TCEA Conference Report

     The annual TCEA Conference brings thousands to downtown Austin to learn about the latest in tech integration and innovative teaching methods. The past few years, Manor ISD has encouraged the innovative use of technology bys sending teachers, librarians, and central office staff to the event. Each year, staff return with a renewed vision of innovation and the latest tools to promote student engagement. 

     This year, Manor ISD had over 30 staff attend the TCEA conference, with several staff presenting on practices from Manor ISD. Presenters included Dr. Royce Avery, Cherie Baker, Chris Hanson, Wendy Boatright, Angela Matthews, Brook Park, and Jacob Luevano. Hundreds of conference goers learned about innovative practices happening right now in Manor ISD including online reading interventions, virtual classrooms, and student broadcasting. 

    We asked our own Manor High School superstar, Kathy Blankenship, to share some of what she learned at TCEA. Here are her take-aways:

• Use Adobe Spark, (iPad or web-based), to create memes, presentations, multimedia stories, portfolios, etc. It’s free and awesome! Create an adobe ID and get started! www.spark.adobe.com
• Need placeholders for your presentations? Try http://www.lipsum.com/ to generate dummy text. Want to have more fun with it? Try http://www.cajunipsum.com/ or http://pirateipsum.me/
• Need to make a video more interactive for your students? Upload videos and embed questions with https://www.playposit.com/ or https://edpuzzle.com/
• Looking for digital storytelling options? Check out https://www.booktrackclassroom.com/content/intro. If you want to create stories while teaching kids to code, head to https://www.tynker.com/.
• Want more options for creating presentations? https://www.canva.com/  or https://www.genial.ly/
• All Kahoot!ed out? Try https://www.quizalize.com/ or https://quizizz.com/ for more TEKS specific questions and detailed student data.
• If you don’t know about Newsela, you need to check it out. Leveled articles based on current events or themes are available for your use. https://newsela.com/
• Google has a Resume Builder! https://vetsresumebuilder.appspot.com/#null Get those seniors busy. No excuses.

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     The experience of networking with peers from across the nation and learning new, innovative practices is a vital part of the success of the Manor ISD community. Education is not an endgame, it is an ongoing pursuit for all individuals. We at iTeach applaud the innovative and forward-thinking administration of Manor ISD for making these types of investments in their staff, students, and community. 

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