Next Year

I look forward to using the summer to fully and freely explore the use of wikispaces, blogging and podcasting so that I can start next year with a renewed perspective and hopefully a better plan for implementing all three in an effective manner.

Mistakes

I have recently been receiving emails from students that are signed onto wikispaces. I am again immediately put on the defensive, as I am not used to getting personal email from students. I have also seen emails that are not necessarily directed at me, but seems to be part of a conversation. I can see how students who have not been appropriately instructed on how to use such systems could get themselves into trouble by sending the wrong email to the wrong person, although this is a typical situation that they will face when growing up in our digital world.

Coming to the End

The end of the year is coming very fast and I am still trying to fit everything in that is needed.

Finish Line in Site!

Tass and I worked on the board last week. We got GREAT support, as usual, from our Tech Coordinator Gene Agee, who took photos of our STEP team.
We will put the rest of the pictures on the board on Tuesday and spruce up our STEP sites in preparation for the Wednesday Gallery Walk.

Hopes

The most common use of technology in my classroom is the ELMO document camera. I received it last year during STEP and did not use it that much as I was not very comfortable with it, but this year I use it on a daily basis. I am hoping that next year, I will use the wikispaces, blogging and podcasting much more often in the same way as I did not use the document camera before, but do so often now.

Blog Experiment

I started a blog called "Gittin' On" using Google. The STEP team wants us to make a blog, but didn't give us any specifics, so I chose this. The county uses Google for everything now, so it should be OK for blogging. We'll see!

Thanks

Thanks to the wonderful team of STEPers at Berwyn Heights. It was difficult finishing and we are down to the wire. I appreciate how hard you pulled together to complete STEP 2. It was very poor timing for us to finish so near the end of the school year. Tas, congrats on finishing your GW certificate. Robert, thanks for keeping on as our tech leader with a smile, even though you know that your position may no longer be tech. Jessica, all this and a student intern as well, more work that we ever thought. Christian, finishing when you have all of the end of the year things to do.
I know it was not easy and I know you all did a great job.
My own special thanks to Linda who came to my rescue many times.
Here is hoping for STEP 3, could it finish in March?

You guys are the BEST or should I say the most technologically astute!

Tec Blues

I am so very sad to say that we are no longer going to have our CLE program (Music and Technology). I thought we would at least survive with our tech assistant but his position is no longer available with SOR funds. I know the students need to learn with technology. They need to experience tech daily and I do not know how we will support it. I was just talking to some people about something as little as batteries. They continue to disappear, even the rechargable ones. What will we ever do with 2 labs and computers in every one and no one responsible for them. For me the frustration of not getting things to work quickly stops me from using rhings. What will happen to labs with no one ultimately responsible. I am very nervous and anxious about how I can develop a plan that keeps us from back sliding.

Oh No!

Today is June 3, and I am one day late for completing the particulars for the STEP team!
I am reviewing everyone's Wikispace today, and making sure that all of the parts are there. All of us have been very busy, some of course implementing the tech pieces more than others.
This is natural, and the big picture is that we have all been given hardware, software, and training in how to use technology with our students to make our instruction more effective and keep motivation and engagement very high.

Wiki Wonderings

Well the kids have taken the wiki into more directions than I had anticipated or been prepared for. Shortly after introducing it on a Friday, a student logged on that same evening to continue discussing the topics and replying to others. He also sent me a personal message telling me he liked the wiki and that some students at his table had been bothering him. This has opened up a new way of communicating among students and between teacher and student. I really need to put some thought into this before using it next year. For instance, the login and passwords I gave my students is basically the same, so they could easily log on as someone else. They can also send “emails” to each other without me being aware, making this a type of social networking site, rather than for just classroom use. I need to talk with others and figure out how to address my concerns. Other than that, it has been neat to see how quickly they jumped in and began discussing the topics I started.

Electronic Year Book

Our students are beginning to create their electronic yearbook pages. They are working together in groups to create powerpoint pages that will eventually be put together to create a digital yearbook that everyone can take home on a disk. I think it is a great way to give students yearbooks while spending a reasonable amount of money.

Still Unsure

I am still unsure as to how blogging can be effectively used in the classroom. For me, it has given me a way to express personal thoughts and feelings, but beyond that, I am not sure how I could use it to aid in the classroom. I am looking forward to seeing examples from other teachers to get a better idea.

Voice Thread

My students used voice thread today to record their responses to Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Some were nervous, others excited, but all did a great job. I enjoy hearing their expression as they speak, rather than only reading their writing. I also enjoyed being able to share it with my husband at home. I hope to use it more next year and make it accessible to parents. I would like to think about and discuss possibilities for using it as an assessment tool. I guess I would create a rubric that outlined what information they would need to include in their recording. I would also like to use it as a way of publishing work, such as including their illustration as they read a poem they wrote and read.

Voice Thread

I had my presentation almost complete. I wanted to add some student voices to it but I had technical difficulties. I was unable to get into voice thread. The screen was gray and I already knew that I needed a red screen to add and view my project. I just hope that I was able to get what I had done BACK!!!! This made me reflect on the level of expertise needed for me to use technology. I tried to reinstall the flash like we did before but did not have admin rights to do so. I was reluctant to share the project because I was not sure that it would work. I printed out a photo copy of the presentation after I found it so that if it was lost I could still have an artifact of my work. Funny how we still rely so much on support. I am not ready to do this on my own but I would be willing to work with a group to learn a little more.

Difficulties

I still find it difficult to fit in the use of VoiceThread and podcasts in general for math. I had the idea of using it to solve BCR’s with students, however it is more difficult than I had thought. Most students either do not take the BCR seriously enough, or just listen to what other’s have said, and steal their answers. I am still playing with the idea of how to implement it.

Tech Literacy

Our monthly tech meeting was informative in revealing that 7th grade students have to take a state "Tech Literacy" test. Last year only 33% got proficient! The areas tested are Systems and Fundamentals, Word Processing, Multimedia and Presentations, Presentations, and Database. This certainly is a wake-up call to have a real curriculum developed for 5th and 6th grade students, and regular assessments. ALSO it is time for PGCPS to fund one technology position in each elementary school, and put all of the millions in infrastructure, hardware, and staff development to good use.

Voicethreads

Today I am making my Voicethread. It will be about the sixth grade Wikispace for the STEM Fair science projects. I will make a short introduction, then I will ask several students to comment.
We have a NEW school digital video camera, so I hope this can be used more next year for video work by students. 4th and 5th grade students are proficient now in the basic skills, and they certainly could and should use more technology to extend their learning by making multimedia presentations.

Midway

I am using Wikispaces more and more with classroom teachers. We will use some for communicating with students in other schools, and some are just for practice this year. This will be a good way to start the 2009-2010 school year, with every class having a Wikispace accessed through the Berwyn Heights home page in the PGCPS site. It should be a good communication tool for parents.
My next challenge is to make two Voicethreads, and one will be about making the Wikispace for 6th grade STEM Science fair, and the other will be about the technology used during the year by the students.
I hope our STEP team has time for one more work session before the gallery walk in June.

NPR

NPR recently did an article on the effects of social networking on the development of relationships between teenagers and young adults. Some fear that it has lead to teens developing numerous relationships, but no real, close friends. Others find that social networking and the internet in general is a step in the right direction because it is letting teens express themselves and find others who feel the same way they do.

STEP coming to an end

Week of May 18
Everything seems to be coming together. I never thought I would get it done. The AP is back. My presentation needs just a few revisions. I asked the STEP trainer to help me with that and she is coming in on Wednesday after school to help me with the finishing touches. I was happy to say that I learned a lot AGAIN through STEP. I love this program. I talked with one of the participants and she said she wishes there was one more time to really learn one of the pieces of equipment really well. She learned a lot, no doubt much more than I did. It is amazing to me how much I have learned and how no matter what the pressure; I love the opportunity to learn technology. I want to do more and do it better. Last year, I learned and put some of it into effect. The issue is how to make things better with the tools we have. I have already listed some ideas of projects that I will be doing this summer. All I can say is thanks for pushing me; it made me a better administrator. I might have only scratched the surface of the areas we learned. How can I not adore Voice Thread? How can I not blog to form better relationships with likeminded people? How can I not say STEP enriched my life and impacted on my practices? This is a wonderful program and I hope you make STEP 3. Next time I will make more time. This time I will use what I learned to develop more in the summer.

Typing

I have noticed that many students are fairly good at typing using only two fingers. I am sure this is because they have been typing without ever being taught the traditional way of typing on a QWERTY keyboard. I wonder how this self-taught fluency will make it easier or harder for them to learn the “proper” way of typing in the future.

Excell Again, Again

Week of May 11th
I am still on the Excel kick. It is not good enough for me to do a schedule alone, I always share with teachers. Classroom teachers and specialist have a lens on more specifics and can easily see some of the pitfalls while I look more globally. I do a skeleton and have teams look at it every step of the way. I have been sharing my schedule with teams and stakeholders. Next year will be different because we are planning on the worst and really getting our additional personnel cut to the bone. They are using the Excel chart I made up and it is so easy to make changes. We are all working on the schedule to make it doable for all of the teachers and students. This is a great way to share information. Now, of course the first draft will not really be done until after the principal’s institute. We learn about time and program changes.

Project Due Soon

Today we are working on completing our project.
Thank goodness i have some pictures but not much else.
Who else is feeling stressed!!!!!
Thank goodness for the STEP support.

I think that the team members are like me a bit type A.
Thank you thank you for being willing to help me so my project is at least exceptable.
This made me reaalize how important it is to give you time to complete your project.
Let's pick a date.
Thanks for working so hard hope i can keep up to your expectations.

Intern Goodbye

For this past school year, our class has had a student-teacher from the University of Maryland, Ms. Curry. It’s been a great experience for all. Ms. Curry has been strong in using Power Points to enhance her teaching. I’ve been inspired to try it more myself! I made my first one earlier this year, and it really took some time! I was party relieved/partly disappointed when I learned we would be forgoing the Power Point training in STEP. I plan to use it more next year and get more comfortable in having my students use it too.

Technology and Funding

Week of May 4th
The budget was due for the last fifty cents that we had to spend. Oracle was like getting blood from a stone. The ESOL department wants headphones for Voice Thread. I told them I will order them over the summer since there was very little left in the budget. It is nice that others are desiring technology. I am nervous about the SOR budget. We have so many computers in the school. That is wonderful but we purchase a technology assistant who is desperately needed. Having the technology is wonderful but having the ability to keep it up and running is more important. I always wondered why the school district did not have a technology and testing position for all elementary schools. Technology could open the doors and provide more advantages for differentiation and independent working. This year we were able to make Flash Cards using Movie Maker to create centers for the students. I thought this could become a great way for our upper grade students to boost their technology skills by making them for lower grades. It did not go over big and was not really done but it could be fun for all of the students.

Parent Portal

We’ve learned that parents will soon have access to their child’s grades online. (I remember seeing SchoolMAX vendors at MICCA and feeling good about already being familiar with it, rather than behind when there were so many other tools/programs I know nothing about). While I can see some drawbacks to this, I think is it mostly a positive change. I hope it will encourage most parents to be more involved and aware of their child’s work and take out the mystery that some can feel when they receive progress reports or report cards. It’s another way of communicating with families and helpful in keeping students accountable for their assignments.

My Blog

I created a seperate blogspot with video clips of recent school activities I am engaged in. Please visit by clicking this link: http://tassinstep.blogspot.com/

Digital Tragedy

Last week, our hard drive on our home computer crashed. My wife and I instantly lost five years of data. All of our pictures, songs on iTunes, school documents, tax returns, everything. It will cost about $600 to try to get everything back. This is just a reminder about how fragile our digital life really is, and how important it is to back up everything. We didn’t just lose a couple of pictures and songs, we lost memories.

Starts and Stops

I have had several “start-and-stops” with the implementation of the various aspects of this year’s STEP program in my classroom. I am not sure if I would do better by more training or if I am simply that uncomfortable with using these new concepts that I just can’t think of ways to use them well without being shown explicit examples.

Excel Again

Week of April 27th
Every year for the past seven years I have been thinking about the next year’s schedule during the Spring Break. Generally, I was on a plane for hours and it gave me the time to think. We seemed to be fairly sure that funding and staffing continues. This year there is very different there is more uncertainty than ever. We may be losing our CLE program which brings an additional 3 positions to the school. Therefore it is very difficult to think about the schedule. I spent an entire Sunday just thinking. I generally use page after page of paper and often rewrite the information. This year I decided to use my Excel course knowledge to set up a template that I could use on the computer. The schedule is very detailed and one thing always affects another. I am sad to say that lunch really impacts the way the instructional program can be done. Lunch affects preps, preps affect grade time, grade time affect when services can be delivered, etc. etc. I was able to set up an excel spreadsheet of 5 charts that could help me see the schedule on one easy page. One change was reflected in the charts it impacted upon. This made it much easier to think about the preps, lunch, specials, and grade time. Since I do not know if this will reach any of my principal schedulers, I will bring it to the principal’s leadership, in case anyone could use the form.

Introduction to ELMO

Today our class had guest teachers—art education students from the University of Maryland. As they were preparing to teach, they asked if I had an overhead projector for them to use. I then had the opportunity to introduce them to ELMO! They were impressed and took some time to get used to using it. It was quick, but at least exposed them to new technology that can be used in education. (I hope they tell their professors that spend time helping them prepare the transparencies…!)

Philosphical Questions

The current trend of social networking, podcasting, personal wikis, etc. has caused me to wonder how students will be as adults in a world where everyone has access to everyone. Not too long ago, it was a novelty if a company had a website; now a company would not be taken seriously without one. Today, most people have some sort of ability to put themselves on display, and I wonder if the same trend will continue. Will you be judged negatively if you do not put yourself on public display for all the world to see? What long-term effects will that have on children who think that they must be writing, blogging, twittering, texting, and posting pictures about themselves as much as possible just to be considered a “normal” person?

Technology NO

Week of April 17

Not a thing to say about technology. I will not have time to catch up on anything but life. The AP will be out for a few weeks and I will have to take care of everything. Limited work on anything but essentials.

MICCA

Ms. Anwar gave me support, and 4 sixth graders and their parents came to show off, as I got a 45 minute session at MICCA on Wednesday, April 22. I called it "WIKI SCIENCE" and showed teachers how students used the bhestech.wikispaces to work on their STEM Fair Science projects at home.
We had a lot of interest, and I e-mailed many teachers the program and hope they can implement it.
I met with the director of Science Education in PGCPS and talked about coming to training sessions this summer to show them how the process takes place. I would also like to help them make a rubric for grading "On-line" Science projects, which are not recognized now as a viable way to show their work.

My First MICCA

I went to my first MICCA conference yesterday with my teammate, Christian. It was interesting and informative. I tried to choose presentations that relate to what we’re doing in STEP. I found it helpful to see how others have used voice thread in their classrooms. Our presenter also went through the basics of how to set it up and record, which was a nice refresher of our first training. I’m still wondering how to have moving/changing pictures rather than just a still one. I also want to try out www.wordle.com, which was introduced at another presentation. Maybe I can use it for my portfolio banners.

The MICCA conference in Baltimore was interesting. Almost every conference I read about seemed to be all about student interaction with other students, teacher, parents, etc. through the use of computers. The main focus of technology in general does seem to be increasing the ability to communicate quickly and easily with anyone at any time, and the use of technology in the classroom does not seem to be any different.

Lagging Behind

I am still having trouble keeping up with the STEP program and using everything we have been learning in an effective way within the classroom. I am still not comfortable with everything, and that leads me to feel like I have to shove in the wikispace or podcasting somewhere. I have always taught without it, and using it now seems forced. I still hope that I will be able to get over my own anxieties and use our resources effectively.

Email

Week of April 13th
There should be a law against email!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I do not think I will survive the messages. I was gone a week and have about 400 emails between work and home. That does not even count the spam and nonsense. I was doing my little walking tape and it said that it is no one’s fault that our activity level has been cut down. We do not even have to walk to the mailbox just sit and get email. I do not think anyone should send emails during breaks. The system should be closed. I even received tons of emails from the staff and I only took the break and one school day off. My husband and I go out of the country at least two times a year so we are free from work and home. It is usually 10 days that we are not able to be reached. These emails make me think I would like to do it more than 2 times a year! I guess I can look at the bright side; he got more than I did and he has long documents attached to his! I guess I will rebel and read only through the ones I have to. I will save the others for later. I need to learn to manage my email system better. I want to take a Google Mail course so I will learn more. I did a session at Power up and know it is not hard. Maybe this summer.

Break

Week of April 6th

I am taking a break and going to EGYPTduring SPring Break! A dream trip! No reflecting for me this week.

Back to school!
The fourth marking period is starting and I want to have the upper grade students participate in ePals. I will be the "Teacher" of record, and hope to get the classes entered this week.
The website has been difficult to access at school, and I will test it before I spring it on the students: maybe the county has filtering software that makes it hard to get in and out of.
We start online MSA Science testing at the end of April, and that is the end of testing!
All of the teachers are gearing up for a good end of the year, and so is our STEP team!
Robert

Inventory

I recently took the online technology inventory that was sent through email. It was a questionnaire that took about 15 minutes to answer all the multiple choice questions. I did fairly well on most of the categories, but found that the one area in which I scored the lowest was the use of technology in differentiation for students. I missed some questions that asked for the most appropriate way to use technology to help students with special needs or ESL students. I guess this helps me get a better understanding of myself and where I can improve, but I am unsure exactly how to improve from here.

Spring Break

Spring Break! No big plans for me this week. My husband teaches writing at Howard Community College, so I’m sure we’ll spend some time grading together.

Spring Break

I hope to continue to put ideas together for my STEP portfolio over Spring Break.

Break Time!

I hope everyone has a very restful break. I am hopeful that we can all get a lot out of going to MICCA on April 21 or 22. We will pick a time after school so that we can get together and do our wiki, blogging, and voicethread projects.
Thanks for all of your work.
Robert

Voice Thread

Week of March 30th
Voice Thread is amazing. This seems like something that I can work on and share with the staff. I can do a presentation that is somewhat finished and needs little maintenance yet it can have people commenting on it. My thought is that it can be directions for our “Arts in the Park.” WE were adopted by Greenbelt National Park and they have really been a great partner to us since we opened. We hold a full day session at the park for each grade level. In the past it was done by the science teacher. She did an excellent job. It was planned down to the last detail with more alternative activities if needed. She is no longer with us and the person in charge was not into planning or details and much if not all fell to the teachers. Voice Thread would enable me to make a record and have the teachers comment on it> Maybe I could have it ready before the teachers go so they can write their comments for the next team to go. I also shared it with the ESOL because I can see many, many benefits that they could get from it. They are having some training on Performance Matters for their team and maybe they can hear about Voice Thread.

VoiceThread

This was a REAL learning experience. Although it is relatively simple to do, it is hard for me to envision a project. I would like to do something on our Science Camp/Arts in the Park. It was hard for me to explain exactly what it is to new staff members. This could give me a chance to do a lot with photo, video, voice over, and info for next year's planning, I would love to share it with the parents and students.

I think I will need help. Since I am so much further behind my fellow STEPer's. I am beginning to feel anxiety about doing a project. (Linda and Gene beware!) Aren't you glad I was cheap and saved sub days so you can finish your projects?

wiki woes

i keep getting ideas of topics for students to discuss on our wiki, but i haven't figured out how to have individual students sign in to contribute. i made a class list with their logins, but what about a password?

First in MAth

Week of March 23rd
How can I possibly think of technology again this week? It is the biggest test of the year MSA MATH. I always worry about making AYP, doesn’t matter the subject or the year. This testing time gives me the opportunity to think about our technology program First in Math. We purchased it for grades 3-5 and the county bought grade six. We used it as an activity but we did not monitor it by subgroups this year. In fact we only monitored it in some grade levels. I think it is a good program that gives students the opportunity to drill math facts in fun and different ways. Many of the weaknesses we see have to do with the ability to quickly and efficiently deal with the facts so we can articulate the problem and develop solutions. We will reflect on the benefit or not of having this supplemental math program. One of the difficulties was that even though the students can access the program.

STEP 2

Blogging, twittering and podcasting! I'm glad to be treading these grounds. Wondering if I should take that podcasting workshop offered by Renee Henderson this summer.
-Husky Tass

Inaugural Blog

I am happy that we have finally gotten our blog officially off the ground. Now that it is up and running, I hope that I am able to use it effectively both for the STEP program and my own professional development as well.

looking back

in our first session, we set up our wiki accounts. it took me a while to get the new lingo, but i'm feeling more comfortable with it now. i'm liking that step2 is having work with online resources. i still find it difficult to generate ideas for using the new tools, as well as making time to naturally put it in my lesson. i would really like to observe a lesson in which the teacher is using the different technologies we're learning about.

Welcome!

Our team of Christian Buzzerd, Jessica O'Roark, Tasleema Anwar, and Robert Beaumier are putting the fruits of thier first year STEP training into use this school year.
We will use the STEP 2 training to help our instruction now and in the future.
Welcome again team members, and let's communicate, collaborate, and move ahead with technology at Berwyn Heights.

SchoolMax

I am frustrated with SchoolMax this year. What frustrates me the most is that it seems very close to a great system, but there are several components missing that make it much more difficult to use. For example, I am unable to print a simple gradebook page showing all assignments for a quarter the way I was able to with GradePro or EasyGrade in the past. I am also unable to print out attendance reports, or at least ones that make sense to me. I also don’t like how our progress reports seem to change from quarter to quarter. Whether this is a SchoolMax or PGCPS issue, I’m not sure.

Technology NO MSA YES

Week of March 16th

How can I possibly think of technology this week? It is the biggest test of the year MSA Reading . I always worry about making AYP. Our teachers are the best. They go above and beyond. Nothing can take the place of the good teaching that is happening daily. I am 100% sure that we are going to make AYP for the total population. My concern is for subgroups. Sometimes the subgroup is so very small that even with the confidence band one student truly makes a difference. I think the focus on computer centers will pay off. We are lucky to have a technology team that keeps our computers working and keeps appropriate activities available. For two years there has been a focus on how to use the computer centers for meaningful student activities. I am betting technology helped us get there. Next year I will continue to see if we can do more for our ESOIL students with technology.

Parent Portal

Our parent portal will be opening soon and I am a little nervous about giving parents direct access to see my own gradebook. I think that they should be able to see how their own students are doing. It will also help me stay on pace and keep up with my grading, which I really should be doing anyway. I guess it makes me feel the same kind of nervousness I feel when a parent comes in unannounced. I know I’m not doing anything wrong, but it still adds a bit of anxiety to know that I am being watched closely.

MSA Prep

We’ve been preparing for the MSAs, which unfortunately, hasn’t left much space for technology integration. Perhaps if I felt more proficient at it, then I could utilize it this week. Mostly, I’m meeting in small groups and reviewing with the students.

Social Networking

In an attempt to continue keeping up with today’s techno-culture, I recently started using Facebook. I have always stayed as far away from all social networking sites as I possibly could because I thought it was simply inappropriate for me to use them as a teacher. I am always a teacher, no matter what. As such, I am held to certain higher standards than the average person because I am tasked with the wellbeing of children on a daily basis. I have heard horror stories of teachers putting up the wrong picture or making the wrong comment and getting into lots of unnecessary trouble. I am still uncomfortable using Facebook, and I am not sure if I will keep up with it, but since these sites are becoming such a big part of our society, I did feel that I should at least try it and see if I can keep up in a safe, appropriate manner.

NO JOB!

My principal told me that the Board of Education cut funding for our CLE program, which means I am on the road for a new tech position!
It always puzzles me when an institution puts lots of money into technology and then doesn't support training for end-users, in this case administrators, teachers, and students.
Anyway, we are heading into MSA testing for the next two weeks and I will be busy helping the test coordinator.
My STEP group is doing OK, but I haven't has as much interaction with them this year as last, mostly because this year is Internet-based rather than using hardware. I chose them because they each exemplified good teaching at their grade level, and I know that it is continuing this year.

Digital Age

Week of March 9th
This week I learned a new term it is digital age. A friend was remarking that she read a description of a job that asked for the candidate to be a member of the Digital Age. I did not know what that was. I might have the term wrong but essentially it was a person who grew up with technology. This fits right in with my idea from last week’s entry about how our students know what to do without knowing how the process developed but rather unquestioningly activating the application. They were born with the technology and just do it. Remember how keyboarding skills were thought to be for upper grade students, high school in the olden days. Now you see the commercial that says “I am four years old and I am a PC. Oh, maybe I better go back and check that entry where I am so proud of doing the digital camera. I just quoted a four year old that does it better than I do. But at least I am really using what I learned in STEP one.

Connectivity

Week of March 2nd

Our 6th grade students are going to North Bay for a week. It is a camp with MANY outdoor activities. I am going to stay overnight with them for one night. They get to stay for four nights. I know, what does this have to do with technology. I am just going to remark on connectivity this week. I am in the wilderness in the snow without connectivity to my Blackberry and phone. I am surprised at how much I missed the phone for that one night and day. I left school early in order to drive up for dinner and night activities with the kids. They are wonderful. Our students know how to behave in all types of situations. I was proud of them as they took up new challenges, like the zip line and rope course. They missed technology also. They had a land line to call home but they missed the games and phones. It really is wonderful how much they know without instruction.

Family Portal

Our technology continues to move across the spectrum, with Tuesday evening's PTA meeting focusing on the Parent Portal SchoolMax application opening up for parents to view their child's report card. There were about 20 parents in the computer lab, and instead of giving a presentation we worked individually with parents to get them quick access to the Parent Portal. Most caught on and liked being able to see how their children are doing.

Good STEP Work Session

Linda Sweeting came Feb 24 and we had a good work session. I figured out my Blog and deleted the "practice" ones in favor of the "blogwynheights" for the school.
I tried to help others in the group with their Wikispaces, and move things along.

Computers

My thoughts today are about laptops. I love my tablet pc, even though it would win the prize as the slowest computer. I think how easy it is writing observations on the computer. I remember how I used to write all my notes and go home and type the observations. It is such a time saved to do it. My typing skills have improved significantly (except when someone is watching. I know that technology has had a great impact on how I do my job. It makes things easier and I hope that I can get better and quicker at much of the paperwork by using technology more effectively. Today is a day of Celebration as all of the teacher observations are done.

VoiceThread

I am excited at the prospect of using VoiceThread in my classroom. It seems like a relatively easy to use tool that can help engage students in various ways. I am thinking of using it as a way for students to answer BCR’s. That way, they could see how their own responses compare to each others, and I could give feedback that would guide students towards more-complete answers.

WIKI SCIENCE AT STEM FAIR

Wednesday we had the judging of the STEM Fair Science projects. Fourth and fifth grade students' backboards were lining the hallways, along with some third grade class projects, and some individual projects.
My brother-in-law came as a judge for the sixth graders, and he and 5 other adults were in the computer lab. The judges could preview the projects ahead of time using the bhestech.wikispaces site, and the students explained them pretty well.
A science teacher said that the graphs were not good, and I realized that next year I will have to work on recording, graphing, and analyzing data more thoroughly.
All-in-all it worked out well, and I look forward to building on our modest foundation this year.

Science Fair Power Point

It seems that our students are so much better prepared with technology than we adults are. It was really amazing to see the students' presentation. They were really able to do some interesting things. I talked with one student who showed me in a matter of minutes how he could change color, style, and effects. I think I need a student to help me do the Faculty Meeting presentations. I really spend a lot of time doing something so BASIC. He could make it more professional looking in about 4 minutes, with color, animation, etc. I will try and take more classes to help me be better prepared. My problem is that if I do not get practice I forget. Here's to practicing over the summer!

Science Fair and WikiSpaces

I was impressed with our school’s use of Wikispaces and our Science Fair this year. Our tech coordinator, Mr. Beaumier, stored all students’ Science Fair PowerPoint presentations on a class wiki, and had students work on them in class and at home. While it was seemed confusing and downright messy at first, the students were able to get the hang of it. It also provided me a way of keeping an eye on how students were progressing.

MSA on my mind!

I had two MSA test meetings this week, one for Reading and Math for the whole school, and another for MSA Science online. There is a LOT of information to take in, mostly to take care of wierd situations that come up. I really like the MSA Science, and in ten years all of these kinds of tests will be online: faster, easier, quicker scoring, and GREEN - lots of paper can be saved!

Our 6th graders are working to complete their STEM Fair Science projects, and I am staying after school from 4-6 for the second week in a row to help students. There is a dedicated group of 5-7 girls who come and are very productive. Many have taken digital pictures and are adding them to their PowerPoints. They are also starting to narrate their slides. Some look VERY good.

Family Book Night

We have a great PTA who along with the reading teacher wrote a grant for Target to have parent book nights. The grant covered the cost of books for all students. Kathy developed wonderful experience for parents and students to share their books. It was delightful. We even showed the Witches movie earlier in the year as part of the program. This wonderful night got me thinking about where we could have enhanced the program with technology. Students did PowerPoint presentation of books as one of our School Improvement Activities. It was very difficult in terms of extra time needed. I wonder what we can do to get parents to help us with technology and their individual students, it could be like our science fair nights where parent and students come to work on a project. I wish I would have thought of it before. Maybe next year if we apply for the grant we can think about how technology impacts our program.

What Happened?

Evidently I made two Blogs as a test, and now I have to make one for STEP, and when I logon to one of the test blogs I can't really get into the school blog, called "blogwynheights", except as a "follower"!
Of course I should have written down all of my passwords, and this is the source of some confusion. I think I will just delete the test blogs, and get into "blogwlynheights" and work from there. Honestly, the Wiki seems very helpful with students, but it is a reach to see how a Blog would really help in an elementary classroom. I'd have to see some examples of a class that did something productive with it.
More to come.

More Blogging BLUES

Week of Feb. 2nd

Do you remember when we first got Google Mail? It was really difficult to make the adjustment. It was not hard just different. One of my biggest problems was that of organization. I loved that I could go back and put everything in alphabetical order by sender and find the thing I did not remember I got and do it! Well the blogs are just as bad. I cannot seem to remember how to get into the blog. I will try to record my little messages until I get around to doing it right. But it would be nice to converse with someone else occasionally. Either I have to give up working or sleeping to get done all I have to do. I am sorry I am not the technology wiz I want to be. I need to spend time that I do not seem to have. I will get better as I go. Or at least I hope I will.

Wiki can do or will do?

Week of Jan .26th
Wiki dos and don’ts? OR is it Wiki can do and will do? I liked and understood the Wiki training last week. I even think I can do a VERY BASIC one. I had some thought when I was in the session about what a project could be. The sixth grade students made their science fair presentations via Wiki’s. One of the judges said they were even able to see more of the projects by using the Wiki from home. I thought it was a real wonderful thing. Like blogging and websites, wiki’s need to be maintained. That is and has always been my problem. I enjoy people and the most important part of my day is the interactions that I spend with our students. I call them our darlings and really do mean it. I feel blessed to be the principal in this school. I feel blessed to have all the parents and students. This is the best school I have ever worked in and it is because of the people that I work with. I wish I could allocate my time differently but I do what I love. I cannot see me maintaining a wiki. I know it is not that much time. It is just I do not need to have one more thing that I need to do regularly. Maybe I could just be a very small part of one.

Getting There with WIKI

The sixth grade students are completing their STEM Science Fair projects, and putting them on PowerPoint. Their next task is to upload the PowerPoint to bhestech.wikispaces and then access it and work on it at home.
Some students are really taking off with it, and are good motivators for others. We intend for the judges to be able to access the Wiki site and view all of the projects from there. The big push is on!

New Prez!

What a week! We had Monday off for MLK birthday, and Tuesday for the innauguration of Barak Obama. I thought about going but it was in the teens in the early morning, and only got up into the 20's during the day. Also, lots of people overwhelmed the security people and so people couldn't get into the Mall area proper.
We watched on TV and it was exciting!
Last Thursday we had our STEP meeting for WIKISPACES, and I was glad to help the other members with it. Each of us has to make a Wiki for STEP, but for now I am just working with mykl bhestech Wikispace that I made for the 6th grade STEM Science Fair project.

Blog Blues

Week of Jan. 19th

Did you find the Blog I put on the site? I did not. I am not a blogger. I find it like Blackboard and I wish we were using the discussion board. I know it is just that I already know it but it seems so much more doable for me. I will see if I can find the blog when I learn how to do it. Until then I will keep journal entries. I guess I need more support than most STEPers. I am always willing to be dragged along with our team. (Complaining Session)

Excel

Week of Jan. 12th

I would like to be more fluent in the technology that we use regularly. This week’s reflection is about my technology journey. It does not relate directly to STEP but it is about the technology that I feel we should be using more regularly. I signed up for an Excel course through the county. I generally use Word and not Excel. I am very proficient at making word tables. They appear to be easy to organize and insert into documents. Yet, I can see that Excel has many uses that would be beneficial for me as an administrator. The class had us create a document that would be very useful for transportation. In the class, I was able to develop the example into something that will be useful for our school. I is an each way to track students for the buses. I was able to make up the example in a way that we will be able to use it in August. I hope to be able to use more Excel in the future.

WIKI SIXTH GRADE

Most sixth grade students were able to get onto the wikispace I made for them. Some couldn't, so I gave them a generic "Student1" account to login with, and they will use that. I will upload a new list of students so that everyone can use the account.
For now, the sixth graders are completing their science projects using the generic template available to them throught the school website.
I am excited!

Digital Camera Photo Book

Week of Jan. 5th

I cannot believe I was able to do make a photo book of my vacation pictures. Although it was on a machine with the software, I was able to use many of the techniques I learned in STEP I to complete the book. I know it was a simple little thing but I had only made a project and never did any more than print from the card. So this is a big step for me. I put headings on and designed the photo book. I was also able to share some of the wonderful pictures with the trip. This little book will help me remember the wonderful things that I have seen.

Back to Work

The first week back to school is always the hardest for me. In order for me to get through I leave my week's lesson plans on my computer the LAST DAY before winter break. This makes the week a lot better!
I also discovered "Iz" when I visited Hawaii in November, so I played "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" as classes entered and left. It was fun, especially since the week was cold and this was great music from warm Hawaii!
I did a LOT of work over the break on the www.bhestech.wikispaces.com site, and I am getting all of them to logon and practice using it.

One of the reasons I was looking forward to participating in STEP once again this year was the fact that I would be using various aspects of technology and the internet with which I was not familiar, including blogging and creating wikis. While I am learning more, I still am having difficulty getting into the “flow” of using them naturally. I hope that with time, I will become even more comfortable, and using them will become more natural.