Technology Medley

This year, all teachers in Salem are being asked to have some sort of online presence for posting student assignments and other class information. Many of you already have a web page or blog, and you do an awesome job with these! For those of you who are just getting started, here are a few options:

Salem provides web space for all employees, so this is probably your most reliable option. However, it can also be time consuming to create your own web site. For that reason, we do have some templates available to help you get started. Here’s an example of one that Mrs. Beamer at West recently created. If you would like to start with something cute but easy, let me know and I’ll send you more information.

For more flexibility, but a steeper learning curve, you might want to create your site completely from scratch. Katie Crotts at South has a really cute kindergarten site that you might enjoy looking through.

You can update your web pages from home by using either FrontPage or Expression Web. You can find those directions here.

Other options include creating a blog or a wiki. Edublogs is designed specifically with educators in mind, but the free version does include advertisements. This is a wonderful blog site, and they will remove the ads if you upgrade to an Edublogs Supporter account for $40 a year. With this comes the ability to remove ads for up to 30 additional blogs.

Google’s blog platform, Blogger, is very easy to use. The only issue with this site is the Previous – Next Blog links that show up by default at the top of the page. These literally take you to random blogs, many of which are not appropriate for school use. There is a simple script that can be added to the code to remove these links, so if you want to use Blogger, go ahead and get started. Let me know when you’re set up and I’ll help you get rid of the navigation bar.

Wikis are very simple and quick web pages. There are several options online, but my personal favorite is Wikispaces. If you go to this page, you can apply for an ad free wiki. Our India wiki is a good example, but yours does not need to be this involved.

There are also numerous web sites that provide space for web site creation. I have not used any of these, but if you’re interested, please check them out. Be sure to check for ads and make sure you can live with them if there are any. If you find one you really like, let me know and we’ll find a way to make it work for you!

Weebly

Google Sites

Bloust

Yola

ClassJump

SchoolRack

Hipero

I can’t wait to see what you all come up with!

The Salem ITRTs are happy to announce our new web site located here:

http://salem.k12.va.us/itrt.

It’s far from complete, but please take a look at the Elementary section and then click on Links. Here you will find numerous links for your students to use in almost every subject. We will be adding to these throughout the year, so please let me know if there is a specific site you’d like to have added.

The Teachers Corner will eventually have teacher links that are presently housed on each school’s site. Support Materials include links to handouts that we have used in previous workshops as well as a few online tutorials. We hope to continue to add to these materials as time allows. Our ultimate goal is to provide a resource that you can use to enhance your use of technology in your instruction.

The Links pages are actually bringing in links from Delicious. You can check out our account here. If you click on one of the links pages and only see headers, you probably have an older version of Internet Explorer on your computer and we need to get you updated. You’ll be able to see the links though if you just refresh the page.

I hope you find this helpful!

Gethin loves Flickr, 13 Apr 08 by Castaway in Wales
Attribution-NonCommercial License

Now that we’re two weeks into 2009, and the holidays are well behind us, it’s time to think about setting some professional goals. Why not learn how to do something new in the world of technology? (You knew I was going to say that!)

Here are a few ideas to get your wheels turning:

Learn to use a new piece of software. All of the software currently installed in the lab and on the laptop carts is also installed on your teacher laptop. Select a program and start playing around with it on your own. I have handouts for several of these programs too, so just ask if you need one.

Use your digital camera to take pictures of your students on a field trip or participating in an exciting project. Use the pictures to create a fun PhotoStory and put it on your web page. If you don’t have a class web page yet, why not make that your new goal?

Become more familiar with the SmartBoard software. Search for ideas on the internet, and adapt files that you find to meet your needs. Bring the SmartBoard into your classroom for a week or two and try to use it in a lesson each day.

Create a wiki, a very simple web page that students can edit and add pictures to with your direction. We’ve already had a couple of teachers use wikis with their students, and the kids loved the idea of creating their own media. I’ll be posting more about those projects later on.

Use Google docs to share information and collaborate with others in your grade level. Visit another school or classroom virtually using Skype. Enhance your writing projects by having your students blog.  Go on a virtual field trip with Google Earth. Use Jing to create your own tutorials for students to use.

I have a couple of new goals for myself, too. I’ve had Camtasia for some time, and I need to take advantage of its ability to create tutorials and screencasts for teachers to use. I also want to learn how to create forms in DreamWeaver  to put on the web pages.

So, there you have it. What are your goals? What will you learn this year in the exciting world of technology?

Aren’t new beginnings wonderful? I think that one of the best things about the education field is the opportunity to begin fresh each year, leaving behind those things that didn’t quite work and improving on those that did.

This year, I would like to work with every classroom teacher at least once, and hopefully more than that, either in the computer lab or using the laptops. We have several terrific programs that the students can use to create their own projects on the computers. Let me help you develop some projects that will enhance your curriculum and increase student learning. I will be contacting you as the year progresses to set up times for us to collaborate, unless you contact me first!

As we begin this school year, please consider how you can increase your use of technology in your classroom. You all have wonderful ideas, but if you need something to get you started, here are a few suggestions:

1. Create a class blog in Classblogmeister. Even the very young children can manage this with a little assistance. Students enjoy writing for real world audiences, and they love to read and comment on each others’ blogs. You could assign topics, or let them use their blogs for journal writing during your lab time.
2. Create a VoiceThread. Take digital pictures (or let the children take pictures) and upload them to this site. Then have the children leave comments on the pictures, either explaining the picture or leaving a comment.
3. Create a digital story. Upload pictures into PhotoStory and let the students record the story as each picture is shown. PhotoStory is already on all of our computers. This would be an awesome follow-up to a field trip or other major event.
4. Have your students work in MaxShow or PowerPoint to create their own slideshows showing what they have learned during a particular unit. Then let them share their presentations with the class.

What other ideas do you have for this school year? How will you prepare your students for their lives in the 21st century?

As this school year comes to a close, I’m thinking ahead to next year, as I suspect most of you are (whether you’ll admit it or not!) We spent so much time planning for online testing this year that we really didn’t have very many other technology related training opportunities. On the staff development survey, several of you requested more workshops with ideas for using the SmartBoards, so that will definitely be a priority for the fall. Others were interested in online flashcard and quiz sites. Creating websites with Google Sites or blogs was another popular request. Then there are new sites such as VoiceThreads that are awesome for elementary classrooms, but unless you have used them, you may not know they exist, so we have lots of ideas for training topics. Of course, we also need follow-up training on the software we have currently installed in the lab and on laptops as well.

I need your help though. What formats work best for you? Do you prefer one-on-one training? Grade level specific training? After school workshops in your school? Division wide inservices at a central location? Credit classes? Online tutorials that you can use at your own pace? I would love to have your feedback in the comments section below!