Friday, August 11, 2006

Dos and Don'ts for 06-07:
Ten tech ideas to start the year off right!

DO stop by the new computer lab for an individualized tour of our new facilities and workstations -- and to plan and develop classroom- and lab-based activities and units for your students!

DON'T be afraid to plan or develop new activities or projects which require one or more days of one-to-one student computer access. The addition of the new lab more than doubles our ability to provide lab access for student projects and instruction. This is the year to try it!

DO take advantage of the new color laser printer in the computer lab for curricular materials and student projects. We've placed the color printer right by the door for your convenience in picking up your documents.

DO save yourself time and stress in grading (especially that end-of-term crunch) by creating test columns in gradequick as soon as you assign a test or assignment.

DO have your students create their own network folders and directories for this year's assignments wherever possible -- online portfolios make it easier for you and your students to track their progress, and support team and co-curricular projects by allowing student work to be available anywhere in the building!

DO remember to continue to save all teaching materials to your network folder, just to be safe. Additionally, consider sharing them with your peers through the appropriate subfolder in our shared teacher folders.

DO fill out tech request forms if you have a computer problem, even if you can work around it in the short term.

DO pass along any suggestions for new classroom, team or schoolwide technology solutions to Cindy or Joshua, your PTO Technology Committee representatives.

DO share your tech triumphs and trials with your team, that we can all better support our students and each other.

DON'T hesitate to call or email Joshua throughout the day if you have an idea, problem, or question about teaching with technology.