The last two and a half weeks before the holiday break were very, very busy as teachers and students tried to wrap up many of their course projects and meet deadlines. I assisted teachers and students with Acuity, SAS, Edline, and turnitin.com several times each week.
I spent a big chunk of time processing new equipment. The district technology department is purchasing an Elmo and a Mimio Teach device for each classroom in my school. I've received all of the Mimio Teach devices and a large number of the Elmos. When these came in, I had to label and inventory each piece of equipment. I have already distributed the document cameras, but I haven't yet distributed the Mimio Teach devices. Teachers will be having training January 20, and in an effort to get teachers to attend the training, the devices will not be distributed until the training session. Training will be offered during the school day, which means teachers will have to attend on their planning time, which is not well received in my school.
After distributing the document cameras, I've been going around to teachers' rooms when I get a chance and helping them figure out how to use them. I still have a large number of teachers to assist. It's difficult for me to get into classrooms since I have students assigned to me all four blocks and I'm responsible for supervision during the entire lunch hour. I've just been trying to get to teachers before and after school.
I was recently assigned to serve as the technical support contact for the online COMPASS test (for mathematics) that students in my school will be taking the first week of January, so I've had to spend time trying to figure out how to set up the workstations and administer the test.
I had two very successful training sessions since I last posted to this blog. First, I trained teachers in creating WebTop accounts and using Google Calendar. I have created and shared three calendars with all teachers and administrators in my school: two for our two computer labs and one for special school events such as assemblies and field trips. The teachers are very excited about being able to schedule the labs at any time from any place they have Internet access. It's incredibly useful to be able to access the lab and special events schedules from home while planning. (I know very few teachers who actually have time to plan at school.)
Second, I trained the entire faculty in using Edmodo! I've been using Edmodo with a couple of teachers this semester. With one teacher, I've been assisting him and his students as a co-teacher all semester as they use Edmodo to help them plan for their semester projects. (The teacher also uses the site to send out extra credit assignments.) For the training session, I set up a demo class with fake students to demonstrate all the features of Edmodo plus I showed the faculty how the other teacher and I have been using the site. Most teachers were really impressed and have asked me to help them set up Edmodo for their own classes or clubs. We've been working on some great ideas for how to use it. I also shared the Edmodo communities and support materials.
I have to say, I wish I'd used Edmodo when I was a classroom teacher. I love that students will go online and ask questions while they're thinking of them. Some will even write in their posts that they wanted to ask online because they were afraid they'd forget to ask in class. Plus, the students really help one another by answering questions. I also like that students don't have to wait so long to get help. Yesterday, I was checking on the classes I help as a co-teacher, and I answered a question a student had about writing a citation for a video clip she wants to use for her project. Of course, this means that the teacher has to check the site while "off duty," but the Edmodo app makes this easier since it will send an alert to your smartphone.
As far as the TIS training goes, I've submitted several assignments this week and have registered to take another WV Learns course to help me earn the elective study hours. I'm taking the course on Web 2.0 tools. There were several other courses that sounded interesting, but the notes stated the participants must be currently working as classroom teachers, so I couldn't sign up for those.
No comments:
Post a Comment