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".

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.

Day 3 1/2

I found that I got so engrossed in looking at all of the websites that until the very last minute I didn't create a delicious account. That is my problem. There is so much out there, screening and deciding what you want to save can become an issue for me. I'll need to figure out how to narrow my search when I go online and not attempt to cross topics. I was very excited by the literature on adolescent literacy. Hope to also be able to find some good links for math. That will be my next topic...followed by middle level learning, smaller teams, student engagement, relevance.......and oh so much more.

I still need time to play around, practice adding links, and figure out how to read those crazy codes they give you at the bottom of the screen. (Cristen and I tried four time before I got the access code right for delicious.) It all looks foreign to me!

Day 3

I can't stop thinking about how we can make use of the things we are learning. People need to see the value of the tools and what better way to do that than to have those that are using them showcase how. As I look towards staff meetings for the year, I am thinking about how to promote the use of the tech tools. Steve is promoting the idea of starting a staff blog where people share their ideas. This might be a way for people to share their ideas and the cool things they are doing. Another idea might be to start every staff meeting with one tech tool. People who were interested could then pursue more information.

For me personally, I am feeling like I can do much more than what I could last week. Each day brings a bit more clarity. What an exciting feeling!

Day 2 1/2

Playing certainly helps. I am a hands on person and the ability to get in there and muck around helps cement the learning. What also helps supplement this is a specific set of steps that I can always revert to when I get stuck. I have made some notes for myself that I think will help although they are far from complete. If only Borders would call and say that my book is in! I am not one to shelve the resource manual. Personally I like to pull it out and put on my technical reading hat to see if it can get me out of a jam.

In terms of what this means for kids...I can think of a number of ways teachers can use this. It will mean that people need to rethink how they use their time. I would not want people to spend inordinate amounts of time at their computers at home. If it comes to this then I think people will avoid using the technology.

For me personally, I think being able to receive RSS feeds specific to things we are working on would be helpful. Searching the web can be overwhelming. I'd like to get more proficient at finding sites so that I can then share information with others electronically. Maybe eventually I will get to paperless or almost paperless!