Information Galore!

Looking at the standards I can see where the open source material could connect to Standard 3 in the management of the schools. In a time where money seems to be at a low but the need for technology at a high it seems that being able to cut down on the site license cost might be nice. I did like the idea of sharing it with parents who might not have the access or money to spend on the Microsoft version so that the students have the opportunity at home to complete some of the work.

I think that the podcast is a neat way for students to get to share their ideas and what they have learned. I do fear that if things are done too much with movie maker, podcast, or powerpoint that students lose the ability to write effectively. Over the years I have seen a decrease in the quality of student writing since thay use different language when texting and instant messaging each other. I think that there needs to be a good balance between everything.

I think that the conditional formatting with excel was interesting. I use excel a lot and have just highlighted to change things color but this will save a lot of time. I think this connected to both standards 1 and 3. Access would be the same but since it is not a program that all computers most likely have I think that it is more specific to the school or job on whether it can be used.

In looking at Standard 4 I think the Wiki or blog would connect to this. I am not totally sure though how to really use a blog as an administer and in the past I have not always find the Wiki's to be user friendly. I think that a lot of the communication takes place either through emails or even postings on the district web page. But it has to be kept in mind that their are parents and families that do not have internet access who still need the same information.

It was interesting because on the news this morning there was a segment that talked about how technology could be contributing to memory loss. Since people rely on technology holding all their information, their minds do not work as hard at remembering things and begins their ability to remember things on their own begins to slip. I thought it was interesting as we are working on finding more ways to incorporate technology into the classroom.

Managing Data

I'm relating my comments to Standard #3 regarding "management of the organization....for an effective learning environment". I was really impressed with the management of data that can be accomplished with Access and Excel. (I don't have much experience with either, so most of the information was new to me.) Pretty amazing! I definitely can see the value of an administrator being well-versed in this software to take full advantage of the capabilities of both. The "power" is being able to manipulate data to bring contrasts, comparisons, and trends to the forefront. The insight that this provides could mean the success or failure of an initiative, a student, or a district.
It was frustrating to not be able to get on the internet all weekend. I'm hoping that the problem is resolved within the next two weeks.

Weekend Two was Busy

Wow! I feel like we had a lot going on this past weekend. I am feeling a a little overwhelmed, but am working to manage what I have to do, and how I have to do it. I am working in Office 07 for ACCESS and EXCEL so a lot of what was demonstrated in class was hard for me to follow. I am grateful for the help given by very patient and kind classmates. :-) I enjoyed working with my Seinfeld group on our Podcast. I am very pleased with the finished product. It turned out pretty cool, and was relatively easy to do. The Generation presentation was very cool, but I would have really loved some time for directed guidance with my assignments or time to conference with my partner on the multi media project. One final week to go and I will have completed my program. I wish I had taken this class earlier as so much of what we are doing would have helped with the rest of the EDAD courses.

Sorry, Earlier Post Didn't Address 6 Standards

In looking at the 6 Standards I can see how the tools we were exposed to this weekend have the potential to achieve the goals of standards # 1, 3 and 4. I can see how excel would help an administrator achieve standard 3's goals (ensuing management of the organization) and I can also see how wikis and blogs might contribute to achieving standard 4's goals as well (collaborating with familes and community) but again, I spoke with our administrator plus administrators from 4 other schools and they are not "old foggies" who are afraid of technology, they are very cutting edge I would say and they just don't use the Wikis or Blogs to communicate with the community. When asked why there response was access. When you have rural communities access to internet is often times an issue so they want to achieve the goal of community collaboration and they feel the best way to do it in the environments they operate is through newletters and public access TV. As far as using excel, they say that their business managers use it more than they do, they already have preset programs that do data analysis for them, much like what you have on IIRC, graphs, charts etc. already put together. I guess if you want to compare data that isn't already evaluated it would be used then but most of the time the data they do analysis on already is in comparison format.

YIKES!!

Where do I begin. Again tons of information. I really wish we were given handouts on each new task we were doing. It will be helpful in the long run to look back at a cheat sheet instead of relying on my memory. I am so not a tech person! I feel I am gaining good information, but really question doing things to "fill the time." I feel we should spend class time doing quality things related to our assignments or work on assignments so we have support while doing them. I too have asked my administrators what they use for tasks and Access and Wiki is not one of them. My administrator hadn't even heard of Wiki before. So I wonder why Western pushes Wiki so hard in the administrative program. Again, I have gained a lot but question other things.

Still Trying to Catch Up

Well a pretty eventful weekend with respect to content delivered. I really enjoyed the podcast and would like to work that into my lessons for this year but I already have the students doing a Desktop Documentary with Movie Maker and given that, it might be something to start off with next year. I have to admit I am not a big fan of Excel, I understand its power and how it can be used but for some reason I have never been able to get a solid grasp on its parts; this weekend helped and I am hoping as I do the lessons associated with that tool I will feel more at ease with it. Getting some exposure to Access was nice but I chatted with a few adminstrators today and they said they have never used it; so that begs the question, is it a tool I should spend time learning because it can be useful in the administrative field or is it just something that would be nice to use but isn't really a necessary part of leadership, etc. Like many things I will have to pick and choose I guess. I am not doing well with my Wiki and Blog but that is a time issue and haven't had much to spend on them, I hope to have those done by the weekend. I am looking forward to creating them though; I am wondering the purpose of those as well from a leadership standpoint, I was trying to think of uses for them in a school administrative point of view. I guess you could solicit thoughts on issues through them and distribute information but that seems to already happen with email and school web sites.....just something I am pondering.

Wow lots of information this weekend. I really feel like I need a nice quiet place to finish the assignments. I found the information very useful. I feel very comfortable with excel but really lack in blogs and wikis. Our podcast was fun and I think the kids will take these and do some very exciting things. Im sure over the years I will be able to apply all of the information to administration. I use the spreadsheets daily and have many places I could use databases.

March 29 and 30

Please reflect on the second weekend and share what you have learned, connecting these things to the Six Administrator standards shared in your syllabus.

Thank you!

Tim's Reflection

When discussing education and prevention of cyberbullying I will discuss from both the view as a parent and a teacher. What is cyberbullying? Cyberbullying is the act of hurting someone feelings using technology such as the computer cellphone or you tube. In a rescent poll by Wired Safety. org. only 15%of parents knew what cyberbullying was. However in the poll 90% of middle school aged children reportted having their feelings hurt, and 75% admitted to visiting a site making fun of another student. We as parents and teachers need to be more intune with our kids both at home and school. Some of the stratagies we can use as educators to prevent cyberbulling. 1. Be sure your schools bullying policy addresses cyberbullying. 2. closely monitor student use. 3. use filtering and tracking software on all computer. 4. Investigate all reports of cyberbulling imediately. 5. Notify both sets of children involved. 6. Notify police if needed. 7. monitor behavioir of affectted student. 8. Talk to students about the harm of cyberbulling 9. Investigate if victim needs professional help or support. Also Joseph M. Tully member of the Arizona Bar. Published a list of 7 Stratagies to discipline students without being sued. 1. Tell the parents. 2. 2. Try to avoid changes in placement. Such as alternative placement, suspension,expulsion this can trigger due process 3. Defer to parental authority to before imposing discipline 4. Remember providers haave service agreements. You as a eucator are within your rights to contact the students provider. 5. Understand your jurisdiction between school,civil, and criminal. 6. Use the problem as a teaching tool. 7. Emphasis appropriate internet behavior.
As a parent you have both amoral andlegal obligation to your child to know that they are engaged in safe and responsible on line behavior. Some key points to prevention. 1. Make it your business to know what your child is doing. 2. Place the computer in a public area of the home such as the kitchen. 3. Tell your kids what type of personal information is approriate to share. 4. Be upfront with your kids tell them you will be monitoring them for their safety. 5. Watch for secretive or withdraw behavior. 6. Install keystroke monitoring software. 7. Monitor cell phone logs and you tube also. Most importantly be part of your childs lives show interest in what they do, who their friends are. What are their dreams and goals. Are they happy? EAT DINNER TOGETHER WHEN POSSIBLE TALK AND MORE IMPORTANTLY LISTEN TO THEM.
Sources: WREN Cyberbulling What Eucators Can Do April 26 2007
WREN The Outer Limits: Disciplining Student without Getting Sued 2007
Charity Guide Preventing Cyberbullying by Beth Hering
Wired Safety.org Parenting on Line
2o plus years in teaching father of 4 for 24 years

Different sides of the river; different tech plans

It is very interesting to see the differences in the two sides of the river affecting the technology plans. When I interviewed our district technology director he stated that we have no tech plan; he said that technology plan would be invisible because it is a tool that supports the curriculum and the secondary focus would be the technology that exists to support the curriculum. Wow, what a difference in the district demands. After reading one IL. Tech Plan, though very informative, it seemed to identify the problems and the barriers, and supported them with data, but left the solutions vague. I see the actual plan as far more different that the realities between the two sides of the river.
The Plan no matter what side you work on, is identified in Standard 3, (A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by ensuring management of the organization, operations, and resources for a safe, and efficient learning environment. The educational leader needs to bring the tech resources to the staff and students with training and professional development as mentioned in Standard 2.
I am in over my head on some of the information provided in class, but on the other hand I have been self taught, and it is great to get the help I need to move forward at a quicker pace. Would not discover the possibilities without his class.

Reviewing School Data

Utilizing the IIRC website to analyze school data has been a great experience. Transferring data from the website to my document showed me that this is a valuable tool. It will be very useful in my career as an administrator. It is so time efficient and accurate. I'm learning a great deal.

My Blog - First Class Weekend

Wow! It's great to be "blogging"! Our first class weekend taught me several things. But first and foremost...I have a lot of catch up to do in the world of technology. I am great with my computer at home and work as long as I am within my comfort zone. Our class definitely taught me that my zone is fairly small. There are a lot of new and very cool ways to use technology today. I enjoyed learning how to make the movie. I would like to think that I could apply that to my administrative duties thus utilizing standard 4. Producing a movie for various meetings will be a great medium of communication. I am excited about the work to be done on the IIRC. I enjoy research and comparing data. I am interested in seeing how my district compares to others. This assignment is aligned to standard 2. As an administrator reviewing data to ensure a school culture and instructional program conducive to student leaning is a critical. I look forward to our next class meeting. Hopefully I will be able to better keep up. :-)

Watch out Hollywood!

By far the most awesome thing about the first weekend was learning how to make a movie. As a coach, I have seen many other coaches make highlight DVD's and always wondered how hard it would be to do something similar. I found out - it's not really that hard. I can clearly see how this new skill will help me both in the classroom and in my career as an administrator.

The other thing that made an impact on me was the guest speaker presenting information on assisted technology. Many of these uses of technology had never crossed my mind. It seems such a paradox that the very technology that can help those with disabilities, can also be the same technology that denies access to those with a disability. My eyes will forever be opened to this reality.

I'm New At This

I learned a great deal this weekend. Wiki, blog, and podcast are terms I had heard about, but never explored. Although I struggled a bit Sunday, teammates and others readily helped me out. I like the setup of the class. Working in teams will allow us to draw from others strengths and experiences. This is going to be very rewarding.

Weekend of March 8-9

Please reflect on the weekend and share what you have learned, connecting these things to the Six Administrator standards shared in your syllabus. Thank you!

new for me

(I'm struggling with this "blog thing", trying to find my way through. I guess there's a first time for everything.)

Yes, I'll admit it. I had a LOT more "visibles" than "invisibles" in class today.

What did I learn today? I learned that I have a lot of catching up to do.