Another interesting article . . .

For whatever reason, interesting articles keep coming my way this week!  In the November, 2010 issue of "Tech & Learning", there is an article entitled "Top 10 Ways 21st-Century Schools Can Protect Themselves from Copyright Violation".  It was written by Renee Bangerter, a professor of English at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California.  Bangerter states that educators and students must have a clear understanding of copyright regulations and lists 10 ways that educators and students can safeguard themselves and their schools.

10 - Be mindful that copyright regulations apply to various media.  Copyright laws apply to virtually all copying, including copy machines and all-in-one printers that have copying capability. 

9 - When using video, get permission or licenses.  One of the most frequent causes of cease-and-desist letters to schools is for showing entertainment films that are not tied to the curriculum.

8 - If it's a consumable - that is, something that is destroyed or altered by being used for its intended purpose (and thus is intended for a single use only) - don't copy it.  Schools can get in trouble when teachers make photocopies of tear-out sheets in student handbooks or workbooks.

7 - Lead by example.  Teachers should cite the sources of the materials they use and make sure they have the necessary permissions.

6 - Just because it's easily accessible doesn't mean you can use it freely.  Material on the Internet is not exempt from copyright policies.

5 - Student copyright should not be overlooked.  Schools should put the same effort into protecting students' work as teachers' work.

4 - Unpublished work requires citation.  Even if a work has not been formally published, it still has to be cited when referenced.

3 - Utilize your resources.  Teachers should use software programs that check the originality of students' work.

2 - Policies must be in place.  Without proper policies in place, including punishing copyright offenses, the whole concept of copyright becomes moot.  Everyone needs to have an understanding of copyright policy and the ramifications of violating it.

1 - Teach students the importance of academic honesty.  If students understand the fundamentals of academic integrity, including the value of producing original work, obeying copyright policies will become second nature to them.

All of us can use a reminder now and then to make sure we give credit where credit is due and make sure we do not just blindly copy materials because of budget cuts and such.  Thanks, Dr. Bangerter, for a very informative article!

An extra bit of information for this week . . .

I just read something written for the EdTech UNconference Website that I thought was too good to wait to post!  This was written by Lisa and was published on 10/27/10:

"21 Signs You're a 21st Century Teacher"

Are you a 21st Century Teacher? Find out!

1. You require your students to use a variety of sources for their research projects...and they cite blogs, podcasts, and interviews they've conducted via Skype.
2. Your students work on collaborative projects...with students in Australia.
3. You give weekly class updates to parents...via your blog.
4. Your students participate in class...by tweeting their questions and comments.
5. You ask your students to study and create reports on a controversial topic...and you grade their video submissions.
6. You prepare substitutes with detailed directions...via Podcasts.
7. You ask your students to do a character/historical person study...and they create mock social media profiles of their character.
8. Your students create a study guide...working together on a group wiki.
9. You share lesson plans with your teacher friends...from around the globe.
10. Your classroom budget is tight...but it doesn't matter because there are so many free resources on the Web you can use.
11. You realize the importance of professional development...and you read blogs, join online communities, and tweet for self development.
12. You take your students on a field trip to the Great Wall of China...and never leave your classroom.
13. Your students share stories of their summer vacation...through an online photo repository.
14. You visit the Louvre with your students...and don't spend a dime.
15. You teach your students not to be bullies...or cyberbullies.
16. You make your students turn in their cell phones before class starts...because you plan on using them in class.
17. You require your students to summarize a recent chapter...and submit it to you via a text message.
18. You showcase your students' original work...to the world.
19. You have your morning coffee...while checking your RSS feed.
20. You are reading this.
21. You tweet this page, blog about it, "like" it, or email it to someone else...

In the comments section, several users have added some other worthwhile points to this list:

22. You encourage students to use the right technology for the job...sometimes the right technology is silicon, sometimes it is paper, and sometimes it is slate.
23. You give your students choices on what type of project they want to do.
24. When playing a video game, i.e. Wii, counts as PE.
25. For homework, your students create written responses...by commenting on your blog post.

I'm sure many of you could also add to the list!

What can you do to integrate technology into your classroom?  Here's a good idea to start with - walk through the halls at your school and see what type of work is posted.  Then, think about how you could do the same project/assignment but utilize technology in some way.  It may be something as simple as gathering information about likes and dislikes in class (i.e. favorite color) and drawing it out on paper - instead, show students how to enter the data gathered into a spreadsheet and make a colorful bar or pie chart!  Sometimes integrating technology into your class is as easy as "pie" - a pie chart, that is!

A very busy week ahead . . .

This week will prove to be a busy one!  I will be out of the office two days.  Tuesday, October 26th, I will be in Frankfort at the KySTE (Kentucky Society for Technology in Education) training.  On Friday, October 29th, I will be in Christian County/Todd County for the monthly Regional TIS (Technology Integration Specialist) meeting.  On Wednesday after school, I will be involved with the STLP (Student Technology Leadership Program) at the middle school.  We are working on digital art as our focus this month and will be attending the STLP Regional Showcase in Murray where we will display their results.  The rest of my week will be filled with working on Infinite Campus issues; the Civil Rights Data Collection, Part II; working on our SchoolLoop Website and helping teachers create their own pages; working on the November edition of my District TRT newsletter; etc.  It will certainly be a busy, but fulfilling week!

Since our CCMS STLP is focusing on digital art, I thought this week I would share some sites that enable you to manipulate photos.  Sometimes we don't think about using technology in traditional art classes, but this is a way you can integrate technology into an art classroom, even at a young age since most of these sites are easy to use.

http://pixenate.com/  -  Pixenate is the photo editor of choice.  It is a powerful, flexible photo editing program right from the Web.  Simply choose your image to edit and upload it.  You can then crop, resize, flip, rotate, normalize and enhance, add light, fixing crooked pics, fixing red eye, whitening, changing saturation and hue, and even doodle on it!  There are also many fun effects to choose from.  When you’re done, you can save the picture to your own computer or upload it to Flikr (if you have an account).  You can also turn the picture into a gift using Pixenate’s partner site, Zazzle. 

http://mypictr.com  -  Are you looking for a way to make a picture for a profile or social network?  Upload any picture to this site, then choose the size and selection.  Select the Network (i.e. Facebook, Skype, Blogger, etc.) and then select “pictrit”.  You can then decide whether to e-mail your picture to yourself or download it to your computer. 

http://wetfloormaker.com/  -  Here’s another site that you can use to upload and change a picture, but this one is different in that it produces an image that is “reflected”.  First browse and upload your picture.  Then change the angle, camera height, brightness, reflectivity, sky color and floor color and size.  Generate the image as you go to see the changes.  Once you are satisfied with your picture, you can save it to your computer.

http://roundpic.com/  -  Use this tool to make rounded corners for images.  Simply upload your image and click Round it!  You can then select which corners to round, the size of the rounded corners, the size of your image and the quality.  You can also select a background color or whether or not to make your picture a transparent PNG image.  Once your image is done, you can download it to your computer.

http://avs4you.com/  -  This site has downloadable software to do all sorts of things to images, videos, audio files, etc.  The software is free, but basically only for Windows XP, Windows 7 or Vista operating systems.  For each software piece, you can click on Features overview or Overview to read about what the program can do and what the requirements are to download and use it.

Welcome Back!

I hope everyone had a great fall break and have returned rested and ready to work! 

This week I have two webinars scheduled, one on Monday and one on Friday.  The rest of the week will be spent working on training teachers and other staff members on SchoolLoop (Web host), preparing the November DTRT newsletter, solving Infinite Campus issues as they arise, etc.  Most of this week will be spent on gathering information for the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), Part II.  Part I was completed last spring and Part II will be completed this fall.  The CRDC is run by the U. S. Department of Education.  The data collected for Part II includes such items as the number of retained students in grades K-12, discipline/behavior events, number of students harrassed or bullied and number of students disciplined for such action, number of students who've been restrained or secluded, the number of interscholastic athletics sports and the number of participants, teacher absenteeism, and some school financial data.  Items continued from Part I that will also be included in Part II are the number of students who passed Algebra I, the number of students who took the ACT or SAT or took AP tests plus the pass rate for those AP tests, etc.  As you can see, the CRDC is a huge report that takes a lot of focus and assistance from various personnel to complete.  Thanks in advance to all those who help me complete the data collection!

This week, here are some interesting Web sites to review and use in your classroom:

Scale City - Welcome to Scale City, the biggest, smallest road trip ever!  Created for grades 6-8, but fun for everyone!  Explore amazing roadside attractions and learn about the mathematics of scale.  At each stop, a short video field trip and a fun interactive simulation help students understand proportional reasoning.  (This site is supported by KET.)

Teachers' Domain - Teachers' Domain is a free digital media service for educational use from public broadcasting and its partners.  You'll find thousands of media resources, support materials, and tools for classroom lessons, individualized learning programs, and teacher professional learning communities.

Dictionary - Dictionary.com's reference section contains a Thesaurus, Quotes, an Encyclopedia, and a Translator.  A new portion is Flashcards (beta).  There is also a Question of the Day on the home page which might make a good, engaging class starter each day.  From the home page, you can also find a Daily Crossword, a Crossword Solver, and other Word Games, plus all sorts of helpful links under the Tools & Resources section. 

Hopefully you will find something on one of these sites (or all three!) that you can use.  Please e-mail me any sites you have found during the first nine weeks that might be helpful to your colleagues.  I would love to feature them (and you!) in a future blog entry. 

The first nine weeks end October 12th!

It's hard to imagine that the first nine weeks will be over in another day.  Hopefully you have found this blog to be of some help.  My ultimate goal is that I can give you sites that can be used in your classroom with little or no funding and little or no effort.  This week I want to highlight some sites from KET (Kentucky Educational Television).  Most of us don't think about KET other than being a television channel where lots of documentaries and shows about Kentucky are aired.  However, KET provides lots of opportunities for teachers - they host professional development sessions at their studios and they have online resources that are easy to use.  

To start, go to the main KET site.  There you can find a program listing, episodes of shows to watch online, access the KET encyclomedia, and even donate to KET.  Here are some other interesting parts of the KET site:

http://www.ket.org/education/ - look for workshop information, education blogs, sign up for Classroom eNews, etc. 
http://www.dl.ket.org/physicslabs/labs/ - this is a virtual physics lab that was created by a physics teacher for use with the AP Physics B course; twelve pieces of apparatus are now online for teachers of any physics courses (costs $50 per school)
http://www.ket.org/trips/belle/ - excellent electronic field trip (video) to the Belle of Louisville
http://www.ket.org/artstoolkit/ - look for lesson plans and other resources for dance, drama, visual arts and music
http://www.ket.org/education/medialab.htm - with help from a grant from AT&T, KET now offers free workshops for educators, students and community organizations in the KET Media Lab in Lexington; check this site for a list of offerings and descriptions


Enjoy exploring these sites and enjoy your fall break! 
 

Fall break is almost upon us . . .

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting with the new STLP group at the middle school.  As usual, I always learn something being around the students!  Below I have included a link to a really cool Web site where you can change text easily and for free!  The students shared this site with me and I had a lot of fun playing around with my own name and seeing all the different ways I could change it and save it to use.  It's neat!

On Friday I spent some time with the teachers from the technology committee at the primary school.  We went over the basics of starting a Web page with SchoolLoop and I am proud to announce that they found it easy to learn and use and several of them now have a Web page posted.  Over the rest of this month, I'm hoping we can get more teachers trained so we can start seeing lots of teacher pages up and running.

I also attended a Webinar on "101 Tech Tools for Teachers" on Friday afternoon.  I learned a great deal about sites, especially those that are FREE, that teachers can use in their classrooms.  As part of attending that Webinar, I was able to download an e-book which contains lots of Web sites and information for teachers.  I will be sharing sites from that e-book and from the Webinar this week, so enjoy exploring them!

My schedule for this week - I will meet with the schools' TRTs on Tuesday afternoon at the elementary school.  I have another Webinar on Wednesday at noon and will be meeting with the STLP group again on Wednesday afternoon at the middle school.  I hope to spend some time this week working on trainings for teachers on SchoolLoop, getting some information out to teachers about Thinkfinity training, working on the Civil Rights Data Collection for our district, and all my other normal activities and duties!

Here are some sites to check out this week:

Storybird - collaborative storytelling
Bibme - a fully automatic bibliography maker
Kideos - a kid friendly place for videos (search for Star Wars A Capella - it's great!; also look for 44 Presidents Rhyme - interesting if you are a history teacher!)


And the one given to me by the middle school students . . . CoolText - a free graphics generator


Hope you have a great week and remember, fall break is just around the corner!

A new week!

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!

Best laid plans . . .

I think there is an old saying about best laid plans going awry or something like that.  Last week my intentions were good, but they just never materialized due to my health.  So, I didn't make it out to the schools like I wanted to, but the plans are still in the works to do that in the near future!

Here is an update on my schedule for this week, September 20th-24th:   

September 21st - Meeting at 1500 with a middle school teacher

September 22nd - Meeting at 0800 with a primary school staff member

September 22nd - District PLC Meeting in the CCHS library at 1530

September 23rd - Growth Factor Webex Training at 0900

September 24th - Regional TIS Meeting in Christian County at 0930 to 1300

I'll also be working on my October District TRT newsletter this week.  

I believe it makes a lot more sense for me to update this blog every Monday morning since I will know more about my weekly schedule at that point.  So, hopefully I'll try to get an update posted each Monday and that will keep everyone informed and up-to-date.  

Here are some great Websites to review this week:

12 Tips for Safe Social Networking 
Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA)
CyberSmart! Student Curriculum
American Association of School Librarians Best Websites

Maybe you'll find something that you can use in your classroom or personally!

Have a great week.

Some projects done . . . others to be done . . .

Another week has come and gone.  The preschool households have all been built and the phone directory has been distributed, so two of my largest projects have been completed.  That's a good feeling!

We had our first district TRT meeting at the primary school on Thursday.  As I told the building TRTs, I'm going to try to start getting out into the schools next week and the remainder of September just to visit classrooms.  I'd like to start this new process of having a District TRT by finding out what lessons teachers are giving that could be done using technology of some sort.  I know a lot of our teachers are using technology each and every day, but I also know there are some teachers who could definitely utilize technology more in their classrooms.  I hope by starting simple - visiting classrooms and seeing where technology could be used - will be a good way to let teachers know what is available and how easy it is to integrate technology into their everyday lessons.

I hope all of you are finding my District TRT newsletter helpful.  I want to use it as a way to give you some Web sites to view (and hopefully use) and to keep everyone informed of what is happened across the district and throughout the state.  In future editions, I plan to add some technology tips and maybe even spotlight a classroom or two where technology is just one part of delivering content to the students successfully. 

Plans for September

As of this date (September 3rd), the following meetings/trainings, etc. are on my September calendar:

7th - Mandatory Procedures Training in the Butler Auditorium @ 1030

7th - Demonstration of new Simple Assessment Web features @ 1300

9th - TRT Meeting at CCPS @ 1530

16th - CCEA New Teacher Orientation at Pagliai's @ 1800

20th - Caldwell Co Bd of Ed Meeting at the Butler Annex Boardroom @ 1900

22nd - District PLC Meeting in the CCHS Library @ 1530

24th - Regional TRT Meeting in Christian County @ 0930-1300

27th - CCPS Technology Committee Meeting in the CCPS Library @ 1500

28th - Parenting Workshop in the Butler Auditorium @ 1800

As most of you are aware, one of my large projects is finished thanks to the help of several colleagues - Sue Simms, Stephanie Feagan and Ron Berry.  Everyone in the district should be receiving their 2010-11 phone directory sometime the week of September 7th.  

I am finished with building kindergarten households and have begun working on preschool households in Infinite Campus.  Once that task is completed, I hope to start getting out into the schools on a regular basis to meet with teachers and visit classes to see where we can integrate technology into everyday lessons and content delivery.  Also being planned for the month of September is the startup of STLP again at the elementary and middle schools.  We'd like to see this program be re-activated and revived in our district.

As you can see it's going to be a busy, busy month!

The beginning of something new . . .

I am establishing this blog as a way to communicate information that can help teachers easily integrate technology into the classroom.  Hopefully as the weeks pass by, I will be adding online resources and giving suggestions.  Maybe you will find something interesting that you can put to use immediately.  That's the ultimate goal of any technology integration specialist - that the end user find resources and instructions on the use of those resources so that they reach a comfort level where they are confident in using those resources each and every day if desired.  

I'm excited about what the 2010-2011 school year will bring to all of us in the area of technology.  Let's work together to improve the delivery of content to all our students and help them learn skills that will serve them well.  It truly is "ALL ABOUT KIDS"!