September 2006

It’s been quite a while since the last posting. Once school starts back, it’s hard to find the time to do the extra things like maintain the website and update the blog. But some exciting things are happening through the library at Lakewood, and I want to make sure good news gets out.

• Thanks to funds received from the Helping Schools tags, we are purchasing a state-of-the-art computer for video editing. Once the new computer arrives, our Beary Special News program will resume. Last week, our video editing crew was taped for a promotional video on the Phenix City School System. It’s exciting to watch our kids have opportunities such as this.

• At the September Lunch ‘n Learn, I presented a discussion on Internet safety. Because I believe this is such a crucial topic for our parents, I’m listing some of the talking points in this blog.

1. Elementary-age students are more likely to divulge personal information unsuspectingly.
2. Predators take advantage of children’s honesty and tendency to trust adults.
3. Students should never give out the following information online: name, address, age, birthday, school or athletic team.
4. What can parents do?
   * Keep the computer in a public place in your home where children can be supervised while online.
   * Know the websites your child visits. Depending on the age of the child, you may want to limit their online visits to sites you have chosen.
   * Educate yourself about technology and the Internet.
* Screen emails, instant messages, and chat as appropriate.

The following websites provide more information regarding Internet safety.

http://www.isafe.org
http://www.ou.edu/oupd/kidtool.htm
http://www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguidee.htm

AETC Report

I just returned from AETC and have so many ideas floating in my head that I'm afraid I will forget them all!

Here's a breakdown of what I learned and what I hope will happen as a result of this learning:

1. I attended two sessions on podcasting. One was by Jana Hoggle from Wilcox County, and the other was by Dr. Tim Tyson of Mabry Middle School. Now that I understand how podcasting works, I hope to be able to upload our daily news broadcasts so that parents and community members can view the "Beary Special News" off-campus. We have the equipment to record and edit the broadcasts; I'm just not sure how to upload them so they are available on the Web. This is just a small obstacle. We will get past it! By the end of the 2006-07 school year, I hope to have published multiple podcasts and teach a system-wide workshop on podcasting so that others may do the same.

2. Mrs. Eller asked me to find out about blogging at AETC. When I saw that Patrick Crispen was presenting on this topic, I was elated. As usual, he did a great job. It's amazing what you can learn from him in an hour (despite the fact that he graduated from Alabama). Now that I understand the concept, I can see terrific educational applications for this technology. I plan on sharing information on blogging with the teachers at Lakewood so that they can all create classroom blogs. I am also planning a system-wide blogging workshop for the fall. And as you can see...I started a blog of my own. This blog will be another way of communicating with Lakewood students, teachers, and parents.

3. Another thing I was asked to investigate at AETC was the possibility of using STI to create a kindergarten report card. After speaking with Josh McCullough of STI, I found that this is indeed possible. Soon I'll be participating in STI's WebEx training to learn how to use something called Skills Bank. Hopefully by the end of the first grading period, our kindergarten teachers will have a computerized - and much more user friendly! - report card.

4. Finally, I was a first-year presenter at AETC 2006. I have presented in Georgia before, but I always wanted the opportunity to present in my own state. The workshop I chose to present was "Six Simple Ways to Integrate Technology in the Classroom." I had the last session slot of the conference, so I was surprised to have over 50 participants in the session! It was a good reminder for me of how many teachers still don't have their "feet wet" with technology integration. I encouraged the participants to present this same workshop in their systems. I couldn't help but to think of how Mr. Adams' encouragement of me years ago led to the opportunities I've had in educational technology. I hope I get many more opportunities to present at such conferences. Next year I hope to take our video editing crew to the Alabama Mega Conference and to the National Educational Technology Conference in Atlanta.

Thanks for checking out my first post to my first blog. Please come back again for an update on what's happening with technology at Lakewood.