I am baaack!!

I have been on blogging hiatus for the past month and a half but I am back and in full effect. So much is going on and about to go on and I need to keep us apprised and abreast (I always get mixed up on using those words)on the tech happenings.
First, a big thanks to those teachers that encouraged their classes in the Mt. Olive Tech Fair. Special congratulations to Ms. Floyd's kindergarten class for winning the class award again this year!!
Also, for Raven Jeffress, Uriah Boyd, and our winner, Angel Courtland, for the hard work and creativity in presenting their projects.
Next year we will work harder on presenting other alternatives for projects besides PowerPoint.
Also, all teachers should now have their new laptops and we should be able to move forward with technology a little easier.
A special thanks to all staff members that completed the survey. From the results most of you are interested in knowing how to use Excel, would like some suggestions of ways to use Mimio more and more effectively and would prefer that my Tech training day be on Thursdays. The people have been heard and starting next Thursday, Feb. 18, from 3 to 4 I will begin training on Excel. Also, for our Thursday get togethers I am available for whatever tech questions you may have and kudos go out to Ms. Schmidt who has taken advantage of that.
Finally, in an effort to maximize time and efficiency I have created an electronic way for you to submit your tech requests. You will notice at the bottom of my email where my signature is that there is a link that says "Technology Issues Click Here". It will take you to a form that you need to fill out completely and click "submit". When you do it will send me an email informing me of the problem. It will also log when you submitted it so that we can both have a record.
Just trying to use technology to make our world a better place...

Techie OUT!!!

Time for a break...

This may be my last blog of 2009, I am sure for some of you it will probably the last blog you read of mine in 2009...

What are the technology happenings at the Olive for the past week...
I think the most significant for me was the fact that our Superintendent sent a video blog to all employees sharing pertinent information. Some of us are just getting proficient at blogging and blogging is starting to get upgraded.
For those of you staff at MOE that are dragging your feet in keeping up with technology, don't let the world pass you by. You have students that are counting on you to prepare them for the world, you must prepare yourselves!!
I mentioned that I will be available on Wednesdays after work hours to provide training and introduction to new technology for anyone that is interested. I started last Wednesday with Blogs and a total of NO ONE showed up. I will not give up on you...
The new laptops should arrive Friday, Dec. 18th. I am not sure that I will be able to pass any of them out. I can probably make accommodations for those that have no laptop at all but I will have to limit the distribution to those only.
The Technology Fair ended last week and I can say that some teachers made the effort to provide creative and interesting projects. Also, some teachers encouraged their students to create interesting projects. What I am hoping for next year is that we can recognize technology as more than just PowerPoint. I hope to do a better job of training you on other ways that technology can be used and involving the students.
Finally, I wish you all a very safe and restful and enjoyable break. If you can, love as many people as possible. Use NO energy on negativity, criticism, and gossip. Truly give to someone in need and see how wonderful it will make you feel.

Techie OUT!!!

Web 2.0 is here to stay!

Last week at the "Olive" I introduced for some of the staff the idea of weblogging. Many of us have heard of blogging and we have various concepts of what it is. In general, what blogging is about is "amateurs" becoming regular contributors to the vast network we call the World Wide Web. It is my hope that Mt. Olive can be a front runner for Fulton County Schools in the usage of Web 2.0 tools (i.e. wikis, blogging, social networking, etc.) for instructional purposes. With that as my goal I am committing to providing weekly training sessions on Wednesdays from 3:00 to 4:30 for staff on various technology. This upcoming Wednesday, December 9th, we will be continuing our training on blogging.

This week we will have our local Technology Fair. Our local fair is a prelude to preparing our students to participate in the County Technology Fair and Media Fair. Kindergarten through 2nd grade projects are due Wednesday; 3rd through 5th grade projects due Friday.

Last week during grade level meetings I mentioned to the staff that each of them should own their own personal flash drive that should be at a minimum of 4GB in size. In this digital age when information is saved and transferred electronically it is a responsible thing for professionals to have a backup of important documents, photos, music, etc. We can no longer store all of our information on CD's, which are increasingly becoming outdated.

On an exciting note...I have been given a date for the arrival of the new laptops for those staff members that are still struggling to hold together their D600s (Ms. Jones...)
The laptops will arrive..........DECEMBER 18TH!!!!!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK CARDINALS!

So much to be thankful for...

Sorry we are late for our report from last week, Nov. 16 -20...

It was a momentous week for the Cardinals. After weeks and weeks of setup and waiting we have finally opened our second computer lab, YEAH!!!
This should greatly improve the exposure and opportunities our students have to connect with the wide, wide world of technology, or maybe just the wide, wide world.

Also, we have been given a date for the "refresh' of our D600 computers. All teachers that currently have a D600 computer will receive a brand new, shiny, modern E5400 computer. I will be sending instructions for you to back up your old files so you will not lose anything. I would recommend purchasing a flash drive with at least 4GB of memory so the transfer can be very smooth. If not, we still have other means...

It has been very disappointing not to have the monitor in the front to display all of the great pictures of events here at Mt. Olive. I am especially disappointed in not being able to display the wonderful moves of our own prolific "Gene Gene the dancing machine" principal display his skills for the patrons at Greenbriar Mall. I will come up with something so that I can show his moves for all to see...stay tuned.

Please make sure to be thankful for all that is good. We have so much we could complain about but if you really look at the sum total of all that is your life the good FAR outweighs the bad. This Thanksgiving use technology to show your thanks to those that cannot be with you or are not going to be with you, to mend some tattered relationships or just to spread some joy. Text, email, blog, or whatever suits you best...maybe even use the telephone, it qualifies as technology as well.

Cardinal Tech Happenings

This is a blog that I have set up to share pertinent information, innovative ideas, give personal perspectives and also the latest tech updates that pertain to the staff of Mt. Olive ES.
Please feel free to give you feedback in whatever form you wish, don't be shy.
I am hoping to encourage all staff members to begin their own blogs.
I will be providing training for all staff that are interested on how to blog, why to blog, and when to blog. It is my goal to have each classroom teacher blogging and eventually to have each class of students involved with blogging. More on that to come...

For the week of Nov. 9-13
This has been a very stressful week for technology at the Olive. The network went completely down on Tuesday and Wednesday. When it did return it has been very erratic causing countless headaches with staff as they have attempted to use the network. Especially in room 65 where the network Gremlins seemed to be working overtime.
Also, there may be good news on the horizon...New laptops to replace the D600s are soon to appear, stay tuned.
On Tuesday at 4:30 the Technology, Media, and Social Studies Fair committees will be presenting a workshop for parents to prepare them for the upcoming fairs. Hopefully we can get the parents excited and involved in assisting their children with their projects.

That's all for now. If you have something to add please feel free to do so.