GAETI DAY 20

At last, the dreaded day is here. It crawled upon us like a snail, slowly but surely. We could see it coming. At first, we prayed for it to get here soon. That was on day one but after that, I for one began dreading this day. I must say I have mixed feelings. I am glad to go home to my family but I sure will miss the friendly folks here at GAETI2014. Guys, your smiles, hard work, dedication to work, commitment to sharing, and sense of enthusiasm all made the days go by so fast. Thanks to all the facilitators and organizes who made this happen. Thanks especially to Dr. Bracey for your vision and dedication to improving the educational landscape here in Mississippi. I hope this carries on in to the future and throughout every school district. Once again, I will miss every bit of GAETI 2014 but my promise to you is to carry on the baton and make learning fun with our cool tech tricks. Thanks again GAETI 2014.

GAETI DAY 19

Great week. I can't believe this is Friday. This week went by so fast. I loved the lesson presentations and the seriousness with which these were done. I have never felt more empowered and I definitely will be using all the great ideas I got from this workshop. Thank you guys, for sharing your ideas and talents. I hope this carries into your various districts and classrooms. We are in this together and together we can change lives, one student, one classroom, one district at a time. Thank you Dr. Bracey, and thanks GAETI 2014. Great week indeed.

GAETI DAY 18

We had some great presentations in arts class today. I really enjoyed the artistic and creative juices of all these great teachers. It was a lot of fun but the learning experiences will remain with me forever. Thanks again Mrs Latham. I liked the idea of crating a technology portfolio and making it accessible to the rest of the participants. This is a great way to begin networking, and sharing ideas between and among conference participants, ideas that hopefully will be taken back to our respective districts and shared with the rest of our colleagues. All in all, this conference is winding down well and I sure will miss you guys.

GAETI DAY 17

I particularly enjoyed this morning's show and tell activity because of its direct applicability to the subjects I teach. I see myself using Political Compass (www.politicalcompass.org) to introduce political ideologies. This can work perfectly with Animal Farm in particular and with social studies in general. But let us be mindful about this copyright and copywrong thing. Seriously, it can make or mar. Though not a new concept to me, I was proud to be able to create info graphics in Piktochart. This is a great tool for language arts and foreign language classes. It is amazing to see how all these tech ticks all work together. Now I can create info graphics in piktochart, import in audioboo, add voice content, embed it in my presentations either via powerpoint or prezi, publish it in my weebly, and brag about it in blogger.com, not to mention twitter and Facebook. If I want to keep things really nice and simple, I could add voice content to my powerpoint presentation, which by the way will be created in outline mode, and instantly make a youtube video from it and have the link imbedded in my CANVAS. Ain't that something?

GAETI DAY 16

The old adage goes thus: "The more you know, the more you discover that you don't know." That is the way I felt today when it came to the PowerPoint session with Dr. B. I have been using PowerPoint all my life and if you had asked me prior to this presentation, I would have said I am good at it. Oh well, I guess that is why they say learning takes place until you kick the bucket. I learned some really cool tricks in quickly and effectively generating beautiful presentations. Thanks also to Dr. S. J. for your detailed CANVAS orientation. I know I have been using this learning management system for quite a while but thanks to you, I will be using it even more often. Today has definitely been very productive and I did expand my knowledge base in various avenues. Now I can create slide masters using outline mode in PowerPoint, I can create hyperlinks in CANVAS, upload entire folders, link between folders, and create weekly modules, just to name a few. I feel so empowered. Thanks GAETI 2014.

GAETI DAY 15

I cannot believe this is the last week at GAETI 2014. This has been a very exciting journey and I see myself missing the fun learning environment here. Today was quit interesting. I enjoyed the IPads in the classroom presentation. It is amazing how technology can open doors to learning and to see this light shine in the lives of the kids is just amazing. I sure will spice my presentations using Prezi. Now that I have some basic knowledge of how to get started, I a pretty sure this will become my presentation tool of choice. Thanks Dr. Sang Joon Lee for showing me how to copy and paste codes onto my website. This has been another great day at GAETI 2014.

GAETI DAY 14

This has been a great day. Though we had much to learn today, I was glad to know that I am not terrible when it comes to using CANVAS. But I must say I learned quite a good number of things I could be doing in CANVAS. I think I will try and do blogs in my class via CANVAS. I also enjoyed using padlet.com, popplet.com and storify. Storify.com is a very good toll that I sure will be using in my language arts class. I also found that Questgarden.com and zunal.com are all great tools when comes to web quests. All in all, this has been a very productive week.

GAETI DAY 13

I am glad the way things are begining to all come together. The presentation this morning by Mr. Segalini was awesome. I love the Common Core Review we had and the way the standards were all broken down for easy understanding. I think that was a great way to "unpack the standards". Dr. Sang's afternoon session was wonderful. I was able to begin organizing all my online resources all in one easy-to-access online tool called scoopit. This is a great tool and I will be sure to follow through with the rest of my notes for easy access. Overall, this was a very productive day.

GAETI Day 12

This has been another great day full of very engaging activities. I particularly enjoyed Dr. Green's presentation. It was very engaging and full of vital information. I meant to say FREE STUFF!!!!! And the handouts and gifts from the feds were so cool. I will definitely hang on to the shredded bills as memorabilia. I enjoyed the opportunity given us to work on our master lesson plans. Also, my art project seems to be going somewhere, at least. Thanks Dr. Beriswill and Dr. Chin Chi Chao for hanging out with us on Google-hangouts. I was elated have a taste of Taiwanese music and culture. Thanks again GAETI 2014.

GAETI DAY 11

It is interesting how we sometimes complain about having no shoes until we find someone with no feet. Well, that was the feeling I had during our discussion relating to our various district policies and procedures. Anyway, what I got from the discussions is that consistency can make a huge difference in positively or negatively impacting the culture of any educational institution. The discussions were sincere and the need for change, urgent. I enjoyed the time we had to brainstorm and possibly begin planning our final presentations. I think this is a great way to get us started and to have the job done as we progress. I sure am excited about the presentations. Even more interesting is that we will get to share different perspectives and presentation styles as well as methods of integrating technology in the teaching and learning processes. I regret that we were not able to connect with Dr. Chi in Taiwan. Oh well, that is one of the downsides of technology. Thankfully, plan B kicked in and we made it. Lots of great discussion: MSTAR, Merit pay, professional organizations, teacher evaluations etc... This has been another very productive day.

GAETI DAY 10

What a great day. Can you believe that I am finally twitting? I always used to make fun of my principal who would tell us time and again "I don't tweet, Twat, twort." For sometime, I took to his words for fear of the downsides of social media and as a matter of fact, I just deleted my previous twitter account like three months ago. Oh well!!!! The reality is that change happens. In effect, the only constant is CHANGE and in this day and age, especially given the imperatives of mass mobility, globalization, and giant strides in communication and technological advances, let alone the standards of Common Core and 21st Century Skills, one cannot continue to pretend to ignore or remain passive to the benefits of social networking through the use of technology. Sorry I have been one of those but now I can proudly say the tides have changed and I am now, I am tweeting, at least. Come on! Give a brother a high five!!!. Thanks GAETI2014. I definitely learned a lot today and in my technology plan, I definitely will be integrating, among others, the following in my classes: Poll everywhere, QR codes, AURASMA, CROCODOC, and more of flipped activities. Let me boast that I do quite a bit of these already in CANVAS but you know there is always room for improvement. I really learned some great things today and I am sure to imbed these in my classroom. Thanks Ms. Lane and GAETI2014.

GAETI DAY 9

Great great day, full of exciting discussions and activities. Enough cannot be said about integrating 21st Century skills in to teaching and learning practices. This also must be consistent and equal for all students. The presentation an activities from the High Way Patrol representative was great and the activities were awesome. I really enjoyed these activities and I am sure to integrate them in my lesson planning and instruction as well as for teachable moments. My art project seems to be coming up quite well and I am so glad for that. I still am not quite sure what the outcome will look like. Anyway, I am enjoying this institute. Very glad to go home to meet my family for the weekend but I am sure to be back pumped up for next week. Thanks GAETI 2014.

GAETI DAY 8

Today's agenda was slightly different. First we had to move across campus to the MSU Extension Center for Economic Education and Financial Literacy. I must say that I gained more insight in to what an Extension service does. Besides, I was elated to know more about the rapport that this particular extension service has established with local community interest groups and school districts. This, I think, is a phenomenal thing as we all strive to empower lives for a more meaningful and sustainable development. Sometimes, the divide between community service and community development can be so thin and unclear. Personally, I gained more insight into the fact that for any community endeavor to be meaningful, it should entail a win - win situation both on the part of the service learner and the community in which service - learning projects are being implemented. This, in essence, is teaching the community how to fish instead of providing fish for them. I was glad to know that my knowledge of economics had not evaporated in thin air. I must however say that I need to do a better job when it comes to the economics of managing my resources taking into account today's me and the me I would like to be tomorrow. I almost forgot to mention that the video conference with Mr. James Wilcox from Southern Mississippi was very cool and informative. In a nutshell, I enjoyed the presentations today. My task now is to figure out in what ways I could become more involved in such service-learning projects.

GAETI DAY 7

This has been quite an interesting day. I got so excited about my art project to such a point that I over-sprayed some stuff on it and it all bled and now my artistic inabilities are clearly visible. Well, I guess I will make do with it and try to make the best out of it. Anyway, we started out with a review of yesterdays' concepts and then got to learn quite a good deal about integrating online games and simulations in instruction. I was able to learn that there is much more to Excel and PowerPoint that just numbers and presentations. We were able to create board games and the like. Besides I learned quite some tricks and techniques in Excel: Copying multiple images, highlighting multiple cells, formatting and positing multiple pictures and aligning them in a particular order. These are all awesome little tricks that could come I handy and save a lot of time and energy when one has to prepare a lesson. I still cannot figure out why trying to adjust my seat in the art room was so funny. The funniest part of it is that everyone started laughing and I could not help but join the laughter. Anyway, for those of you who thought it was so funny, I am waiting for an opportunity to laugh out my lungs as well. I probably will need some oxygen. Got some O2?

GAETI DAY 6

Another great day full of buzz words such as flipped classrooms, authentic learning, schema theory, scaffolding, and ARCS, just to name a few. I was amazed and actually elated to have had the opportunity to revisit these terms, ideologies, and theories that drive instructional practice in today's educational landscape. I particularly liked the fact that the group discussions, activities, and chapter reading from the textbook actually provided strategies that I can use immediately in my classroom and I sure will be using these as soon as I get back to my building. Literacy is at the core of every teacher/student interaction and in the context of 21st Century skill and the Common Core State Standards, it goes without saying that I will be implementing ARCS which is an acronym for Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction, in my lesson planning and delivery. Most importantly, I will definitely be using strategy number 20, Literacy rehearsal, to unlock my students' abilities to read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts as we engage in reading and writing. The art class continues to be a lot of fun though I realize how much I have to work on my creative abilities.

GAETI Day 5

What a great day it has been today! I must say this day went by so fast and I feel like my kids who at times, get so engaged in learning to the point where they all wonder why time has to pass by so fast. Well, Our discussions this morning were very interesting and engaging. I liked particularly the fact that our facilitator today made her presentations so personal by always bringing in her personal international experiences. This made me feel so elated because many a time, in my class, I do the same thing, in a bid to create some awareness in the minds of my students about the changing context of schooling in which they are operating. Needless to emphasize that the context of education today and the 21st Century classrooms are characterized by massive shifts in demographics, mass mobility, and scientific advances in a world characterized by globalization, internationalization, and most importantly, global competitiveness in every domain. This is precisely why we as educators, cannot continue to simply rely on traditional methods of instruction given that we are preparing students today for jobs that are not even in existence yet. I loved using "pollEveryhere.com, wordle.com, and weebly.com" Can you believe it? I have got a website of my own. Now I know this has been a lot of useful information and I definitely see myself using these in my instruction. So I have got to get to work, practice more and most importantly get ready for tomorrow. Thanks again GAETI 2014. Tomorrow is another day.

GAETI DAY 4

This has been a very productive day for me. I must say that despite the hot sun, finding a few items at the fossil fields was very interesting. All the landforms, memorabilia, and activities that followed these activities were all awesome. The civil rights discussions were equally very engaging and I particularly liked the various perspectives from seminar participants. The crown it all, I must say the "Found Poem" activity summed it all. I was so fascinated, engaged, and happy for being part of this training. I definitely see myself using this activity in my language classes. Once again, this has been a wonderful week, full of exciting, fun, inspiring, and definitely enriching educational activities. Thanks GAETI 2014. I look forward to next week.

GAETI Day 3

This has been one of my favorite days full of learning and full of fun. It all started with a geocache activity. This was a new thing to me and I was very happy to have been exposed to this concept. I definitely will incorporate this into my instruction. Moving around campus and searching for those caches was very facinating. Thank you Dr Kathy for putting this together and most especially for enabling us visit the GIS systems at MSU. I really loved the virtual activities in Google Earth. I definitely see myself using these personally and also incorporating these in the instructional process. I can already see my kids beaming with excitement. Once again, Thanks to the sponsors, organisers,and facilitators of the GAETI innitiative.I can't wait for tomorrow.

GAETI day 2

Ok. Here we are on day two of GAETI 2014. I must begin by thanking my colleague for giving me a pillow yesterday which permitted me to have a great sound sleep. Thanks dear colleague. Great start of the day with a fabulous presentation on the 5 characteristics of geography. I really learned a lot and the imaginary nation project, really put my creativity to test. After listening to my friend voluntarily present his imaginary nation project, I came to the realization that I must work on being a little bit more creative. Oh well! That is a work in progress. I am not totally disappointed but I am happy that I still have enough room for improvement. The presentation on Common Core was fantastic. I was so elated because I definitely identified and related to all the information and knowledge shared with us by the representative from the state department. It was fascinating to find that the results of my research findings, conclusions, and recommendations were actually being addressed in a bid to improve student performance in relation to Common Core and 21st Century Skills. Once again, great presentation and Thanks to GAETI 2014. Thanks to all the dedicated teachers in the state of Mississippi who strive daily to make a difference in the lives of the students. I struggled a little bit with getting going with Duolingo but I guess with is simply because it has been a long day. No excuses though. I promise to play with as soon as I get back to my hotel room. I look forward to tomorrow.

GAETI Day 1

Ok. Getting to Mississippi State was easy but finding Herbert Building was tough. Well, I was able to find it at last after driving past the turn like three times. My first night was great despite the fact that i had no pillow on my bed. Well. Day one was great. From the orientation, introductions, campus tour, lunch, Magnolia training, and now blogging. It has been a great day and I look forward to learning more. Thanks GAETI 2014.