On the Trails

Dr. Scott McLeod, Dangerously Irrelevant, writes about how unprepared many school administrators are when it comes to making technology decisions for their schools. I also teach in a college and am currently pursuing my School District Administrator Certification in the state of New York.
I have one class left to take and there has [...]

Last night, my son Bryce was reading my daughter Brooke and me a story about sea turtles. (out of a book The idea of sea turtles laying and burying their eggs popped up. My inquisitive Brookey, asked me how they do this. So, I tried to explain this to her [...]

The Internet is becoming THE WAY to integrate technology into the classroom. Many of you might have ONLY used a web browser to do research, but there are so many more ways. Try some out:

Word Search

Mapping
The Human Body
Videos
Internet Safety

Now that you have looked at a few ideas, post one educational objective as a comment and [...]

I use a rubric to assess you. I do this because you are able to see what the criteria is for your success. There is not any mysteries here. You are not going to hand in work and never know how you did. You can self-assess prior to you giving me work.
I also provide 3 [...]

Creating secure passwords takes commitment and is as important as purchasing insurance. You may never be in a situation where your identity is stolen or where your teacher web site is compromised, but why take the risk. Here are my thoughts:

Secure
More Secure

Use Alpha-Numeric passwords – letters and numbers
Use your birthday mixed with your [...]

Imagine the following scenarios:

A student places inappropriate behavior on 1st grade teacher’s web site.  Students in the 1st grade get an eye full when they visit their teacher’s page the next day.  Cause: The teacher’s password was Donna, her first name.

A student changes a few of their grades using the school’s web-based gradebook.  Smart enough [...]

Notes:

Not for profit
No charge for tuition
There are special education students
They do not take district money
Consultant and Resource teachers

Go through kid’s districts CSE
Child Study Team in Charter school

Charters are granted by SED, SUNY and School Districts in NYS
Some charters are unionized, others are not
Charters can join NYSTRS
They have to comply with all state regs as a [...]

Notes:

Cover Page – criteria advertised comparison
During interviews, it is assumed that you have the correct knowledge, skills and abilities

Structured Interviews

same questions, same amount of time

Unstructured Interviews

The more you talk, the more opportunities to get plus marks
Ask for clarification – this is ok
Section of Administrative/Leadership on resume – perhaps minimize teaching experience
I need to make a [...]

“It’s mostly the same–the web is the same, the word processor is better than what I have used before, and
Moodle is great. I have a Windows computer at home, and my friend has a Mac. I use Nintendos, Xboxes, and PlayStations, and I also use my cell phone, my sister’s cell, and my friend’s. They [...]

New York State Learning Standards for Mathematics

Process Strand: Problem Solving
    Performance Indicator 7.A.2 Add and subtract monomials with exponents of one [Band: Variables and Expressions]
 
This is a question, from the above standard, that one school district in Central New York did poorly on from the 2006 [...]

This is a presentation I gave called Managing a Mobile Computing Envrironment. I used Zamzar to convert my Powerpoint presentation to a .swf file.

Presentation Links:

Wireless 802.11 standards
Security

Deep Freeze

Instructional Tips

Synchroneyes
Instructional Delivery Strategies
Questioning Toolkit
Universal Design for Learning
Assessment Strategies
Firefox Add-ons for Learning and Instruction
Differentiated Instruction

Staff Development

TiTe – Trails of Integrating Technology Effectively
METSS

addthis_url [...]

I have a PowerPoint Presentation that I wanted to share with a colleague of mine. It was in PPT and I could have just sent the file to her. But instead, I wanted to try out a new tool I discovered by accident this morning called ZamZar. This tool converted my .ppt file to [...]

A Leader is….

Knowledgeable
Compassionate
a Risk Taker
Prepared
Thoughtful of others
Team Oriented
a Role Model
a Consensus Maker
a Synthesizer
Strong
Principled
an Open Book – people should know where one stands

Technorati Tags: leadership
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The foundation for the HS Learning Center project has been laid.  Wikispaces is the media that is being used so that others, besides my friend Nicole Giambra – TechforLearning Blog – can eventually contribute.
Here is the big picture: (I have to use a bulleted list – it helps me think)

The Learning Center curricularizes web [...]

1. Import the Audio Clip –
2. Drag the audio clip to the storyboard or timeline –
3. Right click on the clip and choose Volume –
4. Move the slider to suit your volume needs

addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fbtcactus.edublogs.org%2F2007%2F06%2F13%2Fchanging-the-volume-of-audio-clips-in-windows-movie-maker%2F’;
addthis_title = ‘Changing+the+Volume+of+Audio+Clips+in+Windows+Movie+Maker’;
addthis_pub = [...]

To moderate or not too moderate, that is the question. I have been experimenting with an eduBlogs blog the last few weeks and here are my conclusions.

To Moderate
To Not Moderate

Ensures that inappropriate comments are not posted by students
Slows down the collaboration process because you need to be logged in to Word Press in order [...]

Based on Dr. Joyce Epstein’s Model, I have created a School- Community Plan that is very closely tied to Technology. This is not a complete plan, but rather a start. There are six components to my plan: (I wrote this plan using Google Docs and there was a lot of formatting that got [...]

River City:

interactive computer simulation of a river town, based in the late 1800s
17 hour, time-on-task curriculum
Develops inquiry skills
Promotes cooperative learning
Empowers students to solve a problem
Blend of technology, teamwork and scientific investigation
Work together to find a fascinating solution to a mystery
2/3 of the time, students work with a computer – one-to-one student-to-computer ratio
1/3 of the time, [...]

Begin the book with an image of a young teacher, stuck in their room, and given no direction on where to begin. This room must have OLPC – the premise of the book is TITE – the trails of integrating technology effectively.  The book can be offered to 375/672 students as a guide to effective [...]

My four year old daughter wants to sell lemonade and “butter” cookies at the end of my dead end street – that is funny in itself
She says to me, because the laptop is on my outdoor table,
Hey, we could look them up on the web!
So, I ask her, how are we going to [...]

This is the fourth version of something I started called TOIT (Trails of Integrating Technology). The technology integration plan has been renamed and I have added two components, the Secure Teacher and the Teaching with Data.
Draft #4
1. Creating a web-based Instructional Platform to teach students using the Internet
2. Developing a Classroom Web Site to [...]

I was driving to my brother’s rehearsal dinner in New Rochelle, NY.  It was about 13:09 PM and I was on Route 78 – going West.  As I looked down at my laptop, I saw that a bug made a crash landing.  As I tried to “shoosh” the bug, I accidentally smeared it on the [...]

Ah, the New Jersey Turnpike. my wife Sue says to me – you gotta play a Manhattan song. So, in 2 seconds I type in Manhattan and get Mel Torme.  Try that with a stack of CDs or a record
Ramblings while driving ….I miss the twin towers, the skyline is still impressive [...]