Teaching with Technology Spotlight Home

In this issue of “The Server”, we visit with Mae Guerra and Louis Shoe of De Leon Middle School. Mae is a 6th grade teacher who incorporates technology into her classroom by the use of a Promethean Activboard*. Louis uses mathematical Internet resources, graphing calculators, presentation software, and computer animation for geometry.
Ms. Guerra shared some of her educational philosophy, methodology, and career goals.

“Technology is vital in today's changing world. Kids today embrace technology at home and at school and in their everyday lives. That is why teachers need to integrate new technology into their curriculum as much as possible. It is important for teachers to use technology in the classroom to introduce new concepts and explore new ways of thinking. In this way, teachers do not just engage students in their learning but also learn a new way of teaching.

This year I have been using the Promethean Activboard to introduce new lessons in math class. The students love the interaction between the board and the pen. I have seen kids light up when I use the board instead of the traditional overhead projector.

I often use the Activboard as a warm-up for an upcoming lesson or a reflection of the lesson after the lesson is completed. Most of the time the Activboard is used to enforce the lesson learned and not as the sole lesson itself. I use many supplemental resources that help the students understand the material such as cooperative groups activities, math games, and PowerPoint presentations.

This year my students will be using the Internet to play online math games and research new math concepts for research reports. On a daily basis, students will use the Promethean Activboard to explore new concepts.

I am in my last year of the University of Colorado Masters program in Instructional Technology. This is the internship phase of the program. I will continue to explore the use of the Activboard within my classroom and help other teachers at Deleon learn how to use it as well. My project this year includes a proposal, project goals, collaboration with other educators, and the creation of new activities.

My proposal is to explore the use of the Activboard and continue to integrate this technology into my curriculum. I will attend the Promethean Activboard trainings that are provided by the district and develop lessons that can be used throughout the year. For example, simple warm-up exercises that are typically written on the overhead can be created on the Activboard and used on a daily basis. I also plan to provide an in-service training session for teachers at Deleon who would like to learn this technology and integrate it into their teaching.

In order to gain the 60 hours that my internship requires, I will provide mini-lessons in my classroom (RM. 610) every Friday during my conference periods at 8:45am-9:25am, 1:20pm-2:00pm and after school between 4:00pm-4:45pm. Please feel free to drop by and experience this new and powerful technology!"

Mr. Shoe also shared some of the technology that he has integrated into his curriculum.

"It would be great if the students all had computers instead of textbooks and homework could be turned in by wireless connection. Having the computer grade the assignments would give teachers more time to teach and “send” back corrective assignments to help the students master the objectives. E-tests would also be real benefit for students and teachers.

Some of the Internet resources that Mr. Shoe uses with his classes are Yahoo, Google, Xanga.com, Playstation.com, EdHelper.com, TeacherWorks, SchoolFusion, and Discoveryschool.com.

EdHelper.com generates extra math assignments. I also put some links on SchoolFusion for the students to explore math on their own. (Tower of Hanoi game) Homework assignments are posted on SchoolFusion so that parents and students can see what is due the next day. Xanga.com is a free web-hosting site that I use to post math problems/puzzles for students to solve. Yahoo & Google are used to search for real life problems or ideas that involve mathematics. Playstation.com is a reference to the mathematics in video game animation. Teacher Works is a program that allows me to quickly create lesson plans for the year. Discoveryschool.com allows me to puzzles for students very quickly and easily.

My students will also use graphing calculators to display graphs and function tables. I will have the students create some PowerPoint presentations for geometry projects later this year.

I have a Masters of Education Administration degree, have attended a three-week training course on Geometer Sketch Pad, and I am able to teach students to solve the Rubik’s Cube. I also owned a comic book store in the early 90’s."

We thank Ms. Guerra and Mr. Shoe for their dedication in preparing our students for the challenges that they will face in our technology infused society.

* The Promethean Board is an interactive board used in conjunction with a projector. This board is mounted on a stand or a wall and used in teaching lessons. Teachers can control their computers, search the Internet, and write on the board using a special magnetic pen. Also, teachers can use the resources that come preloaded with the board's software, and manipulate them in a variety of ways to enhance lessons.

Student Multimedia Contest Home

Skyward Educator Access+ Home

Technology in the Classroom Home

Multimedia Simulations

Emerging technologies that call for the use of computer software, websites, and other multimedia resources not only inspire participation but can also help students meet technology application standards and help teachers develop an effective learning environment. Multimedia simulations can offer many benefits to the learning process and successfully prepare students for the real world by improving motivation, facilitating transfer of learning, enhancing learning efficiency, and providing a safe and controllable simulated real-life experience. In other words, simulations provide teachers with the opportunity to offer students the best education possible.

Examples of educational simulations:

• Froguts.com

This simulation allows students to perform virtual dissections to learn about anatomy without the expense and equipment required for physical dissection labs. The simulations include 3-D manipulation, microscopes, x-rays, injectors, and audio narration.
http://www.froguts.com/flash_content/index.html

• Visible Body

This is a comprehensive human anatomy visualization tool. It includes 3D models of over 1,700 anatomical structures.
http://www.visiblebody.com/start

• The Stock Market Game

This simulation teaches students economic and financial concepts they will use for the rest of their lives. It gives them the chance to invest a hypothetical $100,000 in an on-line portfolio.
http://www.smg2000.org/

• Real Lives

Real Lives helps students understand and appreciate cultural diversity by giving them the opportunity to experience how people really live in other countries.
http://www.educationalsimulations.com/products.html

From the Director's Desk Home

Greetings Administrators, Teachers, and Librarians,

This has been an exciting fall semester in the Instructional Technology Department!

We began the year with great news - Lamar Academy was awarded the Vision 2020 Technology Immersion Grant by the Texas Education Agency. The grant, which totals approximately $500,000, will provide one laptop per student and teacher and a variety of online educational technology resources. Implementation of Project ACCESS (A Computer per Child Empowers Students to Succeed) has started and we expect the project to be a success.

During the month of August, the Instructional Technology department visited each campus to assist teachers with classroom web pages, grade book, CSCOPE, Gaggle email, and district email accounts. We enjoyed visiting with administrators, teachers, and librarians and meeting new staff.

On September 15th, we began the distribution of Parent/Guardian Website Accounts. The purpose of the Parent/Guardian Website Accounts is to increase parent involvement by allowing parents to view homework, events, email their child’s teachers, view grades, and attendance. McAllen ISD believes effective communication and accountability are essential to the success of our school system and that students benefit immeasurably when parents are well informed and involved in their children’s scholastic life.

Our staff development sessions began late September and will continue until mid-December. Some of the favorite sessions include: Electronic Scrapbooking, Web 2.0 Tools, and creating audio lessons. Click here for a schedule of training sessions.

Available this year to middle school students is Easy Tech by Learning.com. Easy Tech is our new 8th Grade Technology Application adoption online curriculum. EasyTech is a Web-delivered technology literacy curriculum that integrates technology into Math, Science, Language Arts and Social Studies. The 8th Grade Technology Application teachers have been trained and program implementation has begun at all middle schools. Teacher training will be during the spring semester. Easy Tech also offers FREE parent access to assist parents in developing their technology literacy skills.

Student technology contests! Our first student contest is available online. We will post a different contest each six weeks until the end of the year. Each contest provides students with the opportunities to improve their technology literacy skills by using McAllen ISD educational technology resources such as SchoolFusion, Gaggle email, Discovery Education Streaming, and more. The McAllen ISD Student Multimedia Contest has begun also. Students are encouraged to work individually or in teams to create videos, digital audio, multimedia presentations, digital graphics, and digital animations. First, second, and third place winners will be entered into the state technology student contest.

We continue to provide support for programs/initiatives such as CSCOPE, Skyward Educator Access Plus, FitnessGram, Distance Learning, AEIS-IT, the Migrant Institute of Technology, Campus Technology Plans, NCLB Title II Part D, Enhancing Education Through Technology projects, the Technology Applications TEKS, iSafe Internet Safety, and new technology hardware and software.

As the fall semester ends, I would like to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to all of the administrators, teachers, and librarians who have assisted in providing the best instructional technology solutions for our staff and students.

Carmen Garcia, Director for Instructional Technology

McAllen ISD and the Instructional Technology Department is proud to announce the Technology Teachers of the Year for the 2007-2008. The 2007-2008 Elementary Technology Teacher of the Year is Normalinda Montemayor. Catherine Pena is the 2007-2008 Secondary Technology Teacher of the Year.

The Technology Teacher of the Year Award recognizes the outstanding efforts of classroom teachers who use curriculum-centered, standards-based practices for integrating technology into the classroom, participate in ongoing technology-related, high-quality professional development opportunities, and are active contributors to a technology-related community of practice.

Congratulations Catherine and Normalinda!

Click here for more information.

It is important to backup your data on a regular basis.

• Your hard drive or software may fail forcing you to reload your data on your computer. Usually, data cannot be recovered from your hard drive if it has crashed.
• In addition, if you receive a new computer, this back up can be used to transfer all of your data to the new machine.

For instructions on how to back-up your valuable computer files, click here.

For Teachers

• Mock Election: Teaching Materials and Activities
  Curriculum materials to help educators discuss the election issues, such as energy, war and health care with students.
  
• Zoho Creator
  One of the most useful online tools is a database—use it to keep an inventory of your classroom or campus technology, have students enter their favorite books (songs, movies, etc.), use it for storing lesson plans and units...the list is endless. With the power of search in a database, having access to an online one that is easy-to-use and share is beneficial for teachers and schools.
  
• WiZiQ
  A no-cost, synchronous online tool; hold group meetings, teach a class session, conduct a virtual study group, and much more.
  
• bubbl.us
  An easy-to-use, online concept mapping tool; great to use when introducing a topic and using an interactive whiteboard or in a computer lab when students are starting a project. Plus, it’s free!
  
• Calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI)
  Available in English or Metric measure, this is a handy calculator to have when teaching about exercise, nutrition, and wellness.
  
• National Science Digital Library
  NSDL is the Nation's online library for education and research in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics.
  
• Puzzlemaker
  Puzzlemaker is a puzzle generation tool for teachers, students and parents. Create and print customized word search, criss-cross, math puzzles, and more using your own word lists.
  
• Mathwire.com
  Mathwire.com is designed to provide activities and appropriate worksheets for teachers to use in their classrooms. All activities and worksheets support the constructivist approach to learning mathematics and the NCTM Standards.
  
• Cyberbee
  Terrific site to help you integrate technology into your curriculum for all subjects. You'll find curriculum ideas, how to's, research tools, treasure hunts, web links, postcard geography. This site will help you integrate while you and your students have fun.
  
• The Periodic Table of Videos
  Tables charting the chemical elements have been around since the 19th century - but this modern version has a short video about each one.

For Kids

• PBS By the People’s The Democracy Project
  This site allows children to apply to be president for a day, step inside a voting booth to learn what a difference a single vote makes, and learn how government affects them. This site is best for grades 3 and up.
  
• Pitsco's Ask an Expert
  A directory of links to persons who have volunteered their time to answer questions in 12 subject areas.
  
• http://www.whitehousekids.gov
  Go on a behind the scenes tour of the White House. See various rooms including the Oval Office, learn about the history of the White House, get information about kids and pets who have lived in the White House, write to the President, etc.
  
• Noggin
  Preschool children will enjoy this site where they can select coloring pages or play games from some of their favorite T.V. programs, including Franklin, Maisy, Blues Clues, and others.
  
• POP! Jr Online
  POP! JR is a fun-filled, adventure magazine for kids, ages 4 to 7 (JK to Grade 2). Each issue is full of activities to stimulate young minds - from interactive puzzles and games to engaging illustrations and read-out-loud stories!
  
• Kid's Health for Kids
  Confused, sad, mad, glad? Dealing with feelings can be hard, but you can learn about your emotions and how to deal with them. Situations that can get you stressed out include moving, a new baby in the family, dealing with bullies, and many others. Helpful advice is available here, including a kid's guide to divorce.

For Fun

• GlassBooth
  Glassbooth connects you to the 2008 presidential candidate that represents your beliefs the best.
  
• FotoFlexer
  An easy-to-use online photo editing application that integrates with the major online photo-sharing sites; includes blemish removal and wrinkle-smoothing as well as a host of other tools.
  
• Make a Flake
  With the holidays right around the corner, visit this site to make your own flake or find the perfect flake for your holiday projects.
  
• Dumpr
  Dumpr is not technically a Web 2.0 site, but one that allows without registration, the creation of some cool effects on a photo you upload including a cube, puzzle, and many more.

The Instructional Technology Department has scheduled training sessions for the Fall semester. Limited seating is available. Enroll now on ERO.