The reason lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place is that the same place isn’t there the second time. - Willie Tyler
After all the incredibly headaches that we had reporting out of PowerSchool last year, the first quarter seems to have gone smoothly (knock on wood). Few teacher changes and the report cards are printed and ready to go home. Our custom report card is not ideal as it needs to be tweaked a little each year and each quarter but i am understanding ObjectReports more, and can actually find things that last year would have demanded a call (and forty-five minute wait on hold) to PowerSchool.
“I have to admit, its gettin’ better…gettin’ better all the time”
In the other two schools (ES/MS) Webgrader continues to amaze at its ease. When it comes to grading to a benchmark – i honestly have not seen anything close to as good (let alone better). It isn’t the slickest designed program, and at times i wish its navigation and menus were more clear but it is a solidly engineered machine when it comes to reporting, what sticks with you though is that their customer support is personal and second to none. Now we just need to get that data into PS to keep everyone happy.
The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.
– Benjamin Disraeli
If you are one of the people who read this blog regularly then you know that i am pretty high on Google Docs these days. Likewise i am blown away by the things that i see my teachers doing within Moodle. Then there are the real high flyers (according to Bloom) – the synthesizers. The ones who have asked, “what would happen if i linked my Moodle directly to my GoogleDocs?”
Would it be like crossing the beams in GhostBusters? OR would it allow me to continuously modify my documents without worrying about losing information or linking to a previous (outdated) document. would it allow me to save mountains of server space by hosting the file in a Google’s public area? would it allow me to link to collaborative student assignments as they develop? There are so many advantages that i could literally sit here and type them for the rest of my day – something i would quite seriously love to do, but instead i return to budgeting…
I am not going to go overly political or anything but everywhere i look someone is trying to get somone to get out and vote (i am completely in favor of this). Well this was a new tactic that someone sent to me today and i thought it was pretty funny – of course if McCain were to win it would be very very sad (only my opinion), anyway – on with the humor:
The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be.
- Robert Fulghum
It seems that my techy friend Nevin has come up in many of my most recent posts, and why shouldn’t he, he is a great guy; generous with his knowledge and always makes himself available for a quick skype session or even just to compare tales of fatherhood. In fact it is he who introduced me to TeamViewer and he has been an invaluable component of our Moodle implementation here at Carol Morgan. Indeed, this post started to bounce around my head when we were talking about some ideas for Moodle training. He revealed to me that a number of schools in Eastern Europe or even Zagreb will send people to other shools simply because they find their staff more attentive to the “new face.” I had never thought about it, but i must say i have experience times when it is somehow easier to listen to the “expert” you know little about then to the (perhaps more qualified) “friend” that is just down the hall from you. This notion was at the forefront of my mind this week as i re-presented a workshops on using blogs to increase writing, reflection and assessment across the curriculum to my “home team.” I felt it was received well in both locations, the feedback i have received has been great and i have reports of more then 500 student blogs that have been created by students of the teachers in the three workshops – will they stick? This morning i received a wonderful email from one of the teachers in Costa Rica and i appreciated her feedback and knowing that she is diving headlong into the blogosphere.
Please take a second and check out some of these great teacher blogs that are taking off – comment and help expand and extend their experience…
“From there to here,
from here to there,
funny things are everywhere.”
- Theodor Seuss Geisel
I often feel pulled in many different directions, i think many of us feel this way at times. With so many things going on, places to be and people to work with i have been running from place to place – too often to the point of exhaustion. That said helping with integration planning, project celebration, and computer issues wherever they have arisen is a key part of my job. Lately i have been using TeamViewer to help me be in multiple places at once, to lead class demonstrations, and generally to make my life a little easier. TeamViewer fits nicely in the educator’s price range (free) and can help you troubleshoot, demonstrate, or even lead a lesson from your office, your home, or anywhere in the world.
In the relatively short time i have used this program i have used it to share my own desktop, remote control another user’s, and in the role of tech support coming in to quickly see what is wrong with a machine. I have used it with teachers, students, and even to trouble shoot my dad’s recent issues with his Skype volume. It is a really fantastic tool and although I would not use it with bank details or information whose security i want to absolutely guarantee…it is a powerful tool that has saved me, my teachers, our students, and my father lots of time and headaches. The newest version works on both MAC and PCs and it can even connect cross-platform!
The need for this is intensified here as we work around the media center’s construction and the wall it has brought. The question however remains: how is this increased way to sit here and be there going to help sort out the issue/spare tire growing around my belly…
Wikipedia is a non-profit. It was either the dumbest thing I ever did or the smartest thing I ever did. Communities can build amazing things, but you have to be part of that community and you can’t abuse them. You have to be very respectful of what their needs are.
- Jimmy Wales
Barrie Jo Price has just given a great workshops on using wiki’s in school. I wish it was a little more hands on but the time just was too tight. Her passion really came through loud and clear. It got me thinking of some of my favorite wikis that i visit regularly:
“I really struggle with that feeling of helplessness. That’s why I really try to get my blogs, and even myself, to point to the positive and look at all the inspiring things that are happening.”
- Daryl Hannah
Two years ago I submitted a proposal to do a presentation on blogging in education. That proposal was selected a year after it was submitted and tomorrow i am off to Costa Rica to present at this year’s Tri-Association converence. The topic: how blogging can be used to improve writing, reflection, assessment, and the learning that goes on in our classes.
The presentation is considerably different than what was originally proposed – but lets face it the world of blogging has changed a great deal in two years! I will be giving the presentation twice and the candidates and duration of the session will be very different; thus i needed some basics that i could adapt to the audience in front of me.
I have re-presented some of the information from support blogging, and from the writings found on or linked from my blogroll in a slide show and will work individually to meet the needs of the participants.
Here is the presentation to date (although it will likely change greatly before it is presented on Thursday morning):
Of course comments and feedback are always appreciated if you have a minute.
Do not let your deeds belie your words, lest when you speak in church someone may say to himself, ‘Why do you not practice what you preach?’
- Saint Jerome
I do a lot of talking around here about collaboration. I push it pretty much daily; to teachers, to friends, to students, and to administrators. This week has been a great reminder to me as to the power of collaboration. As a member of the World Virtual Schools project (driven by the Department of State) i have had the opportunity to meet many tech directors from a variety of schools around the world. I have been equally amazed at both the similarities and differences of the schools involved. This week i have got my moneys worth of SKYPE in conecting with Zagreb, Croatia working through some issues that were arising within our Moodle server. The goal is to have a secure Moodle connection and mirror site up and running quickly – looks like we will get there much sooner than we had originally hoped. In return i was able to share some of the lessons we learned during our implementation of PowerSchool last year. At the same time as i was working on this situation i was in text chat with Kim Cofino in Thailand helping to launch a 4th grade BlogPals project spanning Europe, Asia, North America, Australia and the Carribbean. I was stumped launching Mrs. Castro’s blog and it only took about 3 minutes for Kim to straighten me out. Without her it would have taken much longer and without my friend in Croatia i would still be experimenting to see why our moodle was malfunctioning (it turns out our AntiVirus had corrupted a portion of the data base).
At the end of the week it was very clear; i advanced further, faster by working with other people – collaboration works and is a new norm. The direct instruction of collaborative skills and modeling collaboration is crucial to what we are trying to do in the modern school.I’m sold (again)
“Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods.”
– Aristotle
Today one of our fourth grade classes entered into the Blogosphere. The teacher was a little hesitant but i am extremely proud of her bravery. Luckily she is supported not just by her technology facilitators and me but also by a great group of teachers from all over the world – her classes BlogPals. This is something that Kim Cofino invited us to from Thailand; we had one teacher leap onboard initially but I am sure we will have many more classes involved in projects like this as this takes off. Kim’s blog is full of resources on blogging at the elementary level and this post is a great starting point for anyone helping a new elementary class to enter the world of blogging.
Blogging has been at the forefront of my mind recently as i finalize a presentation that i will be giving in San Jose, Costa Rica next week. In reflection, I proposed the project to the Tri-Association more than two years ago now and the difference in the world of educational blogging between then and now is nothing short of phenomenal. I don’t know what i would have said two years ago but it sure would have been a great deal different then what i will be saying next week (more on that a little later).
“life is a book and those who do not travel read only a page”
- Saint Augustine
For a long time that quote was my outgoing mail signature. I am a little more grounded but being a travel junkie, techy and geography major i had to post this up for you to give it a try:
something seems to be wrong with the embed but its worth it try here.
credibly headaches that we had reporting out of PowerSchool last year, the first quarter seems to have gone smoothly (knock on wood). Few teacher changes and the report cards are printed and ready to go home. Our custom report card is not ideal as it needs to be tweaked a little each year and each quarter but i am understanding ObjectReports more, and can actually find things that last year would have demanded a call (and forty-five minute wait on hold) to PowerSchool. 
comes to grading to a benchmark – i honestly have not seen anything close to as good (let alone better). It isn’t the slickest designed program, and at times i wish its navigation and menus were more clear but it is a solidly engineered machine when it comes to reporting, what sticks with you though is that their customer support is personal and second to none. Now we just need to get that data into PS to keep everyone happy.
hings that i see my teachers doing within 
ct celebration, and computer issues wherever they have arisen is a key part of my job. Lately i have been using 
need for this is intensified here as we work around the 
n, assessment, and the learning that goes on in our classes.
