Curriculum and Instructional Technology - Home

MLK PD Thanks and Upcoming Sessions

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:20:58 -0800

Hello Everyone,

I want to take a moment to thank everyone for helping to make the MLK professional development day a success. We have received a great deal of positive feedback and if you would like to see the results of the survey click here.

February is here and the registration forms for February and March are up on the Curriculum website. There is a good tech session titled Killer Apps for Digital Photos during February at the MISD. There is a $20 fee for the session. Given the budget constraints currently in the district we cannot fund the fee but will count the session as PD. From this point forward look at the description on the PD calendar to see what can be done about the fees, we can get some waived but others teachers will have to be responsible for if they want to participate as the district cannot pay the fees due to budget constraints.

There will also be a session on Study Island on February 17th. If you are going to start using Study Island with your students in the upcoming semester please join in.

Given that the vast majority of staff has completed their PD obligations the district will begin to only offer PD inside of the district at the request of teachers. So if you have a session you would like to see contact me and I will facilitate the request.

Lets hope the 2nd semester goes as well as the 1st.

John

Google Wonder Wheel and Timeline

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:22:18 -0800

I just learned about two Google tools that can help teachers and students search the web more effectively and visually. They are Wonder Wheel and Timeline. Wonder Wheel sets the search query in the middle of a mind-map and adds related search terms around the original search term. Students can then click on the related search terms to refine their search or discover something totally new.

Check out the video below to see a demonstration of Wonder Wheel. (Yes ... I know it is on Youtube and you won't be able to view it from school but it is worth looking it up at home nonetheless).

What a great way to make searching a visual experience for students.

Timeline

Timeline takes a search such as the Revolutionary War and puts all the search results in a chronological timeline. For example, you may see a result from 1780 and it may be a scan of a newspaper article from that time period.

To use Wonder Wheel or Timeline go to google.com and put in your search term just as you normally would.
At the top of the page you will see a link for "Show Options"

Scroll down on the left side and you will see the options for Wonder Wheel and Timeline under the "Standard View" heading

Wonder Wheel

Timeline

I want to credit Mrs. Smoke, a teacher and blogger whose site I read about these two features in Google. To check out her blog go to http://mrssmoke.onsugar.com/

MLK PD Options Released

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:50:21 -0800

Hello Everyone,

I hope that everyone is have a great holiday season so far. I wanted to let you know that the agenda for the professional development on January 18, 2010 has been released. This year teachers will be able to register from a selection of sessions throughout the day. The agenda and registration form are on the Professional Development page of the Curriculum website. Please complete the registration as soon as possible. We would really appreciate it if as many teachers registered prior to leaving for the holiday break as possible so that we have an idea about numbers of teachers in particular sessions and can plan accordingly.

The day will break down as follows:
From 8:00 - 9:00 all staff will be in a general session in the WWT Auditorium to continue the discussion we began at the beginning of the year about our mission, "Failure is not an option". Then teachers will attend the sessions that they registered for from 9:30 - 11:30 and 12:15 - 3:15. Lunch will occur from 11:30 - 12:15 on your own.

Please note that the Everything Google, and Curriculum sessions run all day so even though you have to make two selections on the registration form you will be in the same location. For example, if you select ELA curriculum in the morning you cannot select a different afternoon session.

Also note that some sessions(Pearson Inform, Everything Google, and Blackboard) are capped at 32 participants due to computer lab restrictions and registrations will be taken on a first come first serve basis.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday break!

John

Elementary Math Survey

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:31:54 -0800

Hello all,

The Warren Woods Public Schools is proud to offer to elementary teachers the services of two mathematics coaches in two of our buildings. In order to help them schedule and design professional development in mathematics please complete the following survey. This will help the administration and the math coaches to design and implement pd that all teachers can benefit from. The survey is located HERE .

Please complete the survey by Monday, December 7th so that we can have professional development ready for Martin Luther King Day.

Thanks,

John

Additonal Information on Science PD

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:28:13 -0800

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to make sure that you all see the new information on the elementary science professional development opportunities on December 16th and January 6th. Both sessions will run in the Pinewood TPC from 4:15 - 6:15 by Paul Drummond from the MISD.

On December 16th the topic will be force and motion. The course will provide teachers with an opportunity to learn the science concepts related to force and motion and teachers will examine how children make sense of these concepts. The session will focus on forces as pushes and pulls, gravity as a force, and the relationship between force and mass. Teachers will participate in hands-on activities that are classroom friendly and that can be scaffolded across grade levels.

On January 16th the topic will be Magnetism. The course will provide teachers with an opportunity to learn the science concepts related to Magnetism. We will examine how children make sense of the concepts. The session will focus on magnetism as it applies to properties of matter and forces (pushes and pulls, attract and repel). Teachers will participate in hands-on activities that are classroom friendly.

In both sessions Paul will present a website that the science consultants at the MISD are developing as a resource for teachers in which all the activities are directly aligned to GLCE's by grade level.

If you are in need of some PD hours so that you can sleep in on MLK day both of these sessions are valuable.

Thanks,

John

Internet Filtering

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:51:32 -0800

Hello Everyone,

Sorry for the cluster of posts and emails in such a short period of time but I am catching up on issues that are weeks old at this point. This was mentioned at the last delayed start but I wanted to follow up and point people in the right direction. If you would like a website to be either blocked or unblocked within the Warren Woods Public Schools please fill out the Internet Filtering Request form. All of these requests will be reviewed by the district technology committee for a recomendation and brought to the District Student Achievement Team for a decision. In emergency situations we will try to accommodate instructional needs. To access the form go to the wwpscurriculum website on the Curriculum Resources page.

Thanks,

John

Additional December PD

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:42:02 -0800

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to let you know about another PD opportunity for teachers looking to fulfill the PD requirements before MLK day. On December 15th from 4:15 - 6:15 Michelle Bastian will run a PD session on webhunts. This workshop is designed to help teachers (novice - advanced) integrate technology into their curriculum in a fun and easy way. Each participant will leave with a ready to use webhunt as well as access to helpful resources. To see the flyer for the webhunt PD click HERE.

Thanks,

John

Added directions for entering writing scores into Pearson Inform

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:16:36 -0800

Hello Everyone,

This year the district will begin to collect the writing common assessment scores directly into Pearson Inform. By doing this we will ensure higher quality data since scores will not be passed from teacher to principal to instructional technologist before being entered into the system. This will also help us since Inform will only accept scores that we define (i.e. I will not be trying to decide if a 3/4 is a 3 or a 4).

You will find a video and written directions going over the steps teachers will have to take in order to enter the scores on the curriculum website on the Pearson Inform page. A direct link is http://www.wwpscurriculum.com/pearson-inform.html

For the winter collection this process will be optional for teachers. If you do not want to enter the scores into the system you will need to turn them into your principal as soon as possible so that we can begin to collect the data. If you decide to enter the scores in the system and you have any trouble please contact me and I will come out to you right away and work out any difficulties. For the Spring writing assessment teachers will be expected to enter the scores directly into Inform so this would be a good time to go ahead and give this process a try.

Thanks,

John

Winter is Upon Us

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:32:50 -0800

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Now that it appears that Winter may be upon us with the first snow of the season I thought that it would be a good time to mention some of the professional development opportunities that are being offered in the school district during December.

Advanced Blackboard
On December 7th from 2:45 - 4:45 a session on the more advanced features of Blackboard will be offered in the WWT 406 lab. We will discuss adding assignments, using the journal as a dropbox for students, using message boards, and more.

Universal Design for Assistive Technologies
On December 8th from 4:15 - 6:15 Pam Ansell, Michelle Minturn, and Terry Lange-Winkel will be presenting some Universal Design principals and technologies that can easily be used in the general education classroom.

Blackboard Training
On December 8th from 4:30 - 6:30 the MISD will be offering some basic Blackboard training at the MISD campus on Garfield. If you are looking to start a new Blackboard course in the 2nd semester this would be a great session.

United Streaming
On December 14th from 2:45 - 4:45 we will be holding a session on using United Streaming with your class in the WWT 406 Lab. We will spend time finding media, developing writing prompts, and the creation/implementation of tests and quizzes.

Elementary Science PD
On December 16th from 4:15 - 6:15 Paul Drummond from the MISD will be returning to Warren Woods to present some additional science lessons and a website that the MISD is developing as a resource for elementary science.

Finally, we are still working on the Martin Luther King professional development day and a schedule of sessions and a registration form will be out very soon. So far we will be offering sessions in ELA and Social Studies curriculum work, Using Pearson Inform/Benchmark, Balanced assessment systems, FERPA guidelines, Everything Google, and more. If you still have suggestions for PD or are interested in presenting something to the staff please contact me asap so that we can discuss it.

Thanks,

John

Welcome Back!

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:14:29 -0800

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