Technology Tidbits Newsletter September 2006

September 2006
Vol. 3, No. 1

Welcome back to a great school year!
Paula Whitmer and Leanna Prater are District Wide Technology Resource Teachers who can help out with your technology needs. We hope in this newsletter you might find some interesting ideas, websites and lessons to keep you up to date with technology integration.

Technology Program of Studies

Did you know that technology is now a part of the state mandated KY Program of Studies and needs to be integrated into classroom instruction?
Classroom teachers should familiarize themselves with their grade level Technology Curriculum Framework, which includes a grade level technology skills checklist. Your school STC has received training and can provide you with more information. Paula and Leanna are available to come and go over the new technology POS with your staff as well.

You can view all of the curriculum frameworks on SharePoint.

Submission Deadline: October 17th

Do you have proficient student writing that needs to be showcased? Why not submit it to Fayette County's Literary E-Zine? We are also looking for students digital photography and art work. Send submissions to Leanna Prater.

Past Issues:
Spring 2006
Winter 2006

AlphaSmarts and Success with Keyboarding

Are you a third grade teacher? Are you a teacher who would like for their students to brush up on keyboarding skills? Success with Keyboarding is a great instructional tool that helps students learn how to touch type. Paula or Leanna can come and model the first lesson for you! AlphaSmarts are available for checkout on a first come, first serve basis. E-mail Leanna Prater to reserve some for your class.

Technology PD offerings at Ambrose

Register Here

September 5 at 4:30-6:00
Digital Storytelling Made Easy
Kim Overstreet
Participants in this workshop will learn how to create a digital story. We will use Photo Story, free software available from Microsoft, and follow the process from start to finish. This simple tool can be used with all levels of students from primary to high school and in any content area.

September 7 at 4:30-6:00
Creating Class Web Pages: New Template!
Maggie Whittington
Designed for teachers who have little or no experience with the class web page, this beginning session will take you through the process of designing and creating a classroom web page, using a NEW TEMPLATE which allows you to edit your homework and announcements via the internet. A great way to communicate with students and parents, the classroom web page brings the school and home together in a learning environment.

September 11 at 4:30 to 6:00
Inspired Thinking with Inspiration
Paula Whitmer
Inspiration stimulates both visual and linear thinking to deepen understanding of concepts, increase memory retention, develop organizational skills and tap creativity. Learn how to use Inspiration to help you think and learn visually. The software allows you to create a picture of your ideas and concepts in the form of a diagram and then convert them into an outline for further development. Click one button to transfer your outline to a word processing document for final drafting. Great resource tool for any teacher who uses writing to assess student learning!

September 18 at 4:30 to 6:00
Introduction to EncycloMedia
Leanna Prater
Come and find out all about KY EncycloMedia (United Streaming) that offers a single online source that lets you choose among hundreds of related instructional resources, full-length videos, brief video clips, digital photographs, clip art and then lets you easily incorporate those materials into your lessons.

New Blog and Forum System

Fayette County has a new Forum System connected to our blogs! Forums and blogs are great ways to promote writing and e-communication in your classroom. Imagine your students communicating with other students anywhere in the world! Interested in setting up a forum or class blog? Contact Leanna Prater.

Do you have a student new to your school? This article might help.

From the Responsive Classroom
New Kid on the Block
Tips for introducing new students to the classroom community.

NEW E-Mail Address
If you don't know it already, you have a new
e-mail address. It is probably:
firstname.lastname@fayette.kyschools.us

To be sure, you can right click on your name in the address bar or from the address book, choose Outlook properties, then click on the tab that says e-mail addresses. The new address is listed on the first line after the letters SMTP.

Old e-mail addresses will work through December 31st.

You might like to include this new address in your auto signature (See Sept 05 for directions)

Example:

Julie Teacher
First Grade Teacher
Fayette County Public Schools
Please note new e-mail address: Julie.Teacher@fayette.kyschools.us

Favorites from Riverdeep Flyer

PORTRAIT DETECTIVES:
Lesson Vocabulary Rubric
What is the purpose of painting portraits? How can we analyze portraits? What cultural and historical elements can be seen in portraits? Students will consider all of these questions as they delve into portraiture. Use the 2nd link above for related art terms. A rubric is included with the 3rd link , while the lesson plan links to further activities, culminating in students creating their own portraits.

Self Portraits in Art and Writing
Careful investigations into famous self-portraits of Van Gogh, Gauguin, Leyster, and Siqueiros guide students into the reasons why artists create self-portraits. Journals and letters will also be considered, with students creating their own self-portraits and related journals.

Back to School Printables

Book plates, bookmarks, journal covers, stationery... Find a good variety of designs in these back-to-school printables for your classroom and student supplies.

TEACHING RESOURCES FOR MULTIAGE CLASSES

Explore this site for a considerable bank of resources to
use in multiage classrooms. Included are articles and suggestions to use throughout the school year, resources for
curriculum planning across all subjects, specific lesson
plans, classroom layout suggestions, management, organization, forms, student behaviors, and more.

Literature Guides

The Birchbark House
by Carolyn Ridgway
Review from Carol Hurst
Unit and questions from LearnNC
Classroom Activities from the Trumpet Club
Summary and Discussion Questions
Webquest

Do You Want to Be My Friend?
by Eric Carle
Unit from Hubbard's Cubbard
Creating a Pattern Book

The Mysteries of Harris Burdock
by Chris Van Allsburg
Arts and Literature Activities
Teacher's Guide

Techie Tips from Kim Overstreet

Old Favorite

Adding an Address to your Contacts

If you want to add a new address to your Contacts:

Click on File
Select New
Then select Contact
When you see this new window pop up, you will put the person's name where it says full name
Then in the box to the right type their email address (for example, jdoe@usa.com)
Then click Save and Close

If you have received an email from someone that you want to add to you Contacts, the process is much quicker and easier.

Open the email message from the person you want to add.
Right click on their name at the top of the message.
Choose Add to Outlook Contacts.

Now when you want to email that person, you can either type their name (just like you entered it in the Full Name box) in the To box or you can go into your address book and find Contacts and highlight their name. When you see their name underlined in the To box, you know that it has found their address and will send the message to them.

New Favorite

Creating .pdf documents for your web or email

If you create a homework assignment that you want to place on your web page, you want to make sure that all of your students will be able to open that file to printout at home. If you use Word and save it as a .doc file, some, but possibly not all, of your students will be able to open that. If you save the file as a .pdf and provide a link to Adobe's free reader, then anyone will be able to open that file and you won't lose any formatting like you might if you change the file format. Here's how you can do it:

Go to this site http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp to download the CutePDF Writer.
Click the Free Download link and choose Run.
Go through the defaults of installation.
Then click the Free Converter link and choose Run.
Go through the defaults.

Now to create a PDF:

Open a document in Word, Excel, Publisher, etc.
Choose File
Select Print
Then Instead of choosing a printer, select CutePDF Writer.
Then Print.
It will ask you where you want to save the file.

If you add this file to your webpage, be sure to include a link to Adobe's Free Reader http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html so people can download that if they don't have it. Then they will be able to open and print your file.

IMMEX

IMMEX is a free web-based critical thinking site for students from UCLA. Fayette County technology resource teachers and classroom teachers have authored several problem sets.

Here is this month's Problem Set Feature:

Photo Mania
Author: Julie Gaskin
Students are asked to read email to determine the characteristics of the animal that they will be paid to photograph and then read student-written reports to find the name of the animal. An Internet access fee will be subtracted from your pay for each clue you use to solve the problem.

Photo Mania - Case 1

Do you want to use IMMEX with your students but need some help or would like some more information? Contact Leanna or Paula or our IMMEX Liaison, Lucinda Sanders.