I never blogged (journaled) about the educational technology conference in Baltimore. I should have done that, and so I will. I enjoyed it, and I learned so much. There are some great web sites that were given to us at some of the workshops. I went to workshops at every session; and, two workshops in a session, sometimes. I will share the tips and web sites in the future, as I am able to look at them in more detail.
Many of the vendors catered to administrative-level personnel with decision-making responsibilities for acquisition. However, if one really looked at the materials, a person could still garner some tips for teaching. I enjoyed the vendors, and really loved the bookshop!
The conference was a valuable experience, and one in which I hope to participate again.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Final catch up with STEP
Finally, a completion of everything. The only thing I have left to do is to share my "Journal." I realize that a "Journal" defeats the purpose and intent of blogging, but I am determined to do better in the future. This project has been a journey: one in which I know I could have done better, but one in which I feel "much improved." I hope my notes, especially my later notes, are reflective of that positive journey.
December 5, 2008 Today was the STEP Orientation session. We became familiar with the initiative and the Maryland Technology Standards. I have some concern that this program is going to involve a lot of work, and I am certain that some of our folks (including me) will have difficulty completing all of the requirements. I am anxious to get our equipment, however, and look forward to learning how to use it.
December 30, 2008 Am excited to begin on our projects in January. The idea is a little scary for this only semi-techie person! But, I can see some great applications for my kids. The ability to open up written material to a huge screen, and to use it for 3-dimensional projections, as well, is very appealing. It should help many of our students who have vision problems. I am looking forward to our first equipment distribution and training.
January 14, 2009 Received our document cameras and training. I like the small footprint of the camera, and its light weight. It is much more convenient to use than the other visualizer we have, which we rarely use because it is so cumbersome. We do need some assistance getting the balance of the equipment necessary for set-up (i.e. longer Internet cable, projector, laptop computer). I wish we would have had the opportunity to really work with the equipment and have some discussions on classroom set-up.
January 15, 2009 Hooked up the camera to the projector in class for the first time. What a hoot! The kids love the camera piece and being able to see themselves on the screen. I can tell its going to take some time to become adept at using the equipment and materials efficiently and smoothly. I do see excitement from the kids, however. This is something new to them, and getting them to focus on the screen – and, making the visual transition from paper to screen – will take some practice, and time.
February 4, 2009 I have been using the camera during instruction for about a week. Still no laptop computer or cord long enough to get a good connection from the wall to the one laptop to which we do have access, sometimes. There needs to be better communication with our administration so that the classroom can be adapted for the use of these materials. The students are becoming more aware of the benefit to them, but they still have difficulty with the visual relationship between the paper on their desk, and the image of it on the board.
February 14, 2009 We continue to have some equipment shortages in terms of cable length, laptop computer-internet access due to distance, etc. These will be hurdles to overcome. We also need another projector. I am certain it all will come along the way… But, I want to start right now! I wish we had examples of classroom arrangements, and a hint as to what others have tried. I don’t believe my classroom is set up for the most effective use of the equipment. I “Googled” document cameras and visualizers, and was able to find several different companies that had offered contests for videos made by instructors documenting the use of their equipment in the classroom. I watched some of these, and now have a better idea for classroom arrangement. Now, I just have to figure out what to do about the electrical connections so that I don’t have children stumbling over extension and cable cords. The videos were good, however, and I recommend that anyone do the same – locate some of these company sites on the Internet and browse the videos for classroom tips.
March 5, 2009 I am having problems with my wiki. I don’t know if I just can’t get the hang of it, or if it is because I get totally frustrated with any sort of technology that I clearly don’t understand. I’m one who works best from clearly written and labeled directions, with photographs. Hmmm. Not sure what to do here. HOWEVER, I do love using the visualizer in the classroom, and am hoping to become increasingly adept in its use. Recently, I have had the students participate in making entries onto worksheets, as well as showing their work to the other students using the camera. Their interest and enthusiasm is exciting.
March 20, 2009 We still do not have the right cable connection to stretch from our Internet drop to the laptop and visualizer, so the use of the laptop with the document camera is limited to a fairly small screen. I would like to see this corrected, and have asked for assistance with this continually. Regardless, I have found an instructional strategy that I am now using consistently, and it seems to be helping my students. My students have a large spread in their reading abilities. I have some who do not know all of their letters, and others that are reading at a near 4th-grade level. This presents a huge challenge in teaching a class of 24 students. The document camera is allowing me to accommodate those differences far more easily. By using a large image of the reading material, I can highlight letters and words that I want them to focus on. It allows my non- and emerging readers to focus on letters and beginning sounds while not teaching letters and phonics directly (something I cannot do due to the high school VSC). And, it allows me to highlight vocabulary and or specific points which brings a higher level of instruction to my 2nd-3rd grade readers.
April 2, 2009 Time for the digital camera and photostory efforts. This will prove to be a challenge, but should be fun. We take the students on community based instructional outings, so I can see this as an opportunity to do both preliminary instructional images of what they will see, or safety practices they must maintain, as well as documentary images of their experiences. Right away, I have an idea for documenting some of the creatures and plants they will see at a local nature center. Last year, I had difficulty with the children watching for and understanding the images they saw on their nature scavenger hunt page with the real-life objects. I am hoping that by photographing some of these items into a photostory, they will be better able to focus and identify the natural objects when on their field trip.
April 15, 2009 Podcasting and voicethread. I am beginning to feel slightly overwhelmed. I am really not certain how to do this in order to engage my students in the learning process. Maybe I am lacking in this creative piece. However, I like the use of the podcast for instructional purposes. This year, especially, would have been a good year to use that tool. We have had several students out of school on extended absences, a couple with home schooling. The use of a weekly podcast would have been helpful for the student and the home school teacher. It would also have given an opportunity for fellow students to say, “Hello, we’re thinking about you,” in ways other than just sending cards.
April 19, 2009 I’m unable to load my doc camera project without the computer freezing up every time. I don’t know what is wrong, but am looking forward to getting some assistance on this. I’m hoping I don’t have this problem with the digital camera project. Speaking of the digital camera… I cannot post images of my students over the Internet, and I am really struggling with the student-shared component of this program. We can certainly use the digital camera for taking pictures of students that are shared among students, immediate staff, and parents. But, posting to a web site that can be seen by many, is out of the question for us. So, I have to get somewhat creative here. Perhaps, I can show them only partially in the photographs, or perhaps I can have them show their work and discuss it in a photostory. Again, I just wish I had some ideas to stimulate some other ideas. The learning curve for all of this is very long when our special education days are so long already. I look forward to the time when this comes easier, and it can save time with instruction and assessments.
May 20, 2009 I missed last weeks more extensive training on podcasting and voicethread, so have no idea how I am going to complete this project. I have thought about several projects with photostory that I want to work on this summer in anticipation for next fall. First, I want to do a photostory on the CRI staff and program that we can present at parent’s night, and also make available to parents and new students. Secondly, as I mentioned, we have two community outings every month. I want to visit those places we will go to, and photograph them with highlights of what they children will see, and the important things I want them to learn. Then, when we return from the outing, I want to have another assessment where they discuss these experiences without having to recall them from memory. It is my hope that these visual images will help overcome short-term memory loss, a common concern with our kids.
May 30, 2009 My last “blog,” so I hope I can get this into the blog. I realize this defeats the purpose of the blog… posting it all at once. But, I have never journaled… could not even keep one in high school, so this has been a real struggle. It’s been easier for me to do it in Word format, than to try to go in and out of a web site that started off being difficult until it was changed. Enough complaining. I managed to get pages posted to the wiki with the very patient assistance of our tech-mentor! And, I have even decided on a couple of more projects. I think I was most surprised by the enthusiasm of the few students that I involved in the audio-piece of both the doc-camera and pod-cast projects. The few students I used had fun doing the short recordings. I had some real concerns, because many of my students also have difficulty vocalizing. It dawned on me that using a podcast and the audio feature of photostory, can help them with their speech and language development. Furthermore, it could really help next year’s Alt-MSA students prepare for the video-taped portion of that state assessment. This year’s kids really struggled with the taping. They were self-conscious and felt very insecure, thereby exacerbating any speech and language issues. So, not only should using this media assist them when it comes time to tape them for the state-mandated assessments, but I am hoping it will help them to become more self-assured overall. These are high school students, and they need to become self-advocates. Perhaps, hearing themselves while participating in something “fun,” will help them along the way.
December 5, 2008 Today was the STEP Orientation session. We became familiar with the initiative and the Maryland Technology Standards. I have some concern that this program is going to involve a lot of work, and I am certain that some of our folks (including me) will have difficulty completing all of the requirements. I am anxious to get our equipment, however, and look forward to learning how to use it.
December 30, 2008 Am excited to begin on our projects in January. The idea is a little scary for this only semi-techie person! But, I can see some great applications for my kids. The ability to open up written material to a huge screen, and to use it for 3-dimensional projections, as well, is very appealing. It should help many of our students who have vision problems. I am looking forward to our first equipment distribution and training.
January 14, 2009 Received our document cameras and training. I like the small footprint of the camera, and its light weight. It is much more convenient to use than the other visualizer we have, which we rarely use because it is so cumbersome. We do need some assistance getting the balance of the equipment necessary for set-up (i.e. longer Internet cable, projector, laptop computer). I wish we would have had the opportunity to really work with the equipment and have some discussions on classroom set-up.
January 15, 2009 Hooked up the camera to the projector in class for the first time. What a hoot! The kids love the camera piece and being able to see themselves on the screen. I can tell its going to take some time to become adept at using the equipment and materials efficiently and smoothly. I do see excitement from the kids, however. This is something new to them, and getting them to focus on the screen – and, making the visual transition from paper to screen – will take some practice, and time.
February 4, 2009 I have been using the camera during instruction for about a week. Still no laptop computer or cord long enough to get a good connection from the wall to the one laptop to which we do have access, sometimes. There needs to be better communication with our administration so that the classroom can be adapted for the use of these materials. The students are becoming more aware of the benefit to them, but they still have difficulty with the visual relationship between the paper on their desk, and the image of it on the board.
February 14, 2009 We continue to have some equipment shortages in terms of cable length, laptop computer-internet access due to distance, etc. These will be hurdles to overcome. We also need another projector. I am certain it all will come along the way… But, I want to start right now! I wish we had examples of classroom arrangements, and a hint as to what others have tried. I don’t believe my classroom is set up for the most effective use of the equipment. I “Googled” document cameras and visualizers, and was able to find several different companies that had offered contests for videos made by instructors documenting the use of their equipment in the classroom. I watched some of these, and now have a better idea for classroom arrangement. Now, I just have to figure out what to do about the electrical connections so that I don’t have children stumbling over extension and cable cords. The videos were good, however, and I recommend that anyone do the same – locate some of these company sites on the Internet and browse the videos for classroom tips.
March 5, 2009 I am having problems with my wiki. I don’t know if I just can’t get the hang of it, or if it is because I get totally frustrated with any sort of technology that I clearly don’t understand. I’m one who works best from clearly written and labeled directions, with photographs. Hmmm. Not sure what to do here. HOWEVER, I do love using the visualizer in the classroom, and am hoping to become increasingly adept in its use. Recently, I have had the students participate in making entries onto worksheets, as well as showing their work to the other students using the camera. Their interest and enthusiasm is exciting.
March 20, 2009 We still do not have the right cable connection to stretch from our Internet drop to the laptop and visualizer, so the use of the laptop with the document camera is limited to a fairly small screen. I would like to see this corrected, and have asked for assistance with this continually. Regardless, I have found an instructional strategy that I am now using consistently, and it seems to be helping my students. My students have a large spread in their reading abilities. I have some who do not know all of their letters, and others that are reading at a near 4th-grade level. This presents a huge challenge in teaching a class of 24 students. The document camera is allowing me to accommodate those differences far more easily. By using a large image of the reading material, I can highlight letters and words that I want them to focus on. It allows my non- and emerging readers to focus on letters and beginning sounds while not teaching letters and phonics directly (something I cannot do due to the high school VSC). And, it allows me to highlight vocabulary and or specific points which brings a higher level of instruction to my 2nd-3rd grade readers.
April 2, 2009 Time for the digital camera and photostory efforts. This will prove to be a challenge, but should be fun. We take the students on community based instructional outings, so I can see this as an opportunity to do both preliminary instructional images of what they will see, or safety practices they must maintain, as well as documentary images of their experiences. Right away, I have an idea for documenting some of the creatures and plants they will see at a local nature center. Last year, I had difficulty with the children watching for and understanding the images they saw on their nature scavenger hunt page with the real-life objects. I am hoping that by photographing some of these items into a photostory, they will be better able to focus and identify the natural objects when on their field trip.
April 15, 2009 Podcasting and voicethread. I am beginning to feel slightly overwhelmed. I am really not certain how to do this in order to engage my students in the learning process. Maybe I am lacking in this creative piece. However, I like the use of the podcast for instructional purposes. This year, especially, would have been a good year to use that tool. We have had several students out of school on extended absences, a couple with home schooling. The use of a weekly podcast would have been helpful for the student and the home school teacher. It would also have given an opportunity for fellow students to say, “Hello, we’re thinking about you,” in ways other than just sending cards.
April 19, 2009 I’m unable to load my doc camera project without the computer freezing up every time. I don’t know what is wrong, but am looking forward to getting some assistance on this. I’m hoping I don’t have this problem with the digital camera project. Speaking of the digital camera… I cannot post images of my students over the Internet, and I am really struggling with the student-shared component of this program. We can certainly use the digital camera for taking pictures of students that are shared among students, immediate staff, and parents. But, posting to a web site that can be seen by many, is out of the question for us. So, I have to get somewhat creative here. Perhaps, I can show them only partially in the photographs, or perhaps I can have them show their work and discuss it in a photostory. Again, I just wish I had some ideas to stimulate some other ideas. The learning curve for all of this is very long when our special education days are so long already. I look forward to the time when this comes easier, and it can save time with instruction and assessments.
May 20, 2009 I missed last weeks more extensive training on podcasting and voicethread, so have no idea how I am going to complete this project. I have thought about several projects with photostory that I want to work on this summer in anticipation for next fall. First, I want to do a photostory on the CRI staff and program that we can present at parent’s night, and also make available to parents and new students. Secondly, as I mentioned, we have two community outings every month. I want to visit those places we will go to, and photograph them with highlights of what they children will see, and the important things I want them to learn. Then, when we return from the outing, I want to have another assessment where they discuss these experiences without having to recall them from memory. It is my hope that these visual images will help overcome short-term memory loss, a common concern with our kids.
May 30, 2009 My last “blog,” so I hope I can get this into the blog. I realize this defeats the purpose of the blog… posting it all at once. But, I have never journaled… could not even keep one in high school, so this has been a real struggle. It’s been easier for me to do it in Word format, than to try to go in and out of a web site that started off being difficult until it was changed. Enough complaining. I managed to get pages posted to the wiki with the very patient assistance of our tech-mentor! And, I have even decided on a couple of more projects. I think I was most surprised by the enthusiasm of the few students that I involved in the audio-piece of both the doc-camera and pod-cast projects. The few students I used had fun doing the short recordings. I had some real concerns, because many of my students also have difficulty vocalizing. It dawned on me that using a podcast and the audio feature of photostory, can help them with their speech and language development. Furthermore, it could really help next year’s Alt-MSA students prepare for the video-taped portion of that state assessment. This year’s kids really struggled with the taping. They were self-conscious and felt very insecure, thereby exacerbating any speech and language issues. So, not only should using this media assist them when it comes time to tape them for the state-mandated assessments, but I am hoping it will help them to become more self-assured overall. These are high school students, and they need to become self-advocates. Perhaps, hearing themselves while participating in something “fun,” will help them along the way.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
AVP Biology Projects
This year we are involved in biology alternative projects for achieving high school graduation requirements for students who have not yet passed the high school assessment. I am using the STEP document camera to enhance the student's experience in learning science.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
AVID
The AVID program (Advancement Via Individual Determination) took digital pictures to create a picture story of the program events. Dr. Jackson, coordinator/teacher took pictures of events, classwork and field trips of the program. Those pictures were organized using IMOVIE and Photoshop, adding voiceovers and music. The final product will be showcased at our Awards Night this May 2009 using the LCD projector in the auditorium.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
The Morning Show
This is a podcast of the Central High School Morning Show!! Please enter your comments at the end of the Podcast.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
This is really difficult.
My plan was to film the kids performing the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. Second period performed the scene, but I cannot figure out how to upload the video. It does not help that I get an "unknown error" message. How can I fix it if it is "unknown?"
I'll video the kids in fourth period. Maybe that one will work better.
Also, what the heck are we supposed to be doing? I think my official wiki is mostly empty.
On the other hand, check out http://romeomandjulietc.wikispaces.com. A couple of the kids have even discussed.
I'll video the kids in fourth period. Maybe that one will work better.
Also, what the heck are we supposed to be doing? I think my official wiki is mostly empty.
On the other hand, check out http://romeomandjulietc.wikispaces.com. A couple of the kids have even discussed.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Visit by STEP
I was very excited to be visited by the STEP trainer Mr.Wershbale on Friday!! We talked about Central High School's application of technology and utilization in our classrooms. The blogging is going to be a great asset to the staff and students enabling us to post and comment information. The voice thread is excellent, eventhough I do have one question. Are we required to get Press Releases on the people we feature on the Podcasts!! Anyone who knows the answer please let me know. Please take a look at my Voicethread. I am excited about the possibilities that are available. Larry took pictures and video of our video and recording studio. He also viewed our VoiceThread. I look forward to more blogging.
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