Learning Technatude

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2009-10-28T21:54:00.002-04:00

Really? I'm so psyched! I know my nerd leanings are really showing through here but... How awesome is this?????

ACTEM Conference

2009-10-26T08:25:00.004-04:00

October 15th was one of the most amazing days of my life. It was the first day of the ACTEM Technology Conference in Augusta, Maine. I saw many of my friends, collegues and Twitter buddies (I loved putting real faces to my very important PLN!) That night was the Awards Banquet. I was the finalist for the Technology Leader of the Year award! I cannot tell you how cool it is to have the people who inspire you the most give YOU and award! It was surreal. This event, this honor, has renewed my purpose. Now I have to really live up to this award. I'd better get busy!

The next day, I presented a workshop for the very first time at the conference. It was on creating an exciting tech learning atmosphere for teacher professional development. I used Prezi.com also for the first time. The program is very easy to use and has endless possibilities. As a matter of fact I had trouble using the program because there were so many things I could do with it. Every time I thought I had the layout I wanted, I thought of something else that would also work or be neater. As a result I was never satisfied with what I did. That might also be a direct result of my strange work only perfectionist streak. Too bad it doesn't carry over to housework and my yard as well.

What I Learned From My 12 Year Old

2009-08-29T09:44:00.011-04:00

My son is starting 7th grade this year (I know, it's killing me!). At the end of the year they send home a summer reading list and usually Nicholas is beside himself eager to read the recommended books - ALL the books. But this year something strange happened, the list was... boring. He was completely uninterested in the titles. They were not challenging and he flat out told me that. So I urged him to suffer through just one of them just to be able to say that he participated. Do you know what his reply to me was? "You know Mom, last year all we had to do was write a paragraph about a book we read. I do that with every book I read on Shelfari."
That statement spoke volumes to me. He's not being challenged in school, like he and his friends challenge themselves. They're already having discussions around books, forming book groups, doing their OWN reading inventories and going one further... they're creating role play games based on books they read. All using Web 2.0 during the summer no less. The RPG they created is based on the book, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It's a good read, and would be very thought provoking in the classroom. But, as Nick reminded me, there are many different classrooms out there, not just the type we find with a chalkboard.

Evernote

2009-07-16T11:08:00.005-04:00

It is sometimes funny to have two geeks in the house. Kev and I have been playing all morning with Evernote. It is such a cool idea, how could we not? We both have brain storms in the strangest places and Evernote is great for saving and sorting them (except for the ones that take place in mid shampoo). I'm still trying to figure out how to make it work with my Palm, but Kev has it up and running with the Blackberry Storm. It's free for a basic account, but I imagine that you'd eat up alot of space with voice recordings or video. New toys are so much fun, huh?

Professional Learning

2009-07-08T21:18:00.002-04:00

I love school. Let's face it. I've always loved school. When we stop learning we die, intellectually, personally, professionally. I'm taking a summer graduate course at University of Southern Maine this week on a subject that I thought I knew already, but just being around other teachers and people in my field is just really energizing. The conversations have been great and given me so many ideas. Professional learning should never end as long as you are a professional.

movie example using voice thread

2008-03-06T15:41:00.000-05:00

Curriculum Newsletter

2007-12-17T10:34:00.001-05:00

The Congin Technology Buzz

Congin School started the year with a gracious gift from Mr. Lancia – the Smartboard that he won when he was teacher of the year! After being introduced and featured at the Technology Open House in October, the Smartboard has made its way around Congin and has become a very popular tool for student presentations, interactive websites, math and science applets, tracking explorer routes and more! Sarah Bradbury has proven herself to be “technologically fabulous” by finding and sharing Smartboard resources to use with the rest of the staff. Kate Capetta or (Miss Ingenuity as she's known at Congin), created a Jeopardy game using the Smartboard to review information for a test. Cell study really came to life in Gloria Noyes's class when she used the Smartboard too! And speaking of popular items, our new Mimio (makes a whiteboard interactive) has also been making the rounds. A student recently reported that she preferred the Mimio to the Smartboard because, “it was so easy to set up and the record feature is really cool.” Craig Forrest's class the spin on Jerry Spinelli, when his they gathered facts on the author and used the Mimio to manipulate a virtual jigsaw puzzle of the book cover of their current novel!

Blog Mania has taken over Congin, as teachers and students all over the school are participating in and hosting on-line discussions, sharing resources, writing, reading and thinking in blogs. Mr. Lancia's reading blog is practically world famous with an average of 20 hits a day! And guess who's been spoted on Craig Aham's blog - none other than Jan Breton! I wonder who's blog she'll be visiting next?

Congin's top 5 most bloggerific classrooms are:
1. Miss Bradbury's class
2. Mr. Aham's class
3. Miss Doherty's class
4. Mrs. Stultz's class
5. Miss Capetta's class

Sally Chaplin's class has been capturing some great images with the digital microscopes, next they'll be going global with the images when they use their blog to publish their findings. Her gifted math group has created on-line surveys using surveymonkey.com to deliver, collect and disaggregate their data. We're all anxiously awaiting their results as these surveys will provide important information to the physical education department, library, cafeteria, band and technology departments. Their next project involves making a virtual field trip!

It's been busy at Congin! It will be interesting to see what this talented staff of go-getters comes up with for the spring!

Using Survey Monkey

2007-11-27T15:07:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone! Miss Chaplin's class is using Survey Monkey do conduct surveys and review data. Here I've put together sample survey. Feel free to partipate. We'll look at our results! Click Here to take survey

Digital story telling

2007-11-19T17:57:00.000-05:00

I found this great site that allows you to upload pictures and add audio comments or narration to them. It also allows you to add text and even "doodle" on the photos. Imagine the possibilites! You can also easily upload your creation to your blog or link to it. The site is Voice Thread. Check out what I made in less than 2 minutes!

Lunch Time Blogs!

2007-11-15T11:52:00.000-05:00

Today Ms. Giggey, Ms. Barker, Ms. Cruz and Ms. Grossman blogged with Ms. Alvarez during lunch. Ms. Giggey and Ms. Cruz are going to have a very cool Animal Refuge League Service blog.

Mrs. Bradbury's Smart Board Lessons

2007-11-13T09:45:00.000-05:00

Sarah Bradbury found some great sites that she used with the smart board. For geography her class practiced the continents and oceans with Sheppard Software's world continents, they did a tug o' war with decimals and for science they looked at flower parts. Thank you Mrs. Bradbury for finding these valuable resources!

Stultz tries out the Mimio!

2007-11-05T12:54:00.000-05:00

Thursday, Mrs. Stultz's class test drove the Mimio I recently procured. The class was very excited by the multiplication math games and were impressed with the new technology. They, of course, figured it out immediately and each took a turn practicing with the "mouse pen". They're ready for the next step - taking notes with the mimio!

Smart Board Scores High With Students!

2007-10-26T10:19:00.000-04:00

Miss Capetta proved to be the Smart Board Diva again yesterday when she used it all day teaching congruent triangles, story elements, and even rounded out the day with some explorer review questions Jeopardy for her class's upcoming test! The student were engaged and (dare I say) riveted to what she was teaching! Thank you for the great ideas, Miss Capetta!

Blog workshop anyone?

2007-10-24T13:56:00.000-04:00

Several teachers have been asking about blogs! I am so happy about the interest! Blogging is a great way to produce student portfolios, create interest in writing, reflect, get feedback and publish! Not to mention, kids love using technology. Think of the excitement a class or individual student blogs would bring to your class! I will be offering an introduction to blogging and uses in the elementary classroom. Please let me know if you are interested in attending and what day would work best for you. Right now I’m looking at 11/7 (Wednesday), 11/8 (Thursday). Those of you who would like to get a head start, check out 21classes.com.

New Educational Game

2007-10-20T21:42:00.000-04:00

The game featuring Mr. Lancia has been removed. But anyone who would like to create their own game should go to pictogame.com for an easy and fun gaming experience! All you need is a photo and a sense of humor.

Stacy out and shoplifting

2007-10-17T19:47:00.000-04:00

In case anyone was wondering were I was today… I was a Pride’s Corner, our sister school, administering the MAP test to next year’s incoming crop of 3rd graders. They are an interesting and lively group. I wanted to say that I am so glad to see that the Smart board is out and about and people are utilizing it! For anyone using the Smart board for math purposes or just need a few nice math interactive sites, the MISTM site is filled with wonderful tools. The pattern blocks that we used with the Smart board at the open house is located there. I will be at Prides again tomorrow and all day on Monday, but I can be reached by e-mail if anyone needs me. Oh yeah, on an exciting note, I did a little shopping at Central Office today and relieved them of the new wireless Mimio that works like a Smart board. It should be in full rotation by Tuesday, if anyone would like to give it a whirl. It is very neat and guaranteed to get your students’ attention! Jan B. asked what I was doing at central office; I quickly hid the bag containing my plunder, and hurried back to campus. If anyone asks… you don’t know anything, right?

21st Century Teaching

2007-10-14T21:44:00.000-04:00

If you get a chance, there are many good things on teacher tube to view. Many inspire, intrigue or just make you laugh. I like this clip. I first started using technology to motivate my students. I noticed that they would do anything - proof read, edit, revise, practice, research - happily if I envolved the computer. At that time I had one classroom computer, so it was a little more difficult. We are so lucky to have the incredible resources that we do here in Maine. I am constantly amazed at how forward thinking our state is and our district.
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ACTEM Conference

2007-10-12T22:04:00.000-04:00

I got to meet Will Richardson today at the ACTEM Conference. He was the keynote speaker at this year's event. He was a very dynamic speaker, but the most important thought I walked away with from his talk was this: With the rapid change in attitudes, technology and how we communicate, we have no idea what kind of world we are preparing these students for, but rote memorization of factoids and dates will not do them justice. We have to teach them problem solve, we have to teach them to collaborate, communicate, and adapt. We have to teach them to think and evaluate. Easy, right? The other great speaker I heard was Vicki Davis. She has a project where her students do project management with teams of students globally. Quite cool.

Tech Open House

2007-10-11T20:00:00.000-04:00

BubbleShare: Share photos - Here comes Halloween!

Today was a great day for me at Congin! The technology open house seemed to be a success. I really enjoyed talking to everyone about their interests and their needs. It was also great getting to show everyone all the technology that we have available. This is an exciting time to be an educator. And, at the risk of sounding like I'm on a sugar high from all the cookies at the refreshment table (I really am actually), I feel very lucky to be around so many interesting and creative people on a daily basis. This is my new blog that I started in honor of Open House and the dialogue about technology at Congin. Please feel free to leave comments and ideas. I will try to update often. A few people asked for a list of the sites featured today, so here they are:

* 4teachers.org has many great tools that are easy to use (even a rubric maker)
* filamentality helps you create your own webquests
* thatquiz.com - great math practice and Clare H's personal favorite!
* ARKive contains images and information about animals with loads of great stuff about conservation
* US Geological Survey learning web for kids
* The US Geological Survey resources for educators - map maker! lesson plans and interactive modules (very cool)
* Science News for Kids - in the "teacher zone" there are questions to go with featured articles (coolness factor: 9.5)
* Arcademic Skill Builders - has the very popular multiplication grand prix - watch out for Kate C. she knows her multiplication facts!
* Survey Monkey - creates online surveys, great for graphing

Last but not least, I thought y'all would get a kick out of my meez I created. Do you think she looks like me? She definately has my attitude...