Hmmm????

Well once again I have not been very good about my blog. Imagine that. I have been busy over the last week or so working on different aspects of the Microsoft Settlement. I have been going around to all the Elementary Schools with our rep showing him the classrooms and creating a more concrete list of what we need to order. I have also been working with Jo Dee and Neil on our plan for the use of technology so we can get that approved by the state. I need to get out in to classrooms more. It's very hard.

I find it very hard to get our in to classrooms to discuss technology and to model lessons with technology when the teacher doesn't have the technology. I know I have blogged about this before. I feel bad I haven't been out as much as I should, but that will be changing. Once the roll out officially begins, I will be out all the time. i have so many good things to share, but it's not worth my time to share unless a teacher has the technology to try what I am sharing.

Aside from working on the Microsoft plan, Jo Dee and I have gotten our fair share of PR this last week or so. In these tough times, PR is great. We have presented some ideas and what we do to a couple of committees. Jo Dee also presented at a board meeting. The more exposure, the better off we are as Technology Coaches. Gotta love it!!

To Mount or Not to Mount Projectors

It has been an active 3 weeks since I've last posted. Things are starting to pull together as our roll-out of the 21st Century Classroom equipment will begin in one of our buildings next month. It is an exciting yet frustrating time. This plan evolves and revolves, so something that I may have told a teacher last week is different this week. At least I always preface my statements with "this is not set in stone & could possibly change."

I totally understand the reasons why this changes...in fact, I really appreciate the vision we have to be flexible and not just stick to something because that was the original plan. That being said, one of the issues on this teeter-totter is whether to mount or not mount the projectors, and I just have to add my 2 cents worth...

I acknowledge that it will initially save money, but we just HAVE to mount those projectors. Without mounted projectors, I can totally see my coaching time being spent in the classrooms re-orienting boards that lose calibration due to a tiny bump to the projector cart. (By the way, we are not purchasing carts) I have talked to many teachers during my time in the buildings who are eagar, yet apprehensive for this technology to be in their classrooms. I often hear, "This will be so neat--but I don't know if I'll be able to learn to use it." (To which I reply, "I'll be by your side.") I personally know from having a non-mounted Smart Board and non-mounted projector in my classroom how frustrating the calibration issue is. One bump of the board or projector stopped my lesson in its tracks. We waste precious class time re-orienting the board...or we just quit using the board. Lose-lose situation in either case.

Destination 2010

As I watched the morning news programs on this final day of the decade, one segment that caught my attention was New York Magazine's "Items Rendered Obsolete in the Last Ten Years." Among that list were answering machines, floppy discs, the Rolodex, phone books, cassette tapes, checks, and postage stamps.

Now that I think about it, I rarely write a check and my book of stamps now lasts for months. Google is my preferred choice when looking up a phone number, my cell phone carrier takes care of my voice mail, and I sold all of my cassette tapes on a rummage for a quarter a piece--(Yes, I even sold BonJovi). I haven't touched a 3.5" floppy for a couple years, except maybe to throw them out.

My personal techie life in this past decade has changed gradually, subtly, yet drastically. Skype is now my answer for long-distance calls, I cut my land-line cord in 2008, and I cannot remember the last time I actually dialed 411. My dial-up Internet connection lost out to broadband cable sometime in 2002, Google Maps & a Garmin replaced my Rand McNally atlas, and I'm quite certain I misplaced my PDA--either that or my Blackberry had an app to vaporize it.

What really strikes me, however, is how the tech in the classroom has changed since the year 2000. I remember absolutely begging my principal for a Gateway Destination system for my 1st grade classroom. He had ordered one for a 4th grade room, but couldn't see the lower elementary applications. Now, this baby had it all: MMX technology, 31" monitor, wireless keyboard, remote thumb mouse, 32 mb of RAM, 2.5 gig hard drive, and combined PC/TV for the shocking price of $2999. I could even hook my new-fangled laser disc player to it...even thought the AEA only had a small selection of titles. And, when my students weren't creating our class alphabet book using KidPix, they could use one of the Apple IIes with the 5.25" floppy disc to practice race-car math.

We didn't blog or wiki, and because YouTube wasn't around until 2005, we didn't post our alphabet book to the web. We did, however, e-mail "The Tree That Wouldn't Die." Surprisingly, it replied. The mind-set of the time was to use the Destination System as an instructional tool, but I tried at every turn to put it in the hands of my 6-7 year olds.

May of 2000 was the year I took my leave of absence, and no, the many "Y2K" meetings were not a catalyst for my leaving. I knew I'd miss the students as well as my co-workers, but as I closed my room for the final time that summer, I wondered how I'd ever convince another principal to get me my own Destination system. I couldn't possibly teach without it.

(On a humorous side-note, when I returned to teaching in 2005, my middle school classroom had a Destination System which accumulated mounds of dust thanks to the SmartBoard I had convinced my principal to let me permanently check out from the media center.)

In 2000, I didn't imagine streaming video for our students let alone publishing their works on the web. Receiving the e-mail from the "Tree That Wouldn't Die" was cool, but Skyping it would have been amazing. In my 2000 classroom, Responders were defined as the students who consistently raised their hands. Who would have ever imagined the formative assessment these little clickers could provide?

Now, on the verge of 2010, the mind set is not only focused on an instructional tool for teachers, but a learning tool for students--allowing them to be producers of their own learning. Just think in 10 short years how different our ed tech landscape looks...and what another 10 years has in store.

On the Move!!!

This week and next week are going to be absolutely crazy. We are in the middle of our pack and move to our new admin building. Boxes are a mile high and if I needed something I have no idea which box I put it in.
Besides the move we had a day and a half off because of snow. So in other words not a lot of coaching went this week. I spent some time on the phone with the wonderful people from e-instruction. I seem to spend a fair amount of time on the phone them for some reason. My Christmas wish is that someday I can just load a computer with the software from e-instruction and it works perfectly. That's all I want. Not a new car, not all the money in the world, just for the product to work like it is supposed to. That's not too much to ask.

Wordle.net

This is going to be a very short post because we are under a deadline for our move to the new administrative building at Jackson Plaza & there is still a lot to pack!

Layne mentioned Wordle.net in an earlier post, but since I have been spending some time trouble-shooting our network issues with it, I thought I'd spotlight it. The picture above is our 6-8th grade Technology Standards and Benchmarks after it has been processed by Wordle. The more often a word is used in a text, the larger it appears. Think of how you can use this in a classroom. I know of one middle school teacher in our district who uses this for her current events in her social studies classes. Students type in the article and they analyze it for main idea, why certain words appear larger, etc.

Check out this slideshow on 43 ways to use Wordle in the classroom.

Now...not to be pessimistic, but our network is having some issues with this. It works fine for me. It works fine in the middle schools. It even works fine on ONE of the computers in an elementary lab...but not the other 26. It says something about our firewall not allowing JAR files, but if this was the case, I assume it wouldn't work for ANYONE. (Mamma always says not to assume anything though). So after trying every possible solution I can think of, I have dumped this into one of our tech's lap. But, give it a try...it is well-worth it!

Give it a chance!!!!

Are we going about this the right way? Are people understanding what our intentions are??

You are always going to have people who question what you are doing and why. This job is no different. As more and more technology is rolled out, and being talked about, half are excited and half are really questioning why. What is the purpose of this technology? Who is going to make me use it? What's in it for me? I am not being negative, I'm just repeating the questions I always hear. I understand not all people are comfortable with technology, but I wish all would give it a chance before the negativity consumes them.

I received an email the other day from a 2nd grade teacher in our district who has come to really embrace the technology in her classroom. It has truly changed how she goes about her business. The email stated..."I created a class game using the CPS. My students love it! My students don’t even realize these are the same questions from worksheets we have recently done. You should see the smiles and hear the “yes” when their group gets the question right. They are so motivated to help each other and to solve the questions. This is truly awesome!! These are the moments the public, school district members, and other nah sayers should see!"

The engagement and learning that is going on in her classroom is amazing. The kids truly do love the technology. I understand being uncomfortable with technology. As a teacher whose job it is to make sure kids are succeeding and growing, I believe it to be a small price to pay to add some amazing tools to your tool box. Eventually you will be as comfortable with the technology as you are with brushing your teeth.

This email really reassures that we are doing the right thing. It's a good feeling to get an email like that from time to time explaining the positive impact that our job and the technology has delivered.I hope that most go in to this venture with an open mind. I am willing to do everything in my power to make sure teachers know how to use the technology and that they are as comfortable as can be.

Atomic Learning

This week I opened up some new software for data gathering & analyzing. (It's called InspireData.) We thought it would be neat to use for gathering data about our roll-out with our new equipment. Even more so, it would be a wonderful tool in the classroom. So as I was flipping through the manual, browsing through the .pdf, and just "jumping right into" the software, I just couldn't seem to find the answer to one of my questions. That's when Jamie said "Why don't you just check out Atomic Learning?"

Ahhhh....Atomic Learning. Have you ever checked it out? I don't know why that didn't occur to me in the first place. I used it in the classroom with my middle school students all the time. It was such a great resource for any software question we had. It was a tool to help students easily teach themselves the specific skill they needed. (No need for a whole-group lesson on how to insert a video into PowerPoint--the students who didn't know how could simply go to Atomic Learning.)

Here's how it works:
1. Go to www.atomiclearning.com
2. If you are using a SCCSD networked computer, it should recognize you. Otherwise you will have to use your AEA credentials to log in.
3. When you click on the Home button you will see a menu of choices. You can choose to find an answer to a tech. question or a particular product.
4. Each product has a tutorial broken into 1-2 minute clips.

So, as I logged into Atomic Learning, I was skeptical as to whether they would actually have any video tutorials on InspireData. But, to my pleasant surprise, 35 mini-clips were available for the watching. And sure enough, my question was answered within two minutes.

I think being able to teach yourself to learn is such a valuable skill that we all want our students to do, but as adults sometimes escapes us. Maybe it is the time constraints or simply the work overload that causes us to place new software programs on the back burner or simply throw our hands up. But, that is the beauty of Atomic Learning--you don't have to sit through a 30 minute video just to get to the part that concerns your issue.

If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.