Day 1

Facilitators

• Monica from TCEA
• Karen from Thinkfinity

Introduction

• Goal: Take the resource and spread it across the state. Asking participants to be a part of that initiative. There are two programs that we’re working on—Thinkfinity Certified Trainer and Thinkfinity Field Trainer. Our goal is to have 10 facilitators who can train the trainer sessions. Karen Horn is a cadre trainer. Want to have enough people across the State to prevent people from running across the state…there are several steps:
  1. Complete 2 days
  2. Do a few sessions
  3. Take a TCT 1 and 2
  4. Do a few more sessions with surveys scores
  5. Then, graduate to TCT. You have to apply through TCEA.
• By completing training today, you will be a Field Trainer who can train other users in your district. We’re counting on you to train end users across the State. By completing a 2nd day of training, you will be on track for the TCT program as well.
• TCEA has received a grant from Verizon, and desire to train as many educators as possible. This is to help teachers not have to create resources; they can just use Thinkfinity. Question to keep in mind, ask yourself “What audience are you going to tailor this for?”
• Make sure to report what trainings you do for the District. Monica is here to answer any questions we have in relation to this.

Presentation Notes

Karen Horn,

• Professor Economics, Collin College, Plano Tx, Retired C&I Supervisor, Public School teacher 30 years Certified in 4 states - Original Cadre for WorldCom/MP, National Cadre for Thinkfinity
• What’s one of the biggest problems to get teachers to buy-in to using technology? TIME. The big T word.
• Diversity is one of the strengths of Thinkfinity. One of our thrusts is to get this out to the State…it’s one of the best kept secrets.
• This is very strong pedagogy and instruction. This is all that teachers need in the classroom. You can address NCLB…use NCLB and teach reading and address the fundamentals through Thinkfinity. Same is true of Illuminations in Math. Teachers can address everything through Thinkfinity.
• The training you see today is the training that the Foundation wants you to have to be a Field Trainer.
  1. Feel comfortable
  2. Enthusiastic about it
  3. Register your trainings - anything you do, 30 minutes, 15 minutes, when you’re sharing it, please put it on the register. We have a grant in Texas from Verizon but not all states have grants. $31 million dollars. Come to our booth at NECC 2008, and you’ll see some great exposure. We have a wonderful presentation and presence. it’s first class. If we want to get another grant, we need to show usage.
• We have a big state, great state, so we need to get on the map.

Goals

• Let me summarize
• Will i be able to learn it today?
• Where and how will I find this cool stuff?
• What do it have for me?
• What is Thinkfinity?
• What is thinkfinity?
  • It is a web site that contains thousands of free lesson plans and student materials for every core subject, designed by leading educational organizations in the U.S.
  • A partnership between Verizon Foundation and the nation’s leading educational and literacy organizations.
  • 55,000+ free education and literary resources
  • Free professional development
    • Latitude to create training how you want after you meet the requirements.
    • Uniformity throughout the U.S.
• Objectives/Goals
  • Be woe’d by free resources
  • Figure out best ways to find and use resources
  • Thinkfinity is not just about what resources are available, but how to integrate them into the classroom! Create an integration plan.
  • 4 steps to making your training session count
  • Check out Training materials section of the Trainer Toolbox.
• Targets for Today
  • Target 1 - X number of you will be excited about teaching others to use Thinkfinity - 100%
  • Target 2 - X number of you will feel prepared to plan/conduct Thinkfinity training for end users −100%
  • Target 3 - X number of you will plan to deliver at least one of the end user trainings in the next 10 weeks. - 80%
• Brainstorm a topic/concept of interest
  • Think about something that you will be teaching in the near future (next grading period), that you would like to supplement with some resources that you find in today’s session. This would be the topic or idea you brought with you today.
  • Topic: Based on national/state standards including curricular focus, grade level specific,
• http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/venn
  • collaborative, networked, communicative
• PowerUp! - http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/interactives/powerup.html
  • Can you generate enough energy for your town without running out of money?
• Learning Objects
  • Interactives
  • E-Sheets
  • Web sites
  • Video clips
  • Graphic Organizers
  • Primary Source Docs
  • Online manipulatives
  • Quizzes
  • Rubrics
  • Photographs
  • Podcasts
  • Printable maps
  • Worksheets
  • Audio Clips
  • Virtual Museums
• Each lesson in Thinkfinity is self-contained.
• Integrating Real World occurrence into lesson
  • Provide students with a copy of written doc analysis worksheet
  • Discuss uses of worksheet
  • http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=281
• Word Family Sort
  • http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/wordfamily
• Word Sort for Beginning and Struggling Readers
  • http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=795
• Web Literacy
• 100 Best Books for Kids
  • http://www.teachersfirst.com/100books.cfm
  • Go to Classroom →Resources→Subject by Grade to get a list of subjects with books and lessons.
• How do You find resources?
  • Navigation through partner site
  • Search Engine (this is an internal search engine)
  • Educator Home Page
• Educator Home Page
• ThinkBytes - share main thrust of each partner site.

Creating a Customized Integration Plan

• Standard and Learning Objects
• Classroom Configuration
• Learning Activity Description
• Learning Activity Effectiveness
• Learning Activity Trial Run

Prerequisites

• Flash
• Adobe
• Quicktime

Training certified

• Awareness
  • Up to 90 minutes, not hands-on
  • Preso not training
  • only roster and follow-up form are necessary
• TCH-P
  • 6 hours - complete Thinkfinity Session
  • At least 90 minutes, a partial Thinkfinity Session (anything less than whole)
  • All partner site, Homepage features choice, integration component choice
• TCH-C
  • 6 hours - complete Thinkfinity Session
  • All partner site, Homepage features, integration component

Purpose

• To establish training session goals
• Engage participants in active learning
• Provide feedback on Thinkfinity training

Day 2

Icebreakers

Tools To Use

• http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/venn/

Review Day 1 Material

• Organization of Thinkfinity - Content and Lit partners
• Thinkfinity Resources - Types of Learning
• Navigation - Content Partner sites, search engine, educator home page
• Thinkfinity Integration Framework
• Classroom Configurations
• End-user training
• Customized Training
• Official Thinkfinity Training-Register, Roster, Survey, Follow-up

Objective/Goals

• Wow Your Audience
  • Create a list of WoW resources for every audience
  • Model Thinkfinity interactives within your training session
  • thinkfinity for every educator
• Plan Ahead! Create a Customized Training Plan!
• Show Them how It’s Done
  • Embed Thinkfinity Resources
    • Biocube
    • 3-circle Venn Diagram
    • Bodies Tell Stories
• Thinkfinity Can help everyone
  • Customizing Instruction - this is the “party line”. Thinkfinity has been put together by really talented folks, they are really very good.
• Get everyone on board
  • I teach PE. There’s not going to be any resources for me…
  • i’m not comfortable using technology
  • I’d rather be grading papers and getting prepared for tomorrow’s lesson
• Advanced Placement - History
  • In Edsitement, there’s AP History—college board connections
• Potential Conflicts
  • Special areas teachers often sit through PD that does not apply
  • Some teachers are reluctant to use technology because they are uncomfortable with it themselves
  • Many veteran teachers have seen educational fads come and go, and would rather spend time in their classroom preparing for upcoming lessons, than learn about a new “fad”
  • Other - Describe another conflict that could occur

Customized Training Plan

• Availability of tech (in and out of classroom)
• Diversity of students ability (ELL, special needs, GT)
• Socio-economic status
• Ethnicity
• School funding/special grants
• Grade
• Subject matter
• Teacher ability/comfort level
• Current trends/legislation
• Student:Teacher ratio
• Training Plan - Part 1