Author: amv19ud

What Is Prezi?

Prezi is an online Adobe Flash-based presentation program. It differs from traditional presentation programs, like Microsoft PowerPoint and Apple Keynote, in that it is not based on slides. Instead, Prezi presentations exist on a canvas which is navigated by zooming in and out of different points on the canvas. Prezi allows the creation of linear and nonlinear presentations by changing the sizes and positions of objects. While Prezi is a visual medium that can display text, but not the most conducive for displaying lengthy text. With these limitations in mind, instructors and students can be better able to garner student engagement by using Prezi. 

Using Prezi designers can visually illustrate the relationship between concepts in the presentation, aiding student understanding of the presentation. Prezi also offers the ability for students to collaborate in class when using the program online, as up to eight people can edit the Prezi at the same time. For those teachers with larger classes, this could be accomplished by dividing students into groups, allowing for the synthesis of students’ knowledge. Since Prezi is available through a free online format, students and teachers can use Prezi during and after class through an online link. 

Because Prezi is still being developed, and is free, occasionally designers may encounter glitches. However, they are few and far between. Be mindful of its capabilities and its limitations before implementing Prezi into courses.

For more information or to view tutorials, Please visit www.prezi.com. 

TSTA District Conference Rundown

On 9 November Sul Ross State University’s local chapter of TSTA-AE hosted a district conference, with future educators attended from El Paso Community College, UTEP, and our Sul Ross State University TSTA-AE students. The conference was a success as it was “a really big turnout for Sul Ross, many students attended [from Sul Ross] and outside of Sul Ross.” Conference  keynote speaker, Pat Dasch, was one of the Apollo mission astronauts, working side by side taking pictures of the Apollo missions work . Dash, who has a degree in American Studies from the University of East Anglia, U.K., later worked in the space program at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas and NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC., while also championing public advocacy of space exploration as editor-in-chief of Ad Astra magazine. Since retiring to Alpine Dash has served as the founding administrator for the Rio Grande Research Center at SRSU, and more recently has enjoyed providing editorial assistance to CBBS.

 After talking to Dash, students split up into two groups to attend break-out session focusing on: time management, classroom management, family involvement and team building. The time management seminar was presented by Alpine High School Principal Justin Gonzales and Alpine Middle School Teacher Macy Downey. Meanwhile, Classroom Management presented by representatives of the Region 18 Service Centre. After a lunch break, the next two break-out sessions were held. Family involvement was presented by Selena Garcia (Sul Ross Teacher Education alumnus), a second-grade teacher in Andrews ISD. The other  seminar was Team Building, presented  by Megan Miller who was previously district president for TSTA-AE. A student there described it as a “very informative event for teachers now and aspiring students. Also, the conference was very informative for future teachers giving them approaches on how to teach and what they will be doing. It even gave students a bigger idea of what it’s like to be a teacher.” 

Attendees of the TSTA District Conference participating in the professional development seminars.

All About iMovie

iMovie for iOS is the mobile version of Apple’s first-party video editing software. Though it originally debuted all the way back in 1999, this video editing program didn’t make it to mobile devices until June 24, 2010, when it was released for the launch of the iPhone 4.

Need a quick and fun way to make a video for class? Use iMovie! iMovie is an incredibly user-friendly app for students and educators to use in and out of the classroom. This app is a very useful resource when interacting with students, especially with younger generations, as it is fun and easy to play with. iMovie is very handy for teachers and future teachers because they can record demonstrations and lessons for a classroom, or when they’re out for the day.

iMovie is easy and very convenient when you plan on sharing and uploading your video on any compatible device. This application is compatible with devices that have access to iCloud and any apple device, allowing you to easily transfer projects between your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch using Airdrop or iCloud Drive on iPhone 5, iPad (4th generation), iPad Air, iPad mini, iPod touch (5th generation), and later devices. Once you’re ready to debut your project, you can share it to iMovie and watch the project on all your devices that have iCloud, including Apple TV.

Here is a really good website on how to edit and make videos on iMovie: How to use iMovie for Mac, tips and more

Below is quick reliable YouTube video on how to use iMovie

TSTA-AE District VI Conference

Beginning at 9:15 am tomorrow, Saturday 9 November, Sul Ross State University and the local chapter of the Texas State Teachers Association for Aspiring Educators (TSTA) will be hosting its very own Educators Conference for anyone on the campus who would like to attend.

Advocates for the future of education, the mission of TSTA-AE is: “The Texas State Teachers Association will unite, organize and empower public education advocates to shape public education in Texas thus providing a quality public school for every child.” As a professional educators organization, TSTA-AE takes part in lobbying Congress on bills concerning education issues. However, TSTA-AE is not an organization just restricted to teachers, as each of their individual chapters offer professional training & development that can help in any job profession.

TSTA-AE prides itself on its involvement in the community, and membership is not restricted to educators and education students. The conference will be held on 9 November 2019 9:15 am – 4:00 pm. We look forward to seeing you there!

For more information; https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdk_WDPWQTAhJ0pCOFNsGGkZMPyOntiExf3J3pyClFYAKICbA/viewform

Students Learning How To Use Anchor Keys

Future Teachers Create Anchor Charts

SRSU Director of Teaching and Learning Diana Rodriguez has her students creating posters, or anchor charts. Anchor charts are perfect for helping the younger generation learn in a creative environment. They support instruction, provide classroom management for students to self-monitor, and remind them of routines. Professor Rodriguez is using these posters in her classroom to prepare future teachers to use this tool in the classroom. These anchor charts will help remind teachers in the making how they can help guide their student’s cognitive social behavior.

What is Share Point?

SharePoint is an app that allows students to collaborate and share documents with one another, within Microsoft Office 365. SharePoint allows students to work together by sharing a simple link. With this link, users can grant people access to view or edit documents.  Microsoft SharePoint lets people view what users are working on and allows them to work collaboratively in real time.  Many people actually enjoy using SharePoint because it helps keep everyone on the same page since everyone has the same version of the documents, reducing confusion and improving productivity.  SharePoint also makes data sharing easy thus improving communication, making it very useful/handy for students, especially for presenting or working together as a class. While using SharePoint you can limit what people have access to. You can see everything, but they can only see what you allow them access to. Overall, SharePoint is a resourceful app that teachers and students should use to improve collaboration, communication, and creation of files.

For more information or help using SharePoint click the link below: