Dec
3
Blogging with Colleagues – Part 2
December 3, 2008 | 1 Comment
I have been (sporadically) blogging since 2006! For the first time this summer, I had the opportunity to try blogging with my colleagues, which you can read more about here.
This past Fall, our Upper School (grades 6-8) Division Head decided to incorporate some Web 2.0 tools into her administrative repertoire. Rather than passing out the [...]
Aug
24
My Fall 2008 Power Apps
August 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Every Fall I try to pick one or two new tools to pilot with teachers and students. Last year was the Year of Sketchup and Voicethread, which we successfully used with students in a number of grade levels. The year before that we experimented with Edublogs and Garageband for the very first time, and both [...]
Jul
17
Blogging with Colleagues About BLC08
July 17, 2008 | 1 Comment
I love attending conferences with colleagues. Truth be told, the content and location of the conference are so much less important than the time spent together off campus, with time to free-associate, dream and collaborate together. But as it happens, BLC08 is turning out to be simply fabulous. We’re trying something new — a [...]
Jul
12
Off to BLC ‘08
July 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I leave SF early tomorrow morning to attend the Building Learning Communities conference in Boston, MA. Five of my MCDS colleagues and I will be attending together. I absolutely can’t wait. Haven’t heard of this conference? Visit http://www.novemberlearning.com or watch this video:
Apr
2
Taking the Long View
April 2, 2008 | 2 Comments
That’s me on the left — or at least how I’ve been feeling lately — a snake all curled up, waiting patiently, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. In many ways, that seems to be my role as a Tech Coordinator with our K-8 teachers.
Over 2 years ago, I had the opportunity to be [...]
Oct
29
Bloggers in My World
October 29, 2007 | Leave a Comment
It seems like my immediate circle of friends, neighbors and colleagues have discovered the blogosphere and I am having so much fun getting inside their heads and hearing about their personal and professional lives. Here are some of the newest blogs in my community:
Loose Parts: Our twin sons’ preschool teacher recently launched [...]
Oct
27
It’s Elementary Kids, Working Web 2.0 With Grade 3-4
October 27, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Here’s a link to another terrific presentation from the K12 Online Conference, given by John Pearce of Geelong, Victoria, Australia:
http://k12online.wm.edu/its_elementary/player.html
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Oct
19
Deprivatizing Teaching
October 19, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Why don’t we get into each other’s classrooms more often, to learn, observe, consult, grow, advise, mentor? Is teaching an inherently solitary endeavor? I certainly don’t think so, but I am a member of a new committee at school that is exploring ways in which we can rethink the concept of “teacher development” at various [...]
Aug
23
How I Spent My Summer Vacation
August 23, 2006 | Comments Off
I took my first online class this summer, through Eclectic Academy. The illustrious Sara Froelich was our amazing instructor for a course entitled Adobe Photoshop Elements 4 – First Steps for Mac. The course cost a whopping $20 ( ), was 6-weeks long, and got me up and running in PSE4 in no [...]
Feb
18
Vendors as a Professional Development Resource
February 18, 2006 | Comments Off
As a long-time teacher trainer, I’ve recently been asking myself a question I thought I would never ask: can vendors provide my faculty with some of our technology professional development?
I always had a basic aversion to this concept, holding tight to the idea that teacher training is highly customized and personal, and is best performed [...]
Feb
6
More on Classroom Documentation
February 6, 2006 | 3 Comments
Earlier in the week I wrote about a session I was preparing on the topic of using technology to enhance classroom documentation and portfolios. The session ended up being a big success — mostly due to some brilliant clarifying questions my co-presenter, Debra Jarjoura brought to the table. We also came up with the last-minute [...]
Feb
5
Teaching with an LCD Projector
February 5, 2006 | 2 Comments
My colleague and I led an afterschool workshop this week on teaching with an LCD projector. I’ve put the agenda for the workshop below in the hope that someone might find these notes helpful…I know that when I Googled “teaching with an LCD projector” I only found vendor websites and instructions for setting up specific [...]
Jan
30
Using Technology to Show the Process, Not Just the Product
January 30, 2006 | Comments Off
This coming Wednesday, Debra Jarjoura and I will be giving a presentation to the MCDS Lower School faculty about how to use technology to document classroom activities and to create simple student portfolios. Debra, a preschool teacher at The Phillips Brooks School and a true Reggio Emilia aficionado, would definitely not describe herself as a [...]
Jan
23
The Demise of the Computer Teacher?
January 23, 2006 | 2 Comments
A Lower School Technology Coordinator at a K-8 school recently posted a question to BAISNet, wondering whether other independent schools still schedule regular weekly computer lab classes for K-4, or whether we are moving toward a model based on individual teacher signups as classroom projects and needs arise.
For a long time, I’ve been arguing that [...]
Jan
23
Service Learning and Shallow Standards
January 23, 2006 | 2 Comments
On Wednesday, MCDS welcomed Cathryn Berger Kaye to the school for an all-day visit. Kaye is a nationally known Service Learning consultant who works with schools to generate meaningful conversations about ways to connect students to community service projects. Throughout the day, individual teachers and teams had the opportunity to meet and brainstorm with Cathy [...]
Jan
19
MacWorld and Urban HS 1:1 Seminar
January 19, 2006 | Comments Off
Last week was filled with professional development opportunities for my MCDS colleagues and me. On Wednesday, 3 members of our Technology Department attended an amazing all-day seminar on 1:1 student laptop programs hosted by The Urban School in SF. Howard Levin, Urban’s fantastic Director of Technology, hosted 80 visitors from a huge array of independent [...]
