Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Crazy Dayzzzz part 2

So this afternoon I have explored Marvel and worked my way through slideshare. I'll start with slideshare first. I actually missed the audio that we found in a number of the other tools we used. I can see that value of having students create and then share their presentations using this tool, yet I do have to wonder if using IMovie would give you the same affect. I say that because Megan used IMovie for our presentation on opening day. It started with slides and then was put to music. I found this to be an appealing way to present the information to people.

Marvel on the other hand, if you can narrow your search, looks like a great place to get information. Where else are you able to access articles, journals, and books in one place. I can see the value of using this tool on a regular basis and hope to have some time to start searching and connecting to my RSS.

Crazy Dayzzzz

Today has been quite the day. Trying to play catch up while managing everything else has left little energy in the brain. We started the day with Jeff being sick when he was going on an overnight trip with 7 kids. We made a plan, calling parents and notifying kids. Thanks to some great support from our counterpart at Memorial, our kids were able to attend. Given the option to stay behind they said NO. Signs of true leadership.

This was followed by the flu shots and managing the flow out of classes and into the gym. Things went better than expected because of the help we got from teachers, volunteers, and even the kids.

With that under our belts I moved on to trying to get things ready for tomorrow's professional development. I have data that we will be using but in my quest to be progressive, I set out to find some more. Unfortunately the MEA website didn't like my access codes. You'd think they'd give you one and let you keep it until the principal retired, died, or just plain old moved on. But no, they send a new one every year. Last year they obviously sent 2 different codes, neither of which work. So that attempt to work with the technology went bust! I'll try again tomorrow.

And that has to be the motto today, "try again tomorrow".

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Day 5

Headache! Started with Voice Thread but then decided that I really could make better use of Google Docs (the class I missed). Went back and started the tutorials on Google Docs. I think this might be the way to go. I have a few questions. If I do a schedule on Google Docs can I send it to all staff because I have their email addresses? Will they be able to access it easily? Can I lock it down so no one can make changes to it or does using it imply that the readers are able to interact with my text? This looks like it might be a good tool to use for presentations instead Powerpoint. I'll definitely need to play around with it more.

On another note check out this video that Steve made for me to show the School Board.

A New Day

Haven't been on the blog for a while. Had to rattle the brain a bit before it kicked in. Who told me that it takes 23 times before you commit it to memory? I think it was Debbie. Not quite at 23 yet so I must get to work. Recently I was on a site reading an educational article. At the bottom on the article it had RSS as well as several other icons that could be put into your favorites. I was glad that I knew what it meant. When I have some time I am going back to the article because Id like to save it.

Time continues to be an issue. Now that we are back in full swing, having time to play is limited. I need to do a better job making time if I want to be able to solidify the new learning.