I've officially MOVED!!!

Please update your reader.  You can now find me at http://ejulez.blogspot.com/  I will no longer be posting to mrslachance.blogspot.com

Prove it BEFORE it's Approved!

I attended the ISTE Eduverse talk last night titled "All Technology Uses are NOT Created Equal: Accelerating High-Yielding Practices" with Bernajean Porter.  The information presented is near and dear to my heart and was shared in such a great way that I am excited to share it with everyone around me.  One of the things that Bernajean mentioned during her interview was that when teachers are being trained, they need to learn the new technology, then figure out how to apply it to the curriculum, and finally implement it in the classroom.  Bernajean emphasized that trainers should ask teachers to do all of this before awarding any continuing education credits (or whatever they may be called in your area). 

I thought about this for a long time.  This very topic has been in my head for a while now but hadn't really heard anyone else talk about it, specifically in a public forum.  I totally agree with her thinking in that it would promote true technology integration on behalf of the teachers.  I also believe that it would improve me as an instructor because I would have to force myself to see more things going on in the classroom.  This would be a huge time committment for me to not only work one-on-one with many teachers but to also review and approve the works they create in order to receive credit.  The benefits, however, that come from this type of training/assessment are too good to pass up.

Another thought I had was that the credit they receive could be much higher.  For example, now I give 1 hour credit for each of my sessions.  I'd be willing to award double or triple credit depending on the topic because of the work, brain power and creativity going into the workshop on behalf of the teacher. On the other hand...I can see a possible attendance decrease due to the difficulty level for many teachers. Or would I?  Quite possibly, after a few workshops like this, teachers might see an improvement in the quality of the workshops and be more likely to attend.

I will be sharing the information from this talk with my principal and district technology leaders over the next few days.  I will also be asking permission to try this method with a few of my workshops this year.  I think testing it with a few perfectly selected workshops would be a good way to implement this program. 
Please take a look at the eduverse video and share it with those around you.  There is a lot of other good content in the program besides this topic that I feel everyone could benefit from in their schools.

Unexpected Blessings of the Second Life

Upon entering Second Life, I had plans to only use it for attending workshops. I hadn't even considered the virtual world could have other things to offer, so I spent the first few months learning everything I could about education and how it is being done in Second Life. After those few months, however, I noticed something changing. I noticed that I was gaining more confidence in myself by volunteering, networking and attending the workshops on ISTE Island.

What? A virtual world helping me be a better person? How could this be? I began asking myself what else I could learn from this space.

I started talking to a lot of people, specifically veteran users, about this thought. I realized quickly that many people that have been in SL for a long time are hesitant to share their stories with just anyone, especially those fairly new to SL. Why? Well, through my own experiences, I have learned that if you talk about this too much, it raises eyebrows a bit (which, quite frankly is why I have written this blog post 3 times and trashed it before posting). Once I found a few friends that were willing to talk, I realized that I was not alone in this. Many of the avatars I spoke to had a great story about using Second Life to better themselves.

How does this happen? I have found for myself and for many others that in Second Life or any other virtual world for that matter, everyone has an opportunity to shine and it's easy to find lots of different people with the same interests as you. On those same lines, everyone is willing to listen to your strengths and help you find a way to use them. Virtual worlds are fantastic places to find a mentor. Yes, we do this in real life, but not quite at the level I see in Second Life.

If you talk to Mo Hax for any length of time, you may hear him refer to "The Disney Effect". These words couldn't explain my feelings about Second Life any better. When in the virtual world, it is very similar to being at Disney World. Most everyone welcomes everyone else with open arms. People will strike up a conversation much quicker than in the real world and the quality of helpfulness comes out in everyone. I've never met more people willing to help me learn a new skill than in Second Life. ISTE Island alone is full of docents and other avatars willing to help newbies and veterans alike on just about any topic.

Through the course of conversing, finding your way to contribute to the world and making connections with others, many find their "place". We find a connection to a group of people that have similar ideas and goals as we do which helps us to grow our knowledge in that area, in turn building our confidence.

I don't think anyone goes into a virtual world thinking it can change their life, but I can assure you it has mine. Not only do I value the friendships I have made, but the opportunities as well. Think of anything that interest you. There is SOMEONE in Second Life with that same interest and talking with them will allow you to learn more about that topic and quite possibly create a lasting friendship with a person that shares your interest.

For me, I have met my business partner, a truly wonderful educational mentor and even a few fantastic people that I now call close friends in the real world . I've met some of the most amazing educators in the world through Second Life and then had the opportunity to meet them in person at NECC 09. I've run 5Ks, had lunch and even gone dancing with Second Life friends. One of the coolest things is that I've had job offers and have helped people find jobs through Second Life. The networking alone is something no one should want to pass up and in my opinion is a more effective method of networking than the real world (inexpensive, less time consuming and you can do it in your jammies and fuzzy slippers).

The opportunities in Second Life are limitless if you are willing to open your heart and your mind to the possibilities that wait for you. Yes, it is a bit of a different way of getting the job done, but if done right, you will find that it is an effective way of accomplishing the task.

Work:Play:Work

Over the course of the last couple of days, I have had a few different conversations about how computers are used to help us in our daily lives. The first conversation started with a workshop I was doing on PLN's where we were talking about twitter and all the great things social networking has to offer. During that workshop, I had a veteran teacher say that she has a hard time seeing computers as something fun. She went on to say that when she was learning about computers, they were introduced to her as a way to do work. Because of that idea, she has never been able to grasp how they can be fun or used for enjoyment.

This idea of computers being only for work was interesting to me and made me think a bit. This was actually true for me as well. I remember one of the first things I did on a computer was type a paper and I also remember seeing images of men and women in professional clothes typing away on them. The teacher's comment also made me think about the images that often come up in clipart when you search for the word computer. Although they are changing a bit lately, there are lots of pictures that show professional people working at a computer. All that being said, it's no surprise that many adults have an image of a computer being made only for work.

Yesterday, as my students were presenting projects they made for a unit on MS Powerpoint, one of them did a presentation that focused on how play can foster learning and she made a comment about how students can be working, but because they're doing it in a fun way, they don't even notice. This brought me back to the first comment and made me think a bit more.
We started out using computers as a way to do work. Then, we found out they can be pretty cool to play with too. Now, we are looking at mixing the two. Why can't work be fun? Why can't we use a game to accomplish a task? All of this made me understand why some teachers struggle with me saying things like "let them play a bit to figure it out" and "use the technology to teach the lesson, not as an extra piece".

Then, naturally, my mind moved over to Second Life. Wow! What a prime example of this! So many look at Second Life as a game. When I tell people I use it every day, they look at me like I'm a weirdo. Yes, there is a lot of play in SL (my favorite part is the dress up) but, most nights you'll find me working. Whether I'm networking, attending workshops or hosting meetings, I use the virtual world for work.

Today, about lunch time, I got an email from that first teacher that was struggling with computers being fun. It read like this:

"My 1st period students loved the iLab. Nearly 1/2 had never been in the lab before. Just wanted you to know that we worked AND (drum roll please) we had FUN!!! "

I was so tickled to hear her response and actually got the opportunity to see her introduce to the iLab to a group of students later in the day. The excitement and enthusiasm in her voice rang throughout the room. I could tell that she had thought about her comment as much as I had.

I encourage everyone to consider this idea. I'm sure many of you reading right now have had an experience working with someone that you have trouble connecting with in the use of technology. You might just be working with a teacher such as mine. It is of no fault to them, they just need to be retrained and to find something that helps them realize that learning and using computers can be fun. Be their guiding light and help them find the excitement that we all see!

Symphony of the Mind

I'm reading Daniel Pink's book A Whole New Mind right now in conjunction with some leadership materials here and there. While reading the chapter on symphony, a quote caught my eye:

"all aspects of well-being, including physical, environmental, mental, emotional, spiritual and social health.....contribute to the healing of ourselves and our planet"

Within the same page of that quote, I found this one:

"The ability to perceive one's own life in a way that encompasses the full spectrum of human possibility is essential to the search for meaning"

Upon Mo Hax telling me I "had to read this book" I never thought it would have the impact it has had in relation to leadership and self-fulfillment. While reading the chapter on symphony, I struggled to understand it and connect it to myself until I related these two quotes to each other. What is being said here directly relates to the characteristics of a good leader as described in the book "Building the Bridge As You Walk On It" by Robert Quinn.

This struggle with providing symphony in my life and figuring out how to make it work has been a huge part of me moving forward. Someone just this week asked me, "how do you do all that you're doing?" This question immediately reminded me of these quotes and the last chapter I read in the Building the Bridge book. The simple answer to this is that I have to. To fulfill all of my dreams and be happy within, I have to create symphony in all areas of my life. That includes the work, the play, the running, the family time, the learning....all of it.

I tweeted a quote this week that has been bouncing around in my mind after reading the chapter on symphony. That quote came from my principal, Lynn Rhymer, a few months ago when I was telling her that I didn't have time to exercise. She said to me, "If you really want to do something, you'll find the time". That comment has branded itself on my brain never to be forgotten and always brought up when most needed. Truth is, no matter how busy you are, you can't let the other parts of your life go. Each area is as important as the other and they all need to be nurtured to create your own beautiful symphony.

A Close Look at 3 Twitter Clients: Nambu, Twhirl and Tweetdeck

As I have become more involved with twitter, I have discovered a need to explore more tools for managing my tweets. I used twitter for months using the web based version, but it got really annoying having to go to the website and refresh all the time as I started following more and more people. That prompted me to explore tweetdeck and twhirl. At that time, I probably was following more people than were following me. I just needed something that allowed me to see quick updates of changes to my twitter feed. I chose twhirl for it's simplicity and small window. At the time, Tweetdeck was way to advanced for my needs.

Now, the opposite is true, I have more followers than I have people I follow. This is true because I can only handle so much data coming across my screen in one day, so I don't feel it is beneficial to follow every person that follows me. Due to this change and an increase in @ replies and direct messages, I felt a need to re-evaluate my choice of a tweet client. @tgwynn kept mentioning Nambu and I notice that everyone is still talking about tweetdeck so I figured I would compare those two with Twhirl. My findings:

Nambu:

• Boring color scheme


• the window is more rectangular and takes up more room on my desktop than I would have liked.


• Everything was very easy to see (home, mentions, direct messages)


• Buttons are all rollovers with no text-took a minute to figure out how to do a reply, etc.


• Easy download, just dropped into the dock.


• I liked how the dock icon gives a number so you know how many tweets you have.


• I accidentally deleted all my tweets (Really they were just hidden-show all hidden gets them back but I freaked out for a minute)


• Can't seem to delete a tweet


• Double click to to reply


• Puts a little icon in the upper right near your clock for easy access.


• Made for Mac and has an iPhone app

Twhirl

• Nice simple layout with one skinny window that doesn't take up a lot of space on your desktop


• Nice color scheme that is customizable


• Found out quickly how to do a tweet, reply and direct message


• Easy to set up accounts


• Buttons that allow you to see all of your direct messages and @ replies


• Requires Adobe Air


• For Mac or PC

Tweetdeck

• I was hesitant to try tweetdeck as I felt a little overwhelmed by it the first time. This time it was much easier.


• Starts out with 3 panes and a large window that takes up most of the desktop (not my preference) but there is a button that allows you to quickly decrease the size to one pane or expand to all panes.


• The panes are customizable for what you need. You start out with one pane of friends tweets, an @ reply pane and a direct message pane. You can add panes for facebook status, profile information and more.


• Colors are customizable


• Easy to find the tweet bar for status updates and @ replies.


• Has an iPhone App


• For Mac or PC

All 3 applications have the following features

• URL shorteners (which are great for quickly making url's a smaller size to fit in the 140 character limit)


• Ability to add multiple twitter accounts


• Notification sounds and popups for new tweets


• Link with some kind of photo/video sharing service to add photos and videos to your tweets

There is one thing missing on all 3 of these and that is a place to make notes about each user. This is something that I have found very useful in Second Life and would love the opportunity to use this type of notetaking for all of my social networking tools.


So, what did I pick? I went with Tweetdeck. I was most impressed by the ease of use in seeing everything I need in one window but also being able to shrink it down to fit on my screen. I still will most likely not suggest tweetdeck to new twitter users (would probably still go with Twhirl) but for those with several followers or followees, Tweetdeck provides an easy way to manage all of the updates.

The Life of Julie Sugarplum

It's been a while since I did an update on the happenings of Julie Sugarplum, my Second Life Avatar. Lately, she has been working with a lot of people new to Second Life to help guide them through the learning process (how to walk, talk and dress). Seems this is a peak time for new recruits as there are many just starting college courses that are either totally or partially held in Second Life. It's fun to see full classes wander through ISTE island looking for help.
I've been picking up more docent shifts to allow more time for helping these new folks and to catch up with friends I haven't talked to in a while. In addition to the docenting, I've also scheduled a time (with Mo Hax) every Sunday evening around 6pm sl time to be in world to help anyone that wants to give second life a try or just to meet up with friends for some good old fashioned fun! Feel free to join us--we meet at ISTE HQ then typically head out to explore other islands, based on the interest/content areas of the people that join us.
Virtual Pioneers, one of my favorite groups, has had some great meetings lately. Recently, Xavier Razorfen and Austen Rae shared photos and stories from their recent trip (in real life) to China. This talk was one of the best I've attended in a while. Not only did they have fantastic pictures and stories to share about the people, the culture, etc., but they also had items to give away, quizzes and a decorated venue to make you feel like you were right there with them. That is the great thing about Second Life, you can really go all out making a presentation spectacular and it's great when people take the time to do it. If you are interested in learning more about Virtual Pioneers, visit the Virtual Pioneers Ning.
NC SL Educators recently held another meeting where we talked with Virtual Pioneers founder, Spiff Whitfield and also visited VSTE Island with Mandie Mimulus, Alfredo Bedrosian and Thunder Insippo. The theme of this meeting was to learn more about groups in Second Life that are available to teachers. It was a great success and we received a lot of great comments about the opportunities available with these groups. Our little groups of NC educators is growing and due to that, I recently asked Trig Inkpen to be a group officer. He will be helping to coordinate upcoming meetings, share information with the group, etc.
There are a few new things Julie Sugarplum is exploring that I hope to share with you soon. Fun thing about Second Life is that there is always something new to learn. I hope you'll join me in world soon! Would be glad to help you get started!

Innovational Leadership

I've had a strong focus on leadership in my personal and professional growth plan lately. This all started with discovering a book in my garage from one of my husband's classes (Building the Bridge as You Walk On It by Robert E. Quinn). Since this discovery, I've poured myself into learning all I can about leadership and how it is playing a role in how I move forward in my life and my career. I've since moved to another book, Creating Magic, 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies From a Life at Disney by Lee Cockerell and to all the online content I can handle on the subject.

I've found that there is one resounding comment from every source and that is the fact that leaders are not born, they are made. You CAN learn to be a great leader, but you WILL have to work at it. Being a great leader does not happen overnight and it also requires lots of continuous reflection.

As part of that continuous reflection, I enjoy finding online articles in my twitter feed about leadership. I recently discovered one titled 10 Tips for the Innovation Leader by Paul Sloan. I love to find short tip guides that narrow down content into a fast read, but overall, the 10 tips given in this article are fantastic. I think anyone in a leadership position should take the time to read over them and spend some time in reflection about each.

The first two tips are "Have a Vision for Change" and "Fight the Fear of Change". I believe that these play a large role in the success of a leader. There is one statement in the article that I feel needs repeated : "Great leaders spend time illustrating the vision, the goals and the challenges". The overall feel for the path that a group ultimately takes needs some thought and planning put into it. The leader of the group is responsible for sharing that overall vision and embracing the fact that moving toward that vision can be difficult and scary, but necessary. I've found in much of the stuff that I've read that many leaders don't become great leaders because of their fear to push through when change is needed. They may see that the change is needed, but fear of the risk of change stops them in their tracks. I believe, for me, that this also plays into tip #5 in Sloan's article, "Break the Rules".

In reflection of my own leadership, I discovered that I had a fear of breaking the rules, which I am still working on, but have made progress. Just because a rule is in place does not mean the rule is necessary and to be quite honest, in the field of technology I have found that many rules are just plain out-of-date. Sometimes it takes an innovative leader to notice that the rules aren't right and question why they are in place. This has been a hard lesson for me, but I understand the importance of it more every day.

So how am I fighting the fear? In the book I was reading by Robert Quinn, he said to accept the fear that you have and then take the initiative to fight it. Honestly, once I realized that I had the fear and then determined where that fear started deep within (lack of confidence), I made the commitment to myself to work on it. If you have an internal goal to change, most of the time your own desire to achieve will kick in and help you through.

I encourage everyone to take a peek at this article or either of the books I have mentioned. Working on your leadership skills is a great way to improve your life, both personally and professionally and you'll learn a little about yourself along the way!

Mutual Mentors and Parking Lot Confessions

Cabarrus County Schools in NC recently wrapped up the technology camp we hold in the summers for teachers. It's a two day event and this year we had 450 registered attendees. (Follow camp tweets at #ccstech) The camp is not only a great professional opportunity for teachers, but also for the technology facilitators in our county that are responsible for most of the presentations throughout the two days. We work very hard in the several weeks prior to the camp to prepare presentation for the attendees and over the course of two days, some of us present as many as 9 times. It is safe to say that we are exhausted by the time it's over, but there are a few things that happen along the way that make the camp a fantastic opportunity for us as well.

During the setup process, the technology facilitators had a great chance to reconnect. We all had the summer off and hadn't seen each other in a while, so stuffing 400 bags with goodies or plugging in 40 smartboards is a great way to catch up! We had the most fun talking about everything from our summer vacations to how we'll do trainings with our staffs this year. While sitting at our opening meeting, I glanced around at some of the great people we have in our group and I realized that we are all each others' mentors. As I moved from person to person, I saw experts in Multiple Intelligences, Google apps, wikis, twitter, 21st century learning, SMART Boards, Internet Safety and more. We all bring something to the table and we all have an opportunity to learn from each other. I can't emphasize how much I believe in the importance of fostering the group relationship so we can all benefit from being mutual mentors.

Later that day, I met up with Tim Gwynn, Denise Yates and Steve Johnson in the parking lot. It had to be 95 degrees out there on the black pavement, but we were so into our conversation, the heat didn't seem to matter so much. We talked about how we need to work together and share what we're doing on a regular basis. That conversation carried over to the next day over dinner. There, I spent time with Ann Gregson, Tim Gwynn and Mo Hax where we talked about all facets of education and how technology plays a role in student learning. Over eastern style BBQ, we discussed how PLN's play a role in education and the importance of technology facilitators assisting teachers and administrators in building their networks. All of this discussion centered around a table of people building their own network over BBQ. All of us had met, a few of us even worked together, but for the most part, this was a time to get to know each other and learn how each of us fit into our own PLNs.

On the final day of the camp we had yet one more parking lot conversation. A few of us gathered again and reflected on what we had learned from the two days. We emphasized the idea discussed on that first day about sharing our knowledge. We had all seen or heard what each technology facilitator had to bring to the camp presentations and now we all wanted to see those presentations ourselves. Those of us in that parking lot group agreed that we would at least start the movement in our county to share more as a team by doing camp presentations again for all technology facilitators and working together to create some presentations. We even discussed sharing presentations with other schools. So, for example, I might go to one school to present on Second Life where someone else might come to my school to present on podcasting. This not only allows the teachers to see a new face, but allows the technology facilitator to learn something new as well!

Mutual mentorships provide an opportunity for growth. The importance of seeking out and fostering those mentorships is an important step in building a personal learning network. Who is your mutual mentor? Think about your goals as we begin the new school year. How will you foster your mutual mentorship and use it as a resource to achieve those goals?

iLab Gets Visitors!

Due to some waxing issues and not being able to get into the other labs at my school, I was able to hold the first workshop in the iLab on Thursday! Luckily, Mo Hax stopped by the day before and offered to help set up all of the computers or I'm not sure what I would have done. There were still boxes all around and the place was a mess, but we made it work! The workshop I held was on GMail and Google Groups which was a continuation of one I did with Denise Yates (on Tuesday) on Google Docs.

It was fun to see the reactions of the teachers as they walked in and saw the new set up. My favorite comment was, "the kids are going to love this!" I heard that comment more throughout the morning as they were introduced to a few programs. I always love the opportunity to show someone Photo Booth, so when asked how to put a picture into google profile, I seized the opportunity. If you've used Photo Booth before, you know the reaction they had. Pure fun for the next 10 minutes! Lots of laughter and excitement.

We also got the opportunity to use the chat feature, which is something I've not had the opportunity to do yet with teachers. Thanks to Chad Lehman, we were able to do a video chat which couldn't have worked out better if I had planned it. He was sitting outside under a tree at the zoo. That got a chuckle from my crowd, but then he went on to explain he was there presenting for a conference where they were demonstrating how to integrate technology into lessons with animals. And the crowd went silent....with wide eyes! They got it! A video chat brought Chad from Milwaukee to us and we learned something from him. I could see the wheels spinning in a few teachers brains. Can't wait to see what they come up with for their classes this year.

We had fantastic conversations after the workshop about how the world is changing with new technology tools and I was so excited to hear the positive comments. During this time with small budgets and high stress, I was a little nervous about the reaction of teachers to a new lab of this caliber being installed at the school. After this workshop, I am excited for everyone to see it, but really can't wait for that first lesson with the students. This year is going to be fun!

Leaders with iPods!

I had the opportunity to present at the leadership camp for administrators in our county this week. All school and district level administrators were asked to come to the week-long camp to learn about leadership, procedures and, of course, technology! I was asked to present 3 sessions on iPods and Podcasting. I took enough iPods for everyone and also borrowed a Macbook cart so we could use GarageBand for podcasts.

As the participants entered the room, it was fun to see their reactions to ipods and laptops on each desk. "Ooh, this one looks like it will be fun" and "Oh, I'm glad I signed up for this one" were common remarks that I heard in each session. All that before they even knew what we were going to do!

The first part of the session was dedicated to ipods. We talked about apps, cost, student involvement, etc. and I allowed lots of time for them to "play". I stopped at one point in the first session to see everyone totally involved in the apps they were studying and I asked them to take a look around and see how engaged people in this room were (funny, no one did because they were too busy with their apps). I explained that this engagement was also evident with the students and part of the reason I believe this is true is because they are working at their own pace with their own personal tool. It was fun to see their reaction to what, for many of them, was something brand new.

After the iPods, we went to the Macbooks and opened GarageBand. I had showed them a few podcasts and explained what a podcast was, but now they were going to create their own. Of course I got a few looks like I was insane to ask them to make a podcast with only 15 minutes left in the session. We kept it very simple. We recorded their voices from a script with fill in the blanks, then we added music in the form of the podcast jingles included with GarageBand. I was going to have them add pictures, but in the end opted to just talk about the fact that you could. Only one person in all three sessions had ever made a podcast, so I really didnt' want to overwhelm anyone.

Interesting, but not surprised by it, many of them wanted to buy a mac after they left! I think a few of them would have stayed and played with GarageBand all day! I was also very impressed that I didn't hear any comment all day that they just couldn't do technology (a response I am learning to get used to). I had a wide range of age and skill levels and impressively, they were all interested in what I had to share with them. It was a really fun day and I was glad I had the opportunity to be involved with such a great group.

iLab Gets Furniture!

I have been working for almost a year now on this new lab at my school and today it all started to come together. SMART Board installers and table installers are here today. I am so excited to see it finally start to look like a computer lab!

I scheduled my first training in the lab for August 3rd (mostly because I knew I'd be pushing to get it all done and wanted to have a date so people would get in here and do it-before normal beginning of year stuff starts-yeah, a little sneaky). Now everyone is rushing around to do final touches. Left to do: finishing plates for the networking cables, ceiling outlets for projectors, paint, connect the new networking to the new server and of course set up all of the equipment.

Still deciding on a paint color, although, I think the my principal wants it to be white. Next week will be interesting, but I can't wait to get it all done.

Five Essentials of Technology Facilitators

I encourage anyone that is, or works with, a technology facilitator to take a look at the Tech & Learning article, "The Five Essentials of Technology Facilitators: Successful On-Site Help for Technology Integration". It was written by Cheryl Whitfield back in 2005, so it is a little older, but I like the view of the position that it gives the reader.

According to the article, there are five things anyone hired for a technology facilitator position should possess. Those are:

1. Experience in teaching. Our state actually requires 3 years of experience and I truly believe in this. As a technology facilitator, I have to be aware of the constraints of the classroom and understand how things are run from a teacher's and a student's perspective before I can effectively integrate technology into the school.

2. Enthusiastic Technophile. I love her choice of words here and can't say enough about how you need to be excited about technology AND be willing to explore and find new tools in the field. One of the saddest things I see in my position are technology facilitators that refuse to change. Working in technology, you have to accept that your job will always be changing and you need to be the driving force of that change by exploring all the options available.

3. Effective Trainer. I hear teachers say all the time that they just don't understand the way some "technology people" talk. As a TF, you need to be able to talk on a non-techie level and mentor teachers in the way they are familiar. I'm also learning now that it is important every once in a while to re-evaluate your presentation skills. Some times we get into our own little groove of doing things and forget what the real goal is. Take some time to read a book on presentation or take some tips from an excellent presenter to make sure you're still on the right track.

4. Eager Mentor. I see the non-eager mentor quite often in my line of work (and have honestly been guilty of it myself at times). This part, in my opinion, is one of the most important. People need to feel comfortable coming to you and know that you're going to do what you can to help them. Being approachable in this position is so important because not only will it help the teachers in your school, but it will also help them to trust you when you are selling them those new tools we talked about in #2 above!

5. Excellent Administrator. To be quite honest, when taking this position the first time, I had no idea how close this job is to being an administrative position. Now that I've been in it for a while, it becomes even more so as I work closer with the administrative team. I'm not totally sure this article explains the administrative duties quite like I had expected, so I will add a few things here myself. I believe the TF needs to be a leader, and not just any leader, but a good one who is not scared to look a tough situation in the face and push through. A TF also needs great communication skills and be willing to put those to work to sell new ideas to students, teachers, administrators and sometimes even district leaders or school board members. And the last thing I'd like to add is flexibility. One of the things I love most about my job is that when I walk through the front door in the morning, I have no idea what the day will bring. One minute I could be helping a student log into a computer and the next figuring out how I'm going to spend a thousand dollars by the end of the day. There are a wide range of tasks given to the technology facilitator and we need to be able to accept those and easily move from one to another depending on importance.

The position of the technology facilitator is always changing. I feel it is important, however, to keep these 5 fundamental parts in our minds and make sure we are keeping in tune with the overall idea of what we should be doing on a daily basis.

Second Life, OpenSim, What do you want to be?

Changes for mrslachance

I have been thinking for some time now that I want to remove my last name from my username. As I'm getting more followers on twitter and here on my blog, I figured I had better do it now or accept it forever. So, yesterday I made the switch. My new username is ejulez.
I'm very excited about the change and look forward to being able to use it in some projects I am working on currently. For a few more months, you will still be able to access my blog through mrslachance.com, but you can also get here by typing my new url: www.ejulez.com.
You can also find me @ejulez on twitter and at ejulez@gmail.com.

Tables are in!!

The tables for the new lab arrived last week and today I went in to place them so the electrical poles could be installed. Got a few of the first pictures as well, so wanted to share those with everyone.
Wasn't able to coordinate table installers and electrical folks, so we had to lay the table tops on the floor so the poles could be placed in the correct spot. We found that the tables were a little larger than we expected so the layout of the room had to change a little (they're 8ftx6ft). Our tables were ordered from Custom Educational Furniture and I worked with Cindy Lubin there. I found them while wandering the vendor floor at the NCTIES conference and Cindy has been fantastic at answering all of my questions and working with me on a fairly specific delivery date.
As soon as the poles are in place and the tables are installed, I'll begin setting up the computers. My first workshop in that room is scheduled for 2 weeks from now, so I'm really hoping all goes as planned.

How a book, a flight and a conference changed my life

Recently attended NECC in Washington D.C. and had some great experiences there that I'll outline in another blog soon. This one is dedicated to the thoughts and feelings I took away from the trip and how I grew a little more as a leader while I was gone for those 5 days.

The Background

A few months ago, thanks to my awesome experiences at NCTIES, my life turned into a whirlwind of uncertainty and excitement. Had a lot of opportunities coming my way and found myself so busy I couldn't focus on what I was really wanting to do. A few months after that I started to rebel against myself. Found I had this inner conflict that couldn't be resolved and wasn't really sure what to do about it.

I spent a lot of time in Second Life exploring, meeting new friends and just having fun. Made some awesome connections with people that became very close friends and without their knowledge, they helped me along the way. I started to feel like something big was about to happen. I had no clue what that something would be, but I was really excited to see the outcome. I knew NECC would be fun and packed full of information and great experiences so I looked forward to it like I've never looked forward to anything else.

First Flight

Oddly for me, I packed for the trip at the very last minute, throwing things in my suitcase without really thinking about too much of it. As I was out in the garage putting my suitcase in the car, something caught my eye. A book. It was titled Building the Bridge As You Walk On It, a Guide for Leading Change and I immediately knew I needed to bring it on the trip. Was something from my husband's graduate courses so of course he looked at me odd after seeing my excitement!

During the flight to D.C., I read the first two chapters and felt like the book was written with me in mind. The stories being shared related to experiences and thoughts I had been having over the past few months. Also during this flight I met a wonderful woman from NC that works for a company called Destination Imagination. I listened to the stories she shared about children setting and achieving outstanding and virtually impossible goals. It gave me goosebumps to listen to the successes of this organization and made me think more about the stories in the book.

The Conference

Arriving at NECC I had a new outlook. The book says that you need to accept that you want to change and be the driving force of that change-no matter how difficult. For me, I knew I needed to focus on the conversations. Approach this conference from a whole new level and make the networking priority.

I attended sessions, spent a lot of time networking and attending events and had an absolute blast! One of the things that I really enjoyed about this conference was connecting with friends from second life and spending time with them in real life. The connections I have made with people in second life have been amazing and to sit with them over dinner or at a conference event was so wonderful. It took our second life friendship to a totally new level and gave me lifelong friends that mean the world to me.

Return Home

After all of the great experiences I had at NECC, I was floating on a cloud and feeling pretty emotional about the whole event. Hopped on the plane and had some delays. I sat on the runway for about 3 hours which gave me time to read some more of my book.
I read chapter 3 and reflected on a friend that I knew had achieved the level of leadership described in it, but opening chapter 4 is where everything started to fall into place. Chapter 4 explained that being a good leader does not necessarily relate to work. Part of it involves your personal life and making sure that it is sound. I had known for a while that I had been working too hard and that my family life really needed some nurturing. A good friend had been telling me over and over that it was necessary to focus on family and to not lose sight of its importance. Not sure why hearing him say that didn't make it click in my brain, but I thought of his comments as I read the chapter. More or less, it hit me like a ton of bricks and I knew what I had to do. I needed to have a heart to heart with my husband and rethink our family time. I was a little nervous about this, but as the book says, a good leader will push through that and take the challenge to make things work.

The plane took off and I saw the most beautiful things. Storms had passed through and the clouds were gorgeous with a sunset behind them. (pic below) Tears came to my eyes at the sight before me and the feeling of realization within. For the first time in a while, I truly felt like I was on my way and had a complete vision for the future.


Photo courtesy of Photographer, Kate McFarland: See more photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/k8izgr8/

Finally Home

Made it home safely, talked with my husband and we both committed to spending more family time together and more time together as a couple. I'm going to be very busy over the next year so this "calm before the storm" called summer break is a great time to talk about this. In a couple of weeks, things kick into high gear at school, I start the doctoral program, my husband goes back for a second Master's and our little girl wants to be a dancer. So, even though it is rewarding and oh so fun to be a professional, I'm keeping in mind that it is just as much so to be a Wife and Mother.

NECC in Review

Had the wonderful opportunity to attend the National Educators Computing Conference this week. My original plan was to blog every day, but I tell you, it was busy. I barely had time to tweet! So, my plan is to sum it all up in one post without making it too long and boring!

Keep in mind, this post will not all be about learning. I like to talk about a little of everything including the restaurants, so enjoy! Hopefully it will give you some thoughts for the trip to Colorado!


Packing

Before I even started packing, I attended a session with NECC Pros at DEN SL and ISTE SL. Both of those sessions gave me great packing tips (wear comfy shoes, pack a power strip, bring an umbrella, etc). I took most of those tips and used little of them in the end. Probably the biggest thing I needed was a super charge for my blackberry. I had to charge that thing constantly! The internet service at the convention center left much to be desired, so after day one, I quit carrying my laptop. I also went out an bought a backpack as I tend to have back issues when carrying around a bag all day. Turned out that a backpack does the same, so in the end, I used a small tote bag and just carried less. This is really just personal preference, but wanted to share my experience. You don't really have to carry all of that stuff around! It was hard for me to let go at first, but in the end, it was a good idea.

Day One: Edubloggercon (Saturday)

I arrived super early on day one-my flight landed on time at 7am, hopped a cab to the hotel, dropped off my bags and immediately headed to the convention center. I wasn't sure what to expect with edubloggercon. Yes, I had heard a lot about it and had looked at the webpage, but still didn't totally understand what it would involve. The first part of the morning was dedicated to connecting with friends. I spent some time chatting with a few that I hadn't seen in a while and some that I had never met face to face. It was nice to allow this time as I knew so many that I wanted to meet. After that came my favorite part of the entire conference: the smackdown. This involved several edubloggercon attendees from all walks of life walking up to the stage and sharing something they knew was worth sharing. It started out that htey had 3 minutes each and as time passed, it went down to 30 seconds (because there were so many volunteers). This was perfect for me-quick looks at neat websites, gadgets, etc. I do something similar tot his with my technology minute at school so it was exciting to see it on a little different level.

After the smackdown, we did breakout sessions on various topics, I went to one on ipods and one on google apps. A large group of us went to lunch together at RFD and shared more ideas, then there was also an after party to connect even more with the people you had met throughout the day. This was a very well planned event and my favorite of the entire 5 days.

Day 2: A little Down Time (Sunday)

This day didn't have a lot going on-especially in the morning, so it was a great opportunity to do some sight seeing. Headed over to the mall with a friend, enjoyed a wonderful day seeing the attractions and then headed back so we could attend the Second Life Meet and Greet. This was so much fun as it was the first time meeting many of the people I talk to on a regular basis in second life. After the meet and greet, we all headed up to the keynote. I only made it through the opening stuff (preview of the new electric company and the conference opening) before my phone started to die. I had great conversations going on through IM on that phone so I opted to go back and charge it so I would have it for the rest of the evening. Turned out to be a good plan, but I know I missed a great keynote speaker.

We had dinner at a lovely irish pub with fantastic food. We started with 2 people and ended up with 5 so it was fantastic conversation and an asbolutely wonderful time. Great end to the day and one of my favorite (if not my favorite) places to eat during the trip.

Day 3: The beginning (Monday)

Yes, it was day three and only the beginning! I was already tired! I got up and headed to the conference center for the first day of sessions.

I attended a session on building leadership which happened to be given by a person whose hotel room I tried to break into (accidentally) the day before! I already had it on my list to attend, but after having met her, I decided that I definitely needed to go! She shared many great ideas about leadership and focused on it being a way of life, not a position that you hold. I liked this and since I was reading the book Building the Bridge As You Walk On It, I found that many of the things she said were related to my current thoughts. I'm hoping she'll post her presentation soon as it had many great quotes and tips for building leadership.

We had tapas for lunch at La Tasca (the first time for everyone in our group). What a fantastic way to share a lunch with friends! Highly recommend the experience to anyone dining in a group. We had the most fun trying new foods and sharing stories.

After lunch, we all headed over to the poster session area to support our friend, Andy, in his presentation on Virtual Pioneers. We are all members of the organization and Andy is a great friend of ours so seeing the excitement for the program and watching his presentation was awesome. Virtual Pioneers is an organization within Second Life for expanding professional development opportunities for social studies teachers. More information about it can be found at the links above.

My next stop was the Birds of a Feather session on ipods. This was my first BOF session and wasn't sure what to expect. We divided into interest groups in the beginning and discussed ideas for using ipods in the classroom, writing grants for funding, etc. Then, some of the people running the session shared their use of ipods, ways to enhance their use in the classroom, etc. Scott Meech shared a great resource he is workign on called IEAR. I encourage you to check this site out if you are interested in using ipods/iphones at all. I enjoyed this session even though I was so tired I could hardly pay attention. I ended up heading back to the hotel for a quick nap as I knew the night was full of more activities.

This evening was full of parties!! We first started at the volunteer's reception which was held at the convention center. The music was absolutely fantastic and my friend Massimo won a year of webinars! Had a lot of fun talking with people there, but then we were quickly off to the tweetup. This one was in a true bar. By the time we got there, the free tab was already gone, so we stayed for one drink, some mingling and then headed to a late dinner. By this time we were all starving so we ate at an italian restaurant across the street. Again, just have to say how cool it is to spend time with friends that I've known so well in Second Life, but have never met. This night was just so much fun!

Day 4: Slowing down (Tuesday)

You can tell everyone is slowing down just a bit today. Everyone is mentally and physically tired. I actually slept way too late this day and got a late start. I was volunteering at the second life playground so I headed straight there. Had so much fun helping a couple of the new folks. It's fun helping someone get started in SL, but helping them in RL do the same thing is really cool!

After volunteering I headed up to Leslie Fishers presentation on ipods and iphones. I've seen this presentation before (with a few differences) but I knew I had to see it again because my thoughts had changed and some things had also changed in the ipod world since I attended the last one. She does a fantastic job at sharing new and exciting apps available. You can find her presentation on her webpage. I encourage everyone to check it out as she shares many apps that are fantastic.

For lunch we headed to China town and had dim sum. I was a bit skeptical about this, but it turned out to be wonderful. It's similar to tapas, but with chinese food. We ordered lots of different things and tried them all. Lots of fun and a few new friends came along for this one so it was great getting to know them as well.

Spent a little time at the Second Life playground which has served as a bit of a home base for me on this trip. I checked in there a few times a day and usually started there in the morning. Several of us then headed to Peggy Sheehy's presentation on Ramapo Islands which was absolutely fantastic. Peggy is a gem to the second life educational community and I feel so honored to know and work with her. The work she has done with her district is phenomenal and if you ever have a chance to hear her speak in RL or in SL, you should jump at the opportunity. Read more about her projects on her blog.

We headed to Legal Seafood for dinner tonight, knowing it was our last dinner with our usual group. We lived it up and had a ton of fun again. I had to leave pretty quickly for an event by the new CRSTE group, so we headed out, said our goodbye's and I headed to the museum of history for a party. CRSTE, I learned, was just started the week of NECC and includes several states around NC as a way to build friendships with surrounding states and share information with each other. This organization stands for much of what I believe in as an ed-tech person. As soon as I heard the background of why they got started, I was totally sold. Got a chance to meet some of the organizers of the community and can't wait to work more closely with them in the future.

Day 5: The last day

Even though it was the last day, and I was a little sad to leave, I was ready to go home too. Tired of walking, tired of carrying a bag and my brain was fried!
Got up and headed straight to the Second Life Playground. Spent most of the day here actually and some time away saying goodbye to a few friends. I didn't attend any sessions this day except for those that went on in the SL playground. This was my time to wind down and enjoy the last few hours.

At the SL playground I got the opportunity to hear Claudia Linden talk about grants for SL. I thought it was interesting that no one in the room or in the sl auditorium had written a grant with success yet. No one was turned down either, so that gives hope. Three of us, however, had written some and were awaiting a response. I have one in through ING right now and hoping for a response soon.

I'm pretty positive I've forgotten something important (and may add it later), but overall, the networking and friendships were the theme of the conference. Absolutely enjoyed every single minute of the trip and can't wait to go back next year. Have a few things going on behind the scenes right now (more on that later) that I think will make next year's conference even more exciting with new opportunities and adventures.

See you at ISTE 2010!

NC SL Educators - First Meeting

With the help of Newton Apogee in Second Life, I started a North Carolina Second Life Educators group. We had our first meeting tonight and I believe it was a great success.
We had 7 people attend and the purpose of the meeting was to come up with some sort of plan for the direction of the group. The 7 in attendance included corporate as well as educational influence and ranged from technology facilitators to technology directors across the state of NC. We all introduced ourselves, made a plan for the next meeting and decided on a common meeting time. Our first official event will take place July 20th and will be a sharing session from those that attend NECC.
Also part of the planning process, I created a second life group called NC SL Educators, updated the Ning (http://ncsleducators.ning.com/) I had already created for the NCTIES conference a few months ago and created a twitter account for the group (ncsleducators).
Overall, I'm pretty excited about it. I think it will be a great opportunity for those educators in NC that have explored Second Life and want to know more. This is an option for them to learn from those names they are familiar with from conferences, etc. We have a great group helping to get it started and I truly feel it will be a success!

Get on Board the Technology Train-A look at Summer Camp

I've been going on and on about my county's summer technology camp for a few months now and many have asked me to share what we do to plan and prepare for such a large event. I will tell you it is a culmination of the efforts of many folks, namely all of the awesome technology facilitators we have in our district. Luckily, we are in a county that has at least one technology facilitator in every school, so we have several fantastic educators to help with the construction of the camp.

This all started last year as a way to promote technology in our district. We hold the camp at our newest high school which is equipped with mounted SMART Boards in every classroom and awesome facilities all around. It is a two day event held in the beginning of August to give teachers a fresh outlook on the new school year. The camp is totally free for our teachers and we even give away fantastic prizes such as digital cameras, SMART Boards, tshirts, gift certificates, etc.

Last year was our learning year. We knew we had a goal in mind to do it with as little cost as possible and hopefully free. We managed to pull that off with generous donations from several businesses in our area.

In the beginning, we broke up into groups, each technology facilitator volunteering for at least one. Those groups include:
Music and Welcome
Program Guide/Schedule/Wiki
Registration
Marketing and Advertising
Food
Prize Seeking
Tech Support
Setup/Cleanup
Outside Instructors (finding some)
Evaluation
Once groups are constructed, we meet on several occasions to pull everything together and we meet once a month as a large group to share what our smaller committees have accomplished. This has worked very well and is definitely one of the reasons we have had such great success.

All technology facilitators are expected to present and this year we have added a group of outside presenters as well. Last year we did not invite many outside presenters because we just weren't sure how well it would work. This year everyone is excited to see what new thoughts and ideas are shared with presenters joining us from all over the state of North Carolina.

We ask teachers to register (using a form on our school website). This gives us an idea of how many presenters we need to secure for the camp which is important because you don't want to have way too many or not enough. Last year we found which sessions were most popular and have adjusted accordingly to provide either larger rooms or multiple opportunities to attend those sessions.

The camp is totally free to the teachers in our district, so many come and stay for the entire two days. They receive Continuing Education Units for the days and we monitor this by giving them a card at registration. In each session they attend, the presenter stamps their card and at the end of the day, the cards are turned in to the camp staff. Over the course of the following few weeks, all of the attendance is entered into our credit system and teachers receive their CEU's. Also on the card is an evaluation, so not only do we get information on sessions they attended, but they are asked to evaluate the camp as a whole to give us ideas for the next year. This has been a great success and has helped us in planning this time around.

Take a look at our camp wiki from last year so you can see the basic structure and see all of the sessions we were able to offer. We are offering many of the same and also many different sessions this year and have made one change to the structure (only one keynote this year). I will share this year's camp wiki once it is available. It is still in a rough draft form.

Our theme this year is "Get on Board the Technology Train". For promotional purposes, we have a video, fliers and of course the wiki. These items are shared with teachers over the course of about 2-3 months in preparation for the camp and we ask everyone to have registered by the end of June so we can make final preparations in July for the camp in August. Everyone is excited about what this year's camp will bring as it was such a huge success last year. We had about 600 teachers sign up for the camp last year and hope to have as many or more this time.

WolframAlpha Works For Schools!

I've been exploring a new search engine called WolframAlpha the last couple of days. It is a fantastic resource for many disciplines and I can find great educational use in this tool.
As a former foods and nutrition teacher, I was quite excited to see the data that was found when I typed in the word "Apple" and got a nutrition facts label and several other charts displaying nutrients provided in 1 apple. I considered the projects I would do with students using labels they would have to bring in (and of course forget). This tool would be such a fantastic way to do those projects without having to spend extra time on finding labels.
The next search I did (a little more fun) was my birthday. I typed in the date and found that I am 10,888 days old! It also told me that no notable events happened on that day (except for of course the obvious) and informed me that the sun came up at 6:37.
As you may be able to tell, this search engine is focused more on data, charts, graphs, etc. It will compare stocks, perform calculations and give you statistics about dates, towns and even people. I encourage you to check this one out if you haven't already but keep in mind as you're looking that this engine is specific in its information. You're not going to be able to type in everything and get a list of results.

You're Too Old to Hear My Phone!

At first, I thought my technology manager was telling a joke when he told me about teens using high frequency ring tones on their cell phones, but turns out they're very popular. Students are using them, of course, to alert them when a text comes in during class. Seems that teens can hear sounds at higher decibels than we "old" people can.
Honestly, I was a bit skeptical until he showed me this website from Free Mosquito Ringtones. Go ahead, test it yourself. I recommend you get someone younger than you to sit with you just to prove it. If you want to know how each sound corresponds to age, see this page.
Yes, this is just another method to get around the rules of the school that govern the use of cell phones in class. I say it's still pretty cool though and I read that a student came up with the idea-way to use your noggin' kid-pretty cool stuff!

iExcited!

Have been working on the iPod cart most of of the week so I wanted to send out an update on a few things I've learned along the way.

I met with my technology manager earlier this week so we could figure out how to get everything set up correctly. Being the first in our county to have an ipod cart, I think we were both excited about playing with something new! We had talked with Val Brown, the technology specialist at Culbreth Middle School in Chapel Hill NC and received a few pointers. We knew from talking with her that we needed to get an email address for the cart, a paypal account and an itunes account. We're keeping the account information secure between a few individuals at our school so anyone that wants to buy an app will have to get it approved first through one of us-probably me. We had a cash back card from the NEC Star Student program that we're using to provide money for buying apps. It worked out really well because Apple doesn't have anything set up for purchasing power with schools. We don't have any way of doing a purchase order through itunes or setting up a paypal account through the school, so for us we felt this was the best way to handle buying the apps.

With all of the accounts set up, we were ready to start registering the ipods. We knew we would have to do it one at a time and we held our breath as we did #6 because we both felt like we had heard you could only have 5 ipods per computer. We learned that is just not true! The ipod cart comes with two drawers that hold 20 ipods per drawer. Each drawer has its own cable to sync the units, so 20 ipods can be synched at one time (once you go through the initial setup process). It is so important to have your accounts set up before you get started because the itunes account is what is needed to register your ipod.

After we set up 6, he left me to do the rest, but I couldn't help but to go download a bunch of apps! I went and found a ton of freebie educational apps and put them on the computer. It was really neat to plug them all in (and hear the sound of them linking) and watch them sync. In the end, that wasn't the best idea. I learned the hard way that once you have all those apps on there, the set up process takes a little longer. Once you register the ipods, you have to wait for all of the apps to load. In retrospect I realize that I could have turned off automatic synching, but it really wasn't that big of a deal as one ipod can by performing the sync while you're registering others.

I got through about 20 of them and my principal came knocking at my door. She was all excited because there was a class of students that was available to test the ipods and she wanted to see what they thought. I gave her a few and sent her on her way and then thought, wait a minute-why does she get to have all the fun? So, I went to the class to see what was going on. When I got there, the kids had already gotten together and were using the apps that I had just installed. By the end of the period, they had made a list of all of the apps and shared their opinions of each. They found the formulas app with all types of math formulas to be pretty fantastic while the iBrush app, used to teach you how to brush your teeth, was not so great! (That one was more for me to try-it is neat...once).

Now, we're looking for an engraver. I made the mistake of forgetting to get them engraved when we purchased. We want the school name to be on there somewhere in case one gets lots or stolen. Once we get the engraving done, we'll be ready to send them out for more testing!

Google Sites gets Thumbs up!

I have had the opportunity to work as a mentor to a graduation project student this semester. It has been a very rewarding experience. His topic relates to social networking and he is the only student in our county creating an online portfolio. He volunteered to try it after finding out that I would be his mentor. A few of us tech nerds in the county have been wanting to get the graduation project to go digital and we're hoping this example might help move the process along.
Upon first meeting with him, we talked about options for creating the portfolio online which included many free and paid sites. I told him to try out a few that looked of interest to him and let me know which he thought was best for his needs. In the end, he picked Google Sites. I was of course pleased because I love Google and Sites is an area I've not really explored too much.

I sat down with him for our last meeting of the year yesterday and we talked about the Pros and Cons of using Google Sites as a tool for the graduation project.

Pros:
1. He was amazed at how easy it was to get started and work on the pages. He really felt like it would take very little computer knowledge (by teachers or students) to create a Google Site
2. The colors and customization are great and very easy to change even after you've created the site.
3. There are spots on each page (if you want them there) to add comments, so if he had wanted to share his site with others (peer editing, etc.) they could have posted their comments right on the page.

Cons:
1. When using columns, it's set up so that the 2nd column is fixed. In other words, if you resize the page, the 2nd column does not change it's size, but the 1st column does. This caused a problem on at least one of his pages.
2. We were not able to find a way to edit table borders. We tried to create a table when we had problems with the columns but there wasn't a way to make the table borders invisible.

Overall, he felt that the ease of use of the google sites was fantastic and said he's recommend it as a tool to use in the future. He will be sharing his site with students in his class next week and has been asked to present it to the graduation project committee during their county-wide meeting (also next week). He hasn't finished the site as of this moment and has asked that I don't share it yet. Once he give me the ok, I'll post it here.

Apps of Steel

Our Mac server arrived today for the 21st Century Lab! The lab is not ready yet, but we're setting up our ipod cart so that it works with the server, allowing us to manage the apps and other settings on the ipods. I want to add lots of apps to the ipods so teachers can start learning and helping me to find those "Apps of Steel" that should be on all of the units. We're looking for all the apps we can try that are related to the various curriculum areas in a high school. Teachers will evaluate them and once we decide which apps each department wants to use, we'll put them on the server to sync with the ipods.
I have talked with one teacher and actually gave him one of the ipods to try. He's been very successful in learning to use the ipod as well as find many apps that are available for his discipline (Social Studies). His department recently got together and he shared what he was finding. I asked how it was received and he said it was positive, but with any new technology, there were concerns.
Not only are teachers concerned about learning how to use the equipment, but they are still looking at it as an "extra" thing to add to their day. I mentioned this in another blog post and it becomes more aware to me every day that I need to refocus their thinking on technology integration.
It was also mentioned that teachers might be a little resentful of the new equipment because of the budget cuts in our state. My talk with this teacher solidified the fact that I may need to step lightly around this for a little while-at least until the dust settles this year. In the mean time, we are pushing forward. I believe once a few of the teachers here start to see the educational options available with the ipod touch, word will travel quickly and we'll get buy-in from the teachers. I know I already have excitement of the students because every student that walks in my office drops their jaw when they see the stack of ipods on my table!

Tweetdeck versus Twhirl

Twitter has become one of my biggest resources for my personal learning network and I find that I check it multiple times a day-sometimes multiple times a minute, so I figured it was probably time to look for an easier way of keeping up with the latest tweets. I was given the recommendation to look at Tweetdeck and Twhirl.

My first impression of Tweetdeck wasn't good. I found it a little more difficult to use, but if you want all the bells and whistles or have a complex listing of tweets, this might be the way to go. Tweetdeck has 3 columns ( you can add up to 10 I believe), one for your full listing of tweets, one for your @ replies and one for your DM's. Personally, I wanted one column and found that there is a way to reduce it down to just one listing of tweets.
I did like the color customization with tweetdeck-it allowed me to make the window my school colors, which was fun. I also liked the alert sound when a new tweet came in. We all know that colors and sounds are very important, right? One small problem I found is after I shut down my computer for the day and returned the next morning, I couldn't get tweetdeck to reopen in a small window. I'm not sure why-I'm assuming maybe I did something wrong, but I still haven't been able to open back up without it taking up my entire screen.

Tweeting was easy with tweetdeck, but it did take me a second to figure out that sending a direct message or @reply had to be done by holding my mouse over the picture of a person. One neat feature I did like was that urls could be easily shortened with a click of a button into a tinyurl. Always nice when you have limited characters.

After the problem I had with tweetdeck, I was ready to download Twhirl. It seemed to me that the install process with twhirl was a lot faster. It was up and running in less than a minute.
My first impression was good. It had the small "chat size" window I was looking for and it was kind of cute. There aren't as many color options with twhirl, but that's not really the point here, so I didn't focus on that. I was able to easily switch between dms, @replies and my listing of tweets via small buttons at the bottom of the window.

One of the first things I looked for was the shortened url option I had liked so much in tweetdeck and twhirl did have it! Found tweeting to be very easy and also noticed with twhirl that when you do an @reply, it places the picture of both you and the person you're replying to next to the tweet.

In the end, I picked twhirl. I am more simplistic in my needs for a tool like this and twhirl had all I needed in an easy to use, small window. I can see that if I had a lot more followers or followed a lot more people, tweetdeck would be a good option as I could see everything in one area. I might also be more interested in tweetdeck if I wanted to see facebook status updates as it has an option to integrate those as well.

Not a school + technology

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to attend the DEN Virtual Conference and listen to Chris Lehmann speak. One thing he said was that a school should not be a school + technology, the school should change the way it thinks and be different with the technology. I've already noticed that our school is becoming known as that "old" school with lots of new technology. I don't want people to think we just have it sitting around and our teachers aren't doing anything differently now that we have it.
Before spring break, I had a lot of this in my head and took a few moments to write it down. I now have a big yellow sheet of paper on my wall with all of my thoughts about how I'm going to change the way the teachers here think about how technology should be used in the classroom. I immediately thought of that big yellow sheet when I was listening to Chris speak and was excited to hear him talk about the things I had already been considering.

I have a lot of ideas and hope to get more as I talk with others over the next few months.
First of all, I need to change the way I'm doing training. When I first got here, I found that most teachers just needed to be introduced. They weren't aware of the things that were out there for them and I needed to make them aware of what is available. We focused on Web 2.0 quite a bit. I"ve noticed this year a shift in how teachers are looking at things. Many are asking for more and they want to practice and play.

With that in mind, next year my trainings will be mostly hands on and the teachers will leave with some kind of product. They'll learn as a student would in the classroom. I'll play the part of the teacher and we'll focus on various disciplines throughout the year. I'm hoping that by modeling how the teacher should be in the classroom, we'll end up with a more seamless integration of technology at our school.

In each of my trainings, I hope to cover 3 important things:
1. What do you, as the teacher, NEED to know to do this project
2. What do you, as the teacher, need to be able to learn ALONG WITH your students
3. How do you foster the collaborative classroom atmosphere (tips, thoughts, sharing, etc.)

I'm hoping that by covering each of these a little in every session, not only will the teacher better understand the project and how it can be used in their classroom, but they can also begin to understand the importance of collaboration.

I'm currently working with my administrative team to make the theme of next year "collaboration". The new lab we're doing, the new teacher appraisal instrument and the PLC's all are focused on collaboration so I think it stands out as a theme to carry through the year. Announcing this at the beginning of the year and then mentioning it several times throughout will surely help in placing the focus in the right direction.