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Showing posts from August, 2013

What is the Internet?

I'm sitting here on Thursday night heading in to the long weekend with my cousin, who came up from NYC. I'm the geek in the family (surprising, I know). At any rate, we're sitting here talking about nerdy things and she proclaims that she wants to know what the internet is. Does someone own it? How does it work? So, I immediately jumped on TED.com , my favorite spot of all things brainy. And then I found this video of Andrew Blum explaining it. It left my dear, beloved cousin with her mind blown and tons more questions, but I thought it was an excellent explanation. With our lives so dependent on the internet, and our classrooms becoming more so, understanding how it works can be empowering. So, check it out for your long weekend brain boost.

Using QR Codes in the Classroom

If you've been paying attention to my office space lately, you'll see that I have these little barcodes on some signs that will take you to my website, email address, YouTube channel, etc. So, what the heck are they? Well, those are called QR codes. Check out these two quick screencasts that walk you through how to use them. I have links to both sites at the bottom of this post to get you started. Are you interested? Well, here is my screencast on just how to make those QR codes in the first place. As always, if you have any questions, just let me know. Like what you see and put it in to action? Let me know! I'd love to see what you do with it. Resources: QR Journal Scan.me

Cloud-based Storage Options

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Responses have begun rolling in to my survey that I sent out to the staff yesterday about your technology skills. One of the common ones that I'm seeing lately is that several of you feel lost with all of the cloud-based storage options out there. I don't blame you! There are a ton of them! Let me get straight to the point for those that just want an answer and be done with it: Google Drive. If you are using your Bonny Eagle account, you get a whooping 30GB (!!!) of cloud-based storage. That's way more than the others! And your Google documents don't count towards that. I'm a heavy Google Drive user and I still only have 5% of my space used. You can also download the Google Drive app on to your computer , which makes syncing and backing up really easy. All you need is to ensure stuff is saved in to your Google Drive folder on your computer and you're good to go! You can click on the link above to download the app for your computer. Here is a great video that

Infinite Campus Messenger

The messenger is a very powerful communication tool to keep in touch with parents & guardians. Getting in the routine of using it on a regular basis can help keep everyone on the same page. The YouTube video below will walk you through the three functions of messenger within IC. It was done for another district and there may be very slight differences beyond the details of the school. But it will get you started! While I'm at it, I just wanted to point out the "Resource & How To" tab above. It will bring you to my LiveBinder site where I am going to be posting all kinds of tutorials and hows to as the year goes along. I'm going to be cross posting new discoveries here on my blog when I add them to my LiveBinder so that you know I've added something new. You can also use the links under the "Topics" heading on the right if you want to learn about something in general (for example, everything having to do with our new laptops or everythin

2013-14 Staff Technology Skills Survey

Hi, Everyone. I just wanted to give you a heads up before you get the email from Blackboard connect so that I can be sure that everyone takes the time to fill out the survey. As we begin the new year, it's important for me to take a baseline to see where everyone is in terms of technology so that I can ensure I am offering what you want and need. It will also help me justify the position to the school board as I watch your skills grow. Your name is collected when you fill out this form primarily to ensure that only Bonny Eagle folks can fill it out. It is also so that I can get back to you if you have follow up questions as well as to keep track of what you are attending for my own records. I want to make sure I am helping YOU out! Thank you for taking the time for me! This is so important to me that I will likely go through and try to keep track of who hasn't done it and I will find you. I know this time of year is insane, but I really want to make sure that I&

Mirroring Your Display with a Projector

A lot of folks have been having problems getting their projectors to show what they see on their laptop screen. It all has to do with how your mirroring is set up by default on our new devices. Check out this screencast to get a walk through on how to fix it. Note: You MUST have the projector plugged in to see the same thing. Otherwise your computer doesn't know what you are trying to do.

Installing Software on your MLTI Device

Several folks have been having problems installing software on their new MLTI devices. Here is a screencast that walks you through how to do it.

Adding Printers

We have a LOT of people needing printer help already. So, in an effort for everyone to be good students, we're hoping you can try and do it yourself before coming to us. We have directions right on the districts website under "Staff Area", but here is a link to make it easier:  http://www.bonnyeagle. org/district.cfm?subpage= 458393  (I also have it embedded below.) Please give it a shot first. If you get it right then please help your coworkers. It will be a lot quicker than trying to track us down these days.

Apple Keynote Address notes

This morning Jim Moulton gave us a pretty exciting talk about our awesome MacBook Airs. Here are my notes so far from the talk. I will be adding a ton more resources as today goes along. I know there is a lot that you guys want to know about and your want it ASAP. So we'll get there together. I'm just as excited as you guys are!

Two Awesome Infographics

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I've been really digging deep this weekend with Google+ communities and have found SO much awesome information that I am glued to my screen reading and scrolling and reading and scrolling. While doing so, I found these two infographics that are just so awesome that I wish I could print them off to hang in my new office. The first one is this EdTech Cheat Sheet, which really breaks down the plethora of terminology out there in regards to educational technology. For those of you who aren't "up" on all this stuff, it may help you feel more in the know. This infographic goes through all those hot terms and talks about which ones are more passe and which are up and coming. For those of you who find yourself always wanting to be on the cutting edge, this gives you an idea of what's coming (and going).

Math 180 Seminar at BEMS

On August 21st & 22nd, I am attending a training seminar on Scholastic's Math 180 system that is being implemented at the middle school this year. I did some research on the system prior to the workshop, but I am super excited about what this will offer to not only our students but also for the teachers. It is geared towards helping struggling math students become ready for algebra and beyond in a fun and engaging way. We are covering a LOT over these two days, but I've been trying to take tons of notes to share with those of you who weren't able to be here. Hopefully it all makes sense! If you don't see the document below, click on this link . Part of the feedback from the other teachers is the integration of an interactive whiteboard in the system. For those of you who don't have a whiteboard, I think a pen tablet makes a great addition to your classroom. It basically gives you a mouse in pen form to make writing out the equations easier. There are sev

MLTI 2013 Included Software

The MLTI MacBook Air rollout at the high school this year is going to include a ton of software packages to use in your classroom. One of my goals for the year is to help you get familiar with what comes on your computer and how it can be helpful to you and integrated in to your classroom with relative ease. Below is a list from the state with descriptions of the software to get you started: Software Included The following list of software titles are preloaded onto the MLTI MacBook Air Teacher & Student devices. FaceTime : Make video calls from your Mac to iPad 2 or later, iPad mini, iPhone 4 or later, iPod touch, or other Intel-based Mac users to easily communicate through sign language without the need of other devices. Airdrop : With AirDrop, you can send files to anyone around you wirelessly — no Wi- Fi network required. And no complicated setup or special settings. Just click the AirDrop icon in the Finder sidebar, and your Mac automatically discovers other AirDrop us

New Chapter & Welcome

It has not been made official yet, but I'm working on getting a leg up on what should be rubber stamped next week. This school year I will be starting a new chapter in my educational career by taking up the roll as the technology integrator for Bonny Eagle High School and Middle School. It will certainly be a big change from the past 7.5 years when I have been the graphics teacher at the high school. But I am so excited to get started and am really looking forward to it. I will be using this blog as a way to share information about integrating technology in to your classroom at Bonny Eagle. I will post notes from my workshops, passing along information about PD opportunities available to you outside of school, and just about anything else that is relevant. There are a lot of exciting changes coming to our district this year and this is just one of them. I look forward to getting to know the staff at both schools soon.