tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25300608115922251612024-03-01T20:06:48.783-05:00SPOTLIGHT on TEACHING AND LEARNING with NEW LITERACIES (ITL)Westport Public Schools...............
Westport, CT..............................
A place to read about and comment on:
1.) Teaching and learning activities that include NEW LITERACIES objectives (objectives from the Information and Technology Literacy curriculum) ..
2.) Exciting and useful ITL resourcesBill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.comBlogger113125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-7121989605755180062010-04-27T21:33:00.008-04:002016-08-29T19:44:57.861-04:00May is Big Think MONTH!On Monday night, April 26th, after school for 4 hours, 17 <span style="font-size: 130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 153); font-weight: bold;">ITL teachers</span></span> participated in a <span style="font-size: 130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0 , 102 , 0); font-weight: bold;">Big Think workshop</span></span> at SES. The Big Think is a metacognitive experience that is created for the end of a unit of study -- <span style="color: rgb(204 , 0 , 0); font-weight: bold;">after the traditional assessment has been completed</span>. <span style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 153); font-size: 130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">David Loertscher</span></span>, <span style="font-size: 130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 153); font-weight: bold;">Carol Koechlin and Sandi Zwaan</span></span> authored the book, and David Loertscher was virtually present via Skype during the last hour of the meeting to answer questions and provide elaboration on the purpose and meaning of the Big Think and the 9 strategies created to promote deeper understanding and opportunities to apply learning to a "real" situation. Groups worked to unpack the Big Think Strategies, and in pairs, created a short video describing each of the 9 strategies. A visual was created for each presentation. These videos were added to the Tools/BigThink/April26th section of the Blackboard class Contemporary Literacies (Every teacher in Westport can access this class). Using the Jigsaw model described int he book<span style="font-size: 130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 153); font-weight: bold;"> Ban Those Bird Units</span></span> (also by <span style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 153); font-size: 130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">David Loertscher</span></span>, <span style="font-size: 130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 153); font-weight: bold;">Carol Koechlin and Sandi Zwaan)</span></span>, the participants regrouped to include experts on most of the strategies in each group. They then created Big Think scenarios to go with several descriptions of actual units taught at various grade levels in the district.During the workshop we used a Web 2.o tool recommended by David Loertscher called <a href="http://www.wallwisher.com/" style="font-weight: bold;">Wallwisher </a>to collaboratively share ideas and ask questions about the Big Think. David responded to the questions during our Skype session and also added more responses after our workshop was over. (Click on image below to see larger version of our Wallwisher page.)<br />
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<span style="font-size: 130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0 , 102 , 0); font-weight: bold;">Big Thinks</span></span> will hopefully be created and implemented in all schools by ITL teachers <span style="font-size: 130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">with classroom teachers</span></span> during the month of MAY, and some will be shared at the third and final <span style="color: rgb(153 , 51 , 153); font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">ITL Steering Committee meeting</span> at Staples High School on June 1st!Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-59377617928894498662010-04-06T21:51:00.004-04:002016-08-29T19:46:08.419-04:00Microsoft's Courier - Is it the iPad Killer?<span style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 102); font-size: 180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Today</span></span> at the <span style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 153); font-size: 130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">SHS Student Tech Club Meeting</span></span>, <span style="color: rgb(204 , 0 , 0); font-weight: bold;">Logan</span> showed us a video previewing a new tablet from Microsoft called "The Courier." <span style="color: rgb(0 , 102 , 0); font-size: 130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Amazing!</span></span> <span style="font-size: 180%;"><span style="color: rgb(153 , 51 , 153); font-weight: bold;">(The video has been removed)</span></span><br />
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Also, the students set up a <a href="http://cluboftech.com/">new technology blog</a>.Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-33339753273555193962010-01-30T18:12:00.007-05:002010-04-06T22:04:05.896-04:00The Housekeeper and the ProfessorToday three students from BMS (Jake and Zack R, and Parker S.) and I presented two sessions of SCRATCH at the Westport Public Library from 1-4. This workshop was in conjunction with the WestportREADS book, <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Housekeeper and the Professor</span></span> by Yoko Ogawa, and the afternoon included many events under the title <span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Math, Memories and Making Connections.<br /><br />We started the event with a brief story animation created in Scratch (shown below), then taught the participants some of the basics. Results can be viewed on the Scratch website that we set up for the workshop- <a href="http://scratch.mit.edu/users/wplworkshop">http://scratch.mit.edu/users/wplworkshop.</a><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/wpsscratch/866067">http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/wpsscratch/866067</a></span></span>Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-83067747608041342982010-01-19T20:26:00.009-05:002010-01-19T20:46:37.140-05:00GlogsterThe educational version of <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><a href="http://edu.glogster.com/">Glogster</a></span> allows for the creation of classes with some complications in terms of account names and passwords for our elementary students. The educational account provides no advertising and access to other Glogs made only in the edu site. <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:130%;" >Pam Syndercombe</span>, technology teacher at <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">CES</span></span> and<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"> Ed Wolf</span></span>, 5th grade teacher at <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">CES</span></span>, are preparing to use Glogster in an upcoming learning activity and will provide all of us with some suggestions on how best to use Glogster with a whole class.<br /><br />As Glogster use evolves, I'll add an update on some of its relative advantages in a future post.<br /><br />This practice Glog will eventually have links to each of the 5 contemporary literacy areas identified in our "21st Century Skills" workshops over the past 2 years.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://edu.glogster.com/glog.php?glog_id=4898405&scale=45" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" style="overflow: hidden;" width="480" frameborder="0" height="600" scrolling="no"></iframe>Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-19871484694792298232009-12-10T17:26:00.017-05:002009-12-10T18:16:43.437-05:00CES: TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASE<span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153); font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >Yesterday, December 9th</span><span style="font-size:180%;">, </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">CES administration, teacher</span>s</span><span style="font-size:180%;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">and parents</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;">planned and presented an amazing technology showcase for parents at a 9:30 PTA meeting in the library media center. CES has been using a variety of ITL tools in their everyday teaching and they decided to share some recent lessons with specific ITL tools.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">This was the agenda:</span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" > Welcome and overview of meeting - </span><span style="font-size:130%;"> Melissa Paolini<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Overview of ITL Steering Committee/ ITL Curriculum</span></b></span></span><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><span style="font-size:100%;"> - </span><!--StartFragment--><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Bill Derry</span><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><b style=""><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><br />Blackboard Background and Explanation <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span></span></b></span><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;">- Natalie Carrignan</span><b style=""><o:p></o:p></b></span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><span style="font-size:130%;"><b style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">INTEGRATION of Technology--</span></b></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:";font-size:130%;" >CES Staff Members</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><b style=""><span style=""> <span style="font-size:130%;">o Smartboard Application/ Kindergarten - Jessica Lack</span></span></b><span style="font-size:130%;"><b style=""><span style=""><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">o Google Earth-2nd grade- Social Studies - Eileen Carroll</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">o Scratch-3rd grade- Science - Kate Lyle and MaryJo Lombardo</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">o Truthfulness/Usefulness-4th grade - Sarah Spencer</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">o Discussion Board-5th grade-Language Arts - Joe Pullia </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">o Wiki-5th grade-L.A., Science, S.S. - Ed Wolf</span></span></b></span></span><b style=""><span style=";font-family:";font-size:14pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <!--EndFragment--> <span style="font-family:Georgia;"><span style=""><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span></span></span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in -0.75in 0.0001pt 0.25in;"><b style=""><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:Georgia;">CES LIVE – A behind the scenes look at the TV Studio</span></span><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);font-size:130%;" > </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);font-size:130%;" >- Pam Syndercombe</span><o:p></o:p></span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in -0.25in 0.0001pt 0.25in;"><b style=""><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><b style=""><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">FUNDRAISER </span></span></b><span style="font-size:130%;"><b style=""><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span></span></b></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:Georgia;font-size:130%;" >PTA Co-Presidents - Lisa Laudico and Ginny McGovern</span><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /><br />Later in the year there will be a PTA fundraiser, possibly used to move the current CES TV station from the corner of the library media center into its very own ROOM. (More on that initiative later in the year.)<br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in -0.25in 0.0001pt 0.25in;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-size:130%;">This Technology Showcase was a </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">model presentation</span> for demonstrating how kids and teachers in one school are learning, using and sharing contemporary literacy skills. It was very clear that there has been a school-wide effort to make ITL tools and skills an essential component of every child's education at CES! </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Great job CES!</span><br /></span><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:130%;" ><o:p></o:p></span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in -0.25in 0.0001pt 0.25in;"><b style=""><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><br /><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <!--EndFragment-->Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-85542785610695377722009-11-11T20:06:00.005-05:002009-11-12T09:28:42.552-05:00AASL Conference<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Barbara Eilertsen</span></span>, LMS at <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">LLS, </span>and I attended the <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">AASL</span> (American Association of School Librarians) conference in Charlotte, NC. We also took part in a pre-conference School Library Think-Tank called <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Treasure Mountain</span></span>, the 15th event put together by David Loertscher (our keynote and workshop leader in the first ITL Summer Institute in 2007).<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Treasure Mountain</span></span> focused on the changing role of the school library media specialist/teacher librarian and the new environment that is being envisioned for a flexible, inquiry-based, real and virtual library. <span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">David Loertscher </span></span>calls this new space the Learning Commons, and he has written a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/New-Learning-Commons-Where-Learners/dp/1933170409/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257989738&sr=1-1"><span style="font-weight: bold;">book</span></a> about it with <span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Carol Koechlin</span></span>, and <span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sandi Zwaan</span></span>. <span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Carol Koechlin</span></span> was at <span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Treasure Mountain</span></span> and engaged all of us in a final "Big Think" to synthesize the learnings from the workshop.<br /><br />Other presenters included: <span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jean Sausele Knodt</span></span> (author of the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nine-Thousand-Straws-Teaching-Open-Inquiry/dp/1591586402/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><span id="btAsinTitle" style="">Nine Thousand Straws: Teaching Thinking Through Open-Inquiry Learning </span></span></a><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><span id="btAsinTitle" style="">)</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><span id="btAsinTitle" style=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">,</span></span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"> <span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Valerie Diggs</span></span> (the LMS and founder of the first High School Learning Commons in Chelmsford, MA), <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Dr. Violet Harada</span></span>, professor in the Dept. of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Hawaii (author of many books for educators focusing on the role of the school library media specialist) and many other university professors and practitioners working in information and library media professions.<br /><br />The actual <span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:130%;" ><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/conferencesandevents/national/charlotte2009.cfm">AASL Conference</a></span> started with an Exploratorium, where practitioners from around the country set up tabletop presentations on a wide range of BEST PRACTICES in SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA CENTERS <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/conferencesandevents/national/charlotte2009/forattendees/education/exploratorium2009.cfm">(see the entire list) </a>including redesigning your high school library media center to resemble a popular book store to using <a href="http://www.trails-9.org/"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">T.R.A.I.L.S.</span></a>, a free online information literacy assessment program. The conference opened with "the high priestess of social networking," <span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);" href="http://alum.mit.edu/news/AlumniProfiles/Archive/boyd.jsp">danah boyd</a></span> and closed with a presentation on digital media in the classroom by <span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);" href="http://homepage.mac.com/torres21/TEST/index.html">Marco Torres</a></span>. During the conference we attended workshops on web 2.0 applications, the new <a href="http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/standards.cfm">AASL 21st Century Standards</a>, information problem solving processes, and many others. We followed our now traditional conference note-taking routine and created a wiki: <a href="http://westportaasl2009.pbworks.com/">http://westportaasl2009.pbworks.com</a> .<br /><br />We did the same thing for the recent <span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">CECA/CASL conferenc</span></span>e that I did not write about in this blog -- but there were many more people who attended, hence -- more notes!<br /><a href="http://cecacasl09.pbworks.com/">http://cecacasl09.pbworks.com</a> .<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-60476529706586962602009-10-31T11:59:00.005-04:002016-08-29T19:47:17.124-04:00ITL PD Day -- November 3rd<br />
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This Tuesday, <span style="color: rgb(102 , 51 , 255); font-weight: bold;">November 3rd</span>, most teachers and administrators, grades 6-12, will take part in an all-day series of workshops focusing on ITL skills and tools that can be used to plan engaging teaching and learning experiences for students.<span style="font-size: 78%;"><a href="http://nov3itlworkshops.pbworks.com/keynote"><span style="font-size: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="color: rgb(128 , 0 , 0);"><em><strong></strong></em></span></span></span></a></span> <a href="http://nov3itlworkshops.pbworks.com/keynote"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">All Technology Uses are NOT Equal: Accelerating High-Yielding Practices</span></a> will be the keynote topic provided by <a href="http://nov3itlworkshops.pbworks.com/Bernajean-Porter" style="font-weight: bold;">Bernajean Porter</a>, who will also be conducting two workshops later in the day.<br />
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This past summer we set up a Blackboard class on <a href="https://blackboard.westport.k12.ct.us/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_4373_1" style="font-weight: bold;">Contemporary Literacy</a> (our new title for 21st Century Skills), which is a class now available to all Westport teachers. Those teachers wishing to add information to the class must request to be changed from a student in the class to a teacher in the class. All participants in this past summer's ITL workshops are listed as teachers, and three other teachers have requested to become teachers rather than students in the class. Many of the handouts for the November 3rd workshops are under the appropriate ITL tool in the TOOLS button in the Contemporary Literacy Class.<br />
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An evaluation for the ITL PD Day has been created and will be available via e-mail to all participants the afternoon of November 3rd. The results of this evaluation will help with determining the value of the day, and the changes that could be made to improve a similar professional development day for teachers and administrators in the future.<br />
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Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-73243637713527202162009-09-25T22:32:00.010-04:002016-08-29T19:46:55.422-04:00WESTPORT READS
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Housekeeper and the Professor</span> by Yoko Ogawa is the book selected by the <a href="http://www.westportlibrary.org/">Westport Public Library</a> for the ONE book that all interested readers in Westport will focus on in January 2010 as part of <a href="http://www.westportlibrary.org/events/westportreads/">WESTPORT READS</a>. Many activities are being planned to complement and enhance the themes of this book.
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The book deals with a math professor's brain injury and resulting short-term memory loss after each 80 minutes. The story details the relationships between the professor and his housekeeper, and the housekeeper's young son, "Root." The professor relies on his knowledge of equations and mathematical relationships, as well as his knowledge of Japanese baseball, to create strong, meaningful connections between the principal players.
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Today <span style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 153); font-weight: bold;">Maxine Bleiweis</span>, director of the WPL and <span style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 153); font-weight: bold;">Marta Campbell,</span> collection development & readers' services coodinator, met at Staples High School with <span style="color: rgb(0 , 102 , 0); font-weight: bold;">Lis Comm</span>, 6-12 English curriculum leader, <span style="color: rgb(0 , 102 , 0); font-weight: bold;">Frank Corbo</span>, 6-12 Math curriculum leader,<span style="color: rgb(0 , 102 , 0); font-weight: bold;"> Julia Roberts</span>, SHS library media specialist, <span style="color: rgb(0 , 102 , 0); font-weight: bold;">Robin Stiles</span>, SHS library media specialist, <span style="color: rgb(0 , 102 , 0); font-weight: bold;">Rita Hennessey</span>, BMS library media specialist, <span style="color: rgb(0 , 102 , 0); font-weight: bold;">John Horrigan</span>, CMS library media specialist and <span style="color: rgb(0 , 102 , 0); font-weight: bold;">me</span>.
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We learned about some of the plans the Westport Public Library has for <a href="http://www.westportlibrary.org/events/westportreads/">Westport Reads</a>, and the curriculum leaders and library media specialists talked about how they could support the upcoming January community event. Here are some of the ideas or plans that were presented, planned or discussed during the meeting:
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<li>The translator of the book, Stephen Snyder, a teacher at Middlebury College will present at the WPL on January 11th.</li>
<li>A neurosurgeon will speak at the WPL about memory loss.</li>
<li>A speaker on Japanese baseball will possibly present at the WPL.
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<li>WPL wants to involve school kids in Westport Reads.</li>
<li>Frank Corbo reported that Bill Walsh, Math teacher at SHS, had presented about the book at a Math department meeting. Talked about the possibility of creating a panel of kids who could talk about why they enjoy Math.</li>
<li>Possibly the panel of Math kids could present during a lunch time activity in the library media center.</li>
<li>Is there a possible ART connection that can be made?</li>
<li>There are 10 community book groups that are planning to focus on the book in January.</li>
<li>Could be a connection with Math Counts in the two middle schools.</li>
<li>Maybe students will create a promotion for the book on SHS, BMS and CMS morning television programs.</li>
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Lis Comm is planning to purchase 24 books, one for each English teacher.</div>
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The library media center will purchase 10 copies of the book, create a display and plan for some lunch time activities and presentations in January.
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<!--EndFragment-->Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-46115296164825072032009-09-02T22:14:00.004-04:002016-08-29T19:47:49.810-04:00BMS - FIRST ITL MEETING OF THE YEARThe <span style="color: #000099; font-weight: bold;">BMS ITL committee </span>met for the first time this year from 3:00-4:00 this afternoon. <span style="color: #006600; font-weight: bold;">Rita Hennessey</span>, LMS, and <span style="color: #006600; font-weight: bold;">Lauren Bullock</span>, technology teacher, are the new co-chairs of the committee and Rita Hennessey led the meeting. Members of the committee able to attend included: <span style="color: #006600; font-weight: bold;">Meg Tiley</span>, assistant principal; <span style="color: #006600; font-weight: bold;">Laurie Gray</span>, math teacher; <span style="color: #006600; font-weight: bold;">Anitha Bolar</span>, math teacher; <span style="color: #006600; font-weight: bold;">Jeremy Royster</span>, social studies teacher; <span style="color: #006600; font-weight: bold;">Kathy Fleming</span>, technology teacher; <span style="color: #006600; font-weight: bold;">Lauren Francese</span>, science teacher, and new member, <span style="color: #006600; font-weight: bold;">Susan Cyrulik</span>, science teacher.<br />
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Rita provided an overview of this year's <a href="http://wps21stc.pbworks.com/f/Summer%20ITL%20WORKSHOPS%20FINAL%20SCHEDULE%20new.xls" style="color: #990000; font-weight: bold;">ITL Summer Ca</a><a href="http://wps21stc.pbworks.com/f/Summer%20ITL%20WORKSHOPS%20FINAL%20SCHEDULE%20new.xls" style="color: #990000; font-weight: bold;">mp</a>. 1-2 participants from every school learned about, used and explored the relative advantages of using: Smart Recorder to create screencasts, Flip cameras, MovieMaker, Diigo, Skype, Bubbl.us, Scratch, Google Forms, evaluation tools for websites, and Google Earth to create virtual tours.<br />
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There was also a discussion that I led about the Nov. 3rd ITL professional development day for all staff grades 6-12. We looked at the existing <a href="http://wps21stc.pbworks.com/f/POTENTIAL%20TOPICS%20for%20MINI-ITL%20day-update%208-30-09.doc" style="color: #cc0000; font-weight: bold;">list of possible topics</a>, and discussed if there were any topics missing. No new topics were added. We also discussed the structure of the day (8-9:30 - Keynote by Bernajean Porter; 10-11:30 - Workshop 1; 12:15-1:30- Workshop 2; 1:45-3:00 - Workshops 3; OR one afternoon workshop from 12:15-3:00). The group looked at the other possibility of having ONE workshop from 10:00-3:00, and although there were some advantages, everyone thought it was more important that teachers be exposed to at least two different topics.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.westportlibrary.org/rabbithillfestival/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rabbit Hill</span></a>,<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><a href="http://www.westportlibrary.org/rabbithillfestival/" style="font-weight: bold;">a Festival of Children's Literature</a>, was <span style="color: #cc0000;">briefly</span> discussed. (There will be future posts on this, I am certain!) This amazing literature program sponsored by the <a href="http://westportpubliclibrary.org/">Westport Public Library</a> will bring <a href="http://www.westportlibrary.org/rabbithillfestival/">five authors</a> to Bedford and Coleytown Middle Schools on Friday, Oct. 23rd. On Saturday Oct 24th, the authors present at Saugatuck Elementary School at a free morning event, with workshop sessions offered in the afternoon. The reason for putting Rabbit HIll on the agenda was to support the preparation of students as much as possible for the authors' visit to maximize the impact of their presentations. <span style="color: #006600; font-weight: bold;">Kathy Fleming</span> and <span style="color: #006600; font-weight: bold;">Rita Hennessey</span> discussed connections with the TV Studio and the LMC.<br />
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Two future faculty meetings may be used for ITL workshops this year after the ITL PD day on Nov. 3rd.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Attending the meeting and hearing about potential ITL work this year at Bedford was a great way to end the 2nd day of school (for students).</span>Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-79176935876982015122009-08-19T16:03:00.006-04:002016-08-29T19:48:37.559-04:00Contemporary Literacy<strong>A new year is about to start.</strong> 17 teachers recently attended the <strong>SUMMER ITL CAMP</strong> focusing on <em>Contemporary Literacy</em>. A Blackboard class has been set up for all teachers to access information about a wide range of contemporary literacy tools and concepts. All teachers will be members of the class in September.<br />
<br />
We looked at the relative advantages of using the following tools and concepts: Smart Notebook, Flip cameras, MS MovieMaker, Diigo, Google Earth, Skype, Scratch, Bubbl.us and strategies for determining the Usefulness and Truthfulness of information.<br />
<br />
Planning has begun for the ITL professional development day on November 3rd for all 6-12th grade teachers. A survey will go out to all 6-12th grade teachers soon to determine the areas of most interest for that day.<br />
<br />
ITL staff will have a full day meeting with professional development on Friday, August 28th.<br />
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Looking forward to an exciting year where more and more teachers are engaging students in learning activities which require ITL skills for success.Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-6016784046003619672009-06-17T21:17:00.014-04:002009-06-20T23:20:57.017-04:00CES: Authentic Learning - Science, Language Arts, ITL<div>Today I was honored to be the audience for 4 presentations by the owners and employees of 4 different fitness centers. Each presentation focused on the special features that made their health and fitness center an excellent choice for anyone interested in special exercises, diet and individual attention. Although these companies were "not real" and the owners and employees were <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">5th graders in Ed Wolf's</span></span> class at <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Coleytown Elementary</span></span>, it only added to the obvious learning and sophisticated display and presentation of information. The "owners" presented their companies' missions and special services AS IF their fitness and health centers were legitimate companies.<br /><br />It all began several months ago when Mr. Wolf wanted to have his students apply their prior knowledge of using wikis (See blog entry -- Jan. 21st - <a href="http://learnteachitl.blogspot.com/search?q=community+of+writers">Community of Learners -CES</a>) to a new project dealing with their study of the human body. Instead of researching the systems of the body, he wanted his students to have a strong purpose for using the researched information. He engaged the students in a proposition --<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-style: italic;">Can you create a "real" website using a wiki for a "re</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-style: italic;">al" fitness and health club that provides specific health, diet and exercises for specific people with certain needs, such as a 60 year old man recovering from a heart attack or a 15 year old soccer player?<br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/SjmdsHtDZRI/AAAAAAAAAZs/NI6kA4rg9wE/s1600-h/Picture+1.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348479413786993938" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; cursor: pointer; height: 280px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/SjmdsHtDZRI/AAAAAAAAAZs/NI6kA4rg9wE/s400/Picture+1.png" border="0" /></a>The <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mission Accomplished</span></span> group, a doctor, diet specialist, fitness specialist and orthopedic specialist spoke about the yoga classes designed for a 23 year old leukemia patient. They described a selective diet with lots of fruits and vegetables. They said that whoever came to their gym received one to one time, and the staff would create personal connections with everyone. They created online diet tables with pictures. They also brought in a former client "Mr. Malon " [aka <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Mr. Wolf!</span></span>] who provided a testimony to the great work done at Mission Accomplished!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/SjmeL1Tqw1I/AAAAAAAAAaM/h3UFwB3obWg/s1600-h/GrooveFitnessandhealth.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348479958604497746" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; cursor: pointer; height: 295px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/SjmeL1Tqw1I/AAAAAAAAAaM/h3UFwB3obWg/s400/GrooveFitnessandhealth.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />The <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold;">Groove Fitness and Health</span></span> group expalined that their club was more social than any other gym.They offered a special individualized program for every person, and even provided children's programming. They detailed special programs for a 10 year old gymnast, a 40 year old Survivor participant and a 65 year old recovering from a heart attach. They offered cardio workouts, stretching plans and diet recommendations.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/Sjmd4B18JtI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/R8UWB3kC-PI/s1600-h/Picture+3.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348479618372085458" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; cursor: pointer; height: 384px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/Sjmd4B18JtI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/R8UWB3kC-PI/s400/Picture+3.png" border="0" /></a><br />The <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">!BAM! group</span></span> explained that every professional who works in their gym focuses on the needs of the individual. They stated that the staff values respect and responsibility. They worked closely with a 10 year old dancer and provided real videos of turns, leaps and dance routines for their client to use at home. They embedded these videos within their website, and used them to illustrate how they worked closely to meet their clients' needs.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/SjmdzWrejAI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/5s732e0dXjc/s1600-h/Picture+2.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348479538066000898" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; cursor: pointer; height: 349px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/SjmdzWrejAI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/5s732e0dXjc/s400/Picture+2.png" border="0" /></a>The Shock Fitness and Health group presented their plan for providing ONLINE personal training programs. The strength and diet experts talked about their recent experiences with a 10 year old tennis player, a 65 year old heart attack survivor, an obese 10 year old and a 50 year old smoker. An easy to read grid was organized to tell and show each client various foods and exercise programs. Pictures of the lungs after smoking, and before and after pictures of some clients were shown.<br /><br />After the incredible presentations which focused on all of the major systems of the human body and what they need to stay healthy, the students answered my question:<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">What did you like best about this project?</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">and they responded:</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153); font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">I learned some incredible presentation skills.</span></li><li style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153); font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">I learned how to research in a group.</span></li><li style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153); font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">I liked pitching and presenting about my company.</span></li><li style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153); font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">I liked gathering information and putting it to GOOD USE!</span></li><li style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153); font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">I enjoyed creating my own clients.</span></li><li><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153); font-weight: bold;">I liked working together and getting to know the people in my group better.</span></span><br /></li></ul></div></div><br /><br /><br /></div>Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-6131410603029246522009-06-12T22:52:00.002-04:002009-06-14T11:04:46.056-04:0021st Century Librarians WikiStarted by <span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.sdst.org/shs/library/jvweb.html">Joyce Valenza</a></span>, libr<span style="font-family: times new roman;">ary media specialist </span><span style="font-family: times new roman;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:#222222;" >at Springfield Township High School</span><span style="font-family: times new roman;"> in </span><span style="font-family: times new roman;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:#222222;" >Erdenheim, PA</span><span style="font-family: times new roman;">, this wiki is for </span>library media specialists, and <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">everyone</span> interested in new strategies to positively impact teaching and learning.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><a href="http://21stcenturylibrarians.wikispaces.com/">http://21stcenturylibrarians.wikispaces.com/ </a><br /></span></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/SjUQOzk6g9I/AAAAAAAAAZk/4uz3FLmU3vU/s1600-h/Picture+10.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 235px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/SjUQOzk6g9I/AAAAAAAAAZk/4uz3FLmU3vU/s400/Picture+10.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347197979121583058" border="0" /></a>Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-86449111319773666652009-06-11T22:58:00.006-04:002016-08-29T19:48:15.989-04:00Bloom's Taxonomy Blooms Digitally<span style="font-size: 130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102 , 0 , 0); font-weight: bold;">This article in</span><a href="http://techlearning.com/article/8670/article/8670" style="color: rgb(102 , 0 , 0); font-weight: bold;"> Technology and Learning</a><span style="color: rgb(102 , 0 , 0); font-weight: bold;"> details the application of Bloom's Taxonomy to learning in the digital world.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://techlearning.com/article/8670">http://techlearning.com/article/8670/article/8670</a>Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-27085412706981895472009-06-10T22:33:00.003-04:002009-06-13T08:44:07.228-04:00District: 5th Grade Social Studies PilotsToday<span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">John Bayers</span></span>, principal of Greens Farms Elementary, led a small group to discuss a summer writing workshop to look at some possible changes in the 5th grade social studies curriculum. The group consisted of <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Michael Brownstein</span></span>, technology teacher at LLS; <span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Joe Pullia</span></span>, 5th grade teacher, CES; <span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Anne Nesbitt</span></span>, assistant principal, KHS; <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Nancy Giglio</span></span>, 5th grade teacher, KHS; <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Melanie Carroll</span></span>, 5th grade teacher, LLS; <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Calla Constantine</span></span>, 5th grade teacher, GFS; and <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Dianne Connolly</span></span>, 5th grade teacher, SES.<br /><br />The goal of the writing group this summer will be to make some minor changes to the 5th grade study of culture through the exploration of these essential questions:<br /><ul style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;"><li>How do the cultural universals help us compare and contrast various communities? </li><li>How does human interaction with natural resources influence the development and survival of a culture? </li><li>How do technology and trade affect the growth of a culture? </li><li>What contributed to the development and “cultural diffusion” of Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome? </li></ul>The group will look at:<br /><ul><li>how the <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-weight: bold;">four big ideas</span></span> from the recent social studies curriculum review process are integrated into the social studies units <span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">(Global Understanding, Multiple Perspectives, Effective Citizenship, and Historical Thinking)</span></span></li><li>the possiblity of including <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 51); font-weight: bold;">"Big Think"</span></span> activities that provide students with the opportunity to apply their learning to a "real" problem</li><li>the inclusion of other ancient civilizations that broaden the understanding of "culture."</li><li>the possibility of one or more schools piloting the proposed changes during the 2009-1010 school year.<br /><br /></li></ul>Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-15066845957781225102009-06-09T21:49:00.002-04:002009-06-09T21:55:34.350-04:00CES: Crouch/Greenberg 2nd grade/3rd grade Westport/Bridgeport<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/Si8RlXrxyII/AAAAAAAAAZU/zFgc0fa7CM8/s1600-h/skype_logo_online.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 177px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/Si8RlXrxyII/AAAAAAAAAZU/zFgc0fa7CM8/s400/skype_logo_online.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345510616422533250" border="0" /></a><br />Today, for the second time, <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Stacey Crouch</span></span>'s 2nd grade students at <span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Coleytown Elementary School</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></span>communicated via <span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold;">Skype</span></span> with <span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bob Greenberg</span></span>'s 3rd grade students at <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Columbus Elementary School</span></span> in Bridgeport. Bob Greenberg had attended last year's <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">ITL Summer Institute</span></span> because he is a regular user of <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">Classblogmeister</span></span>, created by our keynote and workshop leader, <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">David Warlick</span></span>.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Ms. Crouch and Mr. Greenberg <span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">planned</span></span> the focus of each session and a wiki was created on which the students could asynchronously communicate. The teachers had their students come up with a list of 5 questions to ask their friends while on <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold;">Skype</span></span>. During the two 35 minute sessions all students had an opportunity to talk on camera at least once, and most twice. </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Before the second session all students read the book <span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-style: italic;">City Mouse, Country Mouse</span></span> and discussed which mouse they felt most like. Students were coached by their teachers to think of other questions to ask each other. One more Skype session is being set up for this year.<br /><br />The collaboration was designed to complement Westport's 2nd grade social studies unit on understanding urban, suburban and rural communities. Next year Mr. Greenberg will be a 2nd grade teacher, so the grade levels will be the same. <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 102, 204);">Ms. Crouch and Mr. Greenberg are hoping to have their students Skype again next year.</span></span><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;"></span></span>Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-67849813965118791552009-06-08T20:28:00.007-04:002009-06-08T22:13:47.134-04:00BMS: When/How Do You Use Google Spreadsheets?Today<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> Rita Hennessey</span></span>, LMS and I with <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Jeremy Royster</span></span>, 6th grade social studies teacher, worked with a class to test a 6th grade orientation session for next year. This was our second time working with a 6th grade class to create their own rubric to assess websites. We used a Google Spreadsheet with the students, ONE for each of the 5 groups.<br /><br />We learned something that was not surprising -- if you introduce <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">Google Docs</span></span> to a group of students for the first time as a vehicle to accomplish a task; the task may not be as important compared to the fun of playing with <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">Google Docs</span></span> --- changing other people's answers, adding random colors, etc. We decided that the next time we use Google Docs we will limit the number of students in a Google Doc during the first session and provide better guidelines for its use.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/Si3EksSawiI/AAAAAAAAAZM/vzolDjXUtek/s1600-h/Picture+5.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 344px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/Si3EksSawiI/AAAAAAAAAZM/vzolDjXUtek/s400/Picture+5.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345144467401392674" border="0" /></a><br />(<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">NOTE ABOUT GOOGLE SPREADSHEETS:</span> Last summer I started having a serious problem with Google Spreadsheets. I would prepare a spreadsheet for a workshop, and even after selecting "open for viewing and editing without the use of a password" -- particpants in the workshop would click on the link and reach a password protected page. It became so problematic that I stopped using Google Spreadsheets with groups that I knew did not necessarily have gmail accounts. It was impossible to use them with students. Recently Scott Johnston who works for Google (a friend of Bryan Davis's, a social studies teacher at CMS) solved the problem. It is a bug that will be fixed in the future, but for now, if you are using a Google Spreadsheet link that has been opened to edit without a password, you have to FIRST go to GOOGLE (<a href="http://google.com/">http://google.com</a>), which places a cookie on your computer. Then you can click on the Google Spreadsheet link and it should open. If it does not repeat the process a few times, and it will!)Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-3544100681129260332009-06-05T23:10:00.000-04:002009-06-05T23:23:05.913-04:00Internet 4Classrooms<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/SineJ3ftb7I/AAAAAAAAAZE/YWDAhlAgAVU/s1600-h/Picture+3.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 149px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/SineJ3ftb7I/AAAAAAAAAZE/YWDAhlAgAVU/s400/Picture+3.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344046693948944306" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.internet4classrooms.com/index.htm">http://www.internet4classrooms.com/index.htm</a><br /><br />Internet4Classrooms was started 12 years ago, and continues to organize links by subject area and grade level. There are skill level pages for grades K-8. There are subject and special areas listed for K-12 links, including free clip art by subject, smartboard sites, library media specialists topics, and many, many other areas. There are also links to assessments in language arts, math, science and social studies for grades K-12.Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-66910983541847487212009-06-04T19:58:00.000-04:002009-06-04T19:59:45.518-04:00KHS - Skype with Peace Corps Volunteer in RwandaToday at KHS, <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >Tara Doyle</span>, technology teacher, and <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Elena Wetmore</span></span>, 1st grade teacher, communicated with a <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102); font-weight: bold;">Peace Corps volunteer</span></span> in Rwanda, Emily, a friend of Ms. Wetmore's. Emily first wrote a letter to the class. Then the class wrote letters back to her asking questions. One boy in the class asked Ms. Wetmore if Emily had the Internet and Skype so they could talk with her. Ms. Wetmore wrote to check that out and found out that she did have a computer with Internet access. Many pictures were shared so students could see where and how Emily was living in Rwanda. This is a picture of the road to Emily's job.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/SihdA92egUI/AAAAAAAAAY0/NFa4MsfcGp0/s1600-h/Picture+1.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 292px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/SihdA92egUI/AAAAAAAAAY0/NFa4MsfcGp0/s400/Picture+1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343623229059531074" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Ms. Wetmore and the class talked about the different location, Rwanda, and came up with questions to ask Emily. A script was created and each person who wanted to speak had a part. It was practiced many times. Here it is:</span></span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote style="font-weight: bold;">Script for Skyping<br /><br />Student1: Hi Emily! We are Ms. Wetmore’s Class.<br />Student2: How are you?<br />Student3: We are from Westport, CT in the USA.<br />Student4: Where are you from?<br />Student5: Did you get the letters we sent you? Were they torn at all?<br />Student6: What time is it there right now?<br />Student7: We are growing beans, pumpkins and sweet corn during <br /> science.<br />Student8: What types of plants are in Rwanda? Do you have a garden?<br />Student9: Do you have pets or animals around your house?<br />Student10: What do you miss most about the USA?<br />Student11: When are you coming back to the USA? Maybe you can come<br /> visit us sometime.<br />Student12: What is your house like?<br />Student13: We read about water pumps. How do you get your water?<br />Student14: Thanks for skyping with us.<br />ALL: Chow for Now!<br /></blockquote></div>As it turns out as they were talking more questions were thought of so there was a line that formed at the microphone.<br /><br />Although there were some technical problems and the connection was lost, students did get a chance to see and talk with Emily.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Tara Doyle</span></span>, technology teacher, helped <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Ms. Wetmore</span></span> a lot with the technology part of it since it was the first time Ms. Wetmore had used Skype. Because they needed to meet when Emily was available, they did not use their regular computer time, so they met at a different time with Ms. Doyle for the Skype session.<br /><blockquote style="font-weight: bold;">Ms. Wetmore said, "The kids were so into it and learned a lot. I loved seeing them come up with other questions as they heard things (a skill we had worked on when doing a podcast interview about a person's history with Ms. Anctil our library media specialist). "<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/SihdGoMUshI/AAAAAAAAAY8/F8P86lyS7pY/s1600-h/Picture+2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/SihdGoMUshI/AAAAAAAAAY8/F8P86lyS7pY/s400/Picture+2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343623326324797970" border="0" /></a></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Map of Rwanda from Wikimedia Commons (Click on image to enlarge.)</span></span><br /></div>Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-31794523779825705102009-06-03T21:13:00.002-04:002009-06-03T21:38:47.282-04:00KHS: Heroes and New LiteraciesAt KHS, on Friday, May 15th, <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Ali Moran</span></span>, 5th grade teacher, and <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Aimee Anctil</span></span>, LMS, invited parents and others to attend their 5th graders' presentations entitled, "What makes a hero?" This was the culminating project for their hero study.<br /><br />During this study the students were immersed in <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">"new literacies"</span></span> for the 21st Century. These "new literacies" were co-taught during Internet workshops by Ms. Moran and Ms. Anctil and included <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">Internet navigation skills, how to read live search results, and the critical evaluation of websites (usefulness and truthfulness)</span></span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >What makes a hero?</span> was the guiding question throughout the study. The students worked collaboratively to create digital story presentations (using iMovie or Photostory) that effectively expressed what being a hero meant to them.<br /><blockquote style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span style="font-size:130%;">The presentations were excellent, and the conversation following the presentations was equally amazing. Students reflected on what they learned about using websites, including methods to determine the authority, currency and usefulness of a website.</span></blockquote>Students used music created either by Photostory software or GarageBand and some students also selected short pieces (under 28 seconds) of popular music that enhanced and transformed the selected images to tell their "hero stories."<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">One Sample:</span></span><br /><br /><embed wmode="opaque" src="http://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/video/flvplayer/flvplayer.swf?v=4.2.3%3A22746" flashvars="config=http%3A%2F%2Fwps21stcentury.ning.com%2Fvideo%2Fvideo%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fid%3D2562239%253AVideo%253A630%26ck%3D-%26x%3Dn3N2TikMb1XjaSPkMKE04N4utDhIUOD3&video_smoothing=on&autoplay=off&isEmbedCode=1" bgcolor="#D3E2E9" scale="noscale" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" width="400" height="300"></embed>Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-32637318068564848392009-06-02T17:55:00.004-04:002009-06-02T18:08:44.728-04:00Wider Audience for Student Produced VideoAt an administrators' meeting today, I presented, for a second time, the possibility of having a district sanctioned celebration of student created video in the Westport Public Schools called the <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Westies</span></span>. <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Mike Zito</span></span>, SHS media teacher, <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Deb Perry</span></span>, CMS technology teacher, <span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Barbara Eilertsen</span></span>, LLS library media specialist, and I created the proposal, which was designed to motivate students to create high quality videos for a broader, authentic audience. The 5h grade entries would come from the students working in some capacity with each elementary school TV studio; the 6-8 videos would come from both the TV studio, the media club and the technology classes learning video editing; and the 9-12 entries would come from video production classes.<br /><br />While principals and other administrators recognized the potential value of this opportunity for students, several areas emerged as obstacles:<br /><ul><li style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Each elementary school manages the studio in a different way, so there may not be equal opportunity for all 5th graders to produce video.</li><li style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">Competition at the middle and high school has not been promoted by the district in any curriculum area.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Confusion about the connection between the Westies and the Cable Contest.</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 51, 102);">Confusion about the real purpose of the Westies.</span><br /></li></ul>It was determined that a wider audience could be created by putting more student video on Cablevision's local access Channel 78 without the competitive element associated with the <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Westies</span></span>. (The competitive element involved the awards ceremony for the middle and high school students.) Permission slips from parents of every child involved in the video would be essential before the video could be shown on Channel 78. Also it was determined that the video contest could continue next year with students submitting video they had created for their TV studio or in clubs or classes.Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-73235778406891185842009-06-01T21:02:00.005-04:002009-06-01T21:12:45.739-04:00Train the Trainers Workshops - August 10, 11, 12 and 13th<span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Breaking News:</span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">This will be presented at the ITL Steering Committee Meeting on Wednesday, and distributed in an e-mail later this week.</span><br /></div><br />District funding has been given for up to 20 educators to participate in a four-day ITL workshop on August 10, 11, 12 and 13 this summer. The workshops will focus on learning ITL skills by <span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >using and/or developing</span> handouts created for specific ITL topics, such as: <span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Blackboard, blogs, Destiny, Google Docs, Google Earth, MovieMaker, PBworks, Picnik, Podcasting, Scratch, Skype, Social Networks for School, subscription databases, Twitter, United Streaming, Ustream-TV, Video Production, Voicethread, Wolfram/Alpha</span></span>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >We will use the combined knowledge and abilities of the groups to teach each other about some of these topics. I have presented workshops on many of the areas named above, and will use the created handouts to present on those topics.</span><br /></div><br />The <span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">goal</span></span> will be to have a large group of ITL members prepared to either give workshops or train others to give workshops during the 2009-2010 school year.<br /><br />It is hoped that the participants will learn enough about each topic, and have the necessary resources, to present several workshops (or train others to present workshops) during the school year. The <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:lucida grande;" >summer ITL workshop</span></span> time will be considered as preparation for the workshop(s) (2 hours of prep for each hour of training during a staff meeting or a professional development day). Taking the workshop does mean there will be expectations for participants to present workshops <span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">if possible</span></span>, but it is <span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51); font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">NOT required</span></span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><blockquote style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Workshop participants should be members of their school's ITL committee: 2 people from each elementary; 2 people from CMS; 3 people from BMS and 5 people from SHS. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-style: italic;">Names should be given to principals who can send me an e-mail by June 12th with the names of recommended attendees from each school.</span></span></span></blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 51);">It would be possible for more than 2 people to attend if their are only 2 people from each school on any given day (4 people for example -- where 2 do 2 days, and 2 others attend the other 2 days). The schedule is NOT currently developed, so attendees may not be able to pick areas of interest in advance.</span></span>Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-48067293408284296762009-05-29T16:21:00.004-04:002009-05-29T16:30:20.503-04:00District Literacy Committee Meeting & SHS LMSs use of TRAILS<span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >After</span> the <span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Elementary District Literacy Committee</span></span> meeting today I reflected on <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">three things:</span></span><br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">1.) I heard from reading teachers at the meeting that elementary students have a more difficult time summarizing material from a nonfiction text than a </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">fiction text. Library media specialists are in a good position to help with the improvement of students' abilities in that area, since much of research deals with summarizing information taken from nonfiction sources.</span> </blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">2.) Ahhh! To have the data! Data-driven instruction based on DRA scores and a variety of other assessments leads to the creation of instructional strategies and differentiated instruction to improve reading and writing skills. As media specialists and technology teachers we need to create/use more assessments that provides data to guide instruction.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3.)....and speaking of DATA -- at this morning's meeting with <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Julia Roberts and Robin Stiles</span></span>, </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">LMSs at SHS,</span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Natalie Carrignan</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">, director of instructional technology, and I viewed the recent data<span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"> collected</span></span> from an online assessment they gave to 5 </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> English classes. This was a trial run of an online Tool for Real-time Assessment of Information Literacy Skills <a href="http://www.trails-9.org/"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">(TRAILS --</span></span></a> <a href="http://www.trails-9.org/">http://www.trails-9.org/</a> ) which <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Robin and Julia</span></span> will have all 9th graders take during an orientation session at the beginning of next year. The resulting data will be used to determine what areas of instruction might be needed for whole group instruction or for the creation of short video tutorials that will be created for individual viewing by students on specialized topics (such as intellectual property or boolean operators!)<br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/SiA3T6MfLYI/AAAAAAAAAYo/i0VKRlCf93g/s1600-h/trails.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 293px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/SiA3T6MfLYI/AAAAAAAAAYo/i0VKRlCf93g/s400/trails.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341329973240081794" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></blockquote>Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-60832852110548988452009-05-28T21:01:00.002-04:002009-05-28T22:07:06.561-04:00eLearning & Content Advisory Council<span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:130%;" >Today I attended a meeting of Connecticut's </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.ct.gov/ctedtech/cwp/view.asp?a=2674&Q=329232&ctedtechPNavCtr=%7C#45631"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">eLearning & Content Advisory Council</span></span></a></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:130%;" >, of which I am a member. It was from 3-5 at Charter Oak State College in New Britain.</span><span style=";font-family:Verdana,Arial,Geneva;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Ed Klonoski, president of Charter Oak State College, chaired the group for the last time, since Vice Chair, Sue Palisano from the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, was selected as the new Chair for next year.</span><br /><br /></span></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana,Arial,Geneva;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">The eLearning & Content Advisory Council is one of <a href="http://www.ct.gov/ctedtech/taxonomy/ct_taxonomy.asp?DLN=45630&ctedtechNav=%7C45630%7C">four councils </a>to report to the <span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.ct.gov/ctedtech/site/default.asp"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Connecticut Commission for Educational Technology</span></a></span>.<br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/Sh8qepuW9jI/AAAAAAAAAYg/9I6TZF-J62g/s1600-h/Picture+36.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 398px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/Sh8qepuW9jI/AAAAAAAAAYg/9I6TZF-J62g/s400/Picture+36.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341034389169436210" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:Verdana,Arial,Geneva;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">The <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >Commission</span> is charged with:<br /></span></span><ul><li><span style=";font-family:Verdana,Arial,Geneva;font-size:100%;" ><blockquote>Establishing the <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.ct.gov/cen/site/default.asp">Connecticut Education Network . (Check out the resources!)<br /></a></blockquote></span></li><li><span style=";font-family:Verdana,Arial,Geneva;font-size:100%;" ><blockquote>Establishing rigorous standards in technology competency for <a href="http://www.ct.gov/ctedtech/cwp/view.asp?a=1185&q=253090">students</a>, <a href="http://www.ct.gov/ctedtech/cwp/view.asp?a=1186&q=253104">teachers</a>, and administrators.</blockquote></span></li><li><span style=";font-family:Verdana,Arial,Geneva;font-size:100%;" ><blockquote>Establishing the <a href="http://rqst-agent.auto-graphics.com/homepages/customerwide/iConnLogin.asp?cuid=rqst&cusrvr=minerva&lid=&dataid=&class=&barcode=&term=&qmisc=&s=&URLEncode=">Connecticut Digital Library.</a></blockquote></span></li><li><span style=";font-family:Verdana,Arial,Geneva;font-size:100%;" ><blockquote>Reporting annually on the progress of educational technology in Connecticut, and making recommendations to the Connecticut General Assembly on matters relating to educational technology. (<a href="http://www.ct.gov/ctedtech/lib/ctedtech/Jan2009ReportFinal.doc">View the 2009 Annual Report and Recommendations</a>)</blockquote></span></li></ul><span style=";font-family:Verdana,Arial,Geneva;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><blockquote><span><span><span><span style=";font-family:Verdana,Arial,Geneva;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/Sh8qJPevVnI/AAAAAAAAAYY/q3pkk7Wtijk/s1600-h/Picture+35.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 342px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/Sh8qJPevVnI/AAAAAAAAAYY/q3pkk7Wtijk/s400/Picture+35.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341034021347350130" border="0" /></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></blockquote></span></span></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana,Arial,Geneva;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><br /></span></span><br />[Both the Connecticut Commission for Educational Technology and the Connecticut Education Network were listed this afternoon in the Governor's <span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">new budget cuts!</span></span>]<br /><br />There was a discussion on the <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153); font-weight: bold;"><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.crec.org/tech_services/events/index.php">free training sessions tomorrow</a> at <a href="http://www.crec.org/">CREC</a></span></span> for all interested middle school Science teachers or administrators on the implementation of the free United Streaming Science video project. The new resource that will soon be available to all middle grades (Grades 6-8) in Connecticut. Connecticut has acquired a statewide license to <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102); font-weight: bold;">Discovery Education Science</span></span>—an award winning standards-based multimedia resource that powers any middle-school science curricula with virtual labs, simulations, interactive videos, reading passages and more, coupled with a real-time assessment component that measures students’ progress.<br />This is a four-year license and is provided by the Connecticut Education Network (CEN) through the Commission for Educational Technology (CET) at no cost to school districts.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Organized around an inquiry framework and covering physical, earth and space, and life sciences, Discovery Education Science is designed to engage students, encourage exploration, stimulate critical thinking and deepen understanding of science.</span></span><br /><br />Westport teachers will be provided with passwords to access this special science material inside Discovery Education Science (United Streaming). <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://wps21stc.pbworks.com/f/revised+Science+Commissioner+letter.doc">(Read the original letter about this project.)</a> <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">[</span><a href="http://www.discoveryeducation.com/products/science/middle.cfm">Click here to get a preview of the service</a></span>.<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">]</span></span><br /><br />We also talked about utilizing the <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium's</span></span> state license with <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 153);font-size:130%;" >iTunes University</span>, and looked at possible goals for next year -- including focusing on providing professional development opportunities in a variety of ways.<br /><br />I hope that the committee is not disbanded and look forward to working on the eLearning & Content Advisory Committee next year.Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-91008050611230254962009-05-27T20:54:00.005-04:002009-05-27T21:10:14.950-04:00Science Curriculum Revision - Year ONE<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/Sh3jnIgBM_I/AAAAAAAAAYQ/JZp0MgWM_R4/s1600-h/Science.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 233px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/Sh3jnIgBM_I/AAAAAAAAAYQ/JZp0MgWM_R4/s400/Science.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340674994567459826" border="0" /></a>Image from Arizona State Dept. of Education website:<br />http://<span style="color:green;">www.ade.state.az.us/<wbr>sa/images/Science.jpg</span><br /></div><br />I attended a <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Science Curriculum Revision Committee</span></span> meeting this afternoon. (Since most meetings were held on Dept Meeting Mondays, I was only able to attend 3 meetings this year.) <span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Harry Rosvally</span></span>, <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">K-8 science coordinator</span></span>, convened the 8th and final meeting of this school year. So much has been accomplished this year, and much planning has been done for this summer and committee work for next year.<br /><br />The agenda included an overview of summer work, and <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Brian Fagan,</span></span> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction</span></span>, confirmed that the proposed Science workshops for after July 1st would be funded. A great deal of curriculum work will be done in Science this summer and many committee members will participate in a Scarsdale, New Canaan, Westport <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">Summer Science Institute</span></span>.<br /><br />A start was made on a <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">5-year professional development plan for science</span></span> with committee members previewing a preliminary document presented by Harry. The document led to a discussion about the areas of focus for professional development over the next 5 years, and the anticipated vision for <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153); font-weight: bold;">science education</span></span> in the year 2014. <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153); font-weight: bold;">Should ITL be a strand or should it be part of every strand?</span></span> (<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">integrated</span> vs. <span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">absorbed</span>)<br /><br />Three committee members attended an <span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153); font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.aaas.org/">AAAS</a></span> (American Association for the Advancement of Science) workshop for 3 days in New York City earlier this year. They are preparing a presentation on what they learned for all other committee members.<br /><br />Next year work will be done to align the Westport science curriculum with the <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-weight: bold;">CT Science Frameworks K-8.</span></span> The revisions will be organized in a digital format with at least one inquiry per unit, with prepared assessments and identified resources. Many technologies will be utlized including SmartBoard interactives, websites that use java applets to simulate science concepts, video and podcasts.<br /><br />In closing Harry talked about the impact of feedback from the recent <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Tri-State visit </span></span>and how we could increase communications with our colleagues so that everyone is aware of the <span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">science curriculum revision process.</span></span>Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2530060811592225161.post-87692148948122978492009-05-26T21:16:00.003-04:002009-05-26T21:29:50.827-04:00TAG GALAXYAs I was sitting pondering the Blog entry du jour, an e-mail from <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Janna Bell,</span></span> assistant principal at <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255); font-weight: bold;">CES</span></span>, delivered the answer.... <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">TAG GALAXY.</span></span>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/ShyRj9Nib4I/AAAAAAAAAYA/rok9C9xDe58/s1600-h/Picture+30.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 209px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/ShyRj9Nib4I/AAAAAAAAAYA/rok9C9xDe58/s400/Picture+30.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340303305067360130" border="0" /></a><br />What do you get when you blend folksonomy, Flickr and an interactive solar system interface??? <span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">TAG GALAXY!!!</span></span> Once you enter an initial tag it becomes your <span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0); font-weight: bold;">"sun"</span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> </span>and is surrounded with revolving related planets/tags.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/ShyR-BefxsI/AAAAAAAAAYI/Y2KnDdqruOU/s1600-h/Picture+32.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/ShyR-BefxsI/AAAAAAAAAYI/Y2KnDdqruOU/s400/Picture+32.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340303752888829634" border="0" /></a>Click on a planet and a new world is created -- with a surface of images from <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255); font-weight: bold;">Flickr!!! </span></span>Click on each image to get some information.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/ShyRVL5vGEI/AAAAAAAAAX4/DiLoaPEyUDQ/s1600-h/Picture+31.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 363px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_a0B8Uw99g9M/ShyRVL5vGEI/AAAAAAAAAX4/DiLoaPEyUDQ/s400/Picture+31.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340303051312797762" border="0" /></a><br />For more information, read this Blog <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://paulhami.edublogs.org/2009/05/01/tag-galaxy-online-resource/">post</a> and/or go directly to <span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);font-size:180%;" ><a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 153);" href="http://taggalaxy.de/">TAG GALAXY</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">.</span></span>Bill Derryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863418188085628072noreply@blogger.com0