Skyping with Africa

Students in three 4th grade classrooms recently read an article in Time for Kids about the malaria problem in Africa. They decided to raise money for Nothing But Nets which for $10 will purchase nets for villages. They created posters to be placed around the school and also we on air with WPIN, Paine Intermediate News, to share their knowledge and concern. Through this broadcast, Sue Koch, gifted teacher, shared with the students that her daughter, Sarah, is currently in a village in Africa where she is experiencing the problem with malaria. She had to bike a 3 year old 10 km to a nearby medical unit who came down with malaria. Kristi Stacks, lab teacher, and I decided to use SKYPE to allow Sarah and the students to talk. One morning during WPIN, we SKYPED Sarah who was on a rare visit to the capital. The conversation was broadcast over the closed circuit morning show for all the students to hear. It was great! The quality of the call was perfect. We have made a movie about the project but it is still 11 minutes long. I will try to take a great clip and upload it to share. I can't wait to do more with SKYPE!!!

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Working to Develop as a Leader

As a part of my professional learning plan, I chose to spend time learning about strategies for becoming a better leader. I have been in my current position for a few years, but feel that I can always grow as a leader. It was a harder transition than I thought it would be moving from a support role of District Integration Specialist to a manager roles as the Technology Coordinator. Early this month, I began reading the book Creating Magic, 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney by Lee Cockerell . I have to admit that I first picked up this book last year, but was not focused enough to complete it. So, I got out my planner and mapped out a reading plan to read one chapter a night and take notes. I now wish I had scheduled to read a chapter every other night in order to take more time to reflect on the information. I may have missed a day or two, but am now back on track with the reading. I have been amazed at the simplicity of the strategies that Lee has out

Skype Connection

We have begun to think how Skype could be used in our classrooms. A middle school teachers asked for help in finding a classroom in France that they could Skype. I quickly realized that there was not a good way to find interested classrooms. However, while researching resources for Eduwikipedia , I came across a Skype directory. When I selected the Education category there was only one person who seemed to be truly involved in education. I requested his information because he said he was interested in locating other educators in technology to collaborate with. Last Friday night my Skype phone began to ring. Bill Brennan from New York was on the other line. We began to share how technology is being used in both New York and Alabama. I cannot wait to see where this conversation and collaboration will take us.

Technology Supports Curriculum

I get it that technology is not to be taught in isolation but as a media in which to construct meaning for the learner. However, I often get caught up in learning new tech tools that I have to remember that I am learning them to use to educate. Because I now work with helping teacher integrate technology into their classrooms, I am struggling with how much I am teaching the teachers to communicate through e-mail, their SharePoint websites, and teacher productivity tools instead of understanding the educational value that technology tools offer. Don't get me wrong, I do teach both ways but feel sometimes I feel that I am wasting my time teaching how to create a table in word, etc. Most of our 300 teachers are so behind the learning curve because they see technology as another program to add to their busy schedule. We are bombarding them with technology that they do not understand nor really want. How do you cultivate an eagerness to learn? We conduct one on one training, smal

May the Tech Be With You

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