Foote SmartBoard Webinar

A number of brave Foote teachers persevered today and braved the elements by choosing to stay and hear a webinar sponsored by Smart Technologies but created and delivered by three educators who have been recognized as leaders in their schools because of their success with integrating technology into math and science courses.  This information, however, has some valuable for teachers of all disciplines.

Though we had a great turnout (thanks to Joe's insight and interest in making this webinar work at Foote and to Heather's very generous offer to sweeten the pot by bringing her renowned math & munchies goodies) there were a few who could not make it to the Twichel room to watch these presentations.

Because of a few technical glitches, this took a bit longer than anticipated to post, but the following three video clips are here for those of us (me) who couldn't keep up with the flood of information -- now we can hit pause whenever you want.  Also, I included links to the resources they mention.

I hope those who came will post some comments here as well as links to additional resources.


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Smart STEM Workshop Webinar - Part 1 - Robert Goodman.mov

SmartBoard Webinar (February, 29 2012) Part 1 of 3




Bob Goodman briefly presents information that shows students in his district's programs are doing much better than average because of a number of successful initiatives they have recently adopted.  A significant part of that success, he says, is because of the transformative effect which comes from making classes more interactive with SmartBoard tools.

See more about the "Center for Learning and Teaching" and these initiatives he touches on here:
http://njctl.org/

The Progressive Math and Science Initiatives (PSI / PMI) he mentions are here:
The Progressive Math Initiative Courses
http://njctl.org/courses/math/

The Progressive Science Initiative Courses
http://njctl.org/courses/science/




(This info is part of the SMART winter 2012 webinar series –
Discover New Ways to Bring Math and Science to Life in the Classroom
and was recorded for the Foote school faculty who could not make it to the professional development webinar.  It is not intended for resale or monetary gain.)




Part 1:
http://youtu.be/sDzFhaGmxDs
Part 2:
http://youtu.be/TdNvUsunFRQ
Part 3:
http://youtu.be/zS7-DwO3QoE


Other Resources:
Smart Exchange
http://exchange.smarttech.com/search.html


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Smart STEM Workshop Webinar - Part 2 - Kristen Stephens

SmartBoard Webinar (February, 29 2012) Part 2 of 3



Kristen Stephens says the Smart Response XE (audience response clickers with a full keyboard)
http://bit.ly/mm29_smart_clickers
gives her "immediate insight into her students’ understanding is one of the reasons why she,  values her SMARTResponse system.  Because Stephens teaches algebra 1, advanced placement calculus and introduction to calculus and statistics, she uses the only interactive response system that features a full QWERTY keyboard.

“With SMART Response, every benchmark gets tested twice, and it does it in 10 minutes. If kids still need help on the second time around, within 10 seconds after they hit submit, I have the data and I know exactly what they need help on.”


She is the mathematics department chair at Rocky River High School in Rocky River, Ohio
http://rrcs.org/rockyriverhighschool_home.aspx
http://www.rrcs.org/KristenStephens.aspx


(This info is part of the SMART winter 2012 webinar series –
Discover New Ways to Bring Math and Science to Life in the Classroom
and was recorded for the Foote school faculty who could not make it to the professional development webinar.  It is not intended for resale or monetary gain.)




Part 1:
http://youtu.be/sDzFhaGmxDs
Part 2:
http://youtu.be/TdNvUsunFRQ
Part 3:
http://youtu.be/zS7-DwO3QoE


Other Resources:
Smart Exchange
http://exchange.smarttech.com/search.html




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Smart STEM Workshop Webinar - Part 3 - Winnie Litten

SmartBoard Webinar (February, 29 2012) Part 3 of 3




In this video, Winnie Litten talks about how her SmartBoard and SmartNotebook lessons have transformed her classes and improved her science labs.


(This info is part of the SMART winter 2012 webinar series –
Discover New Ways to Bring Math and Science to Life in the Classroom
and was recorded for the Foote school faculty who could not make it to the professional development webinar.  It is not intended for resale or monetary gain.)



SMART Exemplary Educator application video.
Winnie Litten, Oak Park High School
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9JbzEWgdoA




Part 1:
http://youtu.be/sDzFhaGmxDs
Part 2:
http://youtu.be/TdNvUsunFRQ
Part 3:
http://youtu.be/zS7-DwO3QoE


Other Resources:
Smart Exchange
http://exchange.smarttech.com/search.html

Recently reading the Eight Realizations of the Great Beings and a commentary by Thich Nhat Hanh made me think about how a teacher in todays schools might approach keeping up with the rapid and often painfil changes in technology.

Recently reading the Eight Realizations of the Great Beings and a commentary by Thich Nhat Hanh made me think about how a teacher in todays schools might approach keeping up with the rapid and often painfil changes in technology.

Eight Realizations for Technology and Education

The first realization is the awareness that the world is impermanent. Technology changes too rapidly for any sane person to keep up.

The second realization
Too much desire brings more suffering. Don't expect too much too soon. Baby steps.

The third realization
Be aware that the human mind is always searching for possessions and never feels fulfilled. Gathering too much is a trap.

The fourth realization
laziness is an obstacle
practice diligently .

The fifth realization
ignorance causes suffering. remember to listen and learn in order to develop understanding and eloquence.

The sixth realization
be generous. Treat all as equals.

The seventh realization
desire leads to difficulties. Although we are in this work
we should try not to be caught up in it. Live simply.

The eighth realization
the fire of change is causing endless suffering everywhere. We should help everyone we can.

One source of the Eight Realizations in their original form.

http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/beingssutra.pdf

http://www.drewking.com/8Great.htm

FANTASTIC PERFORMANCE - Fiddler on The Roof

I just saw the most superb performance of Fiddler on the Roof and had to share these photos.  I didn't take them and still need to get permission to keep them here, so these may be temporary.  Enjoy them while you can...

Drinking from the Hydrant

You know it's going to hurt, but you are thirsty.  I get thirsty.  I need the paycheck.  I work in IT -- in a school. 

Grayson (my right hand man & tech support specialist) were talking about the analogy that this job (especially at year-end -- like right now in June) is much like toilet repair.  We used to call it plumbing, but it's just not that nice.  It's making sure the toilets and the pipes connecting them all work like users expect them to.  No one wants a smelly, dirty, clogged toilet -- and no one wants an old, once white, but now yellowing, iBook that smells like bad BO when it gets warmed up and connects to the internet about as fast as a commode plugged up by a youngster who just discovered how to use toilet paper on his own.

The days I plan to do something are the worst.   I think I'm going to work on that New Faculty Handbook due this week, and then my workshop I'm leading next week, and then I'll get the email server in a more reliable state, and finally answer all those parent concerns about student email.  Nope.

Summer sessions start tomorrow and we need all these computers moved from over here to over there.  The air conditioner went out again and half the servers are down.  Because the servers went down, one database won't come back up and the database developer who might be able to help restore it is headed with the family to their summer location out on Martha's Vineyard. 


But no one cares.  No one cares unless things are working.  They say they do, but really, honestly, who cares if the 30mb fiber is about 15X faster than last year's connection to the internet?  When is the last time I called and said thanks to our tech support team at Digital Back Office?  {Hey, if you are reading this, really, Thanks Guys!}

Anyway.... I'm thirsty, time to go get a drink.

Big differences

I wonder why the audience rating is so far from the paid reviewers on this one?

How do you know?

How do you know when people you work with really respect your opinion?  How can we create a team of people who respect each other?  How can we work through opposition and come to an agreement, get past the negative feelings arising out of the opposition, and get to the place we really want to be?  I hope my summer readings (Switch and A Whole New Mind) will help me sort these out.  One of my top three goals for the year is to remind myself often (which hopefully drives me to act on those reminders) that the best place is here, the best time is now, and the best people are those present here and now ~~~ be here now.

Switch

Do people really eat more popcorn (stale popcorn) simply because they were given a bigger bucket?
Is it because of the mindlessness of eating and watching a movie at the same time? Would the same happen in a restaurant? Free dessert? Slightly stale cake?


Read on...

http://www.heathbrothers.com/switch/chapterone.php