November 24, 2009

I kind of thought that today would be different than it turned out, but the powers to be have a habit of interceding on the behalf of my schedule. I turned into DEAN OF STUDENTS and meted out punishment to the miscreants. It turned into a many hour ordeal, but it cleared a lot off of the slate for the office. I also spent time in the tech lab helping them with their Promethean board; they love it. The other time slots were filled with just solving problems and talking with teachers. The Guess Who would love my day (that will take some of you back to the 70's). Tomorrow is in-service; we will see what that brings...............flick

November 23, 2009

Back from the weekend to a short week--ya gotta love it. Today one of the teachers did a Skype with a professor from Ohio and his class. The students asked questions and heard a lecture. I do believe that it is marvelous to be able to work this into our classroom experience. I see the classroom getting larger and more diverse with all of the tools available. Teachers and students have to get outside that damned box and not be afraid of the consequences. Wednesday is in-service so I am getting ready for that. It will deal with mostly Activinspire and interactive whiteboards. I am looking forward to the holiday to get some work done. I have to do some techie stuff on my own puter to make it better. I am migrating to Windows 7 on all of my stuff. I am looking forward to it. I must admit I liked Vista, but I think I am in the minority. The day was fairly uneventful and calming to some degree. Hey, cya tomorrow..............flick

November 20, 2009

The job of getting things ready for lots of people is quite time-consuming especially when on gets called upon to do perfunctory duties (I will not elaborate here). I just had to get that one off the chest, you know what I mean. I was able to put away a lot of things today, but I doubt if I will be ready to do an online test scenario on Tuesday. I will just keep trudging along to complete the task, but when I have to depend upon others to do their task, I know that things may not go as planned. I do believe I solved a problem plaguing one of our programs so I am quite happy about that. It is the weekend where I salute one of my readers in the native tongue......For all of my Kirgiz readers........Aq col...be back on Monday...........flick

November 19, 2009

My calendar from this day looks like a who's who of teachers throughout the building. If my social calendar (if I had one) looked like that, I would be the envy of those who find solace in the mingling among the upper crust. Most of the day dealt with getting certain softwares to work. I do believe most of it is solved. Now we just have to get it working. I am confident that will happen. Although I was not an advocate of my moving, there is greater accessibility of me by the teachers. They are feeling more and more comfortable coming to me and discussing various ideas; therefore, my selfishness has swayed my previous opinion to one of acceptance for the good of the program. I also taught some more Ibsen today; it went quite well. Tomorrow is Friday, and I am looking toward the expulsion of the demons that have haunted me over the past few months, if for only a few hours. Hey, I will be back..........flick

Novembwer 18, 2009

TTWF (Tech Talk With Flick) was a rousing success with me, myself, I, and a teacher who dropped by because he saw me in there. This does not daunt my spirit because with that teacher dropping by, I was still able to help with him with some questions. Besides my initial meeting last night, yesterday was quite busy. A teacher broached me about Exam View and how to set it up. I did not know so I installed it and have a meeting with another teacher to find out all of the particulars. The teacher who did the photomosaics posted them on her wiki, and she was extremely happy with the results. I viewed them and thought they were quite good. She is actively working other angles, and I know I will be busy. I also had other things to handle which were not too bad. I am still trying to solve the problem with the dual pens in Promethean, and I think I have a lead. The problem that stymied yesterday dealt with Excel and how to get the links to be absolute and relative. I do think that problem is solved. It was a busy day, and I am happy about the results. I still will have TTWF next week even though it is after an in-service day and right before Thanksgiving...............flick

November 17, 2009

I cannot shake this cold I contracted, but at least it is not the flu. I have come across a problem with the Activinspire software that I cannot solve. It deals with the Activarena. Somehow that piece is on, and I have not been able to turn it off. I will continue my search. I also taught two classes today. The photomosaic is going great, and the students are having fun doing the creation. Ibsen, I, and five other students had fun yesterday dealing with a play. It also went well, but I can see that this group needs something to spice it up. I will talk with the lit coach. I am also working on a problem with creating absolute links within Excel. I have tried various methods, but the only now logical approach is to create a web site involving all of the material. I am also one week away from in-service where I am involved in working with teachers using the Promethean board. I did a summer workshop, and I feel it went over well. Tomorrow after school I will host TTWF (Talking Tech with Flick). It is a new series I have created for teachers who have issues with some aspects of technology, who may want to learn something new, or who just need to talk through some aspects with technology integration. I will inform all of my loyal readers of just what happens. Hey, Have a great day.............flick

November 16, 2009

I am going on the record by saying I am going on the record; I am glad that is out of the way. Well, today I taught my first lesson using Paint.net. After working with Photoshop all these years, I find the interface to be similar, but the behavior is not what I expect. This will teach me to do some previewing before I do the teaching. Secondly, off of the listserv I have found a way for teachers to download Youtube vids to use within their lessons. The best part is that the format is quite compatible with Activinspire. I do warn teachers that once the lesson is completed they need to destroy the vid due to copyright infringements. Speaking of the listserv, I have found it to be invaluable for certain information, and I do value it, even though it can sometimes be overwhelming with the plethora of emails. I did receive good news in that I am attending PETEandC. I still wish PAECT could find a different venue for it. Well, tomorrow I am in the classroom quite a bit so I must prepare.......flick

November 13, 2009

It's Friday the 13th!!!! I am not sure how the number 13 got such a bad rap, but I am sure there is some reason out there. For all of you triskaidekaphobics, I raise a toast of sympathy to you; for the rest of you, I commiserate with your logic and just wish all of the hype would just go away. Wow, what a politically correct statement! I proffered myself to both sides. Let's get to the good stuff. I went into two classes and showed them the power of Photoshop. I had them morph a subject and create a new being. A lot of them were surprised when they could actually do it, and some of them pined that it did not look like mine. I told them that this is their creation, and it needs to have their signature. I also had several meetings with teachers. I am preparing to teach photomosaics Monday. I am looking forward to it. Have a great weekend.

November 12, 2009

The hole in the proverbial dike this week has been patched for a little while. It was nice to work on some items that needed attention and prepare for the photoshop and photostory tutorials. Most of the students know photostory. I have a neat tutorial on how to morph something into a Shrek-like creature so get to know the power of the software. I also have been meeting with more and more teachers who are breaking out of their comfort zones to work with technology such as wikis, mosaics, etc. I am finding my services more and more in demand. The Skype with Iraq went well. The students were able to talk with someone actually there, and, from what I hear, was the hit of the assembly. I am just forging ahead and doing certain things. Tomorrow is Friday, and I have no idea what it will bring. I still love that unknown. Oh, the additional wireless node in a classroom has solved a lot of problems. Okay, I am finished. Be back tomorrow.............flick

November 11, 2009

Happy Veteran's Day to all vets. I want to thank all of you for all you have done and will do. Once can classify this day as the day I wish I had a pedometer on me. I solved many problems and dealt with unique ones. The Veteran's Day Skype went well with few difficulties. It is nice to see our district actively taking part. I met with several teachers today. I have also decided that I will hold my technology forums on Wednesdays. I will begin that next week. Generally, it will be an open forum so teachers can come and discuss anything dealing with technology. I feel I need to make myself available and not set an agenda. I hope that teachers will avail themselves of this. I met several hours yesterday with my TIMS dude. We discussed many topics, and I showed him some of the nuances with ActivInspire. It went well. We will be working together on November 25 doing an in-service together. I will rest my legs and get them ready for tomorrow..............flick

November 10, 2009

We used Skype today so a student could do his graduation project. We could not use the video because of his slow connection. I found out today that I will have to set-up a Skype connection to Kuwait for a Veteran's Day assembly tomorrow. One of our parents is serving there, and I streamed graduation for her last June. I also taught a class today filling in for our esteemed literacy coach. Again, I enjoyed it. Plans are really moving ahead for an innovative class in social studies, and this will really test my skills. We tested some new ActivExpressions today, and I must admit that I was not ready to provide the necessary expertise to get them synchronized, but it all turned out well. We will be getting more, and I know some teachers are anxious to use them. The rest of the day turned out well......................flick

November 9, 2009

Yep, I am behind again; nope, I have not been procrastinating; I have been busy. I am ready to catch all up this morning--sorry about the colloquialism. Today was an in-service day. Supposedly, we were doing a grad project from Brazil, but there was some confusion about the time; it is scheduled for tomorrow. I worked on various projects and problems the rest of the day. I am teaching two classes tomorrow and have several meeting scheduled to talk about future endeavors. I am ready..............flick

November 6, 2009

Ah, the end of the week and coming back after a day out--adding those two together can lead to chaos. I also had surprise in that the IT person was out this day. Bizzy. I did solve the projector problem with a off the wall the solution, but it works. I spent most of the adding dates to my calendar for next week. Everything from Photostory to Photoshop: could be interesting. I am also setting a time to hold after school meetings each week for anyone interested in meeting with me. I am keeping the agenda open, and I feel Tuesday or Wednesday would be good days. I think it is important for me to hold regular times for those interested. It also can help with accountability, if needed. On Monday we have graduation project presentations, and I am doing one via Skype from South America. I do like Skype and Oovoo and feel that they have a place in education. I will inform you on how well it went. Have a great weekend. And for all of my Nigerian readers Ka odi.

November 4, 2009

Getting ready to be out a day is tough, but I will get it all done. Hey, I just want to inform all of you that the teaching is going well. It is a very small class, and I am enjoying it immensely. I also came across a problem with a direct connection to a projector that is causing me some constipation. I am not sure how to handle it, but I will come up with an idea. I know I am rambling today, but it is how my mind is working. I also want to compliment the listserv on really doing what it is supposed to do--give information and ask questions. Next on my rambling agenda is continuation of the great meeting I had with a teacher who needs ideas for a class. Things are progressing well there. I am almost done with my random thoughts. Oops, I forgot what the last one is. Friday gang..........flick

November 3, 2009

I took a good look at my color scheme for the blog, and I said to myself, "Self, it is still appropriate for the upcoming month; therefore, I will not change a thang." I know I have great conversations with myself. Speaking of conversations, I had a great one with a Social Studies teacher yesterday who came to me wondering what innovative and 21st Centuryesque could be done with a new class. We brainstormed the topic and came up with several. I loved it. Oh, the the teaching went great yesterday, and I must admit that I missed being there. I love the collaborative aspect of education at this point, and even though it is not new to me, I think it is great to watch this aspect unfold. Technology is helping to spearhead the collaborative concept, and I take some satisfaction in knowing I was correct in my approach years ago, even though I took some heat for it. I do not like the regimen that is driving it all here, but I know one can adapt. I also told all of my loyal reader(s?) that I would keep up the blog, and I am adhering to that promise. So, for all of you out there in blogdom.....pppppppppttttttttttttttttttt...flick

November 2, 2009

Back from a weekend and wondering what will await the intrepid CFF/technology integrator dude. I did find out that I will be heading to Hershey for the SAS conference, which CFF is now a part of. SAS is Standards Aligned System. I was also out and about today. I finished some housekeeping duties with the wiki project and discussed some with others. I also found out my role in the upcoming teacher's in-service right before Thanksgiving, and I am looking forward to working with the elementary teachers on Activinspire. I did have one tech problem that I could not figure out, but tomorrow is a new day. I am also going to teach some LA this week, and I must admit that I think I will enjoy that. Back tomorrow............flick