Eric Miller of Dynamic Classroom attended the eTech 2010 educational technology conference in Columbus, Ohio. He gave two presentations during the event! They were: "How to plan and conduct a Webcasting program in the Middle School" and "Dynamic Teaching: How to Design, Develop, and Deliver Digital Lessons" For additional information please visit: http://www.etech.ohio.gov/conference/
A Blogger Comments on an etech 2010 Presentatio By: Ryan Malany
Starting with a video made by students (or at least narrated by them?) about the Civil War. I’M NOT SURE HOW HE HAS THREE SEPARATE VIDEOS PLAYING IN A POWERPOINT SLIDE. MY COMPUTER (MBP) WOULD BLOW UP.
Contact information for presenter is on the website.
Overview: Teaches US History II for seven years, former military.
When he began teaching, he was given a textbook. Bleh. Now faces challenges of where to get money for technologies or where to get free technologies.
SEEMS TO BE A BIG CIVIL WAR BUFF – BEING FROM VIRGINIA, LOTS OF BATTLEFIELDS AROUND.
Webcasting: Tried to find the correct name; didn’t want to use “podcast” because of the idea that you’d need an iPod.
Virginia state law: for every 1000 students, school must have one technology coordinator
District superintendent had $, asked him to spend it. Created a summer program called “Webcast Historians”
You need a team! Content teacher, technology resource teacher, school administration, central office, community, parents
Needed a theme: “The Civil War in Winchester” to give them direction.
Tools needed: “ready bag” (digital camera, digital camcorder like a flip camera($123) with a mini-tripod, digital voice recorder or headset with a microphone, bag (numbered and inventory). A ready-bag costs about $500. 2 kids per bag.
Webcasts: profile community, interact with historical sites, utilize technology, engage students, demonstrate the effectiveness of technology in our schools
Chose 10 kids. Had an application form. Included legalities and releases. Selected a large spectrum of highly-motivated kids. Not necessarily gifted kids.
Identified sites to use. Identified transportation and logistical issues. Had students for 5 hrs/day for 10 days. Created schedules. Visit sites, collect still images, collect video images, collect audio sound, produce webcasts. The latter was the toughest! Kids learned by practicing around the school. Learning about shadows, sun, etc. Learned about focusing, shooting techniques, etc.
Students became the best teachers. Self-discovery.
In planning phase, created storyboarding lesson. Emphasized taking more footage/pics than you need as you can always delete. Students and groups given mission papers with things to research and learn before heading out.
PRESENTATION MOVES QUICKLY AND DOES A THOROUGH JOB OF EXPLAINING THE PROCESS USED. I’M HOPING HE COVERS SOME GRANT/$$$ OPTIONS BY THE END. IDEAS ARE RUNNING ALL OVER MY HEAD!
Students ate lunch wile working. Lots of work! Had sessions to ask questions. 80% of the time the students could answer each others questions.
Showing some more examples from their final products and reflections from the students. Had a preview night for parents, had certificates for participants, made a 5 minute video for BOE.
Second year, curriculum dept. came up with money, upped the number to 20, and brought back some from the first year (”Master Casters”).
Used more authentic materials (videos from Civil War reenactments, Civil War photos, etc.) Got permission from a Civil War band to use their music.
Had the students research and use actual Civil War tools. Took pictures of the items.
Recommends the Civil War Trust for information and resources for teachers. Used their guides to take the students to actual battle fields. They recorded this to capture the emotions of the students.
THIS GENTLEMAN IS A VERY MOTIVATED, INSPIRING EDUCATOR WITH A PASSION FOR LEARNING THAT IS CONTAGIOUS. IT WAS GREAT TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS SESSION TO SEE HIS IDEAS, HIS LESSONS-LEARNED. GREAT!
Eric Miller conducted a presentation titled: Trailblazing With Technology: How to Design, Develop, and Deliver Dynamic Digital Lessons. Harness technology and hit the trail with your own interactive notebook. Digital lessons and dynamic teaching can keep boredom and bandits at bay! For VSTE conference information please visit: http://www.vste.org/se3bin/clientgenie.cgi?websitename=school1000302&statusFlag=goGenie&geniesite=30
What others had to say about dynamicclassroom at VSTE 09.
Monday, December 7, 2009 Trailblazing with Technology: How to Design, Develop, and Deliver Dynamic Digital Lessons, presented by Eric Miller
Imagine making Social Studies come alive for your students! Daniel Morgan Middle School Social Studies teacher, Eric Miller, has accomplished just that! Moving from the use of traditional textbooks and support materials only, to the utilization of interactive notebooks, Eric has witnessed a huge leap in the scores of his students on the SOL tests! He sums up his teaching approach as being "a dynamic classroom." A few of the activities designed to make the classroom dynamic are: role playing, debates, diary entries, thought doodles, reading notes, student designed newspaper pages, student created audio clips and video pages. Daily lessons are produced using Power Point and are projected onto a SMART Board. Use of the SMART Board allows for student interactions (i.e. Interactive maps, Tables, etc.). Each day of class, students arrive and view on the SMART Board, the "Notebook Page of the Day". The Notebook Page of the Day states the Title of the Lesson, the SOL #, the Warm-up Activity, the Activity Type to be utilized in the lesson, and a brief introduction of the material to be studied. Students are actively engaged in completing the learning activity, sharing the knowledge learned and assisting others. If you would like to view a snapshot of Eric Miller's teaching approach, go to: http://www.dynamicclassroom.com/. Posted by REAMS ITRT News at 12:34 PM 0 comments Labels: content creation, Management, Social Studies
Dynamic Classroom presented at the 2009 Virginia Educational Technology Conference. Eric Miller gave two presentations at this event. In addition to presenting the latest on "Webcasting in the Middle School" he presented a new overview: "Dynamic Teaching: How to Design, Develop, and Deliver Digital Lessons."
Eric Miller presented at the Annual Virginia Social Studies Educators Conference, Richmond Virginia October 23-24! For information on this conference please visit: http://www.vcss.org/annualconference.htm
SEPTEMBER 28-29, 2009
Dynamic Classroom presented at the Annual West Virginia Higher Education Technology Conference, Morgantown,West Virginia September 28-29! For WVHETC conference information visit: http://www.wvnet.edu/wvconference/
Past Presentations
February 2009 VSTE Conference
Eric Miller presented: "Webcasting in the Midde School: How to plan and conduct a handheld technology workshop."
December 10-12, 2008 ETLC Conference
Eric Miller presented: "Webcasting in the Midde School: How to plan and conduct a handheld technology workshop."
November 1, 2008 Webcast Historian Presentation
Webcast historians Mr. Davonta Roberts and Mr. Eric Miller of Daniel Morgan Middle School, Winchester, Virginia addressed a regional meeting of the Ruritan Organization on the campus of Shenandoah University. The presentation further built on the work of the webcast historian program conducted this past July. The theme was: The Civil War in Winchester as viewed by a webcaster. Mr. Roberts explained and demonstrated our webcasting handheld technological tools including; digital cameras, digital Flip video cameras, and digital voice recorders. He also explained the software used in the production of webcasts. Mr. Miller gave an overview of some of the many civil war sites that can be found in Winchester and did so by using student produced webcasts to illustrate his talk. Many questions wrapped up this lively discussion and it is interesting to note that there was equal enthusiasm exibited by those in attendance regarding both the historical and technological aspects of this presentation. We would like to thank both the Ruritan organization and Shenandoah University for making this event possible.
August 2008
DynamicClassroom Profiled on k12handheld Blog!
Eric Miller of the DynamicClassroom Project and his work is profiled on Ms. Karen Fasimpaur's latest blog entry. Ms. Fasimpaur is the President of K12 Handhelds, which focuses on mobile one-to-one computing in education. She delivered the keynote speech at the 2008 MAHETC Technology Conference in Salisbury, Maryland. To read Ms. Fasimpaur's comments click on the link below:
See Blog entry dated - Wednesday, August 06, 2008 "Throwing out the Textbooks"
Note! I did not throw out any textbooks. I love books too much to ever throw any away. They were sold by my district.
Webcat Historian Student Workshop
July 7 - July 18, 2008
A two week hands-on webcast course was conducted at Daniel Morgan Middle School. Ten "Webcast Historians" participated in this Civil War themed program. Working with handheld technology the students researched, visited, and documented historic sites in Winchester, Virginia. Using Moviemaker and Photostory the Webcast Historians created webcasts profiling many significant sites.
2008 Webcast Historians at Stonewall Cemetery Winchester, Virginia
2008 Mid-Atlantic Handheld & Emerging Technology Conference (MAHETC) July 24-25
Eric Miller attended the MAHETC Conference for the second year in a row. As usual at such gatherings many new ideas and educational strategies are discussed and exchanged. Eric took the opportunity to discuss his ideas regarding the DynamicClassroom Project and was encouraged by the positive feedback and comments he received!
Community Comments Regarding the Webcast Program
"A great big thank-you to Mr. Miller and Mrs. Oravec for this summer's DMMS Webcast Historians Course. For the last two weeks, my daughter learned about historic sites in Winchester and new technologies to make webcasts about those places on the internet. Through a grant provided by Wachovia and the dedication of the teachers and administrators at WPS, she enjoyed this wonderful opportunity free of charge! Well done!"
News & Events 
Future Presentations
For additional information about this exciting national conference please visit their website at: 
Eric Miller of Dynamic Classroom attended the eTech 2010 educational technology conference in Columbus, Ohio. He gave two presentations during the event! They were: "How to plan and conduct a Webcasting program in the Middle School" and "Dynamic Teaching: How to Design, Develop, and Deliver Digital Lessons" For additional information please visit: 
Eric Miller conducted a presentation titled: Trailblazing With Technology: How to Design,
Dynamic Classroom presented at the 2009 Virginia Educational Technology Conference. Eric Miller gave two presentations at this event. In addition to presenting the latest on "Webcasting in the Middle School" he presented a new overview: "Dynamic Teaching: How to Design, Develop, and Deliver Digital Lessons." 
Eric Miller presented at the Annual Virginia Social Studies Educators Conference, Richmond Virginia October 23-24! For information on this conference please visit: 
Dynamic Classroom presented at the Annual West Virginia Higher Education Technology Conference, Morgantown,West Virginia September 28-29! 
Eric Miller presented: "Webcasting in the Midde School: How to plan and conduct a handheld technology workshop."
Eric Miller presented: "Webcasting in the Midde School: How to plan and conduct a handheld technology workshop."
