Gif me!

This may seem odd, especially for a tech educator, but I just made my first gif this week! And you know what? It was way easier than I thought it would be!

The first challenge in this year's GEG tech challenge was to create a gif using Screencastify.  Now, I love Screencastify and use it for everything. But I've never used it to create a gif before. 

My first attempt literally was a blank... literally drawing a blank. But my second attempt was actually something useful! All our ECC teachers got new iPads right before the December break. And while I did get everything set up, I forgot to do one thing... If you're stuck on how to get your iPhone photos to be more user friendly, and not that HEIC format, check this out -->

It helped me learn how to create a gif, and it helped out my teachers in the process!

I can't wait to see what next week's tech challenge brings!

//

Fall CUE

This past weekend was the CUE conference, my first one!

First, I was blown away by the number of educators who, in the current climate, still showed up for a weekend education conference.  Us teachers, we just. don't. stop.  (And I know, that's part of the problem, but that is a whole different post!). At the presenter pre-meeting we were warned that there was a chance people might not show up to our session, in which case, we should pretend we are creating a recording for others to watch later.

Second, I loved how organized the conference was!  From the backend presenter resources and support to the conference website - it was so easy to pop in to sessions throughout the weekend.  There were tons of options, too, which made the organization even more important.

Third, I was really nervous about presenting online.  I mean, I've done PDs and Workshops for my local school and community, but this?  This is a mid-western girl from Michigan presenting via Zoom to the great state of California!  It was a little intimidating!  Both of my sessions were new ones (which was so not smart on my part - new conference and new sessions?!) and so I wasn't sure how they'd go.  Thankfully, everything went smoothly and I got solid feedback from the attendees.

Session one was on using Scratch to create video games.  Session two was all about integrating technology into curriculum.  I featured four tools - Seesaw, Flipgrid, Screencastify, and Book Creator - that all cross subjects, disciplines, and ages.  It was fun to present them, and I'm already tweaking them for the next opportunity.

Finally, the sessions I went to were fantastic.  I know that COVID has sucked the life out of a lot of people, events, systems, and structures.  I also know that for the events that shifted to an online platform, that's some pretty good stuff there, and the fact that I can go back and watch the recordings for the sessions I missed is even better.

If CUE is virtual again, I will be adding it to my list for sure.  If it shifts back to solely in person, I'd happily accept anyone's offer to fund my trip to the Golden state!

//