Thing #19 Skype

The ways to use Skype in the classroom are endless. Teachers may use it at trainings to share ideas with other teachers. Principals can have chats with teachers over summer break. The best way for students to use Skype is by talking to other students in other counties in the states, students in other states, and even chat with students in other countries. The students would have the opportunity to ask students from other places anything they are curious about. Skype would be a great learning tool if used correctly. This is another tool that teachers would need to monitor carefully however, as many students are too forthcoming with  information over the Internet.

Thing #18 AUP

The Mercer County Schools Acceptable Use Policy is broken up into several policies. The computer based policy can be accessed here. It has not been updated in 3 years, is roughly three pages long, and does not address Web 2.0 tools. It mirrors the state policy in relation to the Children's Internet Protection Act and stresses safety using the Internet and prohibits "hacking." While the policy is short, the pages following it are the permission slips parents are to sign before a student can use a school based computer. It is basically set up similar to a contract and is kept on file in each schools office. These must be signed and returned when the school year begins, but schools usually run into problems when new students come in and need to use the technology for some tests such as the WESTEST2 Online Writing Assessment. The teachers are generally accommodating for students who do not have home Internet access. Projects requiring Internet use are given class time as well as extended sue dates to complete assignments.

Thing 8a

Here is the link to my cheat sheet for SMARTBoard calibration.

Cheat Sheet

Thing #15- RSS

Rich Site Summary takes feeds from other sites and delivers them to you in a constantly updated format. 

Thing #14 - Blog Reader

I chose blog #15-This Week in Education. It linked me to blogs found on Scholastic.com. I found some very interesting blogs about teachers shortages. I found this article: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/tfa_departs/ about a group of newly trained teachers leaving schools. As much publicity as our schools get, I am surprised to find some much worse off. The blog was well designed, with useful links and articles that would be insightful for teachers. I was surprised Scholastic had a news section.

http://www.scholasticadministrator.typepad.com/thisweekineducation/

Thing #22- Conference Reflection

I attended 16 sessions of the 2012 WV Technology Conference. One session I attended was by Bill Smith from Samsung about the Samsung Galaxy Tablet. I was interested in this session because I received a tablet in August 2012 and I hoped the session could show me what else it could do. The session included a great deal of information about Samsung Electronics overall. I do see the tablet as something that could be very helpful in the classroom. I use my tablet to monitor behaviors by using Internet based behavior management software.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zgjr13hszt7l9uv/16Sessionsmaster_techconference_certificate.pdf?m

Thing #13: Mid-Module Reflection

The journey so far has been rewarding yet difficult. At times, I have felt overwhelmed by the whole process. After the summer meetings, I still had unanswered questions, yet was ready to begin. I went through a period where I printed off every guide, list, and table I could find on WVLearns in an attempt to get an overall picture of the work required. Once I did this, I sat down and went over every aspect and checked off things I had already completed and made notes on what still needed to be done.

When the cohort leader visited to me, I had a great deal of questions answered and was given assurance that I was doing well so far. Now, I just keep working away little-by-little, bit-by-bit on assignments. Someone in the TIS programs said once, "work on assignments every week." I have found this impossible to do as working in school takes all my time and working my second job on the weekend doesn't help either. I am working on the assignments when I get time and feel up to it. There is light at the tunnel, I just have not seen it yet!