May 29, 2008

I got back from training today, and I must say that I dreaded coming back because I know what happens when I am out. So far it has not been too bad. I dealt with three tech issues and a missing laptop. The missing laptop has been found in another room, so that is done. I am catching up on paper work and beginning to prepare for next year when I will be back in the classroom. I do miss the interaction with students, but I have enjoyed this job. I love the discovery. I know that I am sometimes criticized for not giving all of the answers, but I feel discovery is one of the best teachers; I will remain a disciple of that course. The training I had the last two days reinforced that same concept. Again, the instructor brought out the essentials and let us discover how to do concepts to create something using Adobe products. I found this gratifying and frustrating, but I was able to do the work because I have that drive to find the answers. I hate cookie cutter concepts, but I also realize that everyone is not like me. I have realized in my eons of teaching that giving the answers does not usually work when dealing with retention. I am a facilitator, and i am happy with that. I have a meeting soon with the powers to discuss the future with reference to this job. I will have the questions ready, and we will see. Well, now that I am caught up with blogging, I am ready to move on. Iglesias

May23, 2008

I know I am getting back to this almost a week later, but with the memorial Day weekend and being at a conference for two days, I guess I have an excuse. I worked very hard on getting a lot done for when I was out. I emailed all CFF teachers to complete the surveys, got my log up-to-date, which I need to complete by next Friday, made sure teachers had all of the material they needed, etc. I also had to work on some technical problems. All in all it was a good day, and I feel ready to be out for two days. We are still having problems with the Lenovos, and I find the tech support to be less than stellar. I know the ghost image will help, and i must complete it. Next week.

May 22, 2008

I got to spend a lot of time working on paperwork, etc. in my office today. I also got a chance to network with teachers and have some discussions about various topics. I also met with some CFF teachers who have volunteered to help me with the in-service using GPS units, geocaching, and Google Earth. I had to deal with some hardware problems and talk with some students who were using anonimizers. The use of anonimizers or proxies is becoming very tough to control. They are difficult to block because the groups change IP's frequently. The AUP states the nonuse of these, but I know students. I need to work on updating the wiki, but I feel that will be next week. I have training next week for Adobe products, and I am looking forward to that. I have used Adobe products for years and find them to be quite good. It will nice to learn some new tricks with them. The week ends tomorrow so I will be back with an end of the week wrap up. BBBBBBBBBBBback

May 21, 2008

The light bulb went on today with some problems, and I am slowly working through those. I do not know how it hit me, but it did. Being out the last two days has really put me behind, and it was quite hectic here at the old ranch. Tomorrow must be a day when I catch up on embedded learning and getting ready for the surveys we need to finish CFF for the year. I also have a lot of loose ends to tie up, as well as getting ready for the June 16th in-service. I know teachers are getting ready for finals, et al., and they are not using technology as much. Since it is the first year, I do understand the reluctance, but I still am seeing innovation. I am doing a lot of reflection through this first year of everything, and I will be sharing with you in future blogs. There is a lot of good, but there are some things that can be different. I am the eternal optimist when it comes to most things, and I carry that same optimism through all of this.

May 16, 2008

I feel like a firefighter today who is constantly on call putting out fires. Things are not working correctly, and I am trying to figure out solutions. I will be out of town until next Wednesday so that I will have time to think of things. I guess I will not be looking forward to Wednesday, but I will get the fires extinquished. I will be back next Wednesday.

May 15, 2008

I told you life would be better today. There has been another change in the in-service for the last day of school. I will just leave it at that. It sure does change what I had planned. Most of this day dealt with IT problems, and of course, one problem will be quite difficult to solve. The new hard drives came in for the Lenovo's, and that has been fun since the image does not work so I will have to take the laptop and rebuild it to create a new image. I am beginning to wonder if my first statement wasn't sarcastic. Yep, it was. I knew that these things would happen. On a brighter note, I have begun working with a new GPS program. I find it fascinating and am looking forward to delving more into what it can accomplish. I see a lot of good possibilities from it. I think I will just give this week one more day and see what happens.

May 14, 2008

I must say that this week is interesting as this day. I could not even begin to fathom some of the things I have been involved with from this job. Today I was asked to help in the creation of a self grammar tutorial to aid students with grammar skills. It will be a tough and interesting undertaking to say the least (colloquial, huh?). I also worked with converting a tape to DVD for class use, set up a Wheel of Fortune game for a class review, did a walkabout to check on updating desktops, worked in a classroom on wiki development, and that is about all I can remember. Oh, I worked on some tutorials for CFF and others. I am proud of what teachers are doing, but in the same light I feel that they are not availing themselves of things I have created as well as branching out into deeper water. I know that I need that same patience that I preach, and I do realize that time is a factor. I am just in one of those moods where I see so much and expectations are not being met on the whole. I really see some bright spots, and those excite me. I will shake this feeling tomorrow. As usual, I will be back!!!!!!

May 13, 2008

I got the laptop resurrected from the ashes. I guess I will have to change the name from Lenovo to Phoenix. I know a terrible sense of humor. I am still finshing installing programs and getting two new hard drives from Lenovo to fix some laptops. I also worked on the embedded learning to get all of my facilitating done with that. I need to work on some items here at school such as my IAP, etc. I know there is not much written, but I am busy. I also am working with teachers individually on projects. With it being the end the year, it is quite hectic. Also, I am helping with the planning for the summer to redo servers, etc. We are working on the AUP, domains, and possibly student email. There is a lot to consider and have in place. It does look like we have a new techie, and that will help a lot. So much to do and think about that I think there might be a mind implosion; naw, it will all get done. BRB

May 12, 2008

I will tell you that I would classify today as being a mish mash day. I am not sure the coinage of the word, but my definition would be a hodgepodge. I had a teacher laptop go afoul today, and I am trying to resurrect it. I will have to continue it tomorrow. I also dealt with numerous housekeeping details which required attention. I know that I need to work with the class today and try to finish the rest of the paperwork. I tried to do a tutorial on Google Earth, but somehow my file became corrupted so I had to uninstall and reinstall it. It still went well, but I wish I could have show them the material. I am doing an in-service presentation for June 16th, and this is an option I gave to the powers. I need to know what topic I need to address to begin the preparation. This is going to be a busy last month.

May 9, 2008

We are doing graduation project presentations today, and I spent most of the day troubleshooting and helping students with last minute glitches. I also found out that the Lenovo's have a digital card reader. Did not know that one. I also caught up on various items that were put on the back burner because of my conferencing. I got most of it done except the blog, and I will sneak in this weekend and do some work and be up-to-date. It was an interesting week, and I was happy to be a part of it. Next week!!!!!!!!

May 8, 2008

I am now in another part of the state at a conference in Williamsport dealing with video conferencing, and here is another conference that made my socks go up and down. What a great technological aspect to add to a classroom! There were four that really enthralled me. The first was a conference with the National Archives. What a great place and conference! David Rosenbaum did a fantastic job of putting things together for us, and the best part is that it is free. The second dealt with the Cleveland Museum of Art. I did not think that this was going to be good, but the presenter Arielle Levine did a magnificent job with Greek gods and heroes. The NASA one and the WWII Museum also were quite good. The NASA one is also free. It gave me great ideas to share with my staff, and I am going to get the video conferencing equipment out of storage and put it together to make it work. I was amazed and happy with what I saw and have great ideas on integrating it into the classroom. I will have to digest it, but it was quite palatable. Tomorrow!!!!

May 7, 2008

I am sitting here in Harrisburg at an innovative technology integration conference, and I must say that this a good conference with respect to resources. BER has done a great job in collecting voluminous resources to aid teachers in the classroom. I will have to add a lot of these to my wiki-- http://cffflick.wikispaces.com . I also like the ideas presented to integrate within the classroom setting. I feel I will have to digest a lot of the matter. I have learned a lot of new ideas. I also helped people with communication software and sent a file to Afghanistan. It does sound crazy. In this world, we must be able to multi-task, and I am working at being able to do that. If this entry sounds disjointed, it is because this is how my mind is working at this time. Tomorrow, I will be in Williamsport for a vid conferencing seminar. It has been a busy week. I will be back tomorrow.

May 6, 2008

I am sitting here listening to people from PDE and Wilkes talk about Embedded Learning, et. al. I know we have to attend this meeting for the grant, but I find it to be abou 10% worthwhile. This all could have been done through a webinar. We need to mirror what we preach. I am hoping that tomorrow's conference dealing with assimilating technology into the classroom is quite valuable. I am hoping it will be. I will make sure you know the answer tomorrow. Oh, today I got to network with our new assistant super. She is going to help me solve a problem with Promethean, which I am quite happy about her assistance to solve the problem.

May 5, 2008

Hello there all you CFFFlick fans. Ooops, I am talking to myself again. I had a good meeting today with my elementary counterpart. We were able to go around and show her some of the teachers and what they are doing. We do agree we have a ways to go, and I am taking one of my own prescriptions--patience. We will get there. I did have some hardware issues to take care of, and I knew I was going to be conferncing for three days so I had to get things ready. The student techie has been great in helping me. I finalized plans with the IU man to take care of the CFF meeting. There was some IT problems but nothing significant. We are exploring some student email plans. I know this creates some red flags, but I feel we can manage it with minimal problems. It will have to be monitored well and often, but I know we need to implement this to aid in wiki and blog creations. Since this week is so crazy, I missed a nice show yesterday at PSU dealing with educational technology. I hated to do so, but I will be out three days already. I will back with all of you (one) tomorrow.

May 2, 2008

I am sitting in front of the puter in extreme awe. Now you are asking yourself why? I am going to tell you. I found a loyal reader who reads my blog to cure insomnia. Yep, it works. I am going to patent the blog and give it out to the medical world. Just kidding, A. No, I had a great meeting with my elementary counterpart. We finalized plans for the June 16 in-service in a preliminary fashion basing the offerings upon some questions that need to be answered. We also agreed to push a plan for student email because we need that to incorporate this into our technology requirements. We know the dangers (and they can be mitigated with the right client), but the rewards are much higher. We will meet again on Monday and get out into the classrooms. Good meeting!!!! I worked on embedded learning and am impressed with a number of teachers finishing the course. I am still working on the responses. There was a little IT today but nothing of any record. The learning curve is getting less and less, and as I stressed to my teachers taking the course, one must have patience. The learning curve will gradually become a straight line, but we must all work toward that. Yes, there will be bumps and potholes, but everything can be leveled. Have a great weekend. Sleep well!!!!!! LOL

May 1, 2008

Happy Uno de Mayo--Yep, I know there is really no such thing, but why wait until the 5th. A very busy day; I did an in-service for the middle school teachers on Inspiration and Skype as well as a little bit on Google Earth. I prepared tutorials for them. I also explained my role as a coach, and how they could rely on me to aid in their endeavors to add technology into their respective classrooms. I am first and foremost a resource person. I then dealt with problems around the school since we still do not have a full-time IT person. I followed that with some purchase orders, etc. I also helped some teachers with integration and viewed what they have done. I told them i want to place those items on a shared folder for all to see and get ideas. I really must admit that I do love the various aspects which I do have involvement. I like being able to delve into a passion of mine and see it put to practical use. Almost the end of the week, and I am ready for the break. I do have a meeting tomorrow with my elementary counterpart. We do think very much alike on the integration of technology. It is also great to network with someone.