Jeff+Pence

= General Sessions =


 * Enhance Student Writing Using Technology **

Jeff Pence, Teacher; Dean Rusk Middle School; Cherokee County, GA
Thursday, 9:45- 10:45 AM Session Block: 6, Session 109 Room: Kenyan 3-4, Capacity: 88

To teach writing effectively, educators have to rise to three specific challenges: they have to motivate their students by creating culturally meaningful settings for writing practice, they have to provide ample opportunities for feedback and revisions, and they have to manage their workload associated with both. This presentation describes a technology-centered curriculum that illustrates how digital age tools can be used to achieve all three: establish cultural relevance for writing, provide supportive reviews through community reviews and built-in automatic feedback, and third help manage the educator's workload.
 * __Description __ **

As a Seventh Grade English Language Arts teacher at Dean Rusk Middle School in Canton, Georgia, Jeff Pence is constantly piloting new and various forms of technology in his classroom including hardware, installed software, and internet software. Whether prompted from the county technology department, curriculum department, or on his own whim, utilizing new tools is a part of teaching he dearly loves to help students succeed. A proud alumnus of Cherokee County’s first Teach21 cohort in May of 2008, Mr. Pence became one of the first teachers to complete the requirements of the county’s advanced directive in technology integration. Mr. Pence presented a poster session showcasing student achievement and progress through his Teach21 Capstone Project at the 2008 Georgia Educational Technology Conference in Atlanta, GA. Additionally, he presented a session at the Georgia Best Practices Conference in Stone Mountain, GA, on Enhancing Student Writing through the Use of Technology. Pence has presented similar sessions at the 2010 Georgia Educational Technology Conference (GAETC), the 2010 International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference in Denver, Colorado, and ISTE 2011 in Philadelphia, PA. He is married to Mrs. Pebbles Pence, a fifth grade social studies teacher at Johnston Elementary in Woodstock, GA. They have three children. Sam is a Senior at Sequoyah High School, Hannah is a Sophomore at River Ridge High School, and Brandon has just started Kindergarten.
 * __About the Speaker__ **


 * Links and/or Materials**