Stephenville ISD Technology

Want to showcase student work, an assembly program, club activities, or introduce students to new places around the world? Why not develop a Smilebox!

Smilebox a free, easy to use web-based program where teachers, students, and/or administrators can create greeting cards, scrapbooks, slideshows and more using photos, videos, and music! Users can email, blog or even print (not recommended by your friendly SISD technology director!) to share creations!

Need a way to communicate great happenings to parents or community members? Smilebox creations are just the ticket. Sign up for a free account and add a little zest to your lessons, program, or meeting!

Need to discover the meaning of a word or find synonyms to write an interesting story, news article, or letter? Why not try Snappy Words, a free visual English dictionary and thesaurus that lets users search for words. Users have unlimited access to the WordNet database developed by Princeton University. The interactive display is easy to use and visually stimulating! Give this fun, free dictionary a try with your next writing project!

These web-links and others are available from the Quick Links located on the SISD district website. Visit the site often so that you learn more new tools to enhance your instructional or administrative programming!

As usual there was lots to see and learn at this year’s TCEA Technology Convention in Austin. The 2-day Moodle workshop was very informative and we came away with lots of new ideas that will help us expand the professional development that we offer. Seeing all the creative things that other schools and teachers are doing is always exciting.  There are so many Web 2.o tools to share and most of them are free!  One of the most informative sessions on technology integration was conducted by Jessica Branch. Her website bit.ly/The50 has 100 ways to integrate technology in your classroom.

Have you tried Wordle? I had used it before but check out the link of 50 Interesting Ways to use Wordle in the classroom. I made one of the SISD Mission Statement.

If you have a favorite Web 2.0 tool to share let me know.

Read this list of 21 Signs You’re a 21st Century Teacher and let me know how you do.

Over the past two months, the SISD Technology Committee has been meeting to come up with recommendations for the board to further the technology portion of the district strategic plan. To learn what it means to teach 21st century learners, we attended two trainings conducted by Monica Martinez (from TCEA). For a summary of what we learned, go to: http://portal.sliderocket.com/AIMOT/My-Presentation-1

Monica really clarified for us what it means to create a 21st Century Learning environment. I think many of us had misconceptions about what true technology integration looks like. I thought the statement, “Technology integration is invisible.” was particularly powerful.  In learning about the three tiers of technology integration we realize that most of us are Tier 1 but of course the goal is Tier 3! Our mission is to move in that direction!

Throughout the two days of training Monica shared numerous websites and webtools with us. Click here List of websites to try some of them out and let us know how it goes!

The Texas Education Agency has launched iTunes U. The intent of this initiative is to provide free multimedia content to educators, students and parents in Texas. Professional development and support materials will be available to all registered users.

iTunes U will also provide collaborative content through Project Share. All Stephenville ISD staff are authorized users of Project Share and can access their personal account from Links section of the SISD Technology Department webpage.

In mid-November 2009 the Texas Education Agency in collaboration with Epsilen LLC and The New York Times Company announced a new initiative called Project Share. The purpose of this initiative is to expand the development and delivery of high quality professional development in an interactive eLearning environment and provide access to online resources, online course content, academic networking, and professional learning communities.

 Phase I of Project Share has launched and has included professional development opportunities that focus on the English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Career and Technical Education, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, the English Language Proficiency Standards, and the College and Career Readiness Standards delivered by TEA and education service centers across the state. Some Stephenville ISD professional staff members may attended sessions this past summer that required their account login and password to the Project Share portal.

All Stephenville ISD professional staff members employed during the 2009 -2010 school year were registered in Project Share. In late May, all received an email notice from Epsilen LLC system providing the  user name and randomly selected password. Staff members new to SISD should log into the Project Share portal and request to transfer their account from their previous school district to SISD. Teachers whose first teaching post is SISD during the 2010 – 2011 should contact Karol Howell and request a login and password to the Epsilen Project Share portal.

Training in the development of your ePortfolio and other Project Share customization features will be scheduled throughout the 2010 – 2011 school year and beyond. Find attached an Agency developed Frequently Asked Questions document that will provide you with additional information until such time that you may attend face-to-face or online training.

Getting Started in Epsilen

SISD has developed an online Moodle course that will provide overview information of the Project Share portal. All staff members are encouraged to take time to participate in this online programming to learn more about its potential. The Project Share Moodle course, along with other SISD specially developed programming, is available from the SISD website.

Contact the SISD technology department  if you have  questions regarding this exciting eLearning experience!

The SMART Response system engages students and saves teachers valuable time. Using the response system allows everyone to participate and receive instant feedback.

The following links are Quick Reference Guides to help get you started:

Creating an Assessment

Delivering an Assessment

Evaluating Assessment Results

To view all set up and practice materials for SMART Response click on the following link.

http://smarttech.com/trainingcenter/material.asp

Over the last couple of weeks we have been working in Notebook software to create math templates for the elementary schools. This has forced us to learn more about the software and use the galleries and tools in new ways.

It made me think about which tools I like best in the Notebook. I am a big fan of infinite cloning. There are endless possibilities for its use, from math manipulatives to working with prefixes and suffixes. Over the course of this adventure I have flipped, rotated, filled shapes with color, added text, layered, grouped objects, ungrouped objects, locked graphics and unlocked graphics. Trial and error is our motto!

Even after all of this, I still have to say that the “magic pen” is my all time favorite. If you haven’t used it, you should give it a try. It is the pen on the toolbar with the purple stars around it. This pen has three uses: if you draw a square, it will magnify the area, if you draw a circle, it will magnify the area, and if you write, it will disappear in ten seconds ( pay attention or you will miss it).

Post a comment and let us know your favorite SMARTBoard or Notebook tool or trick.

I created this blog last year but didn’t really do much with it. I have set a goal for myself  to post to this blog once a week. To learn more about blogs and get ideas, I have been reading any and all blogs I can find that have to do with education and technology. I have learned a lot!

I came across an idea that I love using VoiceThread to have students create digital portfolios for Student-Led Conferences. Using VoiceThread has many benefits. First and foremost it is free, it is very interactive, parents and friends can comment on the students work and it can be shared with family members and friends all over the world.

Creating a digital portfolio can address multiple essential elements associated with ELA,  technology applications and any content area. Students write scripts, practice oral presentation skills, take pictures, scan in documents, and use the online program. I have put the link to the blog posting I read at the end of this post. It contains step by step directions for creating the portfolios, comments on what they would do differently next time (most helpful) and a couple of examples of the final product. Check it out and let me know what you think. If anyone is interested in trying to do this, we could set up a training to help get started.

Here is the link:  http://teachingsagittarian.edublogs.org/2009/03/15/voicethread-as-a-digital-portfolio/