Like many educators, you, the campus technology specialist, probably find that more is expected of you each year. That’s one of the compelling reasons why teachers move out of the classroom to positions that support other teachers….only to find out that the grass may not be much greener on the other side. And if you hold a position on a campus or in a district where you coach teachers as they integrate technology, assist with basic troubleshooting, AND take on “other duties as assigned,” you may feel like you need to be recharged and refreshed before you burn out. That’s exactly what the Campus Technology Specialist Academy is designed to do: recharge and refresh you with new ideas, relevant solutions, and activities you can take back to your campuses.
Join us at the TCEA headquarters in Austin, Texas on November 16-17 for great learning and sharing that will inspire you and provide that needed support you’ve been looking for. You’ll have the opportunity to attend great concurrent sessions led by educators who are or have been in your shoes. Each hour, you’ll be able to connect with others like yourself who have a passion for helping teachers better integrate technology so that students can be engaged by outstanding lessons.
Registration is only $239 per person (which includes meals for both days and 12 hours of professional development credit). You can check out the specific content sessions in this year’s lineup by going here. There’s also an unconference time frame to ensure that your specific questions are addressed. The schedule for this academy includes:
DAY 1
7:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. – Check-in
8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. – Welcome, Unconference Topic Selection, and Announcements
8:30 a.m. -10:00 a.m. – Concurrent Sessions
10:10 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. – Concurrent Sessions
11:10 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. – Concurrent Sessions
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Lunch (provided)
1:00 p.m. – 1:50 p.m. – Unconference Sessions
2:00 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. – Unconference Sessions
3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. – Closing Activity and Door Prizes for Day 1
DAY 1
8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. – Concurrent Sessions
10:10 a.m. – 10:40 a.m. – Birds of a Feather Sessions
10:50 a.m. – 11:40 a.m. – Concurrent Sessions
11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. – Lunch (provided)
12:45 p.m. – 1:35 p.m. – Concurrent Sessions
1:45 p.m. – 2:35 p.m. – Concurrent Sessions
2:40 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. – Next Steps, Survey, and Door Prizes for Day 2
Don’t let this year go by without making time to recharge and refresh…and why not do so with about 200 others for an enjoyable time that will help you make it through this year and then some! Register today and ensure that you can continue to provide the best support to your students and teachers.
Join us on October 26 and 27 at the TCEA Headquarters in Austin for sessions on hot topics such BYOD management, end-user technical support, security, Chromebooks, emerging technologies, network/wireless management, and more. Check out the 
If you like listening to audiobooks, you’ll enjoy using OverDrive. If your district doesn’t subscribe to it, check and see if your local public library does. If so, you can check out audiobooks from them, as well as through their network of other contributing libraries!
While grandparents love this app for making collages of their grandkids, students of all ages will find this app easy to use when they have an assignment where they can create collages, annotate over photos, etc.
Though many of us remember copying down notes in class to study for tests, current students seem to prefer to take photos of the board to capture their notes. This app is so handy for that. Point and aim it at the board, projector, paper, etc.. Once it detects the area, you just snap the photo; it will crop it so only the board is in the photo and deskew the image so it looks like you had prime seating in front of the board when you took the picture. Save as an image on your device or as a PDF or Office format if you have an Office 365 account.
Sometimes you want your students to record a video to capture their learning. But many devices have a default video recording app that is bare bones. You’ll find Adobe Express to be an easy go-to tool that will help students make great videos without getting bogged down in the technical aspects of videography. Though it is only for iOS currently, it is worth the wait for other operating systems.
Pushbullet is great if your students find that they need to “push” files or photos from their phone or tablet to their laptop/computer (and vice versa). Pushbullet makes it easy without having to move your file/photo to Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, or DropBox first. And, since it is in the cloud, you can access your account from any device to retrieve previously pushed files. This is great if you have students taking photos or videos on their phones, but then need to add them to documents that they are editing on a computer.
If you want an easy app that allows all of your students to share, then this has to be the best app for that. It’s perfect for having students summarize their content or reflect on their learning. If they are using a phone or tablet, they’ll need to download the app; otherwise, they can use the webcam on their laptop to participate. Though I don’t recommend the paid version of many apps (I remember what it was like when my teacher budget was whatever I had in my pocket), this is definitely one app that is worth the price; consider getting others to join with you and you all can enjoy a discounted price. Even without the additional features in the paid version, this is a super app!
This has to be the easiest Twitter wall to set up. You have multiple themes available, can upload your logo, and identify one Twitter keyword, username, or Instagram keyword on the free version. There are four layouts (text, text and images, images, and instructions) which you can use in any combination or use all four (my preference) set on timers.
Though not quite as extensive as The Wallrus, Activity Walls does do a nice job of showing the most recent tweets. Just identify your hashtag, set the colors (which can be a little quirky, depending on what browser you are using), and your wall is instantly created. Using Chrome, I can quickly jump to full screen for a nice projected view; using Internet Explorer, I can customize the accent, background, and text colors.
Tweet Monsters is simple and focused. The free account is for personal use; you’ll need to contact them for pricing on corporate and other uses. Begin by identifying your hashtag. Customize text and background colors as well as the font, transition type, and transition speed. If needed, you can use the custom word filter to identify words to be filtered out and to either not show the tweet or substitute the bad word with an *. The downside of Tweet Monsters is that you only see one tweet at a time.
This Twitter wall has the most options available without a cost. You can add lists, searches, tweets by geolocation, exclude specific hashtags or words, and color code your timeline, mentions, and direct messages if needed. You do have a variety of setting to change regarding the speed, fall size, language, font size, and whether or not to show retweets. When finished tweaking your wall, you will want to click on the Presentation Mode link for easier viewing for your attendees. Though not the most professional looking wall, it does give the most flexibility. And, when I’m in a Twitter chat, I use this wall to follow the exchange and participate.
Now that you have a few Twitter walls to choose from and some tips to get you started, we’d love to see what you do with them. Share the link to your Twitter wall in the comments below.
Begin by setting up a brief meeting to introduce yourself. For this meeting, I recommend creating a brief, bulleted list of services and supports you have to offer, along with various ways to contact you and/or your office. Though the administrator should be able to get all of that information from your department website, it is nice to have a hard copy of that information that can be filed away for easy access (the old-school way). Put your information in a 
To go the extra, extra mile, give a copy of the labeled folder and document to their secretary. Recognizing the value of their role in getting things done on the campus can go a long way. While many administrators have good intentions to remember all the details, they typically know they can rely on their secretaries to keep things organized so that that information can be easily accessed when needed.
It’s actually pretty simple. Schedule something after work hours that requires you to leave at your scheduled time. It’s funny that anytime my kids have an activity that I have to be at after work or I have an appointment with someone right after the end of the day, I manage to be more productive. Knowing that I cannot stay late or have “extra time” to get things done forces me to push through distractions and be more focused on the tasks I have in front of me. Even if you don’t have a legitimate appointment to put on your calendar, still “schedule” something so that when you look at it, you are reinforcing the expectation that you cannot stay late. This could be something as simple as watching Wheel of Fortune that comes on an hour after the time you should be leaving work. You could also schedule time to get caught up on some enjoyable reading, a date night with your spouse, or taking a walk around the neighborhood to get some exercise in.
If you find you need a little bit more structure so that you can end your day without staying late, consider using the 
What would you add to the list? Has your school or department created a parody of a song to showcase the work that you do? If so, share it in the comments below and let others enjoy your production. In the meantime, if you hear singing while you are waiting for the elevator, it might just be me.
Most free books are in the public domain, but that doesn’t mean that they are not relevant for our students. But that’s not the only place to find free books. Some parents and students may benefit from signing up for a free month with a particular service even if they don’t plan to extend their usage beyond the complimentary time.
Many text-to-speech readers are available that can assist with ebooks. Your device and platform may determine which works best for you.
Hot off the press, these updated lists can give you and your students some direction of what author to check out, the next series to explore, and possibly a new genre to try out.
Making a book more enjoyable can easily be done by including some after-reading activities. Here are few to get you started. These are great to share with parents as well!