

Some Examples:

Environmental Health Using Haiku Deck

Mr. Bock, one of our middle school health and physical education teachers, wanted to covert the presentation of an Environmental Health project from paper to digital.  Students needed to know about the constraints and requirements for the project.  I suggested Haiku Deck because obtaining stunning copyright free images is so easy.  In addition, the simplistic word presentation grabs the viewer's attention with simple words that allows the viewer to listen intently to the presenter's words.

The first three slides were at one station while the remaining slides were at another station.  Mr. Bock reflected on his experience working with Haiku Deck,

     "...really easy to work with....enjoyed working with it..."

Presentation Link


Impact On Students:
Critical Thinking:  With the images on the slides, students need to decide what tools they want to use to complete the project.  While many pictures were provided of possible solutions, the students were not instructed as to the ACTUAL tool they should use.

Haiku Deck On Web For Book Publication

I searched for a web tool that students could write a book about Canada and would, according to a middle school teacher,

• Drag and drop pictures or easy to insert pictures from web or upload
• Easy to add text
• Embed on blogger
• Log In with Gmail or easy to create an account
• Chromebook or laptop/desktop

I tried Google Drive tools and couldn't get into the template gallery according to an error message.

I tried widbook.com and it was a social site that I didn't think students needed to mess around with.

I tried storybird.com and it was also a lengthy sign up process and constituted social networking.

The above products, while great in their own right, didn't meet most of the criteria that the teacher was looking for.

I decided to look at Haiku Deck for creating an online book.  We have used Haiku Deck for a number of other creation projects and I believe this tool will work for creating a book. View short book.

Large Group Instruction Area Digital Set Up Instructions Using Haiku Deck

Providing instructions to staff on how to complete digital products or processes is a major aspect of a #techcoach s job.  Our school recently updated the digital (computer/DVD/VCR) projection options in two of our Large Group Instruction (LGI) areas.

Haiku Deck became the go-to tool as it limits the words placed on a "slide" and the pictures are stunning.  Along with the Haiku Deck app, I incorporated the Skitch app as it allowed for new pictures to be enhanced by "notice markers", text, and arrows.

The finished product sent to staff is below...

Poetry Analysis Project

Miss Tubbs, high school English teacher, came to me with an idea for using a digital tool as a means for students to analyze poetry.  I offered three different tools that I felt would engage students so that they could be creative while interpreting poetry.

Tools suggested were...

• Haiku Deck - iPad App
• SMORE - web based
• Thinglink

The following paragraph is Miss Tubbs' wonderful, enlightening reflection of the process.

Here are some samples from the poetry analysis project.  Students chose different poems to analyze.  They had to find a theme in the poem and use three categories of poetic techniques to explain how those techniques created the theme.  While students liked Haiku deck, Smore and Thinglink worked better for this project because they were able to write using complete sentences and be more thorough in their explanations.

Smore student example:

https://www.smore.com/7b6m-the-seven-ages-of-man

Smore teacher example:

https://www.smore.com/hk9p-we-never-know-how-high-we-are?ref=my

Haiku Deck student example:

http://www.haikudeck.com/p/4PxGuN6qCb

Haiku Deck teacher example:

http://www.haikudeck.com/p/0GzexUQmvz/we-never-know

Thinglink student example:

http://www.thinglink.com/scene/381164533370060801

Thinglink teacher example:

https://www.thinglink.com/scene/377903033310248960

Thank you to Miss Tubbs for sharing her reflection and some fantastic student creations!

Haiku Deck Video Tutorial

I have offered Haiku Deck as a fantastic presentation tool for the iPad many times.

• Written Form To Explain Jasmine YouTube App
• High School English Paint Poetry
• Essentail Elements of Life In Physical Science
• AP Environmental Science

Our high school Chemistry teacher wanted a tool for an AP Chemistry Final Project to take pictures of the equipment/chemicals throughout the steps of the demonstration so a viewer could easily see and read the vital parts of the process.

Haiku Deck will be the perfect tool for this.

View the video tutorial of how to use Haiku Deck below...

Haiku Deck For Paint Chip Poetry

Ever since our Lunch N' Learn topic was discussed using Haiku Deck in November 2012, many teachers and students have used the powerful presentation tool to create stunning pieces of information.

Today, one of our English teachers, Ms. Tubbs, created two Haiku Decks that provide insight into how students interpret poetry.  Students grabbed a color of paint and wrote the poem.

Fantastic!