Step 8: The merge settings step has a lot of little sub-steps. First, what will your merged documents be named? You can customize this using the naming tags listed on the next step of the add-on. All documents were titled a very specific way so that they would be easy to for attendees to see and for organizers to sort (see image below). Our nomenclature for merged docs was $sessionTitle - $Rm - $sessionNumber. So, for example, a session document would come out titled as the following:

Genius Hour for Beginners - Rm208 - 3

And it would also have matching information inside of the doc where the <<merge tags>> sit.

Why did we do this? The name of the sessions is the most important aspect for attendees, so that came first. The room number is secondary. The session number was for the organizers so that we put each document in the correct collaborative docs subfolder. Remember, we had Edcamp35 Session Docs named as a parent folder and subfolders for session 1, 2, or 3. The session number in the name makes it so we don’t have to open the documents one by one to see where they should live, or continually reference the session board to figure it out.

Step 9: Next, select “Email and/or share merged documents” and input your own email address (you need one; I just delete these notifications in my email later). I also ensure that it's shared as a publicly editable Google Doc, but… Google Nerd Note Reminder (as if all of this wasn’t enough already): If the destination folder is publicly editable, so will all the Docs be that are created within it. Secondary note: if you’re using Autocrat for a different purpose, you can also customize the email subject, address, and message, too!

Step 13: We repeatedly filled out the form with session titles and rooms on the day of the edcamp in a frenzy as the session board was being built. After the documents were merged into the parent folder, we had to drag and drop each session into its corresponding session subfolder. Note that this is best done in “List View” in Drive, not "Grid View”.

For our use with Edcamp35, when a response was submitted, anyone who said “Yes” to facilitating a session would automatically have their name, email addresses, and suggested topics saved in a table on the “Yes” doc. Our organizing team could then contact specific attendees regarding anticipated sessions that might be harder to find facilitators for. 

After testing and tinkering to make sure it works, your form link should now be fully ready to send out to attendees! If you are looking for more geeky Google tricks for edcamp organizing, stay tuned on my blog for Part Three which will feature the use of the Autocrat Add-on for EdCamp35! 

Click "Next: Templates and send conditions" which will take you to Window 2:

Here the little things I offer that might make an impact: 

For the kids:

I have the ability to make small strides in how I support my students. I make a difference by continually encouraging them even when they’re not doing so well. I have opportunities to turn their attitudes around toward an academic concept at school, or to get them to open their views to the world in new and exciting ways. 

For teachers: 

I’ve been working on teaching little tech-tricks to teachers make them more excited about technology. Even when it’s completely about us as educators, we go crazy for new tricks that make us look tech-savvy. And that’s the thing I’m making teachers realize: playing with technology and finding ways to utilize it makes us proud to use it. That, in turn, may motivate us to use it more, to experiment more, and hopefully in new and different ways with students. 

For me:

I’m trying to take better care of myself in 2015. I’ve said NO to so, so, so many opportunities because I need to let myself have more time. I want to dedicate time to my friends and social engagements. I want to watch TV sometimes. Oh, and sleep… that, too. 

So there you have it: I’m not making the entire world a better place by creating massive human movement. But I’m making the worlds of some big people and some little people better by doing what I love and trying to do it well. And I’m glad that I’m taking time to extend that gift to myself, too.

In May of this year, I purchased a FitBit Flex - a device to wear around my wrist that would help me to track my daily steps taken, nightly rest cycles, and to give me daily silent reminders through a vibrating alarm. Some teachers use the FitBit or other health trackers to ensure that they are up and moving all day. While my FitBit has certainly reminded me to get up and get moving more, I have found another use for it while teaching.

So, confession time: I am a very forgetful person when it comes to timing, scheduling, and keeping track of items like my keys. I could probably lose my keys while my car is running... it's that bad. So, if a brilliant moment of learning is going on, I completely forget that I am supposed to remind Student X to go take her ADHD medication or for Student Y to go to his small group lesson for Learning Support.  As I have settled into my new class for the year, I have several students who need reminders throughout the day about specific things, whether to check in with me on a behaviour issue, check in at the office for medication, or just to be sent to the Learning Support room for extra assistance with academic or social skills.

I have begun setting my FitBit silent alarms to go off throughout the day to remind me to do those things. That way, when I feel the device buzzing on my wrist, no one else hears it, and I can gently remind the student about what they need to go do, even if it is in the middle of something else important for the rest of the class.

I know this is a tiny tip, but it has already helped me enormously with remembering all of the "little things" that we teachers do to accommodate student needs. I hope it helps you, too!

After creating my video about using Twitter for professional development, I had many members of my PLN asking how I did it. The short answer is "hard work and problem solving". The long answer is me writing a blog post about it, so... here it is.

(Also, you're welcome, Dean Shareski... I've finally done my homework.)

Here is the video below, if you're interested in watching it before reading the rest of this post on how I created it: 

My video editing tool of choice is Camtasia 2 by TechSmith. This is a paid desktop application that is better known for its ability to record audio and video through screencasting and edit the recorded media. 

Like most video editing tools, you can import external media like photo and video to include in your final product. This is how I brought together so many apps to create the final draft of this video. 

Below, I will break the process down into stages and discuss how each portion was completed and how you can replicate this in your own work with video creation.

Camtasia will automatically add the media file to your video project when you stop the recording on your task bar at the top of your computer (PC will look different than Mac). You can also select the option to start over if you need to retake the shot. This action will delete the original media file and restart the recording. If you feel that a portion of the take is usable (don't forget that you can cut anything!!), then select "Stop Recording" so that media file saves. 

Customizable overlays in Camtasia are available through the Annotations menu within the app. You can select and customize a range of options and coordinate when they appear on your video tracks when building your tracks atop one another. You can also resize them, select where they appear on the media, and/or include external media as annotations such as photo and video. 

Just a note that if you're getting someone to shoot your video for you on a device, do not let them commit the crime of Vertical Video Syndrome. You'll thank me later:

Step 2: Incorporating and Cutting VideoScribe

VideoScribe is that impressive and aesthetically-pleasing  iOS application that shows a person's hand "scribing" and drawing your video's story. My final Twitter video features many cuts from a single VideoScribe file that I created. This section will outline the basics of VideoScribe and how I made choices on cuts, sequencing, and storyboarding for my final product.

The VideoScribe app houses several free stock images and options that range across a variety of topics. You can also purchase additional images in-app or add customizable images/text. I chose the ones that were directly related to my topic and increased or decreased the "drawing time" depending on where I needed the clip and what I needed it for. For example, the Twitter image at the beginning of the video is prescribed to be about 30 seconds, but you can tailor that to be shorter or longer. If you are unsure of how much time you need the clip to be,  you can also speed up the clip in Camtasia (or whatever video editing tool you're using) after the media is imported. 

So when an element is selected at the bottom of the timeline, you can customize and preview the time it plays as well as the animation. I think that the time is the most important aspect to adjust here, as I've mentioned. Some of the clips are ridiculously long and can add quite a bit of time to your video if you don't cut them. You want to have a general idea of the time and how it will fit into your final product before you export your VideoScribe file.

After completing my VideoScribe timeline, I exported the final product to the Camera Roll. I then uploaded it into Google Drive so that I could access it from my Macbook. You could use any other cloud client or you could just connect the old-fashioned way to upload the video into iPhoto. Either way, easy and quick sharing of your VideoScribe file directly to your desktop, and voila! You can then cut up that file to your heart's desire.

There are two portions of the Twitter video where I utilize image layering and animation effects. Since I was on a mission to learn the most I could about this, I used two different programs for each part. One, I built in Camtasia by adjusting images and layering them over top of one another across multiple tracks. The other I built in Keynote, which was more simple by far. After I created the builds and animations for each image, I played the Keynote in full screen and recorded using QuickTime (you could use Camtasia for this also).

The other app I get asked about often is the Reflector App. This app allows you to Airplay your iPad screen to the screen of your computer. You can then capture the recording through the Reflector App itself, QuickTime, or Camtasia. This is a great app to use when you want to demonstrate something on the screen of your iPad through video. 

Step 4: Cutting it Up, Layering Tracks, Editing Audio


If I haven't mentioned it already, I have mad respect for professional video editors and creators after doing this project. The crazy part is that I haven't even scratched the surface of what is possible with this amazing technology, but I have already learned so much more compared to where I started. This section will outline some simple tricks when beginning your video editing process.


Cut It UP!

I'm a hack... and I don't mean computer hack; I mean that I like to chop things up . I record huge clips and cut out everything except for the tiny pieces that emphasize my message. Remember, MORE video footage is better than less - always record for longer than you think you have to because you can just cut it if you need to.

Sound Quality Matters!

If I had to pick one part of my video that I disliked, it would be the sound quality. As I mentioned before, I recorded most of my audio through my MacBook's microphone. This can be pretty inconsistent depending on the room and proximity of the mic from the audio source. I recommend using a high-quality mic and/or that one attached to a standard set of Apple earbuds works just fine, too. 

Camtasia allows you to split audio and video tracks so that you can adjust the volume, clip speed, etc. as you work. This can help to make your video shorter, regulate the volume from clip to clip, or to just plain cut out things that you don't want to include. 

Layering Tracks & Annotations - Experiment!

Don't be scared to play with layering image, audio, and/or video tracks over one another to see what they look like and how they can work together. Split audio from video so that you can manipulate each separately. Press the buttons. Drag things over top of one another. Experiment. That's the best way to learn!

I hope this post has helped some of you folks who were asking about my video!  Video creation is one of the areas that I continue to explore both for myself and with my students. Let me know if you have any other specific questions or if you have anything to add to this post below.

There are several powerful technological tools that can document visible thinking and learning for our students. Screencasting, voice recording, blogging, and video are at the forefront of the movement for student content creation and undoubtedly hold a lot of clout in helping teachers to assess for next steps in instruction.

When creating screencasts, my students' thought processes have become more complex as they speak their thinking about learning processes aloud. They take time to consider their words carefully in order to create authentic recordings of their learning. However, as my students work on these mediums, I'm not convinced that students' simple documentation of their thinking is enough. Sure, it tells something to me as the teacher, but does it reach full potentials for the student? 

This brings me to the most incredible choice I've made in my classroom so far this year: pushing for a consistent blend student self-assessment, constructive criticism toward and from their peers, and materials that inform my future teaching.

When screencasting, there is nothing more powerful than students listening to the playback of their own thinking. This process of re-reading, reflecting, and re-vamping is necessary in so many other facets of our classrooms, though. The challenge for educators lies in teaching students how to take fair and meaningful reflections and assessments of their own work. Though this is a little bit meta  (learning how to assess your own learning ), it is amazingly powerful when students learn what they need to improve about themselves and their work, and when they choose to do so independently.

Explicit instruction and one-on-one interviews are absolutely necessary in the beginning of this teaching. It helps to set your expectations for each student's self-assessments as well as finding out about theirs. The end result helps them to shape their evaluations of themselves and base this thinking on a growth mindset: "What could I do better?" and "How can I do it better?" 

After seeing the power of this in areas such as reading and math, I have begun integrating multiple student self-assessments into every subject area both with and without technology. My conclusion thus far is that student engagement is not improved simply by use of technologies, but rather, by meaningful student-centred pedagogy. From improving recorded playbacks, to monitoring self-progress through checklists, student blogging, reflection on completed tasks, and goal creation for the future, it has been nothing short of rewarding to watch my students take charge of their own learning. 

How do you your students assess their own work? How do you help students to make appropriate and fair judgments of their own work to improve for the future? Your commentary is appreciated as I continue to build on this aspect of my classroom.

This is a video project that I created for my Mobile Technologies class (ETEC 565M) in the UBC Master of Educational Technology program.

My personal journey with this social media has opened up and transformed my educational world. Because of Twitter, I have enjoyed several professional experiences over the past six months like connecting with colleagues at edcamps, traveling to California to attend conference and collaborate with other educators, and establishing online communities and conversations through hashtags like #bcedchat. I am passionate about the use of this tool, among many, to help educators connect and transform their own professional learning experience.

Check out my video below to find out more!

Thanks for reading, watching, commenting, and sharing! Happy tweeting! 

Oh, man.  September is over.  Queue the music.  Breathe.  ... Right?

This first month of school has brought with it many adjustments in my world.  I'm at a new school, teaching a new grade, working with a new staff on technology goals, and getting used to the workload involved with two graduate courses. Needless to say, September has been a bit of a whirlwind.  Mix those together with all of the things I was already doing and that is a recipe for an imbalanced disaster.  A month later, I'm just starting to finally feel like I'm on top of these new demands.  My absence from blogging has been due to my attempts to normalize my new realities.  Something had to go on the back burner for the month.  But now, I'm in control.... for the moment.

People often ask me, "How do you have time for all of that extra stuff?" These questions always spin me into a state of reflection.  Of course, I've asked myself the same thing.  How do I have time?  Is my life in a perpetual state of imbalance?  Am I happy even though I work practically every waking moment of the day? Is burnout inevitable? 

If you've ever been in a similar situation, you'll relate that reflecting on this is extremely difficult.  When you're so entrenched in the status quo, it's hard to see how far you can bend before you break.  While connecting to new people and ideas is important, it's also important to take a step back to understand what you're capable of and why it matters to you.  That's what fuels my passion -- the "why" I do it, not the "how".

So here's why it all matters to me:

1. I absolutely adore my students and want to deliver the best educational experience they can possibly have.
   
2. I love learning.  I love finding out new information.  Between my PLN and the MET Graduate program, I am consistently forced outside my comfort zone, and that's a good thing.
3. Growth is essential in our profession.  If you don't set out to improve yourself, no one is going to do it for you.
4. I am passionate about meaningful technology integration in the classroom.  It needs to be relevant for the future, not the present, and certainly not the past. 
5. Throughout this journey, I've made incredible connections who have given me consistently overwhelming support every step of the way. I want to pay it forward and inspire others to connect.
   
   

 With those things in mind, I can confidently say that I'm very happy with my life and the time that I dedicate to my work and studies.  Should I be making more time for other things?  Sure.  I'd argue that most educators could use a little more balance.  But just as September did, this, too, shall pass.

Remind101 is a free, safe, and efficient way to communicate with students and parents via SMS (text) messaging.  You can sign up for the service on their website or through their iOS or Android apps on your phone or device. 

Remind101 does not give your subscribers your personal phone number and does not allow for them to reply to your reminders.  Likewise, you cannot access the personal phone numbers of your subscribers. Messages cannot be edited or deleted once sent, either. 

Once you sign up and create a class, Remind101 will generate a domestic phone number and unique class code so that subscribers to your class can begin to sign up.  Any phone that receives text messages will be able to subscribe to your class reminders.

Through both the web portal and the app, you can schedule SMS messages to be sent out at specific times.  Another cool feature is that if you are composing a message at a late hour - let's be honest, teachers work often work late - you will be prompted to schedule the message to roll out at a more reasonable time.  After all, your subscribers probably don't want to receive a text message at 12:30 AM! 

The text message interface is set up exactly as a regular SMS message.  In the screenshot below, I have sent the code to subscribe to my class texts, and followed the prompts sent back to set up the subscription.  Having your parents and/or students inputting their full name is important so that you can manage your subscription lists.  You don't want to have anyone on your subscription list that isn't a part of your class.

Near the bottom of this same screenshot, you will see that every time I send out a text message via the Remind101 web portal or iPhone app, my name will appear at the front of the text.  This will remind parents and students who don't save your Remind101 number into their phones that the text is from you. 

It is my hope that these instructions can help you get set up with this awesome app.  Communicating is easy when you have Remind101! 

This post will be available for future reference under "Remind 101" on my site.