Be kind to your projector!

We are fortunate to have so many innovative tools to use with our students!  I have even heard some teachers exclaim, “I couldn’t teach if they took away my board!”  As we learn to leverage these innovative and powerful tools, we see their potential for greatly impacting student learning.

Please take the time to turn off your projector when you are not using it. The bulb in your projector is VERY expensive.  It also has a limited number of hours to burn. The projector cannot tell if you are working through a flipchart or projecting blue, it just counts the hours.  Last year, some teachers were faced with the reality of not being able to use their boards because the bulb had burned out and there was no funding to replace bulbs.  Please don’t let this be your fate.

Consider assigning 2 students to be “Projector Captains”, train them to turn off the projector and show them the location of the remote. It will then be their jobs to make sure the projector is off every time the class leaves the room.

ePat Update

During the month of November, I will be working with 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students and their teachers at Dumbarton, Echo Lake, and Pemberton Elementary Schools. In an effort to prepare for HCPS’s online testing, students and teachers will be trained on the ePat program.  ePat is a very simple program that introduces students to the online testing environment. Teachers should be prepared to practice at least once a month with their class. This will allow students the opportunity to learn and practice the tools they will have available to them for online SOL testing.

Technology Portfolios

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All K-5 teachers have been tasked with keeping a teacher technology portfolio each 9 weeks marking period.  Some great questions have come about as a result.  Attached you will find two documents that will assist you in your quest for completion of the portfolio.  The first is a handout created by David Clough, a fellow ITRT.  It will let you know the capabilities of 10 of our most popular programs.  The second document is a program list that mirrors the teacher documentation form.  Here you will find a list of each program that can be used to fulfill requirements listed on the documentation page, a ‘Cheat Sheet’ if you will.  Please feel free to share these documents with your teammates and friends from other HCPS schools.

Click here to get both help documents!

Updated AUP for HCPS Employees

As we go into the new school year, it is always good to refresh yourself with the latest changes in job requirements. The Acceptable Use Policy is not new, however in this fast paced, 21st Century world certain pertinent details have been added and modified to account for the quickly changing digital world. As a HCPS employee, it is your responsibility to be aware of the policies you are expected to adhere to each year. In an effort to make this process easier, I have made a pdf of newest version of the AUP for download. If you would like to read the document online, click the link below and you will be directed to the county page for Policies and Regulations. Click on 4) Personnel and scroll down to R4-06-013.

Download & print the AUP!

Book Records

Over the course of several lessons, 4th grade students at Pemberton designed and personalized a database to track and evaluate their reading selections.  Students are now able to keep track of their reading by completing a record for each book completed. Students especially enjoyed being able to add their own personal flair to their document through color, font, and smiley choices.