August/September 2008 Newsletter

Welcome back! I hope that you had a wonderful and refreshing summer. Mine was short, but productive. As many of you know, I had surgery June 13 to receive an Auditory Brainstem Implant. The surgery went well. I was out of the hospital in four days. That's far better than seven weeks last year! In late July, I had the implant turned on. And......It works!!! It is so nice to hear something again. Many people have asked me what I can hear. It is difficult to describe. Essentially, everyone sounds like a robot - very electronic. I can hear environmental sounds - footsteps, doors closing, dogs barking, typing on the keyboard, but it is difficult to distinguish differences in the sounds because I hear few pitches. For example, I played our piano, starting on the lowest pitched note, playing one note at a time going up the keyboard, and all of the keys sound like the same pitch to me. There are some differences in volume from low to high, but otherwise they all sound the same. I can hear that an announcement is being made over the PA system, but I can't understand what is being said. It is all very interesting...... So, practically speaking, here is what you need to do to communicate with me:

• I cannot discern what is being said without reading lips in addition to hearing sound, thus, if you say something to me when I am not looking, I may hear sound, but I won't know what you said. Be sure to get my attention before you begin speaking to me.
• This device does not work well when there is much background noise. Speaking to me in quiet settings works best.
• State your subject early in the conversation. If I know the subject, I do fairly well.
• Be patient with me. I am still learning to use this device. My audiologist said that people can improve with this device for ten years, so I will be working at it for a while.

We have added many new books to the DMS collection stop by and take look at them. In addition, we have added 15 sets to our Guided Reading collection. Keep your requests and recommendations coming. Please let me know how the Media Center can support your instruction. I would love to work with you to incorporate information literacy and or technology skills into your curriculum. I hope that you have a great year!

May 2008 Newsletter

Almost there! It has been two months since I have posted.....a very busy time, both personally and professionally. On a personal note, I want to thank you all for your kindness toward me this year. Every-day life has become a challenge and your support has meant much to me. I am gearing up for surgery on June 13th to get the implant that I was supposed to get last year. We are busy in the Media Center getting ready for summer and next fall. Important dates to remember:

• May 9, 2008: Last day for students to check out materials
• May 12-30, 2008: Media Center closed for inventory and cleaning.
• May 20, 2008: All student materials are due

As I recuperate this summer from yet another surgery, I plan to reflect upon the Media Center - what we have done, and how we can improve. I invite you to post comments here or send them to me via email. As we work to update our collection, please let me know if there is a title that you would like us to add. I will do my best to get it. I keep a running list of request and recommendations. I will be ordering these items before summer vacation. If you have a suggestion, drop me a note. Some of you have given suggestions for additions to our Guided Reading collection. I welcome them and will work to add them as funds are available. Let's all have a great Spring and Summer!

Happy March! I am sorry that this is a bit lateand abbreviated, but things have been pretty crazy lately. Thank you for your kind words and gifts. You have helped me through a difficult time. I am very thankful to have friends like you. D.M.S. has received a new Channel One receiver. Channel One is now using broadband connections to distribute their news program and Classroom Channel resources. For most of you, little will change. We will receive transmissions nightly. But, rather than being recorded onto a videocassette, transmissions are recorded onto a digital video recorder. We will continue to play the news at 8:14. And, for those who use a VHS recording, we will continue to provide one daily. Classroom Channel episodes will be automatically downloaded and saved digitally. They will be available for one month after the original broadcast. If you would like us to make a VHS recording that we can keep longer, please let us know. To play Classroom Channel shows, you must ask Doreen or I to play the show from the Media Center. Since it would be a bit tedious to play shows each hour, we will make a tape if you want your classes to watch each period. Let us know how we can help! I ran into this interesting presentation while reading some Blogs. It is an interesting, "green" response to the "Did You Know" video that I showed to you last year and posted again last month........interesting thoughts.

| View | Upload your own

New equipment We have ordered 4 more digital cameras and 2 digital video cameras. The video cameras are intended for the creation of short clips. They automatically save and convert your video to a format that can be posted to the internet. All that you have to do is record the video and share the file with me. I will post it on the web and share the link with you.

Wikispaces has color now!

Check out the toolbar when editing a page. Now, you can easily color and format your text.

February 2008 Newsletter

Happy February! New books! We have received two large orders of new books and audiobooks (Playaways). I wanted to post a link to a list here, but our OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) redirects everyone to a search page. Here is how you can get to the list:

1. Go to our OPAC
2. On the left, click on Resource Lists.
3. On the right, click the Public Lists tab.
4. Click on the New titles link.

Many of you may remember the short video that I showed at staff development meetings last year. The video has been edited and posted at dotsub. You can watch it below. I embedded the English subtitles version. There are interesting ideas at the end of the video.

Here is an image map of a website that looks to have some useful tools. Follow the link below or follow a link on the image map.

4Teachers : Main Page via kwout

The item below is one of literally hundreds of Google gadgets that you might choose to embed on your wiki. All you have to do is browse the gadgets, choose a gadget that you would like to use, copy the code, and add it to your wiki like you would normally add code. It is that simple. Browse all of the gadgets here.

mrk » home via kwout

I have been using Google Documents and have found it to be quite handy. Here are some of the benefits that I have found:

1. GoogleDocs is web-based, so documents are available anywhere that you have an internet connection.
2. It is easy to embed documents in your wiki. When you edit them in GoogleDocs, changes re reflected on your wiki when you refresh the page.
3. Collaboration: GoogleDocs allows you to share files easily - no more attachments. If you use an RSS reader, you can subscribe to follow document changes.
4. It is FREE!
5. I think that this would be useful for students, who would be able to access their work from anywhere. They wouldn't be limited to being at a district computer to accesss their files.

Here is a brief video about GoogleDocs:

January 2008 Newsletter

Happy New Year! I hope that the new year brings you much happiness and success. I am looking forward to this year as a better year for me personally. While life is hard, I am determined to make the best of it. I appreciate all of your kind words and help. The things that you have done for my family and me mean a lot to us.
Ten Reasons why the is Internet is no Substitute for a Library This is a great article that read during Grad. school. Although it is old by today's standards, much of it is applicable to students today. I spend a portion of my day each day working to update our collection. I would really like for our collection to support your curricular needs. Please let me know if there is a resource that you would like for me to locate and purchase for our collection.

Mindomo is an online mind mapping tool. It is free, which makes it even better. It is much like the program Inspiration, that you are probably familiar with. I can see this being very useful for math classes who could create a flow chart for solving a particular type of math problem or other classes who need to follow a series of steps and make decisions. Charts can be shared, allowing others to edit them. The charts can also be posted on other web pages such as your class wiki. Mindomo generates code that you can easily copy to post your mind map. I embedded a public map at the bottom of this page for you to see. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and check it out. Use your mouse to move the map around. You can zoom in or out with the "+" or "-," or with the slider. Pretty cool. I also embedded the map here on the DMS Teacher Tech. wiki for you to look at.

Class Marker is a free online tool that allows you to administer quizzes and tests online. According to the website, the plan to add a feature that will allow you to embed a quiz into your web page (I assume that means your wiki too.) In the meantime, it still looks useful. Here how to use it (from the website): I am going to try this tool with my classes. I'll let you know how it goes. Fireworks photo from Chrislrmo's photoset: http://flickr.com/photos/chrisirmo/

December 2007 Newsletter

Happy December! I wish you the best during this holiday season. Consider how I can help you. I am happy to locate and preview resources, print and electronic, to support your curriculum. Here is a link to an assignment that I helped to create with Phil. Also, I can visit your class and teach technology skills. In the past, I have instructed science students in the creation of spreadsheets and graphs, social studies students in the creation of PowerPoint presentations, and many other topics. Additionally, I can work with your classes on research skills. Let me know how I can help. Check out our DMS Teacher Tech Wiki. This wiki exists to support your tech needs. Please consider looking for help here and posting your tips. The W.D.E. has contracted with netTrekker to provide this useful curriculum resource. Chris B. has posted a description and directions on VINCent (must be in district to view --or use your network username and password from home) Curriki is a wiki for curriculum sharing. From Curriki:

Curriki, a play on the words 'curriculum' and 'wiki', is a nonprofit organization that is building the first and only Internet site for Open Source Curriculum (OSC), which will provide universal access to free curricula and instructional materials for grades K-12.

We are focusing initially on developing an online repository for K-12 curricula in theareas of mathematics, science, technology, reading and language arts, and languages. We want this repository to attract everyone from educators, students and parents, to programmers, instructional designers, authors and public officials throughout the world to contribute or freely access quality learning materials.

This is worth looking in to.

Commoncraft creates "In plain English" explanations. These are nice introductions to various technology tools. And, some of them have subtitles that are added using Dotsub, another cool tool. You can use Dotsub to add subtitles to your videos free of charge.

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Question mark image from purpleslog's photostream.

Man working at computer imagefrom Say Cheeze!!!'s photostream.

November 2007 Media Center News

Happy November! New GR additions We have received our recent order of books for Guided Reading. These are books that you recommended. They are processed and ready to check out. I have linked the titles to their records in Titlepeek, a cool feature of our new online catalog. You can read a synopsis, reviews, and an excerpt of the book. This feature is available for our entire collection, not just new additions. Check them out! Wolf Brother Michelle Paver This series (Wolf Brother, Spirit Walker, and Soul Eater) is very popular among students. Spirit Walker Michelle Paver Soul Eater Michelle Paver Dark Water Rising Marian Hale Barcode Tattoo Suzanne Weyn Time for Andrew Mary Downing Hahn (no entry in TitlePeek) Milkweed: A Novel Jerry Spinelli Revenge of the Witch Joseph Delaney Ender's Game Orson Scott Card This Side of Paradise Steven L. Layne A Swiftly Tilting Planet Madeleine L'Engle Personal Reading Here are some books that I have been reading or re-reading. What are you reading? A Whole New Mind Daniel Pink Wikinomics Dan Tapscott The world is flat : a brief history of the twenty-first century Thomas Friedman Redefining literacy for the 21st century David Warlick Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms Will Richardson Teaching with Digital Images: Acquire, Analyze, Create, Communicate International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) National Educational Technology Standards for Students International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) All are available in the Media Center. If you would like me to order a professional resource, please contact me. I am here to help you! United Streaming Videos The school district still has a subscription to United Streaming. This is a great resource. Not only does it have videos that can be downloaded and screened (or streamed as you display), but there are worksheets, quizzes and other resources available. Check out the nice overview that Chris B. has posted on VINCent. I am willing to locate and preview videos for you. many, but not all, videos are captioned, so I am willing and able to help. Let me know how I can help you . Check out TeacherTube . It is just like YouTube only for educational videos. Teachers all around the world are sharing instructional videos that they have created. They can easily be embedded in your wiki for student viewing. Let me know if I can help. From TeacherTube: "TeacherTube officially launched on March 6, 2007. Our goal is to provide an online community for sharing instructional videos. We seek to fill a need for a more educationally focused, safe venue for teachers, schools, and home learners. It is a site to provide anytime, anywhere professional development with teachers teaching teachers. As well, it is a site where teachers can post videos designed for students to view in order to learn a concept or skill." The K12 Online Conference occurred Oct. 15-19 and Oct. 22-26, but you can still access all of the materials and presentations. Click on the image above to go to the home page.