Currituck County Schools Media and Tech

Some of you are blogging masters and some are new to this form of communication.  I want to take a couple of lines here to give you a quick tour of the blog. 

The main part of the page shows the blog entries I’ve been making.  My main goal is to highlight the many good things that are taking place in the media and technology areas.   A secondary goal is to point you to interesting activities and writings from outside the district that will help us expand our ideas of what is possible in the classroom.  

Starting at the top on the right hand side you see comments.  Anyone can comment on any of the blog entries.  The latest comments are listed here.

Next is a listing of recent posts.  These are hotlinks to save you scrolling down to look for the entry you are interested in.

Next is a “blogroll”.  This is a list of links that I think are helpful.  I’ll be adding links to some of the educational technology blogs that I read regularly.  There is a lot of good info out there. 

Next are Tech Links.  This part of the page is integrated with my del.icio.us account.  del.icio.us is a social bookmarking site.  You can save your bookmarks to del.icio.us and then your are able to access them from anywhere.  You can also “tag” your bookmarks to help you sort them out.  Any of the sites I bookmark and tag as “edtech” will appear on this list.  Maybe you’ll find some of them helpful.

Finally, there are flickr photos.  Flickr.com is a site that lets you upload photos and tag them similarly to flickr.  When I take media and technology pictures I upload them to flickr and they also appear on this page. 

Do you know what a podcast is?  Basically it is an audio file that you can download and listen to on a mobile mp3 player such as an iPod (hence the name) or listen to on your computer.

I ran across a blog, SMARTBoard Lessons Podcast by Ben Hazzard and Joan Badger, that covers educational technology in general and SMARTBoard Notebook lessons in particular.  It includes podcasts about educational technology.  That way you can listen to their discussion while your are trying out the topics they are discussing.

There is some great information on this blog and I encourage you to check it out.

Technorati.com is a site that lets you search blogs for particular topics.  This blog is being registered with Technorati.

Technorati Profile

George and Martha puppets at Central, originally uploaded by pgobriant.

Ms. Sanderlin’s second grade class worked with Ms. Leousis, the Central Media Specialist, to produce puppet shows based on the George and Martha books. They found an innovative way to integrate technology, they used a Smart Board box for the theater!

Yesterday I had the privilege of visiting CCHS during their Media and Curriculum Bonanza Day (what a name).  This was a very informal and relaxed setting for staff development.  Teachers visited the media center during their planning periods.  Stations were setup around the library highlighting various technologies.  Teachers circulated around and spent time in the areas they needed the most help.  Snacks and door prizes were given out.  The folllowing areas were highlighted.

GroupWise and Atomic Learning- Teachers were shown how to change passwords and use calendars, referencing the appropriate tutorials.

United Streaming - Teachers learned how to search, download and view instructional video.

Mobile Lab and Presentation carts - Participants could practice hands-on with setup and use.

New books and video - Teachers had an opportunity to explore the new print and video resources available in the media center.

SeaSystem - There was a short refresher to ensure teachers were in the SeaSystem for this activity.

My apologies if I’ve left something out.  Special thanks go to Mary Simmons, Beth O’Briant, Molly Lynde, Lindy Moser, Charlotte Martin and Jeff Dover for making this activity possible.

Approximately 40 people participated in this activity.

Flash drive door prizes went to Frasier, Jarvis, Rodgers, and Richardson.  Compact Flourescent light bulb door prizes went to Blume, Lewis, Blackman, and Kimble.

This was a great model for staff development.  It was teacher driven, very interactive, highlighted current resources, and held during the school day with no loss of instructional time.  Great job!  Maybe there will be part 2 in the spring?

Comments from one participant:  “The hands-on experience with technology at CCHS was a wonderful experience for me (the new teacher).  From mobile lab units, “Smart” boards, blogs and googling, I walked away with more tech knowledge than I could imagine.  Currituck is fortunate to have such equipment and professionals willing to educate the educators.  My time spent Tuesday morning was well worth it.  Thanks to you and your staff for a true learning experience.”

(Pictures are available by clicking on the “more photos” link on the right side of this page.)

CCHSTechDay_15, originally uploaded by pgobriant.

Mary Simmons demonstrates Atomic Learning to a group of interested CCHS teachers.

CCHSTechDay_07, originally uploaded by pgobriant.

Molly Lynde demonstrates United Streaming.

MES student using Smart Board, originally uploaded by pgobriant.

Shareba is a third grade student at MES. The students are using the Smart Board to look up AR books using OPAC.

The students love using the smartboard. Even those students that don’t normally want to get up in front of the class will volunteer do it with the smartboard.

Third graders have also used the Smart Board to practice multiplication facts and handwriting.