New Tech Learning

Wow! Google really is taking over the world. It looks like you can access just about everything you need through your Google account. This will make getting the things you need fast and easy. I also like the sharing aspect of the site. Thanks, Lynn for opening up a new world of "techie" stuff for all of us!

2nd Atomic Learning Assessment

The second time around I scored a 62. Not a huge difference, but some learning is taking place. I am excited to see what new things I will learn at the NETA conference. The Everett technology group has inspired me to want to do more with technology in my teaching. That is why I signed up to go to the conference. I don't think that I would have been interested had it not been for the learning and growing that has taken place for me this year. My brain needed a chance to process what I could accomplish with technology with students, and secondly "how" I could do it. The latter is an area that I am still pondering. I will let you know what I learned at the conference when I get back.

As I think back through the year I am pondering the learning that has taken place as a result of being in the Everett Technology group. I feel that I have such a long way to go in this area and perhaps that is the reason that at first it may appear as though I have not accomplished much. However, as I think about it more, I have set up my Blog (even put pictures on it!), learned how to do Linkin Logs, and have practiced with the Comic Life program. Mostly I have begun to think of ways that I can incorporate technology into my teaching practices. I am doing more and more with digital pictures. I have expressed an interest in having a digital camera on our team so that it can be accessed more readily. I have used the computer projector to show some computer programs, a CD-Rom, and a power point presentation I got from Kim Zetterman to help my students learn their coins and the values. I have begun to think about ways to set up my room next year to have better access to the projector and the screen so that I will use it more. Today I did a simple research project on horses with my students. I would like to do one on the computer in the future. I began to wonder about how to accomplish that task with the limited computers that I have in my room. How could I do it? More thinking will need to be done and talking with the tech group. I am really excited about going to the NETA conference this month. I registered for this conference for the sole purpose of getting more technology information and ideas on ways to use it with students. I am planning on doing more with Comic Life this summer to help kids with alphabet recognition as I stated before in a former blog. I still have a long way to go before I feel that I will consider myself tech-saavy, but I have made growth this year. I need to remember that it is a continuing process.

Atomic Learning Assessment

I took the assessment this afternoon and scored a 59. i was not too surprised. I have some computer skills under my belt and have others yet to learn. My survey gave me clear cut areas to look at to develop further computer skills. I am glad that it doesn't stress me out to take classes or to sit down and problem solve on the computer itself. This technology group has gotten me to stretch myself and to try things that I probably wouldn't have on my own. It's a good thing!

Tried Comic Life and Love It!

I wanted to show you all what I did in my experimentation with Comic Life. I even downloaded a newer version and put it into my application file. It has a lot of newer features that were easy to use. Whenever I couldn't figure out something on my own I used the Help drop down menu and found out what I needed to do. I would like to make pages like this one for my kindergartners for each letter of the alphabet. My idea is to have the letter like Aa in the middle and then have pictures and words of things that start with the letter around it - like apple, alligator, etc. These pages could be mounted on the wall, could be published in a book for the classroom library, etc. Something else that might be fun is to have a picture of a student whose name starts with the letter be in the middle holding the letter, like A is for Anna. As I said before, students really seem to relate, or "tune in" when they see their picture or even their friend's picture. In additon to the picture, would be the connection with the alphabet letter and their name (and we kindergarten teachers know how powerful names are).To be able to accomplish this task, I would need a digital camera to take all the pictures and a color printer. These pictures and Comic Life would also enable me to do some Power Point presentations for my students to help them to identity letters. I am anxious to discover more technology types of presentations that I can use to enhance my teaching.

Tech Group Meets - Learning Takes Place!

We had a meeting this morning to ask questions, see what others had accomplished in the field of technology, and basically to see what we could use ourselves in our own classrooms with new software and different programs that we had not used before. It was a good meeting. I changed my settings in my blog and want to try Comic Life and Power Point. The hard part for me is setting aside time, and also seeing the relevance of how it could improve or enhance my teaching. Seeing some of the products that others had made helped me to see what I could do, in other words "made it relevant" for my grade level of teaching. I am also excited to do more with digital photography in the classroom. I think that the kids really tune in when they see their own faces and the faces of their classmates on the screen. Even making classroom books for our library with their faces in them would be fun for them.

Get-Away Retreat Just Minutes Away!

Here are two pictures of Bed and Breakfast Inns just minutes away from Everett School both on 17th Street. The first one is the Atwood House. We stayed in the Carriage House last Friday night, but we have stayed in two of the rooms in the main house as well. The owners, Ruth and Larry Stoll, are gracious hosts who have paid attention to every detail as far as pampering their guests goes. The rooms are beautifully appointed as well. I worked at school until 5:00 p.m., then went and checked in to our room. I relaxed for 2 hours before Don, my husband was able to come over after work. It wasn't too hard to sit by the fire, listen to music, then watch a movie as I sipped tea and ate Ruth's wonderful chocolate chip cookies. Because the room has a fully equipped kitchen, Don brought supper in and we ate in the room. Breakfast the next morning included fresh pineapple with sugared blackberries, a fresh cranberry muffin with sugar glaze, chili relleno egg casserole in a heart shaped dish with a sausage and cheese pastry on the side.

The next picture is of the Anniversary Mansion. It is south of the Atwood House on the other side of the street. This B&B is the closest to Everett. We stayed in the Anniversary Suite on Saturday night. The owners of this house, David and Cynthia Hoesch, are just as gracious and the food is very good also. Cynthia happens to be Ruth Stoll's sister and she treats you with charm just like her sister. Saturday we took in a great movie, "Casanova", went to an Antique show at the state fairgrounds and topped it off with dinner at The Green Gateau. All in all a wonderful vacation and we didn't have to worry about travel expenses or the time spent driving somewhere. It was a great get-away right here in town!

Please check out the websites for these two great B&Bs: www.atwoodhouse.com
www.amansion.com