Knowledge Translation and Actionable Messages

Prowling around the board's E-Best web site:

Knowledge Translation: The process where new, relevant research is applied to real world practice. It attempts to bridge the "Science to Service Gap."

Actionable Messages are compelling, flowing from a body of research evidence.... and are most likely to translate into behavior change on the front lines. They are clear, compelling, and relate to a decision/reality currently faced by the professional.

Evaluation Journal 2: My Job Description

Teaching Duties

• Teach the practical skills of instrumental music and computer studies at Viscount Montgomery School.
• Apply the curriculum by designing and adapting lessons that effectively engage students and cause learning.
• Constantly assess students’ work and refine teaching to address observed needs.
• Communicate clearly what is expected for behaviour and assignments.
• Integrate other subjects into music and computer activities as opportunities permit.
• Use and promote the use of technological tools.

Learning Environment

• Create and sustain a classroom environment that has positive and challenging expectations.
• Maintain an organized classroom, with relevant information and images posted on walls and bulletin boards.
• Maintain all supplies and equipment to keep it working as intended, and teach the proper care of all equipment.
• Manage equipment repairs.
  

Students

• Cultivate in students a genuine love for learning, especially by being an example of openness and teachability.
• Supervise and teach students with consistency and respect.
• Use a wide range of teaching and communication techniques to reach all types of learners and personalities.
• Maintain a safe, healthy environment by using appropriate practices, routines and rules.

Partnerships

• Involve parents and guardians as indispensable and valuable partners in education.

• Make appropriate use of community social services, School Council and the Home and School Association.
• Adhere to the policies and procedures of the school board.

Administration

• Create and maintain a daily lesson book, short range and long term plans, schedules and records.
• Produce and organize documentation for all classes taught, including course outlines, lesson plans, equipment policies, letters, forms and checklists.
• Provide lesson plans, information and all necessary materials for substitute teachers.
• Report on student progress using electronic report card software.
• Work closely and cooperatively with administrators in all matters of school policy, student discipline, supervision, professional conduct, professional evaluation, staff meetings and teaching duties.
• Use approved accounting procedures when handling funds for activities, equipment and supplies.

Voluntary Roles

• Administer electronic report cards by configuring the classes, transferring teachers’ data, and printing.
• Assist teachers in all aspects of the completion of electronic report cards.
• Assist staff as they use computer technology in the school program, and for board surveys and in-services.
• Arrange for purchase of new computer and related equipment and supplies as needed.
• Maintain our school website, and recruit and coordinate volunteer assistants.
• Help coordinate the student production of the school Memory Book.
• Help plan extra-curricular activities that enrich student learning and growth.
• Mentor and support music teachers by serving with the Middle School Music Teacher’s Committee.
• Serve as a member of the Information Technology Advisory Committee.

Reference:

The Education Act, “Duties of a Teacher.”
Ontario College of Teachers, “Standards of Practise for the Teaching Profession.”

Evaluation Journal 1

Mid October, 2005
Our church board, of which I am a member, implemented a job review system that is based on self-evaluation of performance, with reference to job description. The results of self-reflection produce ideas for growth. Then, two or three others also complete the process. Their feedback enlarges the picture and should confirm your self-evaluation, and blind spots in job performance will show up. The discussions that arise from this body of information will lead to some realistic goal setting, some areas for improvement, and a sense of purpose and direction for the following months.

I saw the value of beginning with a job description that everyone agrees upon. I have not ever really sat down and pondered what my true job description is!
I saw the value of the employee being the initiator of the process. This puts the responsibility for growth where it belongs.
I also saw the value of the employee receiving input from more than just their direct supervisor, but from one or two other peers or clients who would know them well. Each one would have a different perspective.
I can see the importance of discussing the results with the evaluators for clarifying issues, and then for goal setting.

End of October, 2005
Job description written in first draft. The document draws from the "Duties of a Teacher" in the Education Act, and from the Ontario College of Teachers "Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession."

The Full Service School- Picture Day

Ahh, picture day...what more can I say?

In the ongoing effort to serve the interests of photographers, our school once again held our annual Picture Day, as do all other schools in the western world. But why, I ask? Why can't they all just go to Sears for their photos?

What drives school decision-making? "Literacy," we're told. Unless it's Picture Day. Then, everything goes right out the window, and organizational chaos quickly takes over in the middle school. The day begins with a staff photo, and we're all late getting to the doors when the bell rings. Throughout the day administrators, and sometimes even students man the P.A., interrupting classes repeatedly as they call the next bunch down for pics.

A student shows up at my door, "It's time for your advisor pic. They need you now." Problem- it's 5 minutes before end of class, and there's no adult assigned to replace me. What am I supposed to do? Beam me down to auditorium, Scotty! Ten minutes later, I'm done. The kids in my advisor were supposed to stay in the auditorium, but were told to go back to class. Problem: they are from 3 different classrooms! One of those teachers was expecting the kids to be in the auditorium, but half the class showed up in the classroom, while the rest wandered the halls trying to figure out where to go.

A little planning and forethought would sure go a long way. The photographer should be the one inconvenienced. They should have at least two group locations set up, maybe three. They could rent a camera or two. How about a slightly extended advisor time, so that advisor classes can be brought down by a student runner (no announcements required), lined up and done within 10 minutes. The whole photo thing should be done in half a day with minimal disruptions, or we shouldn't do it at all.

Who serves who in the school photo business?

Now, don't get me going about Helloween...

Things I Wanna Do, Part 2

I'd like to get a bunch of school baseball caps made up, and distribute them for free to every boy and adult male staff, father, guardian in our school community.

It pays to be a guy. There are way too many dumb guy TV commercials out there, don't you think?

Things I Wanna Do, Part 1

Make a "Welcome to our School" DVD that can be given to our guest teachers, our staff, job applicants, our parents and whoever else wants one. It would have a boy and a girl from each class in the cast. The kids would all have speaking parts and they would introduce the viewer to all the aspects of our school.

We have the technology, do we have any volunteers to make it happen?

Creativity: A Happy Place for Video

http://www.amandacongdon.com/car.mov
This link is for anyone who'd like to consider the creative energy unleashed when you give someone a video camera.

Things I'd Like Decisions On....

Here's my starter list:

1. Can we lobby for our kids to go to Wonderland this year? If not, why not?
   
2. We should decide what we want our hallways to be like during recess and between classes, and come up with a plan to make it happen.
3. We should dialague, discuss, decide and agree upon what is a "good, educational risk" so that when we make plans, they won't be vetoed.
4. What is the purpose of our 20 minute advisor time? Do we all agree? How will this time be spent in a meaningful way for our students?
   

Things I'd Like to Dialogue About...

This is my list, for starters:

1. What is the rationale for giving long explanatory announcements that interrupt teaching time? I can accept emergency calls to office, etc. (although even these may be largely unnecessary), but I would like to understand the educational, organizational reasons for these extra, unplanned amounts of information which constantly are delivered to our students via the PA.
2. What is the greatest fear we have as caregivers?
3. What is the greatest fear we have as teachers?
4. To be answered by administrators, what would be the worst thing that could happen in our school?
5. To be answered by administrators, what would be the best things that could happen in our school?
6. How do the adults in our school communicate their care for their students, and for each other? I'd like to hear everybody answer this one!
   

Adaptive Challenges

Reaching the goal of learning for all has proven impossible for most schools....... These technical solutions are based on current knowledge and usually have a limited long-term impact. If learning for all is to be a reality, schools must face adaptive challenges. These challenges require the staff to close the gap between aspiration and reality by going beyond their current way of operating. Schools are aligned to get the results they are getting. To improve the level of school and student success the staff must reconsider their purpose and align their actions. They must shift the school culture from teaching to learning, from command, control and comply to collaborate, from pass\fail to eliminating failure, and from learning by most to learning by all. This session will highlight the actions needed for the shift to occur.

Wayne Hulley, keynote speaker, Effective School Conference for board administrators, Nov. 3-4.

Using data to set goals, collaboratively

For some people, using data and setting goals is as natural as breathing and walking. Others find it frustrating and counter-intuitive. Regardless of your own personal orientation to goal setting, doing so in a team environment brings its own challenges and benefits. In this session you will learn a practical set of tools for collaborative goal setting based on your school's greatest areas of need. (more) Anne Conzemius, keynote speaker of upcoming Effective Schools Conference on Nov. 3-4

CULTURAL SHIFTS : Becoming a Professional Learning Community

CULTURAL SHIFTS : Becoming a Professional Learning Community - It has been said that the '80s was the decade of reforming schools and that the '90s was the decade of restructuring schools. Unfortunately, the evidence is clear that neither of these national trends made much difference in overall student achievement.... (more) Robert Eaker, keynote speaker

Our administrators will be hearing the message of "reculturing our schools" at the From Vision to Practice (Effective Schools) conference on Nov. 3-4.

We teachers will be invited to become a learning community, beginning with our September 29 early dismissal meeting. The documents and information are posted on First Class. Quite interesting... the goal is for us will be to develop a dialogue amongst ourselves about how to improve student learning in our building, to set a framework for success and a map to get there.

Terry Fox: Re-living 1980

I'm watching the show Terry on CTV about Terry Fox. It's wrecking me... the images, the cars...there's our old tent trailer....there's Trudeau.....there's April Wine singing Say Hello....there's Rush playing Closer to the Heart. Those Ontario and Quebec towns he runs through, I recognize them. It's all coming back to me now. 25 years ago I was enjoying my summer holidays in Oakville. Terry passed through Oakville in the early morning hours without much fanfare. I remember the picture in the Oakville Daily Journal Record. Later that day I put on my Teen Tour Band uniform because we were playing for the reception at the RBG. I saw Terry that day, but didn't realize that history was in the making.

"This isn't about me....kids are dying."

"I'm not gonna miss a step."

"The kids are the ones who keep me going."

Teacher Curriculum Resource Links

This is a nice list of good teacher sites, if you're stumped for ideas...
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/teachers/links.html

Switching to First Class email

All teachers must use the First Class email, starting this September. The First Class "client" is installed on all the school internet workstation. You'll find the shortcut to it in Bulletins > Programs. Your user ID is your first initial followed by your last name. If others in the board share the same first initial and last name, then you'll have to add your middle initial to the ID. For example, my ID is not gbrown, it is gtbrown because there is more than one "gbrown" in the HWDSB. To find out what your starting password is, email me.

To install First Class email client on your home computer.

1. The installation file is downloaded from this URL: http://w3.hwdsb.on.ca/resources/informationtechnology/software/fcsetup.exe
2. Save the file to your desktop or to some other location on your computer that you can locate.
3. To install, double click the file you saved.
4. The installer program will begin. Click Next > Next > Next > Finish to install.
5. Find the First Class icon on your Start menu.
6. Type your user ID and password. Click Login.

What shows up first is your "First Class Desktop". You'll notice a Mailbox there. Open it by double clicking. This is your Inbox.

Your new email address is yourfirstname.yourlastname@hwdsb.on.ca

For example, my email is glen.brown@hwdsb.on.ca

K-12 model computer curriculum

This document is from the Computer Science Teacher's Association: http://www.acm.org/education/k12/k12final1022.pdf

Teachers Get Ready!

Thus endeth the daze of summer. Six days before the kids return to class. I dunno about you, but I honestly NEED to get back into the classroom. My training and my profession have got me in the habit of thinking ahead and making plans for students...when there are no students, what are all my little brain cells supposed to do?

There's only so much puttering one can do around the house fixing this, painting that, tidying the other thing. Not to mention that $$ becomes an issue at this time.

So, today's task is to think back...what was one satisfying memory from your teaching last year?

For me, it was being able to take our school band to MusicFest, and to see them achieve a silver award. They worked so hard to get ready, and they did a great job.

How about you? Your comments are welcome.

Great Teacher Resource for teaching Recorder

http://www.angelfire.com/nb2/musicedresources/Record.html

Getting Your Mouthpieces Clean

Teachers of instrumental music are looking for an easy routine for disinfecting mouthpieces. With a high volume of students moving through the classroom and more than one student using an instrument, the mouthpieces still need to be soaked in disinfectant for sufficient time.

These pictures show the basic steps and equipment needed to do a soaking and rinsing of instrument mouthpieces.

The items were all purchase at Dollarama.

The steps are as follows:

1. Have the students place their mouthpieces in the basket which will immerse them in the disinfectant.
   
   
2. After the designated time for disinfecting, lift the basket out and rinse under water.
   
   
3. Put the basket on the drainage tray.
4. Brass and woodwind mouthpieces can be separated. The mouthpiece rack is actually a tie rack but it should hold brass or woodwind mouthpieces.

The brush's small end is for scrubbing out inside mouthpieces as needed.

Please add your comments and questions so I can keep this relevant and to all. First question: What is the disinfectant that meets the approval of the Public Health department?

Steve Jobs' Speech: Stay Hungry; Stay Foolish

Steven Jobs, original inventor of Apple Computers, speaking to graduating class of Stanford University this spring.

Quote #1
You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.

Quote #2
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life...

Quote #3
Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers.

Quote #4
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice.

This is the text of the [Stanford University] Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005. For the full (brief) text, go here.

My own Return to Flight

The plane is one I started building about 25 years ago, it's called Minnie Mambo. Time flies... It uses a little .049 cubic inch 2 stroke engine. The radio control gear is now in place and I'm ready to try it out.

The rocket was built last winter and has yet to be flown. I'm hoping to get permission to do it for the students at school. Should fly to over 1000 feet.

Model Aeronautics Club, anyone?

Mental Institutions as movie themes

Well now, there's a leap. Yesterday I viewed One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Heard lots about it and now finally have seen it, mainly because of seeing Jack Nicholson in other more recent movies such as As Good As It Gets and Something's Gotta Give.


They say that good comedic actors also make excellent psychopathic characters. The true comedic minds are connected deeply to all parts of being human, I guess.

Anyway, Nicholson explores the vast amount of grey area (grey matter?) between being normal and being crazy in all three of these movies.

What strikes me is that very often, the person who is most repulsive, most poorly behaved and rough around the edges is the one who holds the key to meaning. As quick as we are to avoid such people, they will not let themselves be easily avoided! We lose out by shunning or trying to "protect" ourselves from them. The best we can do is accept them for who they are; the worst we can do is dehumanize them, as illustrated by the mental institution in Cuckoo's nest.

The institutional damage done to people shown in the Cuckoo's Nest is disturbing, especially when you consider that thousands of lobotomies were performed back in those days. The story of actress Frances Farmer comes to mind. There's a movie called Frances starring Jessica Lange which I'm told is extremely powerful. Rain Man with Dustin Hoffman is another. Any others? There was an oldie with Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman if anyone can help me with the name of it.

What are other "mental institution movies" that we should add to this list?

As teachers, what can we learn from them?

Speaking of Authority and Lunchroom

This is the definition of authority:

1. 1. The power to enforce laws, exact obedience, command, determine, or judge.
   2. One that is invested with this power...

What is needed is a complete outworking of our authority as teachers and staff within the school environment.

Authority doesn't mean just "exact obedience, command." It also means to "determine, judge." The true outworking of our authority must include a full discussion and agreement together about what kind of school we want for our students. How do we want to interact with our students? We determine together how this will be done. We make judgements together as teachers about the type of environment we will create together for our students.

There are some situations where our authority is not consistently reflected within the school. Part of the cause of this is because of change in routines, change in room assignments, change in personnel. Part of the cause is also that we don't have a firm sense of agreement about "how we want our school to be." Then, when one attempts to bring "new" and seemingly arbitrary rules and procedures into that situation, there is resistance. If we do not work out how and where our authority as teachers needs to be exercised, then we will run into problems. For example, in our grade seven lunchroom a system was set up where one teacher was responsible for supervising a group of 30-75 grade sevens. A few rules were set in place as the basis for order and decency in the room. It became obvious very soon that some of the kids didn't feel any ownership for the rules, since one of them brazenly tore the sheets off the wall, much to the delight of many! We overlooked the imporant role of inclusion. That is, we didn't include the students in the discussion of the new rules and procedures.

This is from my journal of June 15. You can see the frustration I'm facing because of having no sense of authority:

I was steamed at lunch time, because of trying to supervise our ridiculous grade 7 lunch room by enforcing the agreed upon rules, ie. sit in your assigned seat, stay seated while eating, converse quietly, permission to move is given only when all garbage is cleaned up. The kids have not been held to these rules that were agreed upon a few short weeks ago, so now they just sit wherever they want. And I don't blame them--the kids don't see the big deal about sitting wherever. They've not had the opportunity to understand the issues at stake, ie. attendance, safety, cleanliness of the room. A few people in authority made up the rules, but didn't build an understanding of the rationale for the rules with kids. Some in authority did not enforce the rules, or silently disagreed with them in the first place. Good grief, if we can't take the time to come up with and enforce a simple set of lunchroom procedures and guidelines, where will we end up?

My sarcastic, pessimistic view:
Quit hammering on the rules. The kids need input and some sense of control. Just be nice to the kids and it’ll all work out. Let them sit where they want, move when they want. Doesn’t matter if attendance taking is a sham. Doesn’t matter if dozens of kids are not where they ought to be during lunch time for the simple purpose of taking attendance. Doesn't matter that a few kids will be slobs and throw food and garbage, or just leave it on the floor. As long as they can be with their friends that’s all that matters. They’re reasonable people. It’s no big deal, right? We aren't trying to be control freaks!

Problem is, this lack of organizational cohesion from those in authority wreaks havoc elsewhere. We end up in our classrooms with all sorts of situations, kind of like education on demand. We give an assignment in class. We give due dates. We give ample work time in class. Then, when someone actually enforces a due date and holds the kids to the rules, there’s a mad scramble. Some will demand extra time. They will expect the teacher to be be flexible and go the extra mile, or stay after school and teach the lesson again. Or they will ask to stay in at recess to do the work. "Adjust yourselves to me! My needs and my way of doing things are what matters." Hey, children, if you want flexibility on the one hand and cooperation, then you’ve got to quit arguing and resisting on the other! Don’t turn a simple lunch time routine into a war over your convenience of seating. And teachers, we had better get our heads together over this lunch room stuff and the many other procedures and expectations we work with.

We need to become very adept at setting up systems and ways of doing things that are manageable, and that reflect our care and authority to provide for our students, and that also considers their needs and their value as people.

What kind of school do we want to work in? Shouldn't it be a place where the kids and the adults work together and aren't in contest with each other over who's in charge?

Our challenge is to work out our authority together, justly and for the benefit of our students.
GB

Building Resilience in Kids: Tribes

Tribes: Author Jeanne Gibbs

Amazon Books has it

Excerpts from chapter 4

If a person does not feel included, he/she will create his/her own inclusion by grabbing influence-- attracting attention, creating a controversy, demanding power, or withdrawing into a passive belligerence.

When one has no stake in the way things are, when one’s needs or opinons are provided no forum, when one sees oneself as an object of unilateral actions, it takes no particular wisdom to suggest one would rather be elsewhere. -- Seymour Sarason

The result and response from people in this environment is either "fight or flight." Act out or drop out. Teachers do this as well as kids!

This is organizational dis-ease, a plague in any system that is “still managed through top-down authoriatarian methods that only provide inclusion and influence for the manager, principal, boss, or leader.”

Tribes groups are like closed membership small groups. They are long-term care groups, not just short term task groups. In short term, open-membership groups it is harder to develop trust and a sense of security.

The key idea in Tribes is that of transferring of leadership from the teacher to the groups. It is based on the value of the kids and the belief that they are capable people who can manage themselves and help each other.

Facilitator: “one who makes it easy.”


First step: Inclusion

In order for inclusion to occur, and bring about the feelings of peace and self-worth that come with it, the following three opportunities must be provided:

• Each person needs to be able to introduce herself, not just by stating a name but offering a short description of her feelings, interests, resources, talents or special qualitities.
• Each person needs to be able to express his hopes or expectations for what will happen during the group’s time together.
• Each person needs to be acknowledged by the group as having been heard, appreciated, and welcomed.
  

The process of inclusion involves balancing persons and tasks.

The use of “trial tribes” is appropriate, where groups or three or pairs can interact and find inclusion. Being included and feeling included is a basic human need. The time spent on building this into a group is time well spent.


Next step: Influence

To the extent that each person does not feel important in a classroom or organization, commitment and motivation decrease.

Instead of having group members wrestle for influence, the skilled facilitator provides a selection of strategies that help people to:

• express diverse attitudes, opinions, positions and feelings
• put forth ideas without others passing judgement; help people to respect individual differences
• use participatory methods for decision making so that all members feel they are influential and of value to the group
• help members share leadership responsibility
  

Conflicts are a necessary component of the dynamic process. Some strategies for dealing with them are reflection, discussion, role reversal, state feelings clearly, group members give constructive feedback, step by step problem solving, negotiation of an individual’s priorities.

During this stage, the facilitator supports the tribes as they work on their own. Circulate, get verbal reports. If the facilitator sits down with a group the dynamic changes instantly. The focus reverts to the teacher, instead of the tribe members.

You will know that you are in a community if you often hear laughter and singing. You will know you are in an institution or bereaucracy if you hear the silence of long halls and the intonations of formal meetings. -- John Mcknight

[What do I see in our school? The laughter is in the halls between classes. The kids have created their own tribes and their own communities. Their value is found within the tribes of their own creation: circles of friends, peer groups. The kids who are in such groups have a sense of belonging. The leaders of these groups no doubt find them very satisfying. What parts of this group dynamic are to be kept? Why can’t these skills and benefits be brought into the classroom? Is it because of the deeply set belief that the classroom stuff is not important, and not satisfying? There is no connection with who I am and what I’m interested in. . . Our challenge is to learn from the group dynamics that already exist, and to adapt our classroom environments to include them in our learning.”]

Interdependence and connection to others is key to human development, learning and the accomplishment of task.


Step three: Community

Indicators of community:

• capacity of each member is recognized and brought forth
• collective effort is achieved through including everyone, sharing responsibilities
• informality of transactions, based on caring and affection and consideration
• stories are generated of accomplishments, lessons and future desires
• celebration of achievement blurs the line between work and play as people enjoy both at once
  

The caring community we long for doesn’t just happen; it can be intentionally developed. It depends upon any group of people deliberately creating inclusion for all members, and working through the nitty-gritty issues of influence.

Creating community requires

• dedication to resolving rather than avoiding uncomfortable problems and conflicts that begin to separate members
• learning and practicing the skills that enable collaboration
• agreements about how we will treat each other
• time to reflect on how well we are doing
  

Once a group has gone through adversity together, its members become filled with confidence that they can handle whatever comes their way. This is the path to RESILIENT relationships, creativity and outstanding results!

Movies: Under Tuscan Sun and Antwone Fisher

These movies are about finding freedom from your past. The first is about a divorcee who moves to Italy and buys and house, fixes it up, etc. all the while working out her pain from her divorce. The second is about a navy man who ends up in counselling over his anger. His challenge is to work through an abusive, parentless childhood and to ultimately reconnect with his lost family. He had to face the abusers, tell them he is alive and strong, and ask the mother who abandoned him why she did it. The first movie takes us on a pathway to freedom that involves letting go and letting things happen. The second movie take us on a pathway to freedom that involves retelling, and then ultimately reconnecting. The first character needs to rediscover her life in a new setting, the second character needs to go back and rediscover his life in its original setting. The redemptive meaning of the stories is expressed in two opposite directions.

This is what growth and freedom are about: finding the balance and the wisdom between letting go and holding on; knowing what to hold onto more than anything else, and knowing what to let go of.

A free-spirited character in the first movie said, “Live life spherically, in all directions.” The same character also said, “Keeping your childlike innocence is more important than anything else.”

Doing Reports: Continuous Improvement Required

Here are my recommendations up front:

1. Plan out the time lines for next year NOW, in JUNE. We need to set these dates for each term: end of marking;due dates for all marks and comments; report card printing DAY for draft copies; next due date for all corrections; printing DAY for final copies.
2. Get everyone to use email for file transfer if working at home, and stop relying on floppy disks.
3. If a teacher can't do email transfer, then they must work at school.
   

Analysis of the present (difficult) situation:

We've got administrators finding mistakes that teachers should have caught. We've got teachers arriving at school with no data, or faulty data, and having to return home again because the deadline has passed. And, we've got the report card facilitator spending hours doing corrections that should have been taken care of by teachers.

The task of printing report cards is not a difficult task, nor should it consume more than a half a day. BUT, when the data does not come in at the same time, but instead it arrives piecemeal over a two week time period, with blurred time lines for drafts and finals, the task becomes a silly run around that takes all day for several days. This is because teachers are doing work under gun of time pressure and everything needs to be printed ASAP. Time lines go quickly to pieces when the data set is incomplete. One missed data set holds up the hold process.

We need realistic, comfortable deadlines that allow teachers and administrators the time to successfully transfer data and proofread. Printing should occur all at once.

The report card administrator should not be making corrections and reprints constantly over many days. All corrections should be caught by teachers and administrators after first draft printouts, data resubmitted after teachers make corrections on their eTeacher, then the final printouts are produced.

Here are some other observations:

• some teachers are uncomfortable with submitting data in specific ways, especially by email
  
• We should consider having some of our comments pre-approved. A little forethought on the comments we are going to use in our reports, and careful design of our comment library, would eliminate MOST of the editing problems.
  
• we should work more to build our comment library, and learn to export and save libraries of comments.
  
• our training on eTeacher can be sharpened: submitting data files, moving data files, emailing data files, backing up files, using floppy disks appropriately (ie. for back up only)
  
• many grad tasks should be done earlier in the year: e.g. grad certificates, subject awards.
  

Any comments?

Report Card Trivia

Number of sheets of paper used: 3000
Cost of one toner cartridge for school printer: $275
Number of toner cartridges used: 1

Number of teachers relying on floppy disks for file transfer: 9
Number of teachers who successfully used "TAB done" folder: 5
Number of teachers using email to send data: 3
Number of teachers who needed direct assistance to transfer data files: 3

Time required to configure staff teaching profiles and class lists: 12 hours
Time required to import your configuration and class lists to eTeacher: 3 minutes
Time required to reassign a class of kids to another teacher: 20 minutes

Time required for one teacher to submit data file to TAB done folder: 3 minutes
Time required for report card administrator to track down a floppy disk not handed in: 1 hour

Approximate number of times I have sat down to print various sets and subgroups of report cards over the past two weeks: 20
Number of times I would prefer to sit down and print report cards per term: 2 (one draft, one final)

Total estimated staff hours required to produce report cards: 25staff X 10hours = 250 staff hours

Time required to administer report cards in June 2005: ongoing over two weeks, 10 half/days
Time actually required to print report cards if deadlines were realistic, enforced, if proof-reading included administrators well ahead of printing date, and there were not data transfer problems: 2 half/days

Any comments?

Teacher Gripped by Flear of Floppies

True confessions of a muddle manager

Think about it. Report cards are one of the truest, regular tests of our teamwork as a staff, especially in the middle school, but also in the primary and junior departments. It is a task we share in common, it exercises our too-often flaccid technology muscle, and it’s a great opportunity to interact, problem solve and improve our time management. We should reflect on how well we do it.

Tracking the Data Krunch

The Data Krunch is a catch-all term for the managing of data files, setting and meeting of deadlines, proof-reading, corrections, paper flow and signatures.

Teacher gripped by fear of floppy disks

You wouldn’t believe how satisfying it is to be able to sit down at the computer and have TAB files sitting in the "TAB done" folder ready for import, all at one time.
It is second only to the pure joy of checking my email and seeing a data file attached to an email message saying, "Here’s my data!"
Honestly, I hate floppy disks. They’ve saved my life a few times, but I still hate them. I fear the loss of data when we rely on floppies as our main method of data transfer.
Floppy disks are unreliable. Computer floppy disk drives are unreliable. They gather dust. Kids stick junk in them. The disks get damaged or demagnetized.
If you are not able to transfer files by email, then transfer your data file into the "TAB done" folder. Keep your floppy disk. This way you safeguard your data, and you can rest assured that I will find it when I need it. No need to keep track of your disk or chase me for it.

Any comments?

The Count of Monte Cristo

This is another redemptive story that follows a man through a life of trials through injustice and a wrongful prison sentence.

It reminds me of The Shawshank Redemption. Both movies have a spiritual theme that shows up, unexpectedly, through the main character's agonizing endurance of years of physic pain, physical pain and suffering and isolation. Both men make an important friend in prison, who gives them hope enough to make it. These friends become the arm of God, even though faith in God is nonexistent. The hope of the friendship carries them through to a better place.

I have a few friends who are like that to me. Precious few. They have not judged me, but have just been there at critical moments. They have affirmed me as a person. JD, MF, LM, GB, DD. These people are gifts not to be forgotten.

Maybe I'll be that friend to someone else some day.

My Careers Unit is going to start with this!

The US Department of Labour's List of Occupational Titles. Unbelievable. Definitely would start many kids thinking in new ways about what to do when they grow up!

http://www.occupationalinfo.org/dot_index.html

Interactive Map of Wars since 1900

This is a startling visualization:
http://nobelprize.org/peace/educational/conflictmap/conflictmap.html

Kids are always a Surprize

It's a day after grad, and the grade eights now have finished the race. They're free. They don't have to come to school, but a few of them always do. They hang around getting teachers' autographs in their year books.

Two of them showed up in parkas with the hoods up. The temperature was 35 C. They said it feels cool when you take them off. OK, I get it.

Surprising, but wonderful, to hear them say thank you for the way graduation went. "Thank you" is the most beautiful sound in the world.

A Beaker, A Frog & A Bunsen Burner

We are getting really good at this report card thing. Everyone hit the deadline today. Thanks everyone!

Still hot and humid today. The custodian popped into the computer lab and said the high temperature is a health and safety concern. Ten minutes later the principal came in and made a pronouncement that something should have happened last week but didn't. I felt like a wet towel in there. We shall wait and see what will happen...

Teaching and Learning of a Different Sort

The temperature hit about 95 in the computer lab today. People weren't moving too quickly. Amazing how most kids when you work closely and quietly with them will respond positively and get on board. One student today who had not been engaged in the activity produced 3 pages once I showed him how to get started!

Another boy was going ballistic because certain others were standing in front of "his" fan. He was responding by taking things of theirs and throwing them out in the hallway. Can you believe it? They eventually cooled off, but the room didn't.

Cultural Research Web Sites

This grade seven project requires students to use the templates provided and an HTML editor to add content, in this case Claris Home Page.

My templates include a frameset menu on the left side. So, the kids don't have to worry about creating the menu, etc. in this case. They just add the contents to each page, and save with the same file name that I created, so all the links work.

The final step today was to create a start-up web page for the subject teacher. She just has to open up this web page from the school server, find the student's name on the list and BINGO, their web site opens up! She is planning to use the projector in her classroom and have the students present their research on the big screen, with NO PAPER.

What's the next logical step? I think it is to go beyond the written word and static images of these web pages, into the realm of sound and motion. For example, create a Tour Guide character who takes you on a tour of your country. Record voice messages that will playback on the web page when clicked, etc.

Memory Books in Progress. It's a Miracle!

This is so amazing. The grade 8's owning the task of creating their own memory book. This is a job that I spent about 25 hours completing last year outside of class time, and now it's happening IN class time. The quality of work is outstanding. Grade eights grow up too late!

I've amassed a large collection of pics onto our school web server, where the kids can access them. They browse and save what images they want to use.

File transfer works great through upload into First Class. The kids then have access to the files to use them to build their pages using MS Publisher.

A few kids have responded to the challenge of creating original content. One student has created an awesome poetry page. Someone else is creating original artwork.

They're Done! First set of Stop-Time Animations...

After 3 weeks of work, our grade eights have pulled it together and completed the sound tracks for their stop-time animations.

20 groups, 20 projects, boiled down to 25 minutes of finished product.

Camtasia Studio worked great to create the final collection. A designated area of the computer screen is assigned for recording. The Flash .swf movie is played and quickly moved into the recording area. The cool thing, totally by accident, was that you can record the mouse clicking on the file name, which makes a cool start to each movie event!

The finished movie clips become .avi files, which were then timelined into a continuous movie. The big file, also an .avi, was then imported into Adobe Premier for some final editing before being burned to a DVD.

Job Description of an Information Technology Contact, as I see it...

The following list describes things I have done on a regular basis as an ITC. All of it is considered by my employer to be voluntary activity. That is, there is no payment given for any of this work. Release time is provided for completion of the report card setup. Other report card tasks may be granted release time on a case by case basis, as negotiated between my principal and myself.

Report card administration:

• establish report card profiles based on teaching assignments and configure the relational report card database to reflect them
• receive student lists and import them into the report card database
  
• monitor and adjust profiles as teaching assignments change
• add and remove students from the database as they join and leave the school roster
  
• distribute teacher data for their eTeacher report card preparation
  
• receive teacher data through various means after report cards are written
  
• assist and instruct teachers in data transfer methods
• assist and instruct teachers in troubleshooting data transfer
  
• train and coach in the use of eTeacher
• discuss comment building, assessment philosophies, work flow strategies for reporting
• assist the principal in establishing workable deadlines for marks and comments
• print, sort and distribute report card draft copies
• print, sort and distribute report card final copies
• be available to assist the teachers during all editing stages
• maintain the database between report card seasons by backing up data, updating new arrivals, making profile changes
• assist the principal in analysing data using Repsum and by converting files to user friendly format
• archive data files at end of each reporting period, and year end

Teacher support, technology management:

• facilitate and support integration of ICT (Information and Computer Technology) into all subject areas at all grade levels, using the IT Connections material as a resource
  
• support and encourage teacher initiatives to use ICT for themselves and their students
  
• coordinate teacher interaction and sharing about using ICT
• answer teacher inquiries about Information Place, and First Class email client
  
• receive system emails, distribute in-service announcements to teachers
• receive and distribute quarterly copies of Teaching and Technology magazine to staff
• report any computer or equipment failures and repairs to the Help Desk
• respond and liaise with the technical repair staff as they arrive on site
• unpack and setup new computer equipment for special education classrooms
• install new equipment and software on special ed. computers
• unpack and setup new printers and digital cameral software for special ed. teachers

• form a school IT committee each year comprised of myself, the principal or vice-principal, a teacher representative from each division, the teacher-librarian and other interested parties
  
• formulate a school plan for the use of ICT by teachers and students, including plans for acquisition/purchase of equipment if appropriate. To do this properly would require meetings and input from school stakeholders: School Council, administration, teacher representatives from each department, LRT, community, budget committee, Home and School. The purpose of the plan is to ensure that the equipment and software is put to the best use within the overall school plan. The plan should also identify target dates, expenditures, who is responsible for what tasks and a strategy for evaluation. The plan should be distributed and monitored by the IT committee

Tasks that support the school program and special events:

• assist in publishing projects such as our memory book for graduating students
• support and assist in printing of graduation award certificates, achievement award certificates, citizenship certificates, etc.
  
• other examples: personal ID cards for reward assembly, signs and banners for events
• audio recording and videotaping of student performances. Churchill S. S. performance was recorded onto a CD, and a mini DVD movie of the event was produced as a thank you gift to the band director
• take digital photos of school activities as requested. For example, school dances, recreational activities, twins day, jump rope for heart
• edit and prepare photo batches for publication on school website
  
• set up LCD projector for auditorium presentations requiring it, e.g. kindergarten information session, reward days movie activities

Create, maintain and update the school's web site

Teaching good art lessons.

Marvin Bartel, author of 9 Creativity Killers, also has this list of helpful lesson guidelines:
http://www.goshen.edu/art/ed/1st-day.html

If I screw up here....

Quoting actor Steve Martin as the father of 12 kids in "Cheaper by the Dozen" as he resigns from his dream job as high powered football coach:

"If I screw up with my family, nothing else I've done will matter."

Technical Writing

So much software, so many possibilities, so little time...
This is the crunch of the technical writer/event promotor.
By the time the instructions are written and in the hands of the students, the work time will upon us. But, if I don't get the documentation together, no one knows what the heck is going on! I'm working at getting the Animation project materials together, and eventually will put them on line.

While I'm doing the technical writing, I'm thinking of other possibilities around the "closing event" that will help bring deeper meaning and motivation to the students: the Animation Awards. This event has tons of potential.

I designed a poster for the Viscount Montgomery Animation Awards, which will also be the front page of the Awards program. Flash of inspiration: get on the phone to the big guys at Macromedia and personally invite them to the Awards. OH yeah, and also the Director of Education Chris Spence...who else should we invite? Local software and hardware sellers? Future shop rep? How about if we asked them for some prizes? Advertise in the program? Probably should invite my mom and dad, and all of the parents. That means a letter home...

Dear parents and guardians of our grade 8 animators,

An Invitation

The Viscount Montgomery Animation Awards are coming! This year marks the eighth consecutive year of animation creation at Viscount Montgomery School. Your grade eight child has been working hard over the past weeks to complete a multi-task, multi-media project that uses the latest computer technology and taps into their imagination and creativity.

We'd like to invite you to attend our special awards ceremony on June 7 at 10 AM in the auditorium of Viscount Montgomery School.

Our June awards ceremony will showcase the finished animation movies, and will include some special guests, prizes and refreshments.

We hope to see you there, in support of your child's work, if you can make it!

Sincerely,




Mr. Brown and Mrs. Berneche
Viscount Montgomery School Staff

Nine Creativity Killers Again

#1. I Kill Creativity when I encourage Renting (borrowing) instead of Owning ideas.
# 2. I Kill Creativity when I Assign Grades without providing Informative Feedback.
# 3. I Kill Creativity when I allow Cliché Symbols to substitute for Original or Observed Representation of Experience.
# 4. I Kill Creativity when I Demonstrate instead of having students Practice.
# 5. I Kill Creativity when I Show an Example instead of Defining a Problem.
# 6. I Kill Creativity when I Praise Neatness and Conformity more than Expressive Original work.
# 7. I Kill Creativity when I give Freedom without Focus
# 8. I Kill Creativity by Making Suggestions instead of asking Open Questions.
# 9. I Kill Creativity if I Give an Answer instead of teaching Problem Solving methods.

Flash Animations

Can't wait to see the final results of these grade eight animation projects. The quality of the images is outstanding. We're getting good results using the Canon ZR20 digital camcorder on stop-time. The digital video is imported into Adobe Premier, and then the clip is sped up to about 800 fps. This gets the animation moving.

After that, the movie is exported as .avi, then imported into Flash MX.

In Flash, the students will add the layers of sound.

We're using the Windows Sound Recorder as much as possible. First Class will help us move files around from one student to the next.

Flash is an excellent tool for these movies. The playback is completely resizable and plays on any PC.

I'm Baaack!


Traced with Flash MX. It's me, but not really me...


Plasma Links

http://www.plasmas.org/rot-plasmas.htm
This explains and compares plasma to solid, liquid, and gaseous states.

http://www.flattvpeople.com/tutorials/plasma-applications.asp


http://www.plasmacoalition.org/events.htm
Coalition for Plasma Science Home Page

http://www.plasmacoalition.org/news.htm
Issues of Plasma News Archives, html and pdf

Compare a Teacher to a Doctor

Which was has more authority over their client? Is it the doctor who has the ability to save the life, or is it the teacher who has the ability to give quality to the life that was saved?

They are both helpless without each other. The doctor, as serious as the role is, knows the patient only briefly, and excercises authority for a brief time...the teacher, on the other hand, cultivates a relationship with the student over a considerably longer time, and has a much greater potential influence.

I Found the Song

They're gonna be falling apart, blubbering in the aisles because this song is sooooo sentimental and touching: "Fly" by Sara Groves. I was balling my eyes out just hearing it and imagining all the pics of my mom and dad and us as babies in their arms...marriage is all one great big love song when you boil it all down. 50 years of marriage boils down to one phrase: "I love you..really!"

I'll have to grab the lyrics for you. Here ya go!

Speak in a summer tone
Pause in the after glow
Tenderly whisper my name
Tell me once again why I am your bride
So I can fly
So I can fly

Pause in your busy day
Look extra long my way
Wink at me across the room
Kiss me longer
Touch my arm when I am by your side
So I can fly
So I can fly

Oh how the little things
Strengthen my tiny wings
Help me to take on the world
When you love me there's nothing I wouldn't try
I might even fly
I might even fly
I might even fly

We are so lucky to have seen what love means.
Thanks mom and dad.
Love your son.

Export Data from http://strategis.ic.gc.ca

These links give some of the summarized data that may help plan the simulation...

Canadian Total Exports

Canadian Total Exports

Canadian Domestic Exports

Canadian Domestic Exports

Simulated World Market for Grade Sixes

Topic: Canada and It's Trading Partners Simulated World Market

Concept: Simulate the process of selling Canadian products to overseas buyers, and purchasing products from overseas sellers.

Give kids knowledge of products, countries, the process for buying and selling and a bunch of fake 1 000 000 dollar bills. Their task: to go "abroad" and purchase the goods that Canada will be importing this year. They will be equipped with an Importers Shopping List, clipboards and a hat that has a Canadian Flag on it. They make their trip to another country, which is actually a booth with a couple of people at it, and they offer to buy products that the country sells.

Another group will represent Canadian producers: exporters. These people will also travel abroad and sell Canadian products to countries that need them.

Each country has its own "market profile" of what it needs to sell, and what it needs to buy. Of course, there can only be so much product available, perhaps not quite enough to meet the demand... (need to think about this). For example, Canadian softwood lumber, or Canadian newsprint would be in demand in several countries. The Canadian exporters would shop around to get the best price.

Logo: SIM stands for Simulated, and also Simplified. It could also be an acronym that stands for Successful International Mission or something like that. How about we try to design a logo for the event? Who could we invite to watch? Who would we communicate what we learn to? Is this something that should be photographed or videotaped?

Research: Needs to be done by the teachers to boil down the international trade stats into digestible bits of information. The teachers must design the game from start to finish, and create a workable set of rules and parameters for all participants. Job descriptions need to be written for every role played. Each role has evaluation tied to it driven by learning expectations. Each participant must somehow demonstrate an understanding of "Canada and It's Trading Partners." They must each be familiar with the basic facts about the products and the processes of importing and exporting.

Interesting that the Curriculum Unit uses the word "Partners." Do we always view our customers and suppliers as partners? A business partner is someone who is on your side. But recently, the U. S. has been no partner of ours when they refuse to buy some of our products! This would be a higher thinking level question.

March Break: What the Heck??

Since when does Hawaiin Tropicals have an interest in extreme beach partying and pushing young adults to the limits of their conscience?

Huh?

Training is Love

It's so hard to train a kid. You get so caught up in correcting the behaviour, again and again, that you lose the joy in the relationship. It becomes cast more as a contest of wills than as a friendship.

"To love a child is to train him," is what my wife said in response.

"But it will be so long before we see the benefits of this kind of love. It may be a lifetime before our training, feeble and inconsistent as it is, will produce fruit; even then it will only be by God's grace."

We both were left feeling that it is the only way to be the parents God wants us to be. We will train our children as God enables us. God help us!

Just Keep Breathing: Cast Away Movie and Hope

Watched Tom Hanks in Cast Away the other day.

Interesting movie: A guy, after surviving alone for four years on a deserted island with only a tiny picture of his fiancee in a watch she gave him, gets rescued and returns to his home town and meets the woman who he had proposed to four years earlier, but now she's married another guy. Awkward moment. Reality check.

"I shouldn't have gotten on that plane," he says with 20-20 hindsight.

He wisely acknowledges that the woman must stay with her husband and young child. Faced with this great loss, he calls to question whether or not he was a fool to hold out hope that turned out to be false.

He finally tries to express the meaning of four years of keeping alive, and tries to put into words the source of the hope: "'Just keep breathing, keep breathing' I told myself over and over again," and he would remember that she loved him. That is what carried him. But now, that he's been brought home, the hope has to be exchanged for a different one.

Hope is expressed in many ways. God uses hope to pull us in different directions, sometimes to simply keep us alive.

Without hope I die.

Pizza Guy Debit Failure

Oh no.
My debit card wouldn't work in the swiper thing that the pizza guy brought to the door. What is the meaning of this?? Must be true: my debit card is WORN OUT from over use.

Thanks Bren, for loaning yours in its place

Make a Duct Tape Wallet

http://www.3m.com/intl/CA/english/centres/home_leisure/duct_tape/dt_wallet.html

Sherlock Holmes Quote (more or less)

After the elimination of all impossibilities, then what remains is the possible, as unlikely as it may seem to be.

Forensic Science as Lesson Planner

Forensics-- what is it?
It's a search for evidence to confirm a belief. The belief comes first. That's the hypothesis. A hunch based on some previous knowledge or experience, but still it's a guess.

The process is key: As the facts become clear through the science of uncovering truth (observable facts), some answers are found, but more questions arise. Actually, the more facts are found, the more accurate the questions become. The process can be restated as a progressive refining and narrowing of the questions. When you ask the right question, you'll get the right answer!

Even the best forensic process can be wrong. TV shows like CSI would have us believe that forensics answer all the questions without doubt. But quite often, it's up to the court to decide. Even then, a certain amount of belief is called upon, and ultimately the verdict is delivered based upon belief: "Does the jury find the defendant guilty or not guilty?"

So here's my idea: Plan a history unit or even an entire course around the model stated above.

1. Start with "the crime."
2. Search for motives.
3. Pose a hypothesis.
4. Check and pursue factual evidence.
5. Evaluate the evidence, deciding where there is little doubt, and where there is much.

What is your event?

"It makes little difference how fast you are in the 100 meters when the race is 400 meters long." - Gordon MacDonald

So, don't compare yourself to someone else; they may be training for a completely different event!

We Won a Silver!

Talk about a thrill... our band from Viscount Montgomery won a silver award at Musicfest yesterday. They did such a great job! I'm so proud of this group, I'm just bustin' my buttons.

We played O'Canada, Eagle Summit March and Ode to Joy. The adjudicator turned out to be Laura Thomas, a former colleague from McMaster days.

One of the kids, when he noticed that there was a comaraderie amongst all the music teachers and band directors, and that we all seemed to know each other, said, "You guys are like Jedi knights; a special elite corps."

"Yes," I replied. "For the good of all."

We got to hear Ken's group from Helen Detweiler. They were great and won a gold! Many of our kids were impressed by the excitement of the music and were trying to get me to do more interesting music when we got back to school. Then, on the bus they made me promise to look into getting band T-shirts, and silver medals to go with them, oh yeah and don't forget the celebration pizza party!

Am I too old for this? No! I just have to imagine my own kids and what I desire for them, and it's a lot easier to keep at it. Lord, help me to stay close to your heart's desire and be the music teacher you want me to be. It's not about me; it'a all about you.

Thank you, Lord, for such a wonderful experience yesterday, (and thanks for sending Ken to give me a boot in the pants when I most needed it.)

Thanks for the parents who helped out. Thanks for the courteous bus driver. Thanks for the three helpful volunteers from St. Catharines Collegiate who helped us find our way around: Lisa, Beth and Cynthia. And thanks to Steve Fralick for allowing our late entry into the festival. Thanks that all the kids got home safe and sound, and thanks that the girl who almost lost her backpack was able to retrieve it.

There are mercies and goodness on every side.

My son is a cadillac when it comes to music

I know I'm biased, but I'm repeating what my son's piano teacher said today, "We've got lots of Fords and Chevy's come through, but not many Cadillacs. You're son's a Cadillac." I think he was referring to Ian's ability to learn by hearing. He has a very strong pitch and melodic memory. The teacher suggested that Ian be putting his singing voice to good use. Are there any good boy's choirs in Hamilton? Unfortunately not... So, for now we'll just continue to do the piano lessons, and sing our five part blessing at every meal. I've heard dozens of creative reharmonizations and modal treatments, even polytonal renditions of "God our Father". It's hilarious; sometimes we all are so tired, or grumpy, that we can barely find the desire to sing. But Elinor usually gets us kick-started. Maybe someday we'll try something more ambitious.

Wow, my notebook PC works

As if anyone cares, I'm typing this on my newly internet-ready laptop. If nothing else I enjoy being able to sit in a comfy chair while I work!

Hopefully we won't starve because I spent 50 bucks on the PCMCIA ethernet adapter. My son looked at the price at asked, "Dad why don't you buy me a GameBoy SE?"

We agreed to split the cost at sometime in the not too distant future.

Internet Filtering in the Classroom

The only ongoing "problem" I have is with Launch.yahoo. We banned MSN Messenger at our school; a few kids have been secretly attempting to use it with heavy consequences. Some have found other instant messenging/chat sites. The number of kids who see the computers as a plaything for games, music and communication with friends is overwhelming. It is an ongoing challenge to convince kids that the computer is a tool for learning and self-expression and communication. The internet filtering piece is important; it's a constant reminder to the kids that they are being watched over, but its necessity should diminish as kids have a good, educational reason to be using the computers.

Band Trip Coming Up

Friday is the day! We're going to MusicFest in St. Catharines.

We had a practise this morning at 7:45 and almost all the kids showed up! This is so exciting...
They are working hard, and it's sounding really good considering the short time frame we've been working with to prepare.

I still believe that a short, intense band season is the way to go at this school. So many of the kids are involved in other areas and other teams.

I'll be tickled if we achieve a Bronze Award at MusicFest. If we can manage the dynamics and phrasing and have good stage conduct, then we've got a chance, although our selections are very brief. The other stickler is that no photocopied scores are permitted, so I'm gonna hand the adjudicator my conductors manuals for two of the songs!

We've got three parents volunteering to join us for the day. I'm tossing around the thought of taking the video camera...

Work to Rule, Day Two

"Thou shalt not perform the duties of a report card administrator."

That's what I've been told my work to rule is all about. It's kind of nice not having to contemplate the three week juggle of disks and the dozens of questions about this and that! Let someone else deal with it for a change! I have no idea how my principal will get the data template from our R drive at school; probably will be sent to him from the Data Warehouse.

Anyway, I'm just going to drop my disk off in his mail slot and that's it, I wait for my printouts to magically appear in time to hand them out.

Creativity Killers: Top 9

http://www.goshen.edu/art/ed/creativitykillers.html

Philip Yancy: Author of Realistic Christian Expectations

Yancy is probably one of my famous authors. He has grappled with hard, practical questions of the Christian faith, and has gathered tons of information and testimonies that ground his writings in real life experience.

Last night at our small group we were talking about a "ambidextrous faith" that requires two hands to hold onto two purposes: 1) When life is difficult -- and it often is -- it has nothing to do with God's lack of love or care for us; 2) we should keep our perspective as "puny creatures" and look for the good that can come out of it.

Another way of looking at life is to view the past with remembrance of what God has done in the past; to view the future with hope that God will restore the universe to perfection; and to view the present as the one moment that we have control over.

Mother Teresa was once asked by a visiting doctor, "Pray for me."
"What do you want me to pray?" she replied.
"Pray that I may have clarity," he said.
"Clarity is the one thing that you are holding onto that you must get rid of. I've never had clarity when it comes to doing God's work. What is required is faith and trust. So, I'll pray that you receive faith."

How often do I get hung up or hesitate because I think God has not made His will clear enough to me? It is at that point that I must act in faith. It is at that point that God wants me to go deeper.

The Web Site Dabbler

I've often considered myself to be a dabbler in websites. Today for example, I have spoken with my barber about setting him up a web site for his business. He gave me a photograph to scan and use. What does a barber put on his web pages? Interesting question.

I've maintained our school website now for about three years, and I've designed my own from scratched, and re-designed it as well a few times.

Bottom line: people have to have a good reason to view your web page, or they won't! Just like they probably won't read this one.

Information Technology Report to School Council

February 8, 2005

Dear members of the Viscount Montgomery School Council,

This report will give you a description of our school's computer facilities, and also will outline my intended plan of action for doing some research on how to focus and improve the use of the facilities. The report is submitted freely with a simple desire to keep the members of the School Council informed.

The school computer network consists of 45 student workstations, in an array of 34 in the computer lab, 4 in the library, 2 in the Learning Resource room and 5 others in classrooms (3 in primary/junior and 2 in middle school). Each of these machines has internet connectivity. There are also 4 administration workstations. With our student population of about 500, the ratio meets the Board standard of 11 students per computer.

Each of these machines is configured with a wide variety of educational software, and is internet capable.

The primary-junior classes use the lab when their teachers sign them up and bring them. The lab is put to a wide variety of uses, depending on how the individual teachers incorporate the computers into their lesson plans. For example, sometimes the computer is used as an information source through internet search engines and on-line encyclopediae; other times students are developing language skills through vocabulary activities and word processing. In the primary classes, the lab is sometimes used for basic patterning skills and learning letters, numbers and early reading skills. Not all primary classes use the computers regularly. The junior classes use them more often.

Each of the middle school classes are scheduled into the lab three times every ten day cycle, with the computer lab being staffed for these classes. I plan this time in collaboration with other subject teachers, and seek to support and implement the use of the computers in their subjects. I also plan lessons that explore new activities, and build upon previously learned skills, such as word processing and touch typing.

In the coming months, I will designing and conducting a parent survey in order to develop a better sense of what our school community and families have in the way of home computers. Through this survey I would also like to develop and maintain an email list, so that newsletters and other information memos can be sent electronically.

I would also like to facilitate a greater focus on early reading skills by the primary classes, and will investigate how to assist teachers who would like to use the literacy software in the computer lab with their classes.

Finally, our school website is maintained by myself as time permits. I try to keep it current and relevant. The original design was created three years ago by a parent. The URL is www.vmbruins.info Presently we have a number of photo collections available for viewing, and many student web pages as well. Please take some time to have a look at the web site. I greatly value your comments, questions and suggestions regarding the appearance and contents of our school's web site. I believe that it is has great potential for enhancing communication between home and school, and for presenting our positive image and values to the public. You can email me at any time about this. I'd like to also request that the School Council minutes be edited and emailed to me so that they may be published on the school website for viewing by our school community.

Thank-you for your support and interest.

Glen Brown, Computer Studies Teacher

Budget Committee Report: Feb. 2005

Music Program

Purchases made:

• Our new guitar for the music program has been purchased and is now in use. Thank you Home and School for this!
  
• The music workbooks are being used now by the grade sixes. More are being requested to top up the number so all the grade sevens can use them.

New purchases:

• Stock of some new mouthpieces so that parents may buy them for their kids. These funds will be recovered over the next school year as parents pay for them.
• There is also a request for some instrument cleaning equipment, and sanitization solutions. This is in response to Board policy that is being finalized.
• New capital expense items: 1) Drapes and sound absorption panels for the music room. The room presently does not have any sound absorption materials on the walls. The health and safety guidelines state that hard surfaces, even blackboard surfaces, should be covered. Estimated cost: $2000. 2) New carpet. We came within a hair's width of having the 20 year old (+) carpet replaced a couple of years ago, but then were unable to have it installed by an independent service provider. This old carpet is a health hazard. Estimated cost: $2500.
  

Computer Technology

Purchases made:

• The air conditioner for the computer lab was purchased last year, thanks to the Home and School Association! (Still awaiting installation ... this is beyond my control.)
  
• Approval was previously given to purchase two refurbished computers to support the DD cameras and printers. However, due to delays from the supplier, I've switched to a different Board-approved supplier, and have ordered one better-quality machine to be shared by the two classes instead of two. Thanks to the Home and School for purchasing this computer.
• Three brand new computers have been purchased and are up and running. Thank you Home and School.
  
• Video editing software has been purchased.
• Colour ink for the colour printer was purchased.
  

New purchases:

• Toner cartridge for report card printer.
• Maintenance kit for colour printer. This cost will be partly recovered through memory book sales.
• Colour ink for colour printer. This cost will be partly recovered through memory book sales.
  
• 18 optical mouses to complete the upgrade from the remaining old, worn-out ones.
  
• Camtasia Studio software. Allows teachers to produce instructional materials for computer based instruction. (e.g. on-screen demonstration or tutorial, slide show presentation, turn video footage into DVD format for classroom use.)
  

Audio-Visual

• Our video camera was repaired by the Board's A/V department on their budget line, saving the school $350. This camera is used for the grade 8 animation projects. We need to purchase 2 blank digital tapes for this unit, as well as a battery.

Camcorder Stuff

BP-511 battery pack (D85-1112-201), BP-512 (D85-1312-000) comes with camera.
CR-560 Charge Adapter/Car Battery Cable Kit. (D85-0680-201)
Mini DV type cassette.

Computer Tech Integration

Science, gr. 6. Students researched biographical info. on famous aviators and inventors. They typed their bios in their own words and made text boxes for a class timeline display.
Internet Search Skills, Word Processing. Appleworks.

Language Arts, gr. 6. Students used web-based crossword and word search creation tools with their own word lists as enrichment activity to make their own word searches.

Science, gr. 7. Students completed research for science topics related to earth's crust. They were shown how to properly cite internet web sites.
Internet Search Skills, Word Processing. Citation machine tool, Appleworks.

Family Studies, gr. 7. Students used word processing tools to produce biographical excerpts relating to family members and ancestors, and to produce attractive headings and text.
Appleworks.

Language Arts, gr. 8. Students used word processing tools to type their character sketches and reader's theatre scripts for The Giver novel.

Computers, gr. 6. Students used vector drawing tools to create original art work.

Computers, gr. 6. Students produced a business letter in correct format, customized the content and created a full colour logo/letterhead to complement it. Appleworks, Flash MX.

Computers, gr. 6. Students produced a page of favourite web sites in an active hyperlink document, with images and simple descriptions of the web pages. Word Perfect.

Computers, gr. 6. Students explored some multi-media tools such as animation and sound recording in creating a talking head "welcome to school" movie. Flash MX, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Windows Sound Recorder. Web based speech to text generators.

Computers, gr. 7. Students designed and uploaded a basic set of 5 web pages, complete with naviation buttons, page headings and content. Claris Home Page.

Computers, gr. 7. Students created a set of 12 images on a connecting theme, exported them and uploaded them to their web pages. Flash MX.

Computers, gr. 7. Students designed a set of 12 images for a calendar. Tracing techniques as well as original art ideas were combined. Flash MX.

Calendar link

Calendar link

Report Card Memo Jan 26

Teachers:
Your report card data for Term 2 is ready. I have a floppy disk for each of you. This data MUST be imported into your eTeacher before you start to build report cards for Term 2.

Steps:

1) Setup tab. Click.
2) Click "data files"
3) Click "Import"
4) There is a warning message which says you should only import data into an empty eTeacher, because the import process will wipe out any previous student list, marks or comments, and replace it with the data on the disk. Click "Proceed"
5) In the bottom window which says "type of file", click the pop-up arrow
6) From the pop-up list, select "tab-separated text"
7) In the top window which says "look in", click the pop-up arrow
8) Select the location of your data source. 3.5" Floppy A is most likely.
9) Look for your data file. Select it by clicking.
10) Click Open to begin the import of data.

You won't need to do this again. Complete your report card work as usual.
You may use your floppy disk to store a backup copy of your data as you work. To create a data file on your floppy disk (replacing the old one that was imported), follow these steps:

Submitting a data file. This is an "export" function. This
means you are taking data from your eTeacher program for the purpose of a) giving
it to your report card administrator at school b) having a backup copy of your
data. When you do this, you will only have the marks and comments for the current
lists of students. Nothing from your library of comments will be exported. Submit
a data file whenever you've added new marks or comments.

1. Click Report tab.
2. Click "submit data file"
3. Click "Submit" button.
4. Click OK.
5. To save data file on a floppy, put the floppy in the computer now. If not using a floppy, click Cancel.
6. At the bottom of the Save window, select Tab-Separated text from the pop-up list for "type of file".
7. Type the name of your data file. Make sure it includes your surname. If you are replacing a previous data file, select the same file name and confirm "Yes" when asked if you want to replace it.
8. Store the disk safely in a protected place. Transfer the data to me either by attaching it to an email message, or by bringing the floppy disk to me.

Thanks everyone! We're getting really good at this.

GB

Movies: Contact starring Jodie Foster

Well, this one turned out to be about 2.5 hrs long, but still very much worth it. My best part? Watching her travel through deepspace/wormhole and having every atom in her body perform intense self-analysis, then arriving in this magnificent galaxy place. This universe is beautiful and splendid.

"We are capable of such beautiful dreams and such horrible nightmares."

Cleaning out the Science Room

So our science teacher tells me that there are huge jars of various chemicals and acid solutions sitting around in his cupboards, and that they've been there for years. Reduce, reuse, recycle? Retreat!!

New Class Page at Quia.com

http://www.quia.com/pages/vmbruins.html

Sweetness Brownie Master Blaster

Got waaay too much time on my hands. Some website made up this name for me.

Comparison Satellite Pics

http://www.spaceimaging.com/gallery/spacepics/khaolak_side_by_side.jpg
The pictures are worth a thousand words.
Nature is big. Don't forget it.

Informal Computer Staff Survey

Hi everyone,

Could you take some time and answer any or all of these questions for me? To respond, just add a comment and the Blogger brings up a form for you to fill in. You can comment anonymously and just identify yourself in your message. Thanks.

Questions:
1. If you have ever pondered the value of having a web page for school, what elements would be important to you: a) showing student activities and/or work; b) having written information and instructions available for students (and parents) on your assignments and class activities; c) professional resources and information for your use and other teachers; d) something else (specify).

2. For your teaching, how do you think the computers might be best used by your students? What I mean is, if there is one thing that your subject covers that can be best served by using computers, what is it? And, what would it take for this to happen (better)?

3. As we move to more electronic communications, describe your level of use of email: a) daily or hourly; b) less than daily, about once a week; c) only when absolutely necessary.

4. If there was one thing you find annoying or difficult about computer technology in general, and/or in the school, what would it be?

Thanks.
G.B.

The Joy? of Art

I love to create visual images. I find it totally energizing to make my computer produce images. The more brilliant, the better. The more meaningful motion, the better. We are in the world of visual communication, we have the tools to communicate right on our desks at our fingertips!

Problem, too many of us just enjoying the images, and not enough (or maybe just enough) are exhilarated by making them. I suppose that's where the gift of the artist comes in. Funny though, when I'm creating I don't feel all that inspired. It is more like hard mental work, and it seems I can never get enough time to do it just right...

Right now I'm trying to figure out how to animate a planet earth so that it looks like it's spinning.

A Trace of Good Fortune with Flash MX

Stumbled onto the joy of using tracing for learning to draw:

1. Get a good quality image from the internet.
2. Import it into Flash. Resize to fill the stage. Lock the image.
3. Add a new layer
4. Use the pencil tool to trace the important lines and shapes within the image.
5. Toggle the original image off/on to check progress.
6. When done, delete the original image layer and voila! you've got it.

URLs I want to keep

Vegetarian/Animal Rights

http://www.bancruelfarms.org/meatrix/
http://members.cox.net/pnienstedt/vegn_links.htm

Sweatshops

http://www.sfett.net/1_iCan/2_ican2/14_sweatshop/sweatshop.html (This is the Video by Consuelo Molina)
http://www.sweatshops.org/

Parent Links-Instant Messaging
http://www.pewinternet.org/report_display.asp?r=36
http://www.sfett.net/1_iCan/2_ican2/11_teachers/teachers.html (Teacher Video)

Video Examples
http://www.sfett.net/1_iCan/2_ican2/10_duck!/duck!.html

Video/Flash MX
http://www.phillipkerman.com