SMART Exemplary Educator 2014 Global Summit Day #4 It Takes a Teacher to Grow Global Understanding

Today's Theme It Takes a Teacher to Grow Global Understanding

It is hard to believe that today is Wednesday...this week has been flying by.  I'm learning a lot, sharing, and building relationships with the other 77 SEEs who are here at the Summit.

Yesterday we spent the majority of our time learning about and working with SMART Amp.  You can learn more about SMART Amp by watching this video.  Senior Product Manager Erica Arnoldin visited us today to talk about our experience with SMART Amp.  She wanted to know what we needed the software to do in order for us to be able to use it successfully in the classroom.  As we shared our ideas, Erica's team sat in the back of the room writing down our ideas.  Erica then shared with us some additions and features that would soon be rolled out.  Sorry I can't share those with you, but SMART is committed to Amp and making sure that it is going to allow students to collaborate in the work space on any device.

The next session of the day was called Stump the SMART Software Developer.  What has always impressed me about SMART is there willingness to hear what teachers want to see in the software that they develop.  They are truly interested in what we do with the software, why we do it, and what we need it to do.   Today I knew they were serious when they sent 9 members of the development team to answer our software questions and to learn about how we really use the software in the classroom.

Giselle Goncalves, SMART Manager, Program Management joined the Summit to share the educational resources that SEEs are using in the classroom.  During this session, first grade teacher and SEE Christie Carnahan shared how she uses Google Docs and YouTube in her first grade classroom.  I was so happy to learn from Christie how to use www.ViewPure.com to eliminate all of the advertisements and other videos from around YouTube videos.  If you use YouTube in your classroom, this is a great resource that you will want to try out.  Then SEE Joey Savoy shared Discovery Education and the variety of resources that are available from Discovery Education.  I was so happy to hear from DEN STAR and SEE Rafranz Davis that districts will be able to link their Google Drive log in with Discovery Education log in, creating a single sign in.  This will be great news for my primary students.

After lunch SEEs Boris Berlijn, Kate Seward, Bob Young, and Giovanna Bicego, Chris Collins, and Maria Grazia shared about their global collaborations.  I was really inspired by Bob Young and Giovanna Bicego's presentation.  I've always thought about doing a global collaboration, but wasn't sure that it was right for the primary grades.  Bob and Giovanna showed me how it could be done.  Boris provided us with the nuts and bolts of setting up and doing a Global Collaboration and then provided us time to find collaboration partners and begin to plan a collaboration project.  I am so excited to be working with one of my first grade computer classes and SEE Magdalena Zeinhofer from Austria.  Next year Magdalena will be teaching 4th grade and my students will help her study the English language, while my students get to see what life in Austria is like.

Our students need to be prepared for a global economy and I can't wait to tear down the four walls of my computer lab and let my students explore another country.  I am so thankful that SMART dedicated the entire afternoon today to global collaboration!  I've already emailed a first grade teacher in my school and she has already agreed to work with me on this collaboration.