Pre-Trip to Egypt

I am having an amazing time on a Pre-trip to Egypt via Google Earth.

I created a new folder under my “my Places” and started inserting placemarks to landmarks that I knew where included in out itinerary. I also checked “Google Earth Community” and lots of “i” popped up where other people have uploaded info, links and other .kmz files. I found someone else’s Egypt Trip files, which coincided with many of the places that we are going to visit. That sped up the process tremendously of creating a Google Earth Itinerary. Now that I have the places that we will be traveling to arranged in order in a new folder on Google Earth, I am planning on adding descriptions and inserting photos while we are on the trip and then publishing the .kmz files for our students to download from home or for the teachers to follow us along in school.

2007-08 School Year Projects started

We have started the school year with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm, plans, ideas and projects to integrate technology into our classrooms.

We are getting students and teachers excited about using our laptop cart, Alphasmart cart, Digital Cameras and camcorder. Weekly planing time with each grade level is promising that teachers are starting to think of technology when they are writing their lesson plans.

The two projector carts, equipped with a laptop, projector, sound system, VCR, DVD and an Elmo are being checked out daily by various grade levels.

Here are some of the projects that are in the works:

Pre-Kindergarten through 2nd Grade:

• Webkinz
  Each class received a Webkinz, that they have named and are learning to take care of online at Webkinz.com. Classes are voting and graphing their choices of furniture they wish to buy for their webkinz. They are calculating if they have enough money to purchase a baseball bed or need to earn more money by painting fences in a certain pattern. As a class they are answering questions in several curriculum areas according to their age level. Teachers and students are having a ball and are beaming when the projector cart is being rolled in. Kindergarten teachers are planning to start using a blog, where they will ask their students to write about their Webkinz adventures.
• Life ‘Round Here
  3 teachers from 4th, 5th and 6th grade are on board to work on Chris Craft’s Life ‘Round Here project. We are working on a time line and lesson plans/help/coaching ideas for them.
• E-Pals
  Have contacted several schools in Egypt through E-Pals in order to connect our students. So far no response.
• SJEDS Egypt Blog
  In 23 days a fellow teacher and I are off to Egypt. We are traveling for two weeks and taking our students along with us virtually through the Egypt Blog.

Professional Development

• Created a School Professional Development Blog
• Holding once a month PD workshop opportunities for faculty, staff and administration. First one will be in 2 weeks and will introduce blogging.
• Learning seems to happen (even for teachers), when they are engaged in the technology. When they are using the tools to do something that they want to accomplish.
• We (Technology Integration Facilitators=TIFs) are in the classroom with them, giving them some sort of security, while they experiment with the laptop, projector, plugging “things” in, going online, clicking around, etc.
  Little on site tutorials and tips are working.

Beep, Beep… I hear the dump truck coming

We are two weeks into the new school year in our neck of the woods. In one sense it seems that we have been back much longer, in another sense the days have flown by with not enough hours in them to do all the things that need to be done and (or I feel that I want to do). I know I am not the only one feeling overwhelmed and exhausted at this time of the year. In my blogfeed (and in real life) I am hearing other voices that express the same kind of frustration with their colleagues and with themselves for not being able to slow down, take care of themselves, just say “No” when other’s are “delegating” their obligations onto you.

by someToast

I heard from someone a new expression for that occasion “Beep, beep… I hear a dump truck coming”. It is time to learn to hear that truck and know when to remind others that you are not willing to be dumped on.

This is especially hard when you don’t want to let the students, colleagues and the school down and others are counting on that from you to bail them out in the last minute.

I read some good advice in the last few days in Staying up in a down world by Coolcatteacher Vicki Davis. She gives some good points on how to stay sane and find some inner balance.

Don’t go on guilt trips

Take time for yourself

Don’t expect others to understand or care

Understand and care about others

Understand yourself

Creatively attack problems

Connect with others

Keep perspective

In Slowing down, pacing yourself by Steve Poling on Leader Talk Blog, I also found some reinforcement, that it is ok to NOT bring work home on the weekend… to not having to feel guilty about “Getting it all done”, when there is just not enough hours in the work day.

If you are like me, you find yourself constantly playing catch up with all the work that goes into school administration. Late night emails? Sure. Bring work home that cuts into your down time? Yup. Trying to play superhero? Too often.

So this weekend, I will stay off the email. I will try not to worry about what I need to do on Tuesday. I won’t check my outlook calendar to preview next week.[ ...] I will slow down. The work will still be there on Tuesday.