Carm_AprilandMay

Doing this by reading my calendar......

OOPS. Did April and May...I'm going to go back to March now. Wrote too much for April/May, so shall now do March in shortened format. It's been a long morning....

BATHURST, BATHURST, BATHURST.** HHS Students enjoyed the trip and it was a huge success. Somehow I think I should get extra pay for not only helping organize the trip technologically but actually driving the "freakin' " bus too:-) It's 6 weeks later and I can still hear the rumble of that diesel engine. Another great example of technology bringing communities together. Hats off to the 2 teachers, Sara Mackay and Marlene Arsenault and thanks to all involved, including D15 technical staff and Leesa Scott. I believe Videos and pics are on the KON site.
 * MARCH

Did a TON of inservicing following our D18 model of bringing in supply teachers for the day and having one or 2 teachers in for 60-90minute sessions. All feedback has been positive. In my opinion, the best format. Everyone's leaving happy and I had the greatest feeling of accomplishment as a mentor each day I left a school following this format. I got some great emails from principals and teachers thanking me personally. Some cc'd Bryan Facey and superintendent. Good stuff. As a result, March was a blur. But a good blur:-)

It was nice to hear one teacher explain to me that when the UNB researchers were at their school questioning about the laptop4teachers initiative that my name came up very often. Even nicer that it was in a positive context:-)

Again, fellow mentors have helped me when necessary, allowing me to reschedule stuff when necessary or picking up the load when something comes up. Truly amazing people to deal with.

Interesting how I see things so differently now. I used to always want the "biggest, baddest and newest" software. Recently I find myself looking for the opposite...something new BUT preferrably without a million options, not a resource hog (I really think these Compaq nx6110 computers were not designed as advanced workhorses). Helped an elementary teacher figure out that he didn't really need I Markbook 2006, that Gradekeeper will suffice for his needs. He was very pleased with my gentle nudging.... Sometime less is more. Since then he couldn't have been happier with Gradekeeper. Same issue applies to open source software. Audacity is just a few megs, downloads and installs in minutes. Try that with an Adobe product!
 * APRIL/MAY COMBINATION**

Technicians are great, but they're not teachers. Many (not all), do their 8:30-4:30 job with breaks and head home when their shift is over. The specials ones are willing to stay until the problem is resolved. I also find that when I work side by side with a technician, we learn from each other and are much more efficient!

The only thing better than open source software are storm days! (April 5&13) Proves that prayer does have power:-)

I must learn how to say "No." One teacher that I've helped a lot throughout the year was desperate for an oratorical contest judge. I hadn't even listened to a contest before let alone judge one, but I agreed to, expecting to have a morning from hell. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the speeches and truly enjoyed the experience. While I'm sure that judging isn't part of my mandate, I feel that this mentorship thing is all about broadening our horizons and experiencing new things....



For years as a geocacher I've always wanted to introduce the concept to students but didn't have the resources. Thanks to Mary-Jo and Kevin, I was able to introducing the geocaching sport and gps use to two grade seven classes and 25 teachers. Everyone had a blast. I'm not sure what was more pleasing, to see the look of joy as the students ran back with a GPS in one hand and their "find" in the other, or watching teachers run around in circles around a soccer field:-)



Difference between students and teachers:-)

I was comfortable with Wikispaces, but hadn't personally used it in a classroom setting. I had given teachers advice, etc. but everything is different when you have to actually use something yourself with a class **DIRECTLY**; no middle man, etc... No matter how much you know something, you need to actually **DO IT YOURSELF** to truly understand it. This goes for everything and why I'll always insist that hands-on actual use is so important. Check out these: https://bike4kidneyhhs.wikispaces.com/ and https://112english.wikispaces.com/ Another example is the Smartboard. I had given inservicing to dozens of teachers and honestly believed I "knew it" inside out. Everything changes when you have to actually design a Smratboard lesson and then use it in the classroom. Biggest issue I found was time, time time. I can throw a Smartboard lesson together with multiple slides in minutes. Anyone can. But to do a GOOD lesson, focusing on the interactivity aspect, etc. takes hours! It's so important that us technology mentors, dept.of education officials, administrators, learning specialists, etc don't just explain how to do things. We need to do it ourselves. We need to go into the classroom and teach on a regular basis. On a side note, I shouldn't neglet to mention university profs also. It's sad to see many new BED graduates with so little (if any) background on Smartboards, etc....Most newbies are technologically literate, but are lacking the **educational technology** skilss/knowledge. There, that's my monthly "rant" :-)

Some frustration when I take the time to create a technologicaly-based lesson plan and teach the class in the expectation that the teacher will learn from my modelling, only to have the teacher often sick and not there (understandably out of his/her hands) OR head out to do some photocopying as I'm doing this! On the other hand, it's a joy to be back in the classroom, but wow, how little time it takes to remind you how much more "busy" you are when there:-) Check out these: http://harveyhighschool.nbed.nb.ca/7notebook/7ss1to1/7sshome.htm and http://harveyhighschool.nbed.nb.ca/7notebook/7math/7mathhome.htm

Holmes on Homes webcast went well. Smaller audiences/better acoutistics would have been a plus. All schools should have webcasting ability....

Finally on a sidenote, not yet sure what's going to happen next year. Best way to explain how I feel is the message I sent to Bryan Facey, it went something like this...."I feel like this year has been a great beginning and we're already near an end. Where was the middle?" One of the reasons why I think mentors should be kept on for longer than one year terms...some continuity would be more efficient...