Professional Development

Carla Smith and I presented our professional development together to two different groups of teachers; K-2 and 3-5.  We presented Class Tools to our K-2 teachers and Discovery Education to our 3-5 teachers.  As we planned, we joked about the technology level of our K-2 teachers, but they actually turned out to be a great group.  We shared a PowerPoint with them about the Class Tools website and what types of activities could be utilized.  Carla and I had both used Class Tools before and I shared an example of a Science lesson activity that I had used with my students when studying the human body.  Since Class Tools is a web-based program, we showed the K-2 teachers how to create and save a file in a Word document for use with Class Tools.  In saving the document, you could reuse the same information in different formats.  I love using the Arcade Game Generator and that's what I demonstrated to the teachers.  The teachers were able to use the web-site and provided Carla and I with immediate feed back on how they could use this site.

Since I felt comfortable using Class Tools, this presentation helped with my professional growth.  The K-2 teachers were very supportive and gave us lots of great suggestions that they would use.  If I were to repeat this presentation, I would have the teachers come with materials so that they could "make and take" useful ideas with them.

With the 3-5 teachers, we presented Discovery Education and how you can use it for so much more than videos.  We had the teachers explore and go through creating an assignment using the assignment builder.  We  delivered our initial presentation via  the Power Point presentation that was shared with us during summer Pinnacle training.  We had shared the Power Point through Google Docs and had some issues with teachers trying to sign in.  We had asked that they bring their log-in, but some log-ins did not work.  We remedied the situation by showing the entire group the agenda and notes on the Smart Board.

This presentation was more difficult than the K- 2 presentation simply because Carla and I had just learned how to use the assignment builder ourselves.  The teachers did like using Discovery Education and were surprised at what all Discovery Education had to offer.  If I were to repeat this Professional Development, I think I would have the teachers work together in PLC teams to create their assignments.

Both Professional Developments caused me to be a stronger presenter.  The sessions teach you to be prepared for all things and to think on your feet.

Google

I was so excited to pilot all the Google apps that we learned about this summer and was certain I would use them in my classroom this year.  However.....I have not.  I've demonstrated Google Docs with my students but they have not used it yet.  As a teacher, I have used Google Docs with my grade level.  We put the majority of our Common Assessment data on Google Spreadsheets and share them with each other.  I even created a Google Spreadsheet for our latest field trip and shared it with the bowling alley!  :-)  I have loved using several of the Google apps and look forward to experiencing more!

Reason to be a Pinnacle Leader

When I first heard about the Pinnacle group, I knew I wanted to be part!  There was the great new "toys" that we received ( I have to admit, that was pretty impressive.)  Technology was something that I was interested in and wanted to learn more about.  I wasn't afraid to learn and try new things, so it seemed like a great program.  It's still exciting to be part of a pilot group that gets to try out new ideas and new technology (I love Google Mail.)  It's also great to be able to share ideas and resources with other teachers and my students.  As time goes on, the Pinnacle requirements have become more demanding, but hasn't the world in which we live.  If we want to teach 21st Century skills, we have to move with the times.  Thanks Pinnacle for all your help!

Dear Me Letter

Dear Me (as a first year teacher),
How's your first year going?  Good I hope!  I wanted to give you a little encouragement and advice as you begin your new career.  So sit back and listen up....I've got some things to say...

First and most importantly, always remember that it's okay to have fun.  When you enjoy what you're doing it will show and your students will respond likewise.

Second, enjoy these first years.  Oh how I remember the days before the EOG and testing, testing, testing.  Your job will become more involved as you continue through your career and you'll be called on to do much more than you imagined, so be prepared.

Third, try to gain some organizational skills.  It sure will help you out later.

Fourth, treasure the friends you make along the way.  They will make coming to work a lot more fun.

Lastly, it's okay if you don't know everything.  No one really does (even though they think they do.)  Laugh a lot and smile a lot.  It'll be over before you know it!

Have a great year!

Me

A Refreshing Day!

Strangely enough, the second day of the school year in 2011 was a great day!  I remember being so excited about all the cool things we had learned in Pinnacle Training over the summer and was anxious to "get my feet wet."  I decided to go ahead and be brave and start on my Pinnacle/Recycling project.  I knew I wanted to have my students created Animoto videos so I demonstrated and created an example video, put them in groups and off they went!  They loved it and I was so excited with their first attempt outcome.  I remember going home and showing/telling everyone to check out our videos.  What a great way to start off the year!  I've since had my students revisit their videos and make corrections and add to their creations but I'll never forget that feeling of accomplishment and excitement that came from that day!