Blogging workshop

I hope that all participants enjoyed the blogging workshop today. Please comment with feedback about the presentation or what I may be able to help you with in the future.

It's May!

Well, it looks as though May finally got here and we are beginning to wrap up the 2007-08 school year. Things certainly haven't slowed down in CFF land. Renee and I spent a good chunk of early April applying for next year's grant money and we hosted our "Flip the Switch" event on April 24th. I think that the everything ran pretty smoothly. Thanks to those of you who helped during that event.

As for between now and the end of the year, I am working on hosting a series of after-school workshops that include blogging, wikis, web2.0 and possibly Google Earth. I have also been told that I will be running a technology workshop this summer. I have not been told anything about the content or the participants, so this should be interesting.

I am happy to report that it looks like I will continue in the coaching capacity for the 2008-09 school year. We hope to add more CFF teachers and really get into some higher order technology integration into the classroom. With the luxury of having the whole year with teachers, I am looking for everyone to create some personal goals about using technology in the classroom. My personal goal will be to learn ActivStudio to the point in which I feel like an expert.

Hoping that the rest of May runs smoothly...

Denise

March update

So, things are crazy right now in CFF land. The CFF year 3 grant is due Friday, teachers are doing more and more with technology (which I love) and the students are starting to get a little crazy. I think that's because spring break was so early.

We have some great things going on around the building. The reading teachers are blogging, people all over the building are using their Prometheans and teachers are asking about podcasting, wikis and other web2.0 applications. Teachers are coming to after-school workshops to learn about resources thaqt are available to them. It's great!

Our Flip the Switch date is coming up. We will be inviting politicians, school board members, upper admin and community members to come in and see the impact that CFF is having in the classrooms.

That's about it for now. Just for Terry, I wanted to leave you all with the following image:

End of February

So, it is the end of February and I have been in this position for about a month now. Things are still a bit crazy, but I don't really know any other way of life. I am seeing some great things from teachers, especially when it comes to trying out the new hardware or even just adding some online resources and activities to exisiting content.

I have already been in class with Shulman, Glasgow, Brown and Conti. We have been doing introductory Promethean work and some blogging. I am also scheduled to do Photo Story with Glasgow and Mullen in March. I am looking forward to going into more classrooms as the year progresses. I would really love to see how everyone is incorporating the Promethean into their lessons, as this is the piece of hardware that is newest to us as educators.

Thoughts from Hershey's Pete & C Conference

Mel and I have spent the past 4 days in Hershey overloading our brains with all kinds of technology tips and tools for the classroom and networking with other teachers, coaches, librarians, network administrators, technology directors, etc about how to integrate technology in the classroom.

Words that have not been a part of the English language for more than a couple of years were tossed around like they were nothing... ning, twitter, blabberize, gaggle (and not a bunch of geese), moonk and many others. There seemed to be thousands of people there (and probably were) and everyone was excited to learn about these new trends and the latest in technology. My head was spinning.

As I was sitting through the keynotes and the breakout sessions, I began to think of a few things... mainly about how these ideas and resources could be used in Chi's classrooms and which teachers I could use as guinea pigs to try some of this cool stuff with. tee hee!!

The sessions I went to include the following: Google Earth (6 hours), 2 keynote sessions in the mornings, What in the Heck is Web 2.0?, Using Wikis for Classroom Connections, Streaming with the STARS (10 best online resources for educators), DEN workshop (Discovery Educators' Network--awesome stuff!), Director's Cut (editing digital media), Virtual Field Trips, Teaching Using Simulations, and Student Creativity & Innovation in schools.

It was a lot of "stuff" to process, but I am excited about the possibilities that can happen here at Chi!!

Welcome!

Welcome Chi CFF teachers!

This blog will be updated regularly with progress regarding the CFF initiative.

I would like to use this blog to collaborate and share CFF news, classroom successes and professional development resources with everyone in the group.

Thank you for being a part of this program!