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Thought for the Week
No one can make you feel inferior
without your consent.
-- Eleanor Roosevelt |
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Welcome Back
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 Welcome
back to the 2003 - 2004 school year and the fourth year of the
CPSB electronic resource - Tech Connect! The
CPSB Technology Department had a very busy but productive
summer. We conducted training sessions for hundreds and
hundreds of school system employees in preparation for
beginning the new school year. Jim Crawford and the MIS
Department have worked non-stop to get our new student
information system and business system, Pentamation up and
running. What a challenge!!!! but a huge step forward for our
district. We ask for your patience and understanding this year
as we move forward with this massive implementation. Many
changes for the better will occur....remember the old saying,
"No pain, no gain"!
For the second year we held
the annual summer Tech Camp for students at our Tech Center.
Over 75 students in grades 3 - 8 enjoyed a week of fun and
intense learning with technology conducted by our technology
department staff. Students researched various topics, created
projects and web pages while learning how to use a GPS that
they took home! Visit our camp website to learn more about
this exciting summer event. www.cpsb.org/techcamp
As you log on each Thursday
morning you can expect to find waiting in your email inbox the
latest in "technology happenings" in our district and current
"tips and tricks" to improve your technology skills. We hope
you will join us in celebrating the numerous successes we have
in technology by emailing
tech.connect@cpsb.org
any information you would like to share with our colleagues in
the district. Please share any suggestions you have and let us
know what will help you in your specific job assignment. We
will attempt to include your suggestions in our future issues.
We look forward to working
with you this school year. Let us know what we can do to help
you and have a great school year!
Sheryl Abshire,
Administrative Coordinator of Technology
sheryl.abshire@cpsb.org |
We Are
Looking for a Few Good Women and Men!
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Share your expertise with your
colleagues and sign up NOW to present a short 50 minute
session or hands on workshop at the TNT5 Institute,
Saturday, September 27, 2003 from 8:00am - 3:00 pm at the
Calcasieu Parish Technology Center and Reynaud Middle School.
Share an innovative idea used in your classroom or perhaps
some tech tips and tricks that work for you....maybe share
some neat websites that make your life and teaching easier or
just talk about how you use technology in your classroom or
office and share some of your student's work....Whatever you
have to share.....WE NEED YOU!!! Visit the TNT5
website www.cpsb.org/tnt
and click on "Call for Presenters" and sign-up now to present
a session! |
Sign Up
NOW to attend TNT5!!!
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 Saturday,
September 27, 2003
8:00am - 3:00pm
Calcasieu Parish Technology Center and Reynaud Middle
School
600 Shattuck St., Lake Charles, Louisiana
Over 600
educators attended last year....don't miss the "Premier
Technology Embedded Staff Development Event of the Year"
TNT5
Visit the
TNT5 website to register....NOW!!!!!!
www.cpsb.org/tnt
This
conference is geared to classroom teachers, school
administrators, curriculum staff, Title I program coordinators, library
media specialists, and others with an interest in
educational technology. |
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Highlights of the conference will be:
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Informative spotlight speakers
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Hands-on technology workshops
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Vendor
exhibits
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Fabulous door prizes (We are giving away a computer
and lots more!!!!)
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Conference
cost: $20.00 (Lunch is included)
Make checks payable to: Region V LACUE
TNT Conference
CPSB Technology Training Center
600 S. Shattuck St.
Lake Charles, LA 70601
Questions:
337.491.1797 or email the
webmaster |
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Microsoft
Templates for School
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Microsoft Office has a variety
of templates that can help both students and teachers get
organized and prepared for the upcoming school year. While
Office templates and features can't grade papers or stop Fido
from eating your homework, they can make going back to school
a lot easier.
http://office.microsoft.com/assistance/2002/articles/spBacktoSchool.aspx |
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Students: Get ready for homework
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 Teachers:
Try something new
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Parents: Need to send a note to
school?
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Helpful back-to-school links
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Quickly
Access the Task Manager
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 Windows
XP's Task Manager is a very useful troubleshooting tool
because it provides you with a summary of several performance
metrics and detailed information about all the applications
and processes currently running on your computer. In addition,
it allows you to terminate hung applications.
The most common method of accessing the Task Manager is by
pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete, which brings up the Windows Security
dialog box, and then clicking the Task Manager option. If you
use XP in a stand-alone or workgroup configuration and log
onto the system with the Welcome screen, this keyboard
combination will immediately bring up the Task Manager.
Here are some other methods you can use in XP to quickly
access the Task
Manager:
- Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc
- Right-click the taskbar
then select the Task Manager command.
- Right-click the desktop.
Select New | Shortcut. Type Taskmgr.exe in the text
box. Choose Next, and then select Finish.
Double-click the new icon.
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Are you a
bad speller?
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There are some applications that
don’t include spell check. To make spell checking a
little easier and a lot more efficient, jump over to
SpellCheck.net. Once
you input the text you want evaluated, the engine generates
drop-down menus within the document over the words it has
found to be incorrect. I like this method much better than the
traditional opening of a separate window to correct misspelled
words. That method often covers up vital information while
you're determining how you want the words spelled.
To get even more help with your documents, look under the
Language tab and click on Text Tools. This offers a number of
features including a word count, numbering of lines,
converting text to HTML, and changing the case. Quick
referencing to links such as an encyclopedia, dictionary, and
thesaurus are also right at your fingertips.
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Marco Polo
Grams
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 Marcopolo
Grams are a neat way to integrate technology into your
classroom at varying levels from no-tech, low-tech, or
high-tech. Building a house from scratch can seem like a
daunting task, but proper planning and cooperation can keep
the project right on track. This month, MarcoPolo features
lessons and resources to help you and your students examine
different structures and buildings, and discover the rewards
of working on a project from start to finish. Use the warm-up
activities below to explore concepts of design, construction
and teamwork, then scroll down for links to more lessons and
resources. The link to view the document is
http://www.marcopolo-education.org/MarcoGrams/Aug2003.html. |
Outlook
Templates
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 If
you send mail to the same person, or group of persons over and
over again, day after day, you should consider building a
template to speed up your mailing tasks. To do this, start
writing your message just as you normally would. Put in the
addresses and any text that you always use. After you've
entered all the standard information (leaving space for any
non-repetitive text) choose File/ Save As. Name your new
template using the EML extension and click Save. To use
the template, just double its icon. Make your additions and
click Send. Note that the message always open set to the
default mail account. If you wish to use a different account,
click the arrow at the right side of the "From" list box and
select a new account. |
K-3
Resources for Reading Teachers
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 These
resource ideas are meant to complement the Pair-It Books
series published by
Steck-Vaughn. The Pair-It Book program is a learning tool
designed to help emergent readers develop beginning reading,
writing, and research skills through a multimedia approach.
Most of the ideas use the program Kidspiration to help
students organize what they have read. The resources may
either be copied for students to fill out with paper and
pencil or recreated using a similar program. K-3 teachers
received these supplemental reading books a few years ago.
This website has teaching ideas to correlate with those books.
http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/schools/highlandes/agraywww/pairitbooks.html |
Using
Graphic Organizers to Improve Student Performance
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 Using
the "No Child Left Behind" criteria for scientifically based
research (SBR), 29 studies were identified and evaluated as
“Scientifically Based Research” (SBR) and used as evidence for
the instructional effectiveness of the use of graphic
organizers such as those students develop in Kidspiration and
Inspiration.
The study, "Graphic Organizers: A Review of the Scientifically
Based Research," shows that using graphic organizers--concept
maps, webs, idea maps and more--improve performance across
several content areas, multiple grade levels, and different
student populations.
To review a detailed summary of the report, go to
http://www.inspiration.com/research. |
Super Kids
Guide to Finding Stuff on the Web
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 Need
help “finding stuff on the web”? Try
http://www.super-kids.com
and find great information, from any subject area in no time.
Need help with geography homework? Super-Kids
Country
Search puts the information at your fingertips about every
country in the world, using the World Fact Book database of
the CIA.
The
Metric Converter is totally cool. Did you know that 17
miles equals 27.3588 kilometers? That it's the same as
27,358.8 meters and 89,760.0 feet? You can automatically
convert Distance, Area, Volume, Weight, Temperature, Pressure
and Force with the Metric Converter. |
Article
Review
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Review: Qualities of Effective
Teachers by James H. Stronge (Part 1 of 3)
Published by ASCD. ISBN # 0-87120-663-3
When reviewing qualities of effective teachers, it is
important to remember that each teacher has a personality of
his/her own. What distinguishes an effective teacher from
his/her colleagues can be broken into six major components.
Those include:
- The role of caring -
listening, understanding and truly Knowing his/her students
- Role of fairness and
respect - consistently treating the students with respect
and allowing them to have input into the classroom
- Social interaction with
students - demonstrating a sense of fun and a willingness to
participate, while maintaining appropriate teacher-student
role structures
- Promotion of enthusiasm
and motivation for learning - this is the component most
closely linked to student achievement
- Attitude toward the
teaching profession - participating in collegial,
collaborative work environments
- Role of reflective
practice - review a day's work both formally and informally,
believing in one's efficacy and high expectations
The combination of these
components and the strength and consistency with which each
component is entrenched in the teacher's daily educational
journey determine the impact and effectiveness of the teacher
in his/her classroom and school environment. How do you fare
in relation to each of the components above? If you see need
for improvement in a category, what steps do you plan to take
to ensure results? |
Top Ten Viruses Found on CPSB Computers
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| Here are the top ten viruses
found on CPSB computers in the past 7 days. The stats are
based on 65 infected computers
out of a total of 3266 OfficeScan
clients.
 The information shows the name
of the virus, the number of infected files found, and the
percentage of the virus from the total.
ALL school board employees need to
ensure that their Dell, Compaq, HP, IBM or other PC classroom
computers stay virus free. Go to the following link to download the district copy of OfficeScan:
http://teacherlink.cpsb.org/officescan and your computer
will automatically be updated daily to scan for the latest
viruses. You must install the software using Internet Explorer
4.0 or later (Netscape will not work!!!!!) Please answer "Yes"
to all prompts as the software installs. If you have any
questions, please contact the CPSB Help Desk at
tech.help@cpsb.org.
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Best on
the Net!! NEW FEATURE!! -- Visit this site for hundreds of websites for teachers! We would love to hear from you
about the best educational sites you have found on the web. Please
submit, via email, the sites you feel merit inclusion. Send to
tech.connect@cpsb.org. Please include the URL and a short sentence
about the site.
Featured Sites: (These sites were
submitted by teachers in Calcasieu Parish)
Back to School Websites
Ice Breakers
http://www.teach-nology.com/ideas/ice_breakers/
http://atozteacherstuff.com/tips/Back_to_School/Icebreakers-Getting_Acquainted
These sites offer a variety of strategies that will help your
students to get to know each other.
Start of the Year Ideas
http://www.teach-nology.com/ideas/start_year/
This site offers several ideas for organizing your classroom,
surveying your students and parents, and generally preparing for a
fantastic year.
ePALS
http://www.epals.com/projects/thewayweare/?cida_280x60_en.gif
ePALS welcomes students of all ages and all countries to participate
in a new project that begins in September of 2002! The Way We Are - A
Global Exchange Project
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An official publication
of the CPSB Technology Department
If you have any questions or comments please e-mail the Webmaster.
For Technical Support:
tech.help@cpsb.org
Calcasieu Parish Homepage
Technology Department Teacher
Link
Best on
the Net
Tech Guides
Computer Purchasing Information
Tech Connect Archive |
