VSTE

Virginia Society for Technology in Education

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Board Welcomes Five Members Following Recent Election

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Five members were elected by the VSTE membership for the 2019 - 2022 term. Three of those elected are incumbents and will begin their second terms. Two of those elected are new members and can serve up to two terms.

The Board of Directors provides leadership and oversight for the work of VSTE. Elections are held each spring and any VSTE member is eligible to for nomination.

We are pleased to welcome the following leaders to the VSTE Board of Directors:

Heather B. Askea

Heather Askea, candidate for VSTE Board 2019Instructional Technology Coordinator
The University of Virginia's College at Wise Center for Teaching Excellence

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Janet Copenhaver

Janet Copenhaver, candidate for VSTE Board 2019Retired Educator
Henry County Public Schools

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Diane Harazin

Supervisor of Instructional Technology
Prince William Public Schools

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Patrick Hausammann

Patrick Hausammann, candidate for VSTE Board 2019Instructional Technology Resource Teacher
Clarke County Public Schools

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Timothy F. Taylor

Tim Taylor, candidate for VSTE Board 2019Instructional Technology Supervisor
Shenandoah County Public Schools

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Resources You Can Use From Common Sense Education

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VSTE is pleased to partner with Common Sense Education to connect our members and friends with high quality resources. Here are a few featured items for May 2019:

Digital Resources for School Makerspaces

There's no doubt that making something from scratch is a core component of learning, requiring confidence, imagination, and ingenuity while building conceptual understanding. Maker and DIY-focused apps and websites can be a huge help, providing students with scaffolding and schematics for their next project or serving as tools to use for design and creation.

Amplify Your ELLs' Voices With Digital Storytelling

Here you'll find practical tips on using digital-creation and storytelling activities to empower authentic communication, both in the classroom and beyond. What's more, these types of activities can be just as engaging and productive for any student, regardless of their literacy level or language-learner status.

4 Free Tools to Teach About Climate Change

Demystify the data on climate change and create authentic learning experiences for your students.

Want to check our more? Click here to visit the website.

Keith Reeves to Keynote LearnerPalooza 2019

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Join us for the 6th annual gathering on June 10, 2019, at Lord Fairfax Community College in Middletown, Virginia. Rod Carnill, VSTE Board Vice Chair, is the lead planner for this annual event.

A palooza is defined as an exaggerated event, and LearnerPalooza 2019 is exactly that and maybe a little more although I could be exaggerating. Honestly, though, in the past six year, LearnerPalooza has become a VSTE co-sponsored edtech event of educators, by educators and for educators.

When we first started out, we wanted to provide a local and low key environment for educators from across the region to come together and share best practices, formative experiences, edtech tools and applications, and have some fun doing so. This year proves to perhaps be one of the best ever. I know I said that last year but this time I am not exaggerating when I tell you that edtech leaders will be at the forefront of the offerings this year.

Our keynote speaker, Keith David Reeves, is the VSTE Board chair. He is also the author of Insurrection: A Teacher Revolution in Defense of Children, a work on educational philosophy and pedagogy, and of Paperless Research Writing: Effective Digital Scaffolding for Academic Writing. He currently serves as Senior Instructional Technology Coordinator at Discovery Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia, the largest Zero Energy elementary school ever constructed in the United States. He is a Certified Educational Technology Leader (CETL).

Jean Weller, a Teaching and Learning Technology Integration Specialist with the Virginia Department of Education, will provide updates from Richmond on current VDOE initiatives, especially #GoOpen. We will have an opportunity to explore the Virginia OER Commons website.

Karen Richardson, VSTE Executive Director and ISTE Certified Educator as well as Patrick Hausammann, VSTE Technology Coach of the Year and Google Certified Innovator will share their knowledge and expertise. Many other local teachers, ITRTs and technology coaches and Google Certified Trainers will provide experiences and insights on topics like classroom productivity, enhanced instruction, student content creation and, of course, with the usual throwbacks to the event's ‘GooglePalooza’ roots, the latest and greatest GSuite apps and extensions. This is ALL to help you place ‘Students First’ and engage in ‘Learning Forever’.

I hope to see you there! Remember to bring your own device and invite a friend to join you because we are always better together.

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VSTE Sponsoring NoVa Maker Educator Meetup

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VSTE is proud to sponsor the 3rd NoVa Maker Educator Meetup held as part of Maker Faire NoVa. Join makers and educators from the state and region for a day of sharing and learning on June 2, 2019, at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.

The meetup will last from 10 AM - 1 PM. The Maker Faire itself runs from 11 AM - 5 PM.

Sylvia Martinez, author of Invent to Learn, and George Meadows, professor of education from Mary Washington University, will keynote the meetup. In addition, lightning sessions, breakouts and workshops will provide an interactive element.

Interested in participating in the meetup? Use the form here to register and suggest topics. Meetup attendees must attend the Maker Faire but are eligible for a 50% discount on Maker Faire tickets.