PhotoStory and the Faculty Retreat

Yesterday and today I have been immersed in PhotoStory. This application, preloaded on the student laptops at SILSA, seems like a good introduction to digital publishing for our students. I have finished two stories, one about the NSP Conference in Winston and one about NECC 2008.

The NECC 2008 story is much longer, and I worked on it almost continuously from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm today. I would have finished much sooner, but I lost more than an hour's productivity by being slack about saving my work. Now I know that PhotoStory doesn't autosave.

I will use both stories during the staff development April and I are preparing for the SILSA Faculty Retreat. We are charged with sharing what we learned at NECC 2008 with the other staff members for a full day on Tuesday, August 12. Greg asked that we do as many hands-on activities as possible.

I am considering creating a folder of SILSA photos for each staff member and having each of them create a PhotoStory. We might be able to use those stories later at potlucks or recruitment events.

I will also present information from the Primary Sources workshop I attended at NECC. I want to make sure others know about the resources available at the Library of Congress website.

Finally, I want to discuss teaching students how to use InspireData to keep track of their progress in their classes a la Robert Marzano. I think Greg is going to order each of us a copy of Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works for professional development this year. Without reading the book, I have only a vague idea about how this might work.

We are leaving on Saturday for a final beach camping trip before school starts. We won't return until August 10, so I am trying to do as much as possible right now. I say, "Good luck!"