Getting Ready for the First Day

I've been busy getting things ready for that first day of school. Being the Tech Coordinator, I've been busy getting all the computers ready to go for the new school year. I just might make it! It's always fun to unpack new machines, get them ready, and then get them into the hands of students and teachers. This year all of the Elementary teachers will have their own laptop. They will be able to take it home to work on lessons and to staff development as well as use it in their classrooms. I imagine that some of them will find many ways to incorporate it into their work. Sadly, I also imagine that a few laptops may spend more time on the shelf than in the hands of the teacher. That's the frustrating part. Some teachers are as good as their students at coming up with excuses for not doing something!

Miller Professional Development - final thoughts

Another teacher and I spent 2 days in Miller this week. One day we worked with high school/middle school teachers and one day we worked with elementary teachers. Both groups were great to work with yet each was different in some way. I'm not saying one was better than the other, basically because that was not the case. There was just a different attitude and approach to doing things with each group. One group was interested more in getting all the information on a particular topic and moving on while the other group wanted to spend more time in hands on work. Maybe that was just the groups of individuals invovled but I think it has more to do with elementary vs middle/high school. You can probably guess which group wanted more "play" time!

After all was said and done, the 2 days were well spent by both the leaders and the teachers during this professional development. They came, without pay, to soak up the knowledge we had to offer. From the responses we got back, I think many got what they came for and left a little more excited about the school year to come.

Professional Development in Miller, SD

A colleague and I are providing some professional development in Miller over 2 days. The teachers are to be commended because they are here of their own free will and the only compensation is the knowledge they hope to gain. What an awesome responsibility to provide instruction to such dedicated teachers. We've been working on wikis this morning and had some fun playing with vokis. Sometimes teachers like to play as much as their students do.