VSTE

Virginia Society for Technology in Education

Online Events

G2 Super Hero Study Group and Summit Update

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The G2 Super Hero Summit includes online support for about a month prior to the face to face workshop.  It will include tips, support and live hangouts. The face to face meeting will be held March 3, 2018, at three locations in the state.

VSTE is pleased to partner with Virginia's Google Educator Groups to present the premier G2 Super Hero Summits! These certification workshops are designed for those who have earned Google Level 1 Educator certifications and wish to expand their learning by taking the Level 2 exam.

Through the combination of online mentoring and face to face coaching, certified trainers will support your learning through an online study group, video tutorials, live tutoring as needed and a face to face bootcamp style review the morning before you take the exam.

The face to face summits will be held at three locations throughout the state on March 3rd:

Frederick County: Lord Fairfax Community College, Middletown Campus, Middletown, VA
Loudoun County: Mercer Middle School, Aldie, VA
Spotsylvania County: Riverbend High School, Fredericksburg, VA

Registration is $50 and includes the online mentoring and face to face summit. Breakfast and lunch will be provided at the summits. You may attend the summit without taking the exam in the afternoon.

Registration is open now.

 

Save the Month: #vstereads for Connected Educator Month

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Diane Harazin and Lynmara Colon from Prince William County Public Schools are leading our October book study. We'll be reading Learning Transformed: 8 Keys to Designing Tomorrow's Schools, Today by Eric C. Sheninger and Thomas C. Murray.

You can review the first webinar archive here. (The link will open in a new tab.)

We'll be using flipgrid to share thoughts about the book. (The link will open in a new tab.)

Reading Schedule:

  • Week 1/October 2nd- Chapters 1 &2
  • Week 2/October 9th- Chapters 3&4
  • Week 3/October 16th- Chapters 5&6
  • Week 4/October 23rd- Chapters 7&8

Activity Schedule:

  • October 4- #NovaEd Chat
  • October 5- Live Webinar
  • October 11 & 18- Flipgrip Interactions
  • October 25- Live Webinar
  • October 30- Write a Blog Post or Reflection
  • January 30- Post with Application

Participants in the Fall 2017 book study are able to earn 10 recertification points by participating in the synchronous and asynchronous events including:

  1. At least one of two live webinars (October 5, 7:30 PM & October 25, 7:30 PM) Webinars will be held in VSTE's Adobe Connect room: http://vste.adobeconnect.com/vstereads Choose guest login and enter your name the way you wish it to appear in the attendee list.
  2. #novaedchat Twitter Chat (October 4, 8:00 - 9:00 PM) You'll need a free Twitter account. Be sure to use the hashtag #novaedchat AND #vstereads. Here's a short tutorial about participating in Tweet Chats.
  3. Post to at least three of four flipgrid topics related to the book study. (Topics will be posted each week throughout the month of October, usually on Wednesdays.) The Flipgrid link is coming soon!

If you are interested, please complete the registration form.

 

VSTE Minecraft Survival Summer 2017

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New to Minecraft? Interested in learning more about this game that seems to have captured your students' attention? This summer, the Virtual Environments PLN will be exploring Minecraft survival mode.

The first live meeting will take place, Friday, May 26, at 6:45 EDT. The team will build a safe house.

Three students from eastcoastminers.org will come build recipe frames to show novices how to build the basics.

We will be playing in survival all summer: Memorial Day to Labor Day and helping those with little or no Minecraft experience. The idea is that teachers will learn why their students love this game, while talking with other teachers about how it can be leveraged as an instructional tool in the classroom.
If you have been wanting to learn about Minecraft but didn't know how to begin, this is your chance! You need to get a Minecraft account from https://mojang.com/. Then send your Minecraft login name to K4sons@gmail.com and ask to be whitelisted.

Visit our website at https://sites.google.com/view/vstesofs17 to learn more.

GETTING STARTED WITH MINECRAFT:

You must have a computer Minecraft account from https://minecraft.net/en/ to join. There is a one time fee of $26.95. Download and install the software. Choose multiplayer and add a server: Name VSTE Place IP 69.175.17.26:25565 We will open it up for this event. If you want to be whitelisted to enter anytime you want to continue building this, or anything else, email Kim Harrison at kvharris@vbschools.com from an educational email address with your real name and minecraft name.

VE PLN: Summer of Survival

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This summer, Memorial Day through Labor Day, VSTE Place in Minecraft will hold its first Summer of Survival! Participants will be able to warp to survival mode for a completely different Minecraft experience. We will discover why our students beg for survival mode at school. It's challenging, but fun, and we will need each other to survive!

You may be able to earn points from your district with your VSTE certificate of participation. There will be a list of achievements to accomplish over the course of the summer. You can complete them in a few weeks or take the entire summer. The idea is to have fun while networking with other educators inside Minecraft.

Participants will need a Mojang account, a copy of Minecraft installed on their computer, and access to VSTE Place, the VSTE Minecraft server. Contact K4sons@gmail.com to get your Mojang Minecraft account whitelisted on our server.

Keep up with all the events at the summer website and the Google Plus community.

Spring 2017 CETL Study Groups Scheduled

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The VSTE CoSN Council has scheduled two sets of CETL® study groups in Northern Virginia. It will be led by Dr. Barbara Gruber from Loudoun County, a CETL certified educator.

Northern Virginia:
This study group will be held at the Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center, 14390 Air and Space Museum Parkway, Chantilly, VA 20151 and led by Barbara Gruber.

April 29, 2017, 10 AM - 1 PM
May 13, 2017, 10 AM - 1 PM
June 10, 2017, 10 AM - 1 PM
July 15, 2017, 10 AM  - 1 PM

Central Virginia:
Update: We have had to cancel this face to face study group. We are working to find an alternative, possibly online.

April 22, 2017, 10 AM - 1 PM
May 20, 2017, 10 AM - 1 PM
June 17, 2017, 10 AM - 1 PM
July 8, 2017, 10 AM - 1 PM

If you wish to attend the Northern Virginia study group, you must register by April 14, 2017.

Register now. 

The exam will be administered on Friday, July 28, from 8 AM to 12 PM, in Colonial Heights, Virginia.