June Convention

Connie Knain and Verna LaBounty drove across North Dakota to Minot for the Alpha Omicron State Convention held at the Grand International Inn. Connie represented Beta Chapter at the Executive Board meetings and marched in the flag ceremony (above: Sandy Starr organizes the presidents for the presentation of the flags).

Both Connie and Verna worked on getting the state by-laws amended and approved. This major accomplishment will bring the state into alignment with the International Constitution.

Ceremonies, keynote address by June Bowers, old friends (below: Verna with Faye Miller), timely workshops, and entertainment filled two days. Next stop: Northwest Regional at Edmonton.

The Convention elected new state officers:
President: Becky Anhorn, Nu
First Vice-President: Lisa Olson, Gamma
Second Vice-President: Peggy Donahue, Tau
Secretary: Jan Repnow, Lambda
Treasurer: Elaine Larson, Gamma
Parliamentarian: Diana Schneider, Theta

Technology Updates Workshop

Dr. Warren Gamas, Minot State University, conducted a workshop on a few of the latest innovations in technology that can enhance classroom education. He demonstrated in a renovated technology classroom that featured a Smart Board, projectors, and outlets for 50 laptops, iPads or other mobile hardware.
Smart Boards, computers, and projectors are becoming standard equipment in the modern classroom, but here are some web sites for exploration.
I love learning about new techy items so this workshop excited me. Dr. Gamas made the point that teachers must meet students in their world of visuals and gaming to engage them in concepts and subject matter.

Second Life allows creation of an avatar to explore many virtual worlds. Think opportunities for role-playing.
http://secondlife.com/


Scratch Projects was developed by Mass. Tech. Institute as a place for students to create and develop projects of all kinds.
http://scratch.mit.edu/
http://scratch.mit.edu/channel/featured

Khan Academy provides video tutoring on thousands of topics.
http://www.khanacademy.org/

Want a new way to take notes, check out Live Scribe at
http://www.livescribe.com/en-us/
This is paper based computing. Watch the videos to see how this computing pen works. It's amazing!
Be sure to click on k-12 education on the menu bar to see educational applications.
Here's a description of the notebook and the paper features that make this tool work.
http://www.amazon.com/Livescribe-Single-Subject-Notebook-ANA-00017/dp/B001AALJ1I/ref=pd_cp_e_1