C4F Funding - A reason to BLOG!

I realize that I don't like to write and have let this blog go for a short time but today is a reason to BLOG! The following are my personal thoughts about the C4F year two funding! Yes, I know that schools were added to the program. Of that I am glad. But about those of us not so lucky today! Tears! Tears! Tears! Tears! Tears!

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$56,720 - that's the amount that we will receive this year for the C4F Grant! That will cover staff technology but no carts nor extras like cameras, printers, webcams, etc.

Disheartened is all I can say for my feelings tonight!

When we started this adventure – Classrooms for the Future - it was going to be a hard sell to my staff but we persevered. We had the equipment dumped into staff laps without any amount of Professional Development time allotted for bringing staff up to speed on the equipment and the strategies to use it. This is not including the little gotchas like the embedded learning courses required to be completed by all participants. We worked hard on getting people up to speed on the equipment as they struggled to teach, prepare kids for a variety of high stakes tests including PSSAs, NOCTI, ASE, Foresight, etc., and cover the curricula without looking foolish in the kids eyes as the technology was learned and incorporated into the daily routine. This was not easy! In fact, it was very hard!

To get the staff ready for round two -- and we were expecting to get the Science and Social Studies teachers on board because we thought that it was part of the bargain that we made with the “devil” to complete, at the very least, the core subjects -- I sold the administration and staff a training program for July and August that included half day sessions (45 in all) to the tune of a $50 stipend for participation in a session. The administration supported the venture with the funding from a very tight budget since we are financially at the mercy of the 14 county schools! The staff was excited, strategized, and eager to get into the school year with a real clear picture of where they were going to go with their project based integrated learning technology classrooms! They have some technology skills and have become, at the very least, comfortable with the equipment. I am so very proud of these people. People who are prepared to step out of their technology comfort zone to actively engage the kids in the educational process. They are ready to embrace a systemic paradigm change of how they will do business in their classrooms! They are scared but ready to give it a go!

I had an incredible summer listening to staff collaborate on the things that they could do in their classrooms – broadcasts, movies, digital storytelling, live collaborative writing, wikis, blogs, not to mention Delicious resource sharing - perhaps textbooks wouldn’t be the key to all material - just one of a number of primary resources.

I started school Monday very tired because we finished the last classes last week but I was thrilled to get back and get the second round of funded technology in place for the staff and students. Every day people would ask if we had heard anything from the State. Now I wish that I hadn't heard at all.

Lets face it. The reality of York Tech is that our school is the typical vocational-technical school and our student body is eclectic at best. Sure we get a few kids who are true gifts to the educational arena but the skinny is that most kids are here to learn a skill, get a job and support families is a volatile economy. We have a great amount of success at creating productive citizens for this community. York Tech is a proud educational community, and being in the forefront of the C4F program was certainly a boost to our morale and stature in the community. We are the oldest ongoing vocational-technical school in the nation! We have a proud tradition!

Not being fully funded during year 2 was a very great slap in the face. When I heard the amount that we received yesterday, I felt sick to my stomach because of all of the hopes we had for the technology and its incorporation into the program at Tech.

I, personally, would like to walk away from this mess! But I have a staff that will step up and do the best they can with what little they have - simply because it is the right thing to do! We have always done what is necessary to get our kids ready for the real world. Life will go on! We will persevere! After all, we are York Tech!

This was not one for the Gipper!

I feel like such a loser because I am so inadequate for this job! I don't have all the answers and I don't know all the workings of the technologies

It's All About the Kids

Today was amazing! During the podcasting class, we had open and useful discourse about the great things that can be done with podcasting! Jerry and Brad were exhuberant about how they could use this technology in the classroom! Podcasting notes to review for this weeks test; biographies; country reports for World Cultures! WOW! Lots and lots of ideas. I am so impressed with the enthusiasm and movement from the tech comfort zone! Adding sounds to the podcast to jazz up the interest level, yes, Virginia, there is a tekkie Santa Claus!

It just got better sharing the word and the ammenities that go with it! Lets do some real peer editing with comments and changes listed automatically. How do you change the reading level of the written essay? - - - Add three syllable words instead of one and two syllables! That suggestion came from Travis Gaidos after I had explained how Word evaluates the document and gives a Flesch Kinkaid reading score. He said then you can require your students to create their research papers on an 8th grade level! Kids can check to see how their composition is doing as they write and edit their work to reflect a higher reading level. What a problem solver!

This training program has made staff rethink how they are going to engage students on a new level. I am so proud of these teachers. They are incredible! Doris Manning came to the CC program and I introduced her to Delicious and she was off and selecting web sites to meet the needs of her students, online Math games, Applets, and areas where kids can go for help at home when the teacher is not available. She will tag sites so that the kids in her pre-alg and alg classes can easily locate pertinent information! Janice caruso has been working on locating resources for her Science classes. How about listening to a podcast about a current science event? She will share this location with her students. These are the time consuming things that can't be accomplished when there are kids needing help, grades to do, meetings to attend, etc. That has been one of the big factors in teachers coming to these sessions - TIME! That is what teachers need to be successful!

I think that I will take a break tomorrow evening. No one is signed up for that session and I'm going to go home! It has been an exciting time so far and I am tired!

Photostory and Cameras

I managed to get 5 1 Gig SD cards and when we installed them, we discovered that they will store 4000+ pics. I will keep them available for use.

Today we had some newbies! Bill Ritz and Lamar Stoltzfus stopped in and we had a GREAT time. You know that the Lenovos have an SD card reader in the front so that all you have to do is take the card out of the camera and slip it into the computer! WOW! That is really great!

We used the camera to take pictures and then downloaded them to the laptops. It was somewhat smoother that last week but it was still a hassle the first time. We then imported them into Photostory 3 and rearranged the photos, edited, added text, effects, and music. It was wonderful. Then the class chose a nursery rhyme and created a photostory from pictures from the net. Bill Kelly and Lamar shared some cute photostories! Kim wanted to know how to edit the pictures and she will be back tonight and I will work with her on that process.

About this blog - if you aren't dedicated to the process it is like an albatross around your neck. I hate to write and this has forced me to try to use correct grammar most of the time but I find that I enjoy writing like I speak, which, if you can't hear me say the words, it can be all about context. Without the ability to see my hands moving and the animation of my face, it seems dull. I think that the kids will just love blogging about some KOOL topics. Creativity will be the name of the game.

Preaching Practice

Today I started a new wiki space. You can access it here at c4fcoach.

I talked about it yesterday and shared a starter page with everyone in the class, so I thought that I would post one for the initiative so that I was more comfortable with the process. I will be letting it open to access for a brief time and then I will limit access to my colleagues at Tech. I am getting the feel for having a blog. I will try to link this blog with my wiki so that I will be able to connect the technologies. At least I will attempt it. I am not having a lot of luck with it yet but perseverance will win out!

As I went by the school today, I noticed that we will have one of those electronic signs in front of the building. I wondered who would be responsible for that sign - probably Jean Parks. Well it is Saturday and I really should do something other than tekkie stuff. I spoke with Carol Z. a few minutes ago and she and Terry had just left the Myrtle Beach Speedway. Ah, vacation!

Oh my! I just remembered the camera fiasco on Thursday night. I need to fix the problem. I must remember to get 5 SD cards for the digitals. I must stop thinking about this!

Delicious, Wikis, Blogs! Oh My!

Classes are getting bigger every day! Today we met in Media Center - Lab B.

This was the class for which Jerry Reath had been waiting because he is really chomping at the bit to use blogs in his classroom. He said that he intends to use it to encourage discussion about current events. You could see him working out just how blogs would work and how he would administer the process. He had questions and concerns about kids' "colloquialisms".

We have a Computer Acceptable Use Policy published in the Student Handbook that can and has been enforced, so it just needs to be addressed during the introduction of the technology, monitored and enforced by the teacher. I mentioned that technology is front-end loaded work for the teacher but it pays off in the end.

We discussed the overuse of technology in classrooms and the students' "been there - done that" attitude but kids are really comfortable with the process. We just need to apply it creatively.

Kelly Rupp was in the process of linking her blog and wiki to her Moodle account. We have access to Moodle and I will be getting accounts for any teacher who is interested in the process. You will be able to link your Moodle account from your staff web page. KOOL!

Threse left today on technology overload as has everyone, but the afternoon was really quiet. We met one of the new English Teachers, Kim Pavlick, who has just moved to the area and is still unpacking. She will be part of the Man/Tran Academy and is located in room 3116 next to Kris Karpulk. Jeremy Smith joined us as well and he and Kelly, his co-teacher, worked on their Moodle account some more. When everyone left, it was very quiet in the Media Center overall. Gosh! I so like noise!

I'm going to get some SD cards for the cameras that we will use on Monday. This will avoid the communications problems that we experienced on Thursday night. Like I said before, sometimes you need to be able to dance in the classroom!

Forrest Gump Thursday

If it could happen today, it did - computer connections - camera connections - lost drives! UGH!! It is good that the staff sees me struggle sometimes too. What a mess wires can be! We needed to be wired to electricity because batteries don't last forever and the floor is a minefield but people are becoming familiar with using one direction to get to and from seats.

I hope that staff bring flash drives so that if a network drive connection is kidnapped - saving projects won't be a problem!

We had some frank discussions today about the logistics of using the carts in a classroom. It will take some real commitment to the systemic change process to make this technology project work. I know that it is really hard work upfront but I have seen classes actively engaged in the learning process. All I have to do is look at the staff that is attending the Professional Development to see engagement. When I turn the staff loose on a project, they are off and running and also laughing and sharing with "look at this!" comments or "look what else this does!".

Bill Kelly, Melissa Stonesifer, and Neil Brenneman had a great time during the round robin MS Word project and now they know several ways to use and share kids thoughts and work!

Janice Caruso has attended several classes and she is having a ball! Her skill level has improved and she is trying new things that were somewhat scary – not to mention really outside her box. Chef Michael is running away with his Delicious account and, WOW!, he is doing a fantastic job of tagging his additions so that they can be easily returned to and shared with his colleagues - you know - those professional bakers, as well as his students! Joe Marks and Kelly Rupp have been working on connecting their curricula to technology.

Therese, who is a gifted photographer (OK, I know it's her job) and Kelly shared their Photostory movies and it was easy for Joe Marks to mention what a great way to document Senior Projects. Janice mentioned lab reports.

Friday is Wikis and Blogs. I’m wondering who will be the first to use either of these in his or her class. I’m finding the blogging thing needs some real commitment to get into and do regularly. I think that it will be a great amount of fun because the staff are talking about this blog and I like talk. So if I like the talk, I think the kids will like the talk. I’m published!

It was a Hardware Day

When I got into the building today, it was exciting because Chef Michael was sharing his podcast project with some of his colleagues in the tutoring program! He was so excited and everyone was laughing at the cleverness of his project. We had a great time at podcasting. I'm hoping that more people come to the next podcasting class.

Today was more than ok. It was a little depressing because of the Adobe InDesign disaster but we will put something together after school when school starts. The new Science department chair, Kelly Rupp, was in today and she set up her Moodle account for her classes. She is getting a head start on the school year. Chip Diamond and Joe Marks tried out the tutorials on Photoshop that are available in Atomic Learning and they have found that it was easy to follow.

This evening we did the Promethean Board overview and some people present shared their kool nursery rhymes. Janice Caruso, of course, is an astronomy nut and she did a "Star light - Star bright" project that was absolutely wonderful. And, Threse Laucks used her drawing skills in her project. I have found that it has been incredible seeing staff beginning to really get into the technology and hearing how they may be able to incorporate it into the curriculum.

This has been terriffic!

First Class

Wednesday was an interesting class day. We did podcasting (Audacity). I was rushed before class because I spoke with Dr. Kraft and Phil Keim and it took away prep time. I realize that to be more effective I need the time before class to get it together. Because of the disorganization, I forgot to share the tutorial web site and the greatest faux pas was not sharing the handout. What a mess!

Before I left the Center I examined the laptops that I want to use for the class and made a monumental discovery. The student laptops don't have the Adobe package installed on them. I will have to cancel the Adobe portion of the pd package. What a mess that will be!

People attending tonights class made podcasts of a nursery rhyme with voice and sound. We listened to several and they were fun! I think this may become a cool thing to do for a class project. Just another tool in the teaching trunk!