Embracing Technology for Powerful Conversations

I am trying to burn a DVD short clip movie. How can you help me do it? I need this for a presentation.

...movie clips can be used for workshops/presentations described below.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 "makes it a crime to circumvent anti-piracy measures.""The DMCA, passed in 1998, prohibits the circumvention of copy protection and the distribution of devices that can be used to bypass copyrights--even if people using the devices don't do anything illegal once they've broken the security."

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• Brian Murphy, Harris Academy
• Rosanne Volpert, Harris Academy

At our first nature club meeting for 2008/2009, we sat in the shade of the playground pecan tree and introduced ourselves and shared what we each love about nature. We made plans for our club including field trips and activities aimed at ecology and nature. We talked about the great number of snout-nosed butterflies that have been fluttering around San Antonio. They have been seen in such great numbers because of the previous drought that killed many of their natural predators, and the rains which watered the Hackberry trees where they lay their eggs and feast. They only have a life-span of 2 weeks, so please try to let them enjoy their short lives! Some students have been seen trying to kill them for no reason. Our next meeting is scheduled for October 14, and we will have visiting animals. All students in 3-7th grades are welcome to join. Younger students can come with their parents.

T he First Bill of Right states that all Americans are guaranteed "FREEDOM OF SPEECH". We are allowed to say what we want, but when you are in school this is not true. Please read the article below and post a comment either arguing against or in support of this.

"Students do not, the Court tells us in Tinker vs. Des Moines, "shed their constitutional rights when they enter the schoolhouse door." But it is also the case that school administrators have a far greater ability to restrict the speech of their students than the government has to restrict the speech of the general public. Student speech cases require a balancing of the legitimate educational objectives and need for school discipline of administrators against the First Amendment values served by extending speech rights of students.

In Tinker, perhaps the best known of the Court's student speech cases, the Court found that the First Amendment protected the right of high school students to wear black armbands in a public high school, as a form of protest against the Viet Nam War. The Court ruled that this symbolic speech--"closely akin to pure speech"--could only be prohibited by school administrators if they could show that it would cause a substantial disruption of the school's educational mission."

• Erosion Pictures
• Technology Election Results

• Rachel Woodward's Third Graders share audio of their performance, as well as images
  
• Richard Brooks (Harris Academy) shares beautiful student art work online.

Digital citizenship isn’t just about recognising and dealing with online hazards. It’s about building safe spaces and communities, understanding how to manage personal information, and about being internet savvy - using your online presence to grow and shape your world in a safe, creative way, and inspiring others to do the same.

Find out more at http://www.digizen.org/about/

Unduplicated number of 8th graders evaluated for technology literacy under the district’s methodology as defined by the state at the end of the 8th grade for the 2007-2008 school year. Some keypoints:

Students included in this report are those exiting 8th grade in 2007-2008

Technology literacy for 8th graders is defined as Mastery of the Technology Application TEKS for Grades 6-8 as demonstrated by 70% or higher accuracy.

The number of technology literate 8th graders may be derived from measurements conducted during the 2007-2008 school year or a measurement conducted during the fall of 2008 for the 2007-2008 8th graders.

1. How many 8th grade students are in your district? (2907)
2. How many unduplicated 8th grade students were evaluated for technology literacy? (2594)
3. How many 8th grade students are technology literate? (Mastery of the 8th grade Technology Application TEKS as demonstrated by 70% or higher accuracy)? (52)

• Implement a Collaborative Coaching model that embraces technology literacy as core to every teaching, learning and leading act that takes place in SAISD. Technology literacy isn't just up to one office, but up to everyone.
• Align all professional learning to the State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC) Technology Application standards for All Teachers, Librarians and Administrators. Simply, how can we leverage technology to improve how we do our work?
• Collaborate with stakeholders to provide the infrastructure--technology and human--to ensure students have opportunities to learn, and for teachers to teach, core content using technology. This isn't about teaching technology but about using it to enhance what we do aligned to state and national standards.
  
  
  

• San Antonio ISD has a 41% activation rate on its Technology Applications:TEKS Electronic Textbooks for grades K-8. Actual usage is not measured but, in all likelihood, lags far behind.
• Only a few middle schools still have full-time Technology Applications:TEKS teachers and the labs to support them.
• Other NCLB Requirements that must be reported between September, 2008 and November, 2008:
  • Unduplicated number of computers available to students for instruction by Internet access type
    • Minimum requirements will be provided for machines that should be included in the report.
    • Internet access type refers to whether the computers are dial-up, high speed, or no connection to the Internet).
  • Unduplicated number of school personnel achieving acceptable performance on standards-based performance profiles of technology user skills as defined by the State by staff categories. This includes administrators, teachers and librarians. (tracked by STaR Chart currently) and administrators (new assessment being developed for them).
• As of this year, out of 27 campuses that serve 8th graders, 10 MS/Academies offer a Tech Apps course and 17 DO NOT. Of the 17, 3 stated that they were hoping to offer one next year.
  • Campuses that offer a Tech Apps Course
    1. Cooper
    2. Harris
    3. Longfellow
    4. Rhodes
    5. Rogers
    6. Twain
    7. Whittier
    8. Pickett Academy
    9. ML King
    10. Carroll Academy
  • Campuses that DO NOT offer a Tech Apps Course:
    1. Connell
    2. Davis (may staff next year)
    3. Wheatley
    4. Irving (will staff next year)
    5. Lowell
    6. Mann (will possibly offer next year)
    7. Page
    8. Poe
    9. Tafolla (may staff next year)
    10. Cameron Academy
    11. Gates Academy
    12. Miller Academy
    13. Pfeiffer Academy
    14. Hawthorne Academy
    15. Bonham Academy
    16. JT Brack Academy
    17. Briscoe Academy

• Developed and Proposed Technology Competency Certification Plan (TCCP) for Staff
• Developed Technology Planning Documents
  • Proposed Scope and Sequence Revisions to Current Administration
  • 2002 Middle School Technology Applications Assessment with Proposal
• Facilitated Multiple assessments of district technology use
• Developed Technology Applications Benchmarks by Grade level and shared them with principals, associate area superintendents, Technology Department superintendents over the last 5 years.
• Developed an in-house TA:TEKS Curriculum and then promoted a plan to implement the State’s Electronic Textbook Curriculum.

Click the image above to start watching Dr. Chris Moersch share about how to TURN UP THE H.E.A.T. with Levels of Technology Implementation. Kudos to Larry Stegall and Tonya Mills for their video recording and editing work!

HEAT is an acronym for...

HIGHER-ORDER THINKING

* Students taking notes only; no questions asked

* Student learning/questioning at knowledge level

* Student learning/questioning at comprehension level

* Student learning/questioning at application level

* Student learning/questioning at analysis level

* Student learning/questioning at synthesis/evaluation

ENGAGED LEARNING

* Students report what they have learned only.

* Students report what they have learned only; collaborate with others.

* Students given options to solve a problem

* Students given options to solve a problem; collaborate with others

* Students help define the task, the process, and the solution

* Students help define the task, the process, and the solution; collaborations extends beyond the classroom.

AUTHENTICITY

* The learning experience is missing or too vague to determine relevance.

* The learning experience represents a group of connected activities, but provides no real world application.

* The learning experience provides limited real world relevance, but does not apply the learning to a real world situation.

* The learning experience provides real world relevance and opportunity for students to apply their learning to a real world situation.

* The learning experience is directly relevant to students and involves creating a product that has a purpose beyond the classroom that directly impacts the students.

TECHNOLOGY USE

* No technology use is evident.

* Technology use is unrelated to the task.

* Technology use appears to be an add-on and is not needed for task-completion.

* Technology use is somewhat connected to task completion involving one or more applications

* Technology use is directly connected to task completion involving one or more applications.

* Technology use is directly connected and needed for task completion and students determine which application(s) would best address their needs.

1. ask kids how to make a pumpkin pie/cook a turkey/wrap a present for a holiday Voice Thread to share with parents.

2. Kids make a Voice Threadfor parents for back to school night to tell about their new class and the daily schedule.3. Ask kids ?s about a topic as a pre-assessment and then again AFTER instruction to demo how much they learned.

4. Create a Voice Thread about famous Americans (whichever ones your state requires in your grade level). Then other kids (or grades above) can use it for review when state testing comes ’round.

5. Connect with another class in another part of the country/world and co-create a Voice Threadon the way outside looks for each season.

6. Have kids take screen snapshots of their favorite web sites and share them through Voice Thread–putting the URL on each page then allows parents to access them at home, or other teachers to use.

7. Kids define spelling words–or make sentences.

8. Make a spoken menu for a foreign language or their home culture.

9. How to video–step by step directions for a hobby/area of expertise for older kids

10. Make a visual tour of classroom/school/house/whatever

11. Make different slides for familiar words and have kids share their own words for that (names for grandmothers, g’fathers, times of day, meals, whatever) to compare cultures.

12. Make Voice Threads for military holidays and send the links to troops overseas.

13. Do the typical take a picture of your class in front of a tree throughout the seasons and connect with classes around the world to each do the same and share in a common Voice Thread.

14. Do an author study where the kids show what they are learning though a growing Voice Thread–different books could be illustrated by the kids, or book covers could be the impetus for talk.

15. Have kids share the causes of conflict in important wars to make a timeline of causes/opponents/outcomes

16. Make an I Spy Voice Thread with primary source photos from American memory.

17. Create a picture memory book of a field trip.throughout the year/ special event

18. Kids do their book report on Voice Thread

19. Attached is a link to “zoom-in” Inquiry method. . http://www.primarysourcelearning.org/tps/step1/workshop/4/m_a/zooms/index.shtml imagine that in Voice Thread!

20. How about optical illusions–kids take pictures of something familiar REALLY close up and others guess what it is.

21. Have the scene from a story without the details in the picture. Read the story and have each student add in one element that they think may be in the picture. This would be great for The Hungry Caterpillar all the way up to High School Literature.

22. Use commom everyday pictures of scientific topics such as push or pull or the 6 simple machines and have the students tell what they are.

23. Help students celebrate the birthday of one of their teachers by having them all add comments. Thanks for the inpiration for this DEN… and Happy Birthday Hall.

24. Let the teachers take pictures of a process and then have their classmates comment on the process and what they learned from the Voice Thread.

25. Have your students take their own picture with a classroom camera, download it to the computer, resize it and then upload it to their comment in Voice Thread.

26. Have your students scan and upload their holiday art to create a classroom Voice Thread that includes everyones art work. Have the students make one positive comment for every piece of art. Post it on the school website to show parents and the world.

27. Have students tell what comes next in the story with no visual cues. Each student will draw a picture and leave a comment about a story. the first person will start the story and each student after will tell what happened next, while drawing something related.

28. Use it for science experiments to show the changes in their project over time. For instance, the student can show the time-lapsed growth of plants fed with different liquid. Each picture will show a new version and the student can write in the height and plant food as the pictures change to get the point across.

29. Create a postcard project and have your students send postcards around the country or the world to other classes. Ask for the recipients to send back a card to your class. Scan in all of the postcards before you send them and scan in the responses as you receive them back. Have the students comment on the postcards about things they learned about the opposing city and ask they other class to respond to your scanned in postcards. In the end you should have a very interesting compilation of thoughts.

30. Have the students create a classroom wishlist to show what your kids would like to have in their classroom. You can do it for parents, or just for a fun project to see the kinds of things that motivate them.

31. Have the students create a story, each one getting a new page to draw their part of the story.

32. Create a recipe Voice Thread. Share with others how you make something.

32. Show parts of the water cycle and have the students name and describe what is happeneing.

33. If you want endless possibilities, consider importing videos from Discovery Streaming and then have the kids comment on them. Remember that the videos are protected and you cannot post this for others outside the class to view. But imagine the possibilities… letting your students view the different 1-2 minute clips within a full video and commenting for each one. You could definitely get an idea of your students understanding of a subject… not to mention, the videos are endless. Now THAT is a good idea!

34. Use it in conjunction with Animoto by uploading short Animoto clips onto the different pages. You can use generic pictures of farm animals for the younger kids and see how many the kids can recall in each video. Animoto also offers accounts to teachers which makes it fun and enticing.

35. Take utube videos and convert them to something you can use at school using zamzar. Then upload the videos into VoiceThread. A great example of a video you can upload would be one by Mathmaticious. Have the kids watch it and see what important facts they can regurgitate from the rap song.

36. If you do daily activities like morning video announcements, include short segments like the weather from the entire week. In other words, you would upload 5 videos to voicethread. Have the kids compare and contrast the days to see what worked and what didn’t so that you can improve upon your output.

"One way of rebuilding trust is to use blogs to reopen, reconnect and be transparent again. Community building is built through commenting feature. Parents can start dialoguing with you. They don't have to leave their job to come to the school building, they can come and communicate meaningfully without leaving their house."
Source: Dr. Scott McLeod on Blogging for Administrators workshop in 2007