15 November 2010

Plans sometimes don't work out!

Last week proved to be an interesting one, to say the least.  On Wednesday I was able to attend the STLP Showcase at Murray State with 17 middle school students and their sponsor, Mrs. Everette.  It was a terrific day and 3 of our students won prizes!  On Thursday I had plans to work with Mrs. McClung's 6th grade classes on their ILPs, but woke up that morning with fever and other such ailments, so I made a couple of quick visits to two schools where I needed to get something done and then returned home.  On Friday, I was able to get into the doctor's office to see the nurse practitioner and ended up with two prescriptions.  Luckily, I didn't have anything planned for the weekend, so I could stay inside and rest and let the medicine do its job.  I am happy to report that I am back at work and ready for a week on the road!


Here's my schedule for this week -
Monday and Tuesday - in the office (working on CRDC report, e-rate, etc.)
Wednesday and Thursday - in Louisville at the Infinite Campus Interchange
Friday - in Murray at the Regional TIS meeting


As you can see, this week is completely full and busy!  Hopefully I will learn a great deal to bring back and share with everyone from my travels to Louisville and Murray.  (And, hopefully, my medicines will continue to work and I'll feel good the entire time!)


Here are some sites that I thought I would share this week:


The Road Ahead - General Motors takes you and your classroom on a tour to explore how electricity is generated and how it is poised to change how we live.  There is a digital magazine available, a classroom poster that can be printed and a teacher's guide and worksheets that can be downloaded, as well as free lesson plans for Grades 3-5 and Grades 6-8.


Soundzabound - The only royalty free music library which meets all the licensing and technology requirements needed for education.  Their music library offers a wide variety of music, audio themes, and sound effects that ensure copyright safety.  There is a cost for this service, but a school site license can be purchased which will cover all teachers, students and administrators.  (Why is this important?  Here's an article about a current court case in which a woman has been ordered to pay a $1.5 million song-sharing fine.)


Google Tricks for Your Classroom - This is a site that lists 8 Google tricks, including converting units and time, exploring the sky, and finding specific documents. 


Thanksgiving (affectionately known as "turkey day" to me) is right around the corner and we should all be thinking of how much we are thankful for, not only this year but for our entire lives.  I'd like to say thanks to our veterans for providing us the freedoms we all enjoy in the United States.  Having lived overseas, I can honestly say most of us don't appreciate what we do have as Americans.  Hope you stay healthy and happy this week!