I attended another terrific Region TIS meeting in Christian County on Friday, September 24th. It's good to hear what other schools and districts are doing with regards to integrating technology, plus I like the way they introduce us to new Websites and give us time to actually explore those sites.
I was reminded of something at the meeting - don't just download or purchase a technology tool and then try to see where it will fit, instead, identify a need that you have and then see what technology tools are out there that will fulfill that need. Too often we tend to see a cool tool and buy into it without really thinking about how we will utilize that tool. Then it sits in a corner (either in our classroom or office) or on our computer desktop and is never used. That's not the best use of our time or our funding or our efforts at integrating technology. Once needs are identified, we can usually find something that's available at low, or no, cost that will meet those needs. In that case, we are more apt to learn and use the tool.
Here are some sites that were shared at the meeting you might want to review:
Kentucky Department of Education Open House - KDE Open House is composed of multiple applications, such as the Kentucky Student Information System, MUNIS, and data from other sources, such as the state assessment system. Reports derived from these sources are provided on this site for all stakeholders within the Commonwealth.
Mission US: A Revolutionary Way to Learn History - This site is now live! It's an interactive role playing game entitled "For Crown or Colony" which puts students in the shoes of Nat Wheeler, a 14-year-old apprentice navigating 1770 Boston. The entire site is FREE and teachers can register themselves and have their students register so that results of their activities throughout the site can be shared. Kentucky is one of ten states participating in the special training initiatives and as a part of that privilege, Kentucky will be recognizing a MISSION US Teacher of the Year. If a teacher uses MISSION US with students this fall and lets KET know by December 1st, telling them when and how the game was used and what the students gained by the experience, they will be eligible for this honor. Teachers may nominate themselves or may be nominated by other teachers, administrators, parents or even students! Visit www.ket.org/missionus for the nomination form. If you have additional questions about the MISSION US project, e-mail tday@ket.org.
LiveBinders - LiveBinders is exactly what the name implies, a "three-ring binder" for the Web. It is a neat way to organize and share information with colleagues or with students. It's a FREE service, too! All you have to do is collect your resources, organize them in the "binder", and then share the information. To see what other educators have done, when you first arrive at the site, click on the Featured Binders tab. Under the LiveBinder Categories section on the right, click on Education. Then on the left you will see lots and lots of educational binders already developed. For example, there is a binder called "Online Art Games" which contains a teacher's links to all sorts of art game links. If your art class were to visit the computer lab, instead of giving them a bunch of links to try to type in themselves, you can have the students go directly to the LiveBinder and then all the sites are there for them - all they have to do is click on the tabs that you have set up for them. One of the best things about this process is that you can also use "binders" that have been developed from other teachers. Don't reinvent the wheel - find something that's already out there you can use!
My schedule for this week is as follows:
Monday, September 27th - Technology Committee Meeting at CCPS at 1500
Tuesday, September 28th - All Day - Thinkfinity Training at Christian County
Tuesday, September 28th - Parenting Workshop at Butler Auditorium at 1800 (topic - Infinite Campus Parent Portal)
Wednesday, September 29th - STLP at CCMS at 1500
Friday, October 1st - Visiting CCPS for technology integration
Friday, October 1st - EdTech Webinar at 1430
I'll also be working on the October edition of the District TRT Newsletter this week, so be looking for that on Friday. All of this is in addition to my normal, everyday duties with Infinite Campus, e-rate, etc. It's going to be another busy week! Have a great one!
