Archives: Salem City Schools

Do You Know Your Technology ABC’s?

Flip through the Technology ABC Voicethread below!

  • Which terms/sites/items have you used before?
  • Which ones are new to you?
  • How can you use these things in your classroom?

As you flip through the Voicethread, click on the link to explore more about each “letter,” leave a comment or two if you are familiar with some of the topics and have ideas on how to use them in your teaching , and stay tuned for some more detailed posts!!  I’d also be interested to know if you can think of anything to add.  AND, if you want to learn to use something new in your teaching, I’d love to help!  Leave a comment for that too!

About this Project

Awhile ago, maybe even this summer, some discussion arose in Twitter and/or Plurk about the idea of a technology ABC poster (I’m sorry, I can’t remember exactly WHO started the discussion to give credit.  If it was you, leave me a comment please).   And through those discussions, Pam Elgin and I came up with the idea of a Technology Word Wall and started adding to the list using things that our teachers might use.  Pam recently worked very hard to create PowerPoint slides for this project on each letter, which you will soon see in our schools’ computer labs.  Meanwhile, I thought it would also be fun to post the final product in virtual form via VoiceThread, complete with links to each of the topics.  Hope you learn something from it!

Update:  Pam has posted the actual powerpoint file for you to download or print slides here!  Thanks, Pam!

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Starfall: Not Just for First Grade Anymore!

I’m not sure if I’ve just really missed the boat for awhile, or if Starfall has recently added a bunch of new things, but I just discovered two whole sections of this site that I hadn’t seen before.  For those of you who are not familiar with Starfall, it is my top pick for First Grade in terms of reading websites!   I love this site, and I’ve watched it grow over the past four years….it was my favorite back when I was still in the classroom.

But today I noticed they have really expanded around their initial curriculum, and now offer many activities geared towards Kindergartners and Second Graders (and possibly Third Graders, with their stories about Greek Myths).  They’ve even thrown in some Art and Music areas!  If you haven’t taken a look in awhile, like me, you might want to go check it out!

I know many people use Starfall as a “go and play” activity for students, or as a center (which works well since the site won’t let students stray elsewhere without opening another browser window), but I highly recommend considering being prescriptive about what you have your students do on the site.  The activities can be geared towards a specific skill you are working on in class, including short vowels, long vowels, compound words, poetry, fiction/nonfiction, word shapes, diphthongs, and so on.  You can ask students to complete a specific activity that goes along with your current unit, and THEN allow them to “play” with the other activities on the site.

And while you are deciding which activities to have your students complete, you will also want to check out the educators section of the site, and the download center (where you can find paper copies of the stories, letter sheets, puzzle activities, writing prompts based on story comprehension, and other printable versions of activities on the site)! Below is an image of just one of the download areas!

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Yoga and India

I’ve been thinking about this post for a week now. I want to share this incredible lesson that was done with some of our Third Graders as part of the Trek2India Project. However, as many of you know, the actual trip to India by our superintendent was canceled due to the unrest in Mumbia, his first stop. I want to share my reaction to those events as well.

Robyn Zamorski, our speech teacher at G.W. Carver, lived in India for a short period of time. She also currently teaches Yoga at a local fitness club. So it was very fitting to have her teach some of our students some Yoga poses to go along with the India project. But what started out as purely a chance to collaborate with our Physical Education Teacher, Pam Palmer, and Robyn, ended up being one of the most powerful things I’ve ever seen since I’ve been in education. While I was there only to take pictures and create a Voicethread about the project, I walked away amazed. It started with a class of third graders running into the gym with high energy. I thought to myself, “Well, this will last about 10 minutes..maybe 15 if we are lucky.” I was so wrong. As Robyn lead them through the poses, and the Sanskrit names for them, their energy dropped, and they loved it! I had started running around taking pictures, but quickly changed to moving slowly and deliberately around the room so not to disturb this incredible energy in the room. After watching that lesson, which lasted the whole 30 minutes (and the kids wanted to do it again), I was floored. In the age of stimulation, I’ve always thought we need to keep our students “busy.” I still believe that. But now I understand that kids need a chance to relax and get focused too. I share the VoiceThread below with you….put please understand…it only captures a small fraction of what went on in the gym that day.

With this Trek2India project, Pam Elgin and I had spent lots of time learning about the culture as we prepared the Trek2India Wiki that would be used as the hub of communication between our Superintendent, as he traveled, and our students and teachers here. Pam and I learned about the people, the culture, and some of the history behind India’s democracy. When I first received the news about the events in Mumbia, I was sitting in my car getting ready to pick up some of the food for Thanksgiving dinner the next day. I was floored. Heartbroken. Relieved. I was thankful our Superintendent had not left yet (he was scheduled to leave the day after Thanksgiving). His first schedule hotel stop was the Taj, was one of the hotels affected. But I was also deeply, deeply saddened for the Indian people. News about other countries does not usually affect me that much. I might feel a short sadness when reading an article.  I might thinkabout war and peace in a broad sense.  But hearing this story filled me with a deep, deep sadness. The more I thought about my reaction, the more I realized it was because I felt a tie, so to say, with the people. After spending so much time learning about them, and after almost having the chance to make connections with some of the schools in India, I felt extremely sad to watch their city in flames. I share this because I came to realize the power of making connections with other cultures on a personal level. I’ve known the power on an intellectual level, but never felt the power so strongly on the personal side. The idea I came to understand was that the more our students have the opportunity to learn about other cultures, connect with them, and empathize with their struggles, the more peace we will have in our world.

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Sea Questions with Mrs. Z’s Kids!

Meg Swecker is at it again! She’s currently diving in Mexico and at the same time, communicating with students in schools back in the United States using VoiceThead. On this trip, Mrs. Zamorski’s students participated! Here’s the VoiceThread they made:

In Roanoke County, students in Kindergarten are learning Spanish from students in Mexico thanks to Meg. They also used Voicethread, and Meg’s awesome new Ocean Studies Wiki for this project. I love that she was able to get students in Mexico to help record Spanish Words. Check it out here.

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Taubman Museum of Art

Photograph by Tim HursleyA group of ITRTs and Art teachers recently had the opportunity to visit the brand new Taubman Museum of Art in downtown Roanoke for a workshop lead by Scott Crawford, the Deputy Director of Education at the Museum, and some of his staff. Throughout the day, we had the opportunity to learn about ways the Art Museum is using technology. If you haven’t already checked out the museum’s website, I highly recommend it.

We had the opportunity to play around with a brand new tool for the Museum called WAIT. This tool allows teachers and students to

“…interact with various art works from the Taubman Museum of Art’s permanent collection at six different levels. Through this program, you’ll be able to share your thoughts about the art work’s description, emotional tone, symbolism, composition, and it’s relationship to other content areas.”

During our workshop, we worked with a 1945 piece called Pax Pacific, and learned how knowing its historical context helped us interpret its meaning. We also worked on some other pieces using the WAIT interactive tool.

While we didn’t have the opportunity to visit any exhibits because last minute construction was still going on (the museum opens officially this weekend), we did get to learn about some of the exhibits. As a technology person, the one that excites me the most is the Revo/Over exhibit, featuring an “interactive, digital art installation that uses visual and aural information to create an interaction between viewers and the work.” Pretty much the art work will respond to the viewer’s movements and sounds and location in the exhibit, thanks to technology. The piece had many artists…people collaborated from various departments at Virginia Tech and across the globe. I can’t wait to see this exhibit based on the videos and pictures we were shown of its creation.

Finally, we had a chance to preview the video conferencing capabilities of the museum which allow for virtual field trips. This service gives teachers and students opportunities to work with art at the museum, and the museum’s educational staff, without ever leaving the classroom.

During our visit, we did have the opportunity to tour the first floor of the museum and see the amazing architecture from the inside. The views of the city, Mill Mountain Star, and the surrounding mountains were beautiful, especially at this time of year. The Roanoke Times has published an extensive webpage on the museum, complete with video and interactive information, if you would like to learn more.


Photograph by Tim Hursley
http://www.taubmanmuseum.org/TM_photos.html

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Reaching your “h drive” at home

While you can’t actually “reach” your h drive at home, you can sync it.  Here’s how:

From school, open My Computer, and right click on your H drive. Select “Make Available Offline.” When you shut down your computer at the end of the school day, it will sync your H drive contents. Then from home, you’ll just open My Computer and can work on your H drive materials. When you log back in at school, it will sync again.

Thanks, Pam, for these directions!

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Adjusting the power scheme on your laptop

Adjusting the power scheme on your laptop:

  • right-click on your desktop background
  • choose Properties
  • click the Screen Saver tab
  • click the Power button
    • click on the drop-down arrow for the Power schemes (presentation works well)
  • view the different schemes and settings
  • make any changes you desire
  • click OK

This will keep your computer from going to sleep too often.

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Installing a network printer

Installing a network printer:

1. Click on the Start button
2. Click on Run
3. Type this: \\ps and click OK
(the ps stands for print server)
4. Scroll down to the printer names that begin with “e” for East or “g” for GWC
5. Double click the printer you wish to install
6. When the small empty print window opens, you’re connected. Just click the red x in both open windows to close them.
7. Now your printer should be available to use from any program.

Just be aware that this is user specific. If you log as yourself on a computer that you have never used before, you will need to install a printer before you can print.

Thanks, Pam, for these simple directions!

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