Web 2.0 Reminders - Keeping Students and Teachers Safe Online

Web 2.0 tools are so handy, that sometimes educators might forget it's a website and not located on their computer or within the district network.  These tools are extremely useful.  Please use them carefully.

As you think about posting information online this school year, ask yourself the following questions:

Are you planning on making a class website?

There is so much to share on your class website to help students, parents, and the community learn how your classroom works.  You could:

• Post homework assignments and due dates
• Links to helpful forms and online resources
• Your classroom newsletter (but be mindful of students whose images cannot be posted online)
• Class schedule, testing schedule...

Are there things that you shouldn't post on your class website?  Sure!  Many things...


Is the information private or sensitive student information? (i.e., IEP's, CSE meeting notes...)

If so, NEVER post that kind of thing on Web 2.0 tools like Google Docs, Google Sites, wikis, blogs, etc.  That is a bad idea. 

If you have questions, please ask first.  We can work together to determine if something is safe to post online.



Are you planning to post student pictures on your class website or blog?

Please make sure that parents have given their permission to post pictures of their children online.

Does your school have a media release form for parents to sign?  Does it include language about allowing kids' pictures to be posted on class websites and other class project sites?  It is important to know about this stuff. 

Even if it does include such language, you might still consider sending home a copy of the picture with an additional permission form before posting images of children, especially close-up photos.

Images of larger groups working on a project or participating in a fun school activity are safer to post online because it is more difficult to pick out individual faces. 

Keep in mind non-custodial parents who are not supposed to have contact with their children and everyone else in the world might stumble upon your public website.  When you give people a window into your classroom, make sure you don't open the window too far!


Are you planning to post student work on your class website?

Again, you need to get parent permission to post student work online. 

Does your school have a form for that?  They might have it as part of a beginning-of-the-year packet for parents. 

Make sure each parent has signed it indicating whether or not they give you permission to post their children's work online.  Check your list each time you plan on posting student work (and images, for that matter) online.


Are you working with colleagues on lesson planning?

Posting your lesson plans and supporting materials that you create online is a great way to access your resources from any classroom, home, or any place you have internet access. 

Other teachers can benefit from your willingness to share your materials online, too.  Win-win!


Are you keeping track of meeting notes? 

As long as the information is fine to share with the public, feel free to post it online.  

If you are discussing instructional strategies, helpful resources, etc., that is fine to post.  If the information includes notes about individual students, don't do it.  

Ask me for alternatives and we'll find a method that works for you!  Are there topics that you discuss at meetings that should not be posted?  What might they be?  I'm sure there are.  Use your best judgment.

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That is really the heart of the matter:  Use your judgment.  Think about the information you want to post online and determine if it is appropriate to put online before you post it.  

Remember to keep these things in mind when you are posting to the web.  You would never want to post something that would put a child at risk. 

A Shameless Plug for Instructional Technology Support

Sometimes I think it is helpful to share information about how Instructional Technology Support works, so you know how I can best help you in your classroom.

I am available to help you plan your curriculum.  My specialty is helping you to look at your curriculum and find ways technology can make teaching and learning more efficient and fun.  Are you planning new Common Core aligned units?  Let me know if I can help with that!  Planning for the use of technology in your curriculum is much easier when you are developing your curriculum maps.

It is a good idea to invite me to participate in your grade level or department meetings.  Just listening to your concerns can spark ideas that I can share for ways to use technology to support what you are doing as a grade level or department.

Are you looking for a new way to present something, or are you having a hard time getting your students to understand a concept?  Invite me to meet with you so we can brainstorm ways to tackle issues like this.  We can use technology to help students visualize many concepts to foster deeper understanding.

Perhaps you would like to develop a WebQuest for your students.  Let's develop one together!  I also assist teachers in creating ActivInspire flipcharts, and locate interactive online resources and technology materials to support your lesson and unit plans.

You might be thinking about creating a classroom website to improve home-school communication.  We can discuss what tool would be best for you to use and how to get started.  Many teachers in our region use ToolboxPro, Wikispaces, or Weebly to post information online for parents and community members to access.

Administrators might consider contacting me to present useful technology tools at staff meetings, or to develop customized staff development training for teachers in your school or in the district.

There are so many ways that Instructional Technology Support can benefit your district.  Please contact me if you have questions.  :-)

A (Not so) New Approach to Curriculum

Twitter is an amazing source of professional development for me. My Twitter friends share so many useful articles, resources, and tips on a daily basis, that I miss it when I'm running full-speed through my day and can't get to it.

In between appoinments today, I had some time to look through Twitter and found an article that @clifmims shared called "Everything you know about curriculum may be wrong. Really" by Grant Wiggins. I have read it twice already and plan to re-read it again. It really has me thinking...

We are in a period of tremendous change in education. Since we're in the middle of all this change, it might be a good time to rethink the way we approach curriculum.

Before you plan new units around the Common Core Standards, read this article and let me know if I can help.

If you have questions or comments, you can comment here or on Grant Wiggins' blog article. He is answering questions and responding to his readers on his blog. The comments there are every bit as informative as the article itself!

Windows 7: Switch User vs. Logging Off

I have noticed recently that there is some confusion about the Switch User and Log Off options in Windows 7.

When you LOG OFF the computer, you are disconnecting yourself from your network connection. All of your programs are closed and you'll need to log back in to the network and open everything again if you want to begin working on that computer again.

Select LOG OFF if you are done with the network connection. See the image below:



If you use the SWITCH USER option, you maintain your network connection and can keep your programs open, while allowing another user to log in to that computer.

When you select SWITCH USER, you will return to the Welcome screen. If another user wants to log in, he would press CTRL+ALT+DEL | click SWITCH USER | OTHER USER and type his login information.

This is handy for teachers who share a classroom computer with other users. Use the Switch User option so that you can quickly switch back and forth throughout the day without going through the entire log in process and network connection over and over again.




Let me know if you have any questions or comments!

Save the Projectors!

Did you know that projector bulbs generally run about 2000 hours. Some last longer, some do not. That sounds like a lot, but let's break that down.

2000 hours = 250 8-hour days

That's about 1.5 school years of school or less. Remember that as the bulb wears down, it gets dimmer and dimmer until it is very difficult to see the projected image.

The No Show button on the Promethean remotes does NOT save bulb life.

Projector bulbs cost about $150-200 per bulb! That's a lot of money.

If the district had to purchase bulbs for 80 projectors every 2 years it would cost the district about $12,000 - 16,000! Think about the things that could be purchased instead, if you conserve bulb life and make your projector bulb last 3 or 4 years or more...

There are ways to make the bulbs last. Please shut off your projector if:

• You aren't going to use it for 20 minutes or more
• You and your students aren't in the classroom
• You are leaving the building

It takes about a minute for your projector bulb to cool down and 30 seconds to turn it back on.

In these tough economic times, it is important to save money everywhere possible. Do your part! Save the projectors!