Save the Lakewood Y did just that! May 5, 2008
Posted by Dottie Black in : Lakewood Elementary School, Projects, Uncategorized , add a commentBack in September, I met with one of my new teachers,Libby Montagne from Lakewood Elementary. She told me she was working with a group of her students to help save the Lakewood YMCA. The YMCA board was trying to sell the building and Durham would lose a fantastic community resource. I suggested that her students use a WIKI to document what they were doing.
Last week it was announced that the building will be shared by a new Durham Public Schools Montessori middle school and the YMCA. A win-win-win situation for the YMCA,Durham Public Schools and the Lakewood community.
Congratulations to Ms. Montagne and her students for helping be a part of the process.
2008 Technology Showcase March 24, 2008
Posted by Dottie Black in : Events, Teacher Resources, Technology, Uncategorized , add a commentAll I can say is WOW! We had a great turnout for the second annual Durham Public Schools Technology Showcase. All the reviews have been very positive and we are so proud of all the teachers and students who worked hard on projects to present.
WIKI WIKI December 10, 2007
Posted by Dottie Black in : Teacher Resources, Technology, Uncategorized , add a commentWhat the heck is a wiki anyway? Simply put, a wiki is a webpage that can be authored by as many people who want to add to it. For example, a teacher can set up a wiki and have all of the students in the class be authors. There are ways to track who adds to the wiki and the administrator decides who can author and who can view the site. Here is an example of a wiki done by a fifth grade class about the book Turn Homeward, Hannalee.
Activeboards part 2 December 10, 2007
Posted by Dottie Black in : Uncategorized , add a commentI happened to stop into Ms. Steven’s 7th grade social studies class while she was using her new activeboard. I shot a short video of her teaching.
Activeboards Rock November 5, 2007
Posted by Dottie Black in : Schools, Uncategorized , add a commentI met with Robin Franklin, the technology mentor from Lakewood elementary school last week. She has a new activeboard in her classroom. She talked about the way this wonderful tool has challenged her teaching techniques. She told me how she had used it to show her students how to search for books from the Durham Public Library.
As she was teaching the lesson, she wasn’t sure how to do something so she picked up her personal communication device (cell phone) and called a librarian. As the librarian explained the process to her over the phone, she was relaying that to the class and showing them how to do it with the Activeboard. When they were finished, the kids applauded and she held the phone up so the librarian could hear them.
The students learned about databases, they learned how to search and reserve books. They also learned who to talk to when they need help at the library. Ms. Franklin’s next project for her students is to find out where the bookmobile stops and then have them write letters to request stops in their neighborhoods.
Road Trip to South Carolina November 1, 2007
Posted by Dottie Black in : Uncategorized , add a comment
The Rogers-Herr middle school mentor and mentees attended the South Carolina Association for Educational Technology Conference in Myrtle Beach last week. The theme of the conference was Back to the Future. (Yes, that is a DeLorean)
Rubrics,Rubrics October 9, 2007
Posted by Dottie Black in : Teacher Resources, Technology, Uncategorized , add a commentKathy Shrock is a K-12 Technology dynamo. She has been helping the K-12 community with technology for years. She has an email newsletter you can subscribe to and also a fantastic website.
This weeks email highlighted her rubrics page.
Social Networking for Kids October 1, 2007
Posted by Dottie Black in : Uncategorized , add a commentLast year one of my teacher friends discovered that there was a “trash site” about her teaching team on Bebo.com. She went to look at it and found that many of her students had profiles on Bebo. Some of them had posted photos of themselves and information like where they went to school, where they lived, and even some phone numbers. Since then, we have had many discussions about how to teach students to use social networking in a responsible way.
A fellow instructional technologist shared imbee.com with me last week so I checked it out.
A teacher can set up a class to use this tool like other social networking sites but with the added security that it is monitored by the teacher and is only open to people the teacher approves. There are imbee sponsored groups the participants can join or they can start their own groups all with the teacher’s supervision. Social networking is everywhere and this is an opportunity to help students understand how to use these tools effectively and ethically.
Inspiration comes from many sources September 26, 2007
Posted by Dottie Black in : Uncategorized , add a commentLast week I was scrolling down my yahoo page and I saw a short blurb from the Chronicle of Higher Ed about computer science professor Randy Pausch giving an exuberant “last lecture” I clicked on the link and there was a short video of part of his lecture. I was enthralled by him. After I finished watching the video I wondered if his whole lecture was somewhere on the web. I scrolled down the comments and someone had posted this link to it. It is 1 1/2 hours long but well worth the time to watch. As of this morning, it had been viewed 31,000 times since last week. Randy was already going to have a great legacy in the lives and careers of his brilliant CS students but now he has shared some of his most wonderful insights with the rest of the world. After watching this video I believe that the world is a better place because Randy Pausch was in it.
Why I love my job September 23, 2007
Posted by Dottie Black in : Uncategorized , add a comment
Last Thursday was our first full day of training for this year’s K-12 Technology Mentors. You will soon see their profiles. At the end of the day, I asked them to use our wiki to write a reflection of what we had done that day. Robin shared these “Big Ideas” she came away with:
Ethics of how we use material, what we post, how we give credit
-How to think critically about the information that we find on the web, Is it valid? What are the writers purposes?
-How can students use these tools as a way to share their own thinking and creations.
Wende was thrilled to have the time to learn about all of the tools that Durham Public Schools have available for teachers. “I found out that there are many programs available right on the DPS network. I made sure that I had all of my logins and passwords so that I can access these resources at home and school. My co-workers are going to be so excited to see and use all of these hidden gems”
It is truly a joy to work with teachers who see the value of learning new things.
