April 22, 2009

My 187th post on this blog. I would have never guessed that when I began this that I would continue it this long concerning a function of my life. Oh well, I am glad that I have done it. I sent out an email to the listserv with a link to the JANUS video. I hope that others take a look at it. I came across one of the laptops today that has been severely abused. This really %&*^%$%# me off. I do not appreciate it one iota, but there is little I can do. This is one of the items that concerned me when I took this job. Okay that is off my chest. Today I spent with Embedded Learning and cleaning up a lot loose ends. It was quite productive. I also met with several teachers and brought my coach's log up-to-date. Tomorrow is the science fair so I will be busy with that. Hey, be back then...........flick

April 21, 2009

Holy Smokes--a false fire drill and a lock down for a message scrawled on the bathroom wall--other than that, a normal day. I am still visiting teachers and talking with them concerning their needs. Overwhelmingly their responses deal with the working of technology vs. ideas for the integration, but I am dealing with the integration. We are moving along well. I am also slowly migrating all to Activinspire. I find the program interfaces well, and I like the new conveniences; it is well thought out. I also like the fact that we are going to make it part of the student image so the group can take advantage of it and create flipcharts in classes. This will add another tool to the teacher arsenal of technology. The middle level teachers have asked me to judge a science fair on Thursday. I really do not have the time, but I must practice what I espouse. I am looking forward to see what the students have done since we have touted the JANUS project. We are progressing well. I shall return tomorrow.......flick

April 20, 2009

I met today with both the principal and the literacy coach in separate meetings. Again both were productive, and I feel we are all on the same page, which is good. I also worked with Inspiration and the embedded learning. I got the chance today to work on a web site, which I have not done in a long time. It took me awhile to remember where some of the things were, but I did it. I must admit that I miss that. I also am trying to make arrangements for some conferences. Conferences are like coaching clinics; if you get one thing out of them, then it was worthwhile. I also am preparing for a visit from the TIMS to discuss the implementation of CFF. I will have to work out all of the details for that. It was a good day, and I feel on top of things. Be back tomorrow...........flick

April 17, 2009

What a meeting! The principals and the coaches had a meeting about respective roles and and happenings. The meeting was fantastic in that it was quite productive and lent itself to direction for us and the admin. I do not say that too much about meetings, but I have to say that about this one. The coach and I also worked with Inspiration with a class. You talk about engaged; the students were very engaged. It went well. I have also received a ton of emails concerning the Janus video. I know there is not too much to write today, but a lot of things happened...quite good. I will leave this week on a very happy note.....flick

April 16, 2009

I am continuing the task of talking to all the teachers to assess needs and the integration of technology. Most are quite receptive. I also uploaded the Janus video to TeacherTube, but I must admit that they are a little quirky. The video does not show up on a search yet, which also is odd. I know they have a review process. Here is the link: http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=9823eb22de3e1cd88ba6 It already has some views, which is good. I will just make it easier for all my reader(s)....LOL My schedule for Friday is quite filled in, which is good. I will be working with Inspiration, Photo Story, Eyeplorer, and have a coaches' meeting. The literacy coach and I have been working together well. I feel that is a strong component to making this all work. Be back tomorrow....flick

April 15, 2009

Welcome to another income tax day. I have read about the tea parties around the nation, and I do understand their feelings. I will not deal with politics here unless it deals with education. Met with several teachers today and discussed where they are heading and what I can do to help. I plan to meet with more over the coming days. I found out how many people are attending the Promethean workshop in Hershey next weekend: one besides me. Again, I do understand the reluctance on a weekend, but I do not understand the B&C that will come from not understanding the program. It takes two to tango. Hey, I uploaded the JANUS video to YouTube. I had some problems with formatting, but I tweaked some things here and there and got it. I have been trying TeacherTube, but I have not had any luck. I am not sure if it is too big or what. I have embedded it here. I cannot say enough about the girls who produced, shot, and edited the result. They did a great job, and I am proud of their accomplishment. I have the school board meeting tonight and must thank them for their support as well as the administration's in this endeavor.

April 14, 2009

I did my first movie maker class presentation today, and it went very well. I had them create their own movie using the program; it went well, and they are using the program. They will also use it to create a school district project. I love to see real life experiences for projects. I need to get everything ready for the school board presentation tomorrow night for the JANUS project. The girls will do the presentation. I am also working on a you tube upload. I am finding the embedded learning to be tough to manage working with two courses. It is going well, but not a well as I would like. Not much today but busy.......flick

April 13, 2009

The golden touch definitely came into play today, but, of course, I wonder if I will jinx myself for the rest of the week. Nah, just will not happen. It was also a day of frustration with some matters, but I will not go into that because of names. I was able to help A's class with photo story, and I was also able to finish the movie maker and prepare for that tomorrow. The rest of the day dealt with handling problems. I still have been working with eyeplorer and becoming more accustomed to its odd search patterns. I still feel that there is some good relevance there, and I do look forward to working with it. I need to finalize plans for the van for the weekend of the 25th and 26th for the Promethean conference in Hershey. I will finish that tomorrow. Then the following week I have the one-to-one computing conference at PSU. I also worked with the embedded learning, and forging into areas unknown to mortal man (just in my own mind). Ya gotta love it. Well, I must also prepare for the school board meeting on Wednesday. I will be back tomorrow. Oh, this is my 180th posting for all of you keeping count. Yay!!!!!!

April 9, 2009

The exciting news today is a search engine called eyeplorer. I know its primary function is tied to wikipedia, but I do feel it serves a useful purpose. It shows relative connections between facts and lesser known facts about topics. It purports to search the web, but it does it after the fact. I believe that it is the future of search engines. I also created my tutorial for movie maker and worked on other technology related items. I just met with the network guru who, I believe solved the problem with graduation and inclement weather. It has been a pain in the past to broadcast graduation around the school whenever we had poor weather because our auditorium is so small. I like the use of slingboxes, and I feel we will be able to broadcast it even across the web. Kudos to J. I do believe that is the end of my exciting news. Tomorrow is a vacation day so I will be back on Monday...To all of my Sicilian readers Bona Pasqua.

April 8, 2009

It was great dealing with the class this morning; they were very attentive to photo story, and they liked the features in it. The class will make a photostory with adverbs. It was one of those days to deal with resources and other things. I am doing a movie maker next week and am looking forward to dealing with something new. It will be interesting making the tutorial for that. I got a lot done today, but there is not a lot to write about. I will write with ye tomorrow....flick

April 7, 2009

I have been searching for more resources for the teachers and finalized some teacher contacts. I am also trying to finalize a meeting with my TIMS--Eddie. We will get a date finalized so we can get another component out of the way for CFF. I also worked on the embedded learning; I must tell you that facilitating two courses is, well, let's just say, time consuming. It will all get done. Tomorrow I am ready to introduce photostory to a new group. It will be to special needs group so it could be interesting. I will let you know how it goes. I also had a talk with the network guru about images and things to order. We are looking a netbooks, and I do feel that is the way to go next for the future because of cloud computing and cost. The cutting edge is great. Be back tomorrow.

April 6, 2009

I spent most of the day working with several teachers and updating the CFF resources on our shared folder. I found a site where I downloaded several audiobooks, poetry, and social studies resources. I got it done and sent out the email to all teachers to avail themselves to the additions. I also helped a teacher find a resource. The teacher set up a Skype conference with a person who has climbed Everest at least two times. She told me it went great. I am so glad to hear this. It is truly amazing how the world has become smaller, and these opportunities exist for all students and teachers who want to spend the time to explore them. Photostory has really taken off here, and teachers and students have adopted the program well. Not only have they adopted it, but they are using it to create disciplinary appropriate material. I love it. Well, ta da all and be back soon........flick

April 2, 2009

I am still working on paper work ad nauseum. I also am getting Photo Story ready for a presentation all day Monday. That program is going the extra mile because people love the flexibility of it. I feel it adds another dimension to presentations. I am also getting inquiries about certain web 2.0 sites. I am still working on the embedded learning. Just trying to put it all together...............flick

April 1, 2009

I am going to digress a little here and talk about me personally. I shaved my beard last night because of a charity event here. The skin has not seen the light of day since 1988; the mustache stayed. It was also my bday; I know quite appropriate. Okay, I got all of the personal stuff out of the way. I am getting the embedded learning out of the way. It is not easy facilitating two courses, but that is the law of the west. I am doing a lot of paper work these days just trying to get caught up on all of the things involved with CFF and integration. I got word today that some of the stim money will be used on technology, and I am quite pleased with that. For all of my Cameroon friends......E liya gbamu

March 31, 2009

You talk about the day when I had the golden touch it sure was this morning. The afternoon fixed that, though. I had met with several teachers. Some of their ideas will take some work. I do love that challenge. I also talked with another teacher who wants to utilize Photo Story into her classroom. I am so glad that we are getting away from the traditional powerpoint. I am beginning the migration of Activinspire instead of Activstudio for the Promethean boards because that is the way to go. I know people become complacent with software, but it so important to upgrade because usually the new software has a better interface and new concepts. I know it is a learning curve, but that is what we need to do to stay on top of things. I have used the software, and I like it. Some interesting things here at school, but I will just leave it at that. Be back tomorrow................flick