Open Windows

As a proud parent and educator in Palm Beach County Florida, I thought I would share a short look at the elementary school that three of my four children have the good fortune of attending. Pine Jog Elementary is fortunate to have a dedicated staff, and close ties to a local University that has created a one of a kind situation for all involved. Stewardship and environmental responsibility are key messages to the students and are presented through cross curricular lessons of all kinds. Here’s a short video that does a nice job of capturing much of the activity and enthusiasm that can be found there.

An Introduction to the school:

Some Hands On Learning!

I will be the first to admit that I can use plenty of help when it comes to my ability to remember lists of facts, or organizing my thoughts. I will bet that many teachers are familiar with ways to become better thinkers and I’d love to here them. Here’s a link to a really immpressive lists of thing you might consider useful in imporving your own thought processes.

This interactive list of ideas and information surrounding ways to improve your cognitive skills comes courtesy of Jessica Merritt and can be found at http://www.find-schools-online.com/blog/ This list has something for everyone.

Real and or Photoshopped or not these are a few destinations I would leave to those much more adventurous than me!

It seems that almost every day for the past year or so, we have been presented with exciting new betas and startups that illustrate the exciting promise of the collaborative web. Due primarily to changes in venture capital spending and the overall economic downturn, I am afraid that this flow may soon slow substantially. I am sure that great ideas will still make their way to the masses, but even more than ever it will be hard to stay afloat.
One example I hope lasts is one I found a few months ago and have been using on a small scale for a personal project. www.TabUp.com promises an easy way to share news and opinions with a targeted audience. To see an example site to illustrate the simple but sleek interface of TabUp, check out http://www.tabup.com/edtechguru The page is not intended to be a primary source of new information, but rather a living example of another great FREE tool available to educators.

Please view and comment on the possible uses of this great FREE tool.

As information technologies have advanced rapidly, things like Google, blogs, Blackberry, i-Phones, and social networks have become ever more prevalent, and being “connected” has taken on a whole new meaning for many people. For more and more people the thought of being “offline” for even a few minutes is a real cause for concern. I read recently an entry form the creator of one of my favorite “social bookmarking” pages www.twine.com (which is currently in invite only beta to participate) His thoughts are that this prevalence and that the ubiquitous nature of technologies and sharing of information will only continue to grow.

This brief article is definitely worth a read.

Some unintended results have come from all of these advances. Some people find that keeping afloat in this massive wave of information is a challenge. Here’s a link to listen to some very tech savvy individuals mull this over at a session of the Churchill Club that took place earlier this year.

I will leave you with one more look at the same general trend towards a possibly “techno-centric” future. This is brought to you by the ever sharp Colbert Report

Review your experiences, and what you know of your students’ experiences, and let me know your thoughts…pro…con… or otherwise.

I know that realizing something important just a little too late can be very frustrating.  I think most of us have had a deadline slip our minds or possibly paid a bill a little  past the due date.  Usually these are small issues of little consequence in the “Big Picture”  However, not to be an alarmist, I am afraid to think that America is on the verge of being caught asleep on it’s feet.  As we see our global economy shifting, and the face of “business as usual”  taking on a whole new look.  There is a large number of people who are calling on American educational institutions to begin to shift as well. 

Here is just one more example of article that discusses a study (admittedly by a 21st Century Educational Organization) that outlines some of the most glaring reasins that this shift is so crucial in keeping America a leading force in our world today.

http://pages.citebite.com/l8c1c2v1wkyt 

I have now added a few new features on my sidebar for this Blog.  I am teased just a little at work  because I tend to know a little about a lot of things.  It seems that they don’t spend every waking hour looking and learning, but actually spend it LIVING.  To each their own…

I am a firm believer in building  my “PLN”  and I hope that I will make it on some other people’s radar as a resource or at least as someone to share ideas with.  Anyhow, I thought I would share just two of the ways I gather new information.

Two ways that I have been able to gain knowledge at an increasingly rapid rate is by joining some “social networks” and by bringing the news to me.

• So far, I have embraced Twitter and Friendfeed as reliable “social” sources of news and opinion, and I have added a badge on the sidebar that streams my Twitter feed.  Take a look, and you just might see something of interest to you!
• I have also know about subscribing to RSS feeds for some time, and have often spent a long time going through a number of feeds.  Now I have been introduced to Yahoo Pipes by my colleague Kim Cavanaugh as a way to bring these feeds together into one easily accessible stream.  I have added one of these “Pipes” that I use on the sidebar as well.  This particular pipe pulls in several feeds with information related to educational technology, but the possibilities are endless!

If you like to keep up with new ideas, or just like to customize your information overload, these tools can be a great help.

I just officially received my first Mac.  And a nice Mac Book Pro too!!  I have been pretty much a lifelong PC user and have very rarely ventured onto the Mac Platform.  So far in my career and personal computing life this has never been an obvious weakness.  I have become quite proficient in using Windows to do everything I ever set my mind to.  From becoming MS Office certified to learning many outstanding apps both traditional paid for use software, and MANY free and open resources along with PC peripherals,  I have developed a broad knowledge base and skill set.  I have often prided myself in the ability to show others easy to use and often FREE ways to do things that they may have thought only possible on a Mac.  Working in a predominately PC district with TENS OF THOUSANDS of PC’s and HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of PC users, this just seemed like the thing to do.

This is not to say that I have not tried to stay aware of the goings on in the Mac world, and I have seen the growth of the Mac user base from a small (possibly eclectic) group to  a more mainstream audience.  Whether its due to word of mouth, clever advertising, or the melding of two worlds with the use of intel chipsets and Parallells, this trend most likely will continue.  So as I I try and advance my skills as an educator and  Technology Integration Specialist, I know that it is important for me to embrace both of these platforms.

So. Thank you to the powers that be that have seen it important enough  to provide me and the members of my team with this opportunity to not only look out the window but to step through into another world of experiences in order to continue the development of the teachers and students in our district!

Working in Educational Technology for one of the biggest school districts in the country is somewhat like living in a bubble. Inside the bubble things are “safe”… mostly. Inside the bubble you are in control… somewhat. Our bubble has been provided by many people with “good intentions”, and is flexible … to a degree. However, it is a bubble with boundaries and weaknesses all the same. I understand fully that it is prone to attack from both within, and from outside, and that the approximately 12,500 teachers, and 168,000 students in here with us are better off because there is such a bubble.

I am not alone in this bubble, and for this I am grateful. There are many very talented and motivated people in here, and I’d like to think that I work very closely with some of the best. Being charged with helping lead our district forward into the future is a noble task in my opinion, and we work very hard to have the vision to do so.  So I ask… How do you maintain vision inside a bubble?  Is there such a thing as a window in a bubble?  IT Security Policies, Web Filters, Firewalls… all good things. Every school district should have a bubble, but what if we opened windows in our bubbles for  those of us working to see things clearly?  Will the air rush out crushing us inside, or will the fresh air bring new ideas, and a shared vision for all?

I will continue to explore safely from inside our bubble, but I will also embrace the breeze that is blowing  just outside the window!