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 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 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.

May 18, 2009

I set up a teacher on Skype today. She was thrilled to be able to Skype teachers and others to join in on class discussions. I also had a long meeting with the Lit coach. We discussed our collaborative efforts for the rest of this year and next. It will work out well. I also have been tagged to teach Internet safety to elementary students. I find this topic quite interesting am looking forward to preparing for the topic. My first one is next week. I have some work to do to get all of this done. I have been meeting with teachers to wrap up the year and look at things for next year. Some of their plans are big, but I believe doable. Well, back to getting things done. I was out for most of the morning working with seniors.............adieu......mes amis..........flick

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 10, 2008

I have been doing a lot of research today for teachers, and it has been great. Being a resource person can be time consuming, but it all pays off in the end with sum learnin'. I guess I am like the proverbial sweet tooth in a candy store when I am able to find something new or a new web site that helps in the dissemination of knowledge. I still love the aspect of learning and discovery. There is so much out there, and I know that I am only scratching the surface. I am continually updating the wiki with more and more information for teachers to use. One of the middle level teachers skyped me into her class today so her students could view the process. I also helped on some hardware issues, set up some student projects with jing, worked with audacity with students, etc. One never knows what he/she will be doing next in this job, and I like that just fine. Oh, my prinicpal showed me a video which I feel is quite appropriate for this whole initiative. It deals with a university setting, which I feel many times spouts how it should be but does not practice what is preached. It is a great video, and I hope that you enjoy it.