iSummit 2014 Conference Attendees Embrace Literacy and Technology Integration
Susan McMillian and I were tempted to act as barkers for our iSummit 2014 session. Two vivacious animated personalities such as ours, we were committed to having fun even if we only had one particpant. As it turned out, we had about seven participants who ventured into the unknown for an hour of “Odyssey City Comes Alive with Technology”. While the title gives a nod to Odyssey Atlanta, the non-profit organization for whom Susan and I have worked the last eight or nine years, it probably didn’t convey what was in store for all of us – presenters and particpants. Using George Ella Lyons’ poem “Where I’m From” and student-writings as models, our participants performed a close read of the text and fully engaged in the process of writing their own poems, emulating Lyons’ style. Hopefully, in addition to leaving with the wonderful poems they created, they also left with some constructive and concrete ideas on how to use technology (in this case Keynote and Garage Band for iPad) to support literacy across the curriculum and community-building in the classroom.
Susan and I invited our participants to post their poems here, and I have also included the link for the conference evaluation form below. Let’s hope they post them here, and that you enjoy sharing them as much as we did.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1LRbwsF598i8iTiNa7ZtGHf-UnZ_Lcmy4B19fD1IWEdI/viewform
Photo from our iSummit 2014 session.
Where I’m From
I’m from working all day.
From IPhones, laptops, and T.V.’S
I’m from summer camps
From texting and talking
From Instagram and kik
From Nike’s and Jordan’s
From loving to sing
I’m from doing my own laundry& washing dishes
From being with my friends 24/7
I’m from making good choices and some bad ones too
From laughs and cries
From shut up & sit down
I’m from spending lots of time in my grandma’s garden
To watching T.V. at home
From learning how to cook pancakes
(Ummmm so good)
I’m from vine and ITUBE
From Windows computers
From Love and Care
From the nae nae and the #yeet
I’m from my family that I love
One great big family
One I love so dearly that I care for and they care for me.
– Taylor, Age 11