ALEX: Yours, Mine, and Ours! MEGA Conference July 14-18, 2008

MEGA Conference 2008 Shannon Parks, ALEX Director Brooke Elliott, ALEX/GEMS Projects Team Technology Specialist Aimee Smith, Cullman City Schools Laptop Training Coach Presentation Team Members

Getting to Know You…

Teachers…Do we have time?

Beach Ball Blast… What types of things would you want organized while using the computer to search for instructional activities in your classroom? Internet Searches (website) Lesson Plans Alabama Standards (Course of Study and Tests) Resources Teacher Web Pages State Department Section Websites

It’s a Good Thing!

Why ALEX? IN ONE PLACE: Created by experts Created by experts Aligned to Alabama Standards Aligned to Alabama Standards High quality High quality Grade level appropriate Grade level appropriate Commercial free at no cost Commercial free at no cost Available anywhere, anytime Available anywhere, anytime

ALEX Free Features Winner of 2007 “Best of the Web” Personal Workspace Webpage for Every Teacher New “Search” Features Over 38,000 Lesson Plans, Activities Aligned to Digitized, Searchable Courses of Study New Listservs, Web Links, more… New, Free ALEX/Thinkfinity Training Program for Each District Lesson Plan/Activity Sources Thinkfinity Thinkfinity Alabama Teachers Alabama Teachers

More ALEX… Social Networking..Blogs, Wikis Levels of Mastery --notes--Flagged Courses of Study indicating when standards are introduced, reinforced, and mastered, etc. More Interactives all aligned to Alabama Courses of Study for: Hard to Teach/Learn Standards, & Typical Achievement Gap Areas Specially Designed Website for: ELL, Special Education, Leadership Development, Schools/Districts in School Improvement, Career Technical, Alabama Reading Initiative, Library Media

ENGAGING THE 21ST CENTURY LEARNER READING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM – SOCIAL STUDIES ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS READING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM – SCIENCE ILLuminations - MATH EXPOSITORY TEXT READING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM – HISTORICAL FIGURES READINGMath Art- ArtsEdge READING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM – ECONOMICS

ENGAGING THE 21 ST CENTURY LEARNER CONTINUED…. GeographyENGLISH/LITERACYARMT - MATH READING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM – SCIENCE READING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM – HISTORY CAREER TECH ARMT - MATHCURRENT EVENTS – ELECTIONS EXPOSITORY TEXT

ALEX Features

Now You Try… Elementary Teacher (Rosa Parks - SS) Middle School Teacher (Volume - Math) Middle School Teacher (Mitosis - Science) High School Teacher (Expository - Language Arts)

ALEX Personal Workspace

Customize Your Workspace

Creating a Lesson Plan

Web Links

Search Engine

KWL Model

Adding Bookmarks… Save searches by bookmarking to your Personal Workspace.

Course of Study

Aligned Standards Test Standards Achievement Gap Standards NBPTS Hard-to-Teach Standards

Professional Learning

The Six-Step Approach Teacher Website Overview ALEX Teacher Web pages

Word Processor Easy Teacher Website Overview

Publishing Teacher Website Overview Gatekeeper Reviews, Approves, and Publishes

Teacher Web Sites Teacher Website Overview URL:

More Information… To find out more about ALEX/Thinkfinity Training for your individual school, contact your regional Technology In Motion Specialist. For more information on ALEX training for your district, ask your technology coordinator to contact Dr. Shannon Parks,

Questions? Session #425 Thank you for your time!