Now, REALLY, let’s leave the debate whether it is necessary to teach keyboarding/typing skill as a separate skill (see previous post)  in Elementary school or not aside.
Since it was asked of our tech team to incorporate typing instruction into our precious time (about 30 minutes a week with each class) , I am working on [...]

Directly skipping over the debate, if it is really necessary to dedicate specific (precious) time to teach AND practice keyboarding skills during school hours… our tech team was asked to “teach” keyboarding at our Elementary School.  Parents “demand” it, since it is something “visual” for them to understand that they child is “getting” technology instruction. [...]

by Lori Menger, Reading Teacher
Charting a New Course for the Upcoming Year
With the desire being to build on the successes, repair any damage from the storms, and set a course to assure arrival at the destination, the design team considered the successes and failures and set a new course for the 2008 school year.
First addressed [...]

By Lori Menger, Reading teacher
Weathering the Storms
Like any long voyage, this plan certainly encountered some storms along the way. In order to effectively evaluate at the end of the school year it was necessary to look closely at the challenges to effectively chart the course for the next year.
In Florida late summer and early fall [...]

By Lori Menger, Reading teacher
Smooth Sailing
As part of the plan the design team evaluated progress at the end of the school year, using their own observations, feedback from teacher and parent surveys, and information gathered informally during teacher evaluation conferences and staff meetings. Following are what were deemed to be the successes experienced during the [...]

By Lori Menger, Reading Teacher
Charting the Plan

Considering all the above factors a plan for the coming year was developed. The design team included two teachers, the principal, and the vice principal. It was decided the weekly computer and drama classes would be discontinued, and the time would be commandeered for academic instruction. Technology and drama [...]

Lori Menger, an amazing Reading teacher, has taken the time to document the Technology and Drama integration changes that have taken place at our school over the last school year.  With her permission, I am posting her paper here, since I feel others could benefit from her honesty, perspective and insight.
Setting Sail on a New [...]

Muchísimas gracias a la dirección de la Goethe Schule en Buenos Aires, Argentina por darme la oportunidad de hablar con ellos acerca de la integración de tecnología y la alfabetización en el siglo XXI.
Gracias a Verónica D. y Heidi M. por organizar ese encuentro. Ich freue mich schon auf gemeinsame Projekte!

¿Qué es un Instructional Technologist?

La [...]

Day 29: Write a Commenting Guide for Students
Most of the Challenge participants work in some kind of learning and education capacity, so today’s task from Silvia Tolisano is geared toward helping your students be better commenters. Silvia suggests writing an age-appropriate guide to commenting. What goes into it is up to you. How you [...]

photo credit: whizchickenonabun
Thank you to the Comment Challenge, I am discovering so many new and great blogs. One post that caught my eye today was Lame Excuses from Learning in a Flat World. Britt Watwood quotes Mitch Ditkoff on The Idea Champions Weblog’s post The Top 100 Lamest Excuses for Not Innovating [...]