Well the summer is winding down and preparations are being made all over the Warren Woods Schools for the beginning of another school year. I hope that everyone had a wonderful summer and is ready to begin another exciting year educating the students in Warren Woods. There are many new things for teachers to learn and use this year.

Blackboard 9 has been released and has a completely new interface. Everything can be clicked and dragged making course design easier than ever. The Dropbox is no longer in Blackboard but there are new features such as electronic journals, and blogs that can be used with students to increase practice in writing. An afternoon PD session will be offered on the use of Blackboard 9 on September 16th for the teachers in Warren Woods. Please visit the Professional Development page on the Curriculum and Instructional Technology website to register for this and other professional development opportunities.

Pearson Inform has a new Flash based interface that will be easier for teachers to navigate and will allow teachers and administrators to easily analyze student data such as State Exams and Common Assessments quickly and easily. Inform can also be used to track intervention plans for students. Most of the high school staff will be trained on using Pearson Inform the afternoon of September 2nd. This software tool will be key for teachers to use during the four delayed starts in order to make decisions on improving instruction and helping individual students succeed.

Powerschool is new for this year and promises to make grading, parent communication, and access to student information easier than ever for teachers. Teachers will use Powerschool for attendance in all buildings and for Middle and High School teachers it will replace Integrade Pro for the purposes of maintaining a gradebook. There are specific teachers in the Middle and High School that have already been trained to use Powerschool and will support the rest of the staff in those buildings. I am also available to support teachers in all buildings in the use of Powerschool.

Thanks to the Tech Department and the help of high school WIA participants almost all computers in the school district have been re-imaged and have new software tools available for teachers to use. At the High School and Middle School, Microsoft Office has been upgrade to the 2007 version and if teachers need help or have any questions about its use can contact me. In addition I will be running some professional development on some of the new software that can be used with your students.

The elementary schools will also have more netbooks to use with students this upcoming year with a new Linux based operating system and many pieces of educational software that is loaded on both the netbooks and the desktops in the buildings. Study Island has been renewed for another year in Mathematics for students in Kindergarten - 8th grade.

If you are interested in doing any distance learning sessions this upcoming school year please check the Distance Learning page of the Curriculum Website to request any sessions and get information about the various sessions that will be offered this school year.

As usual please check the curriculum resources page for weblinks to useful technology and content for each subject area. And if you need any help or have any questions please contact me and we will get together.

I am looking forward to another great year in Warren Woods and supporting the work you do inside of your classrooms.

Thanks,

John Thero