27. August 2010 by MrBall.

Here are the two presentations that I did for STAR Catholic.Smart Intro File: HereSmart Response File: HereIf you are having trouble accessing these files please leave a comment or send me an email.

Posted in Assessment, SMART | No Comments »

8. June 2010 by MrBall.

Today at St. Peter we were discussing the metrits of Universal Design for Learning. The perception of UDL from Elementary - High school ranges from relief to fear.

Here is the overview of UDL-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Design_for_Learning

The elementary teachers saw the possibilities that exist when you stop labeling students with disabilities and start watching for their strengths. Leaning on their strengths for growth in learning and in growing other strengths will be easier than the up hill battle of ‘fixing’ their problems.

The high school teachers’ first fears were that UDL will move us away from successful PAT results. I guess they think that skill and drill practice has no place in gaining successful PAT results. I need to get to know some high school teachers better (my mom doesn’t count). I am always confused at their strong resistance to learn new things; like they expect their students to do.

I guess the best way to get them is to use their strengths to help them grow as teachers. So where do we start?

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

4. June 2010 by MrBall.

Today was a rough day. We had very poor connections with the network and everyone is getting tired of using the netbooks that don’t have the Net. I had two little girls crying because it took 4 tries to login and they still had no working laptops at the end of it all.

The teachers are nearing their limit. They have had wireless and netbooks since March. Many of the teachers are experiencing the same thing. When teacher login with their students this is what they get…

An example of 20 students:

10 logged in right away

2 no network available

8 really slow to log in. Unable to get all their icons on the desktop but had them in the Start button. Many of these freze later on and were unable to access the internet or store files to the network.

If you know how important classroom management is, and how having half of your students off task can destroy a lesson, then you will understand the frustration of the teachers. It isn’t the kids fault. They are the very definition of patience and many are proactive about getting their PC up and running (yes Kindergarteners!). Most of the students are like this. I don’t think that it is because they are tech savvy. I think it is because of the school’s leadership focus. They follow the Steven Covey 7 Habits books.

So I would like to propose a toast to the brave staff and students in all our schools who clear the frustrating technology path so that their students can have more meaningful learning environments. It will happen but we need to learn from the mistakes so we can improve. Thank you!

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

1. June 2010 by MrBall.

Some of the reasources we will be using are… MathTask.notebook These are taken from the Puddle Math Tasks book. I merged the tasks I could remember with websites to make them laptop/internet friendly.

ietherpad.com Group sharing

Edmodo.com Secure site for titter like sharing (with extra tools).

grabbabeast.com Fun monster building site.

and SpellingCity.com if we have extra time.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

1. June 2010 by MrBall.

The 1:1 netbook intro has been a rollercoaster ride. Staff and students understand the engaging power of all things on the internet that is 2.0. I have shown them ietherpad and Edmodo that can be used as collaboration tools. We have created things using Notebook Recorder and Audacity on the laptops, much to the delight of students. I did a demo with grade 1 students yesterday. It was so exciting to see how quickly and easily they logged in. One little girl was rubbing the side of her netbook saying “Come on little bud.” in an effort to get it going faster.  All are genuinely excited to have new outlets of expression.

There is a ‘but’, things aren’t as smooth as they should be. The seemless learning environment has not yet been achieved. The wireless connection is flakey. In a class of 25 students I can get 18 online right away. When I get five more another five students lose their connections. Student accounts aren’t syncing up so the things they create are often not saved.

On the bright side the admin and teaching team are on top of the whole thing. Students here are super patient and very polite when things aren’t working. They try to do their own trouble shooting and only call for help when they have exhausted all their options. The administrators are working with tech support constantly to fix things up.

Next year they are pairing with 2Learn.ca on a digital leadership program. This is a new wireless network/1:1 laptop school and they are quickly getting the barriers out of the way.  I am very excited about the future of this school and all the possibilities for the staff and students.

Posted in 2.0, 1:1 Laptops, Engagement | No Comments »

31. May 2010 by MrBall.

Working on 1:1 Laptops with a K-6 school. I want to give the teachers and students sites they can use to collaborate with on projects. I also want to show them the full use of their laptops. Some of the reasources we will be using are…

 MathTask.notebook These are taken from the Puddle Math Tasks book. I merged the tasks I could remember with websites to make them laptop/internet friendly.

ietherpad.com Group sharing

Edmodo.com Secure site for titter like sharing (with extra tools).

grabbabeast.com Fun monster building site.

and SpellingCity.com if we have extra time.

Posted in 2.0, 1:1 Laptops | 1 Comment »

26. May 2010 by MrBall.

I am so blessed to have gotten this email. Please line up at my front door tomorrow morningas I will be handing out million dollar bills to all visitors.  Please read…

Dearest One in Christ,

May our good Lord bless your going out and coming in and provide all your needs through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen.

Dear in Christ,

I am Rev Father Raymond Willis, i am writing you this mail as God has directed me after 1 week fasting and prayers. Be informed that i went for a medical check up, and my doctor called me personally that i will not last for the next 2 weeks due to my heart illness. And i know i will die, of which i have prayed and ask God for a divine favour.

I have decided to donate the sum of $4,500,000,000 USD for a Church or an individual as I do not have a child to inherit it and it’s better I do not die leaving the money here without it reaching to the poor and the lessprivileged ones in the society. As soon as I receive your reply I shall tell my bank to transfer the money to you.

Informations Required from you are:

Your Full Name(…………………….. )

Your Direct Tel & Fax N°:(………………….,)

Your Home & Office addresses(…………………………)

Your Bank Account (………………)

With these informations, I will forward them to the Bank for immediately transferring of the Funds to your Position. Please always pray for me and let God give me more Good health to stay in this World. EMAIL ME ON: ( raymond.willis@hotmail.com ) FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

Best Regards,

Rev Father Raymond Willis.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

22. May 2010 by MrBall.

Yesterday we moved over to St. Peter Learning centre. Our Tech Ed. group will be joining the Learning Support Services group and we will be called Learning Services Innovation.

Yesterday’s activities were meant to bring us together as a team and start us looking towards the future of Catholic Education for 21st Century teaching and learning. One of the major activities we did (not the most important) was to brainstorm around the words Welcome, Wonder, and Witness and how they can be demonstrated concretely. Here is the PowerPoint that I created with my group.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

19. May 2010 by MrBall.

Day three is titled “Find a Non-Specialist Geek”. I really like the idea of making connections with the specialists.

Once, in doing PD with a school for several weeks I found that upon leaving the principal said to me. “What do we do now that you are going?” I had recommended to this principal in the planning stages that a leader from the school be brought forward so that I could train that person on the particulars of that project. I wanted the project to carry on without me not just because of the benefits it would provide to student expression but also because it involved some big $$.

No one was selected and I wasn’t able to coax a leader out of the staff. My new goal in planning with school communities is to find that leader who can champion the projects so that things don’t dry up when I leave.

It is sad for me that things won’t continue when I am gone. The schools have the tech tools and the software. The students know what to do but because the teachers don’t have the know how these things don’t evolve. It is a waste of money and often a blow to the student motivation at the school.

So as you go out to plan make sure there are leaders who believe in the things you are doing and use them and their skills to make things stick. The specialist doesn’t need to be a geek just a leader.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

18. May 2010 by MrBall.

From the post of day 2 I have very little to say. It isn’t that I am trying to be modest but I often don’t feel as though I have had many chances to delegate jobs to others.

As a leader of a summer music camp, back in the days, I had many opportunities to delegate work. I was never comfortable delegating work in that atmosphere. I felt inexperienced for the task and easily not as confident as I now feel. Also I often felt like I was passing the buck. It isn’t that I felt others weren’t competent. I wouldn’t hire people if I didn’t think they could do a good job.

In delegating work more recently I have had only a few chances but it is now easier for a few reasons. First, I have a better idea of the skill sets and interests of my co-worker. We were chosen with skill diversity in mind. Second I am more confident in my role as a consultant and a tech leader.

Reflecting back in the change I think my confidence level is one of the deciding factors in delegating work. Now htat I feel more responsible and more knowledgeable I am able to let go of the total control of a project and give out work to others.

Posted in Management, Reflections | 1 Comment »