The Day of Technology Professional Development

Wednesday was a busy day full of fixing technology, setting up and showcasing technology, and professionally developing the High School teachers to learn and reapply technology.

At the Middle School I had opportunities to fix a light bulb in a LCD projector and to wirelessly connect a LCD projector for teachers to effectively use.  I also had the opportunity to setup 2 Elmo document cameras for 4 teachers to share.  Document cameras allow teachers to set aside the old technology of overhead transparency projectors and replace them with document cameras hooked up to already mounted LCD projectors to be able to show transparency copies, paper copies, books, pencils, manipulative s, flash cards, hand-written stories and so much more.

In the afternoon I visited North Side Elementary and was able to discuss technology needs to more than half the teachers within the building.  Teachers were interested in learning more about Pages through the use of Atomic Learning (need AEA username and password), and about purchasing LCD projectors to share and Promethean SmartBoards and/or MimioTeach to use to make their instruction more effective and differentiated.

While the students dismissed early, the High School teachers had a chance to learn more about effective Technology through their first Technology Professional Development session of the year.  The theme was, "how to/forgot how to" to make sure the teachers' laptops and their resources were ready for the school year and to showcase effective tools for them to use throughout the whole school year.

Showcased to the teachers was:
How to use the LCD projector/remote effectively
How to access the online HS library catalog
Making sure each laptop was connected to the correct printer driver
Proper care of the laptop
Online copyright information
Seeing if Google Notifier should be installed for effective uses
Iowa AEA Online Student/Teacher web sites
Understanding Google Docs
Checking login into SchoolFusion

Making the Rounds

Today, I had the opportunity to visit SouthSide elementary, the Middle School and of course the High School.

I visited SouthSide Elementary in the morning and a little bit in the afternoon.  In the morning I met with Mrs. White to figure out and discover her MimioTeach.  The MimioTeach turns any whiteboard into a Smartboard, which allows students to draw on the computer screen through the use of a stylus pen, insert pictures, create venn diagrams and so much more.  It was an awesome experience and something I hope Mrs. White uses extensively with her students throughout the different classes she goes into at SouthSide Elementary.
I also met with Mrs. Speake to discuss different ways to integrate and support technology at SouthSide.  Some ideas came up related to: how to better use the 2 laptop carts, how to link grade level web sites to SchoolFusion, using Kidspiration, learning how to use the IowaAEAOnline resources, becoming more comfortable with the lcd projectors, and creating digital stories.  All great ideas in which I hope to take full charge in integrating and showcasing to the teachers throughout the year.
In the afternoon I met with Mrs. Nelson to show her how to wirelessly connect to her projector and how ti more efficiently use her laptop with the projector for both teacher and student use.

In the afternoon I met with Mrs. Braun at the Middle School to discuss the First Lego League.  This will be something new for me as I have not messed with Lego Robotics since college.  I think it will be a great experience for her students and hopefully something that we can take a couple groups of students to compete against other Iowa students, in relationship to Lego Robotics.

Throughout the day at the High School I provided some web sites to teachers interested in interactive flash cards, and using interactive writing tablets in the classroom.

Awesome day and I am sure the rest will be just as good.