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Issue 38, Volume 7
May 30
, 2007
Thought for the Week
Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. -- Sir Winston Churchill
Seven Years And Still Going Strong!
As we complete our seventh year of providing Tech Connect, our online electronic resource for Calcasieu Parish employees, we want to thank all of you for the support and information you have provided. Remember, all past issues of Tech Connect are archived and located at: http://www.cpsb.org/techdepartment/tech_connect
We hope you enjoyed the newsletter and have found it to be a useful tool for professional development. If you have any suggestions about making Tech Connect more useful to you, please email us at tech.connect@cpsb.org.Have a great summer,
CPSB Technology Department
Sheryl Abshire, Administrative Coordinator of Technology
sheryl.abshire@cpsb.org
Important End Of School Year Technology Information
CPSB Help Desk Notice
With the closing of school, employees have many questions regarding repairs and procedures regarding the computers in their classroom. Please review the following information to know what you should do regarding technology in your classroom:
- If you have any supported equipment that is need of repair, it must be brought to the Tech Support Center by 4:00 P.M. on Friday, June 1, 2007 in order for it to be scheduled and repaired before the beginning of school in August. If you have any repaired equipment, and you have been notified that it is ready for pick up, be sure and pick it up by the end of the day on May 31, 2007.
- School servers and network rack equipment (hubs, switches, routers, etc.) should NOT be turned off during the summer. However, classroom computers can be turned off and power cables unplugged from the wall. Make sure that when you return from the summer you check your classroom computer’s Forefront updates and you have a green check icon (remember OfficeScan will be disappearing from computers) and Windows updates to catch up on the current versions.
- If you do not check your CPSB email during summer, your mailbox will fill up and all messages sent to your account will begin to be rejected. Shortly before the start of the new school year (July 31st or August 1st), the network staff will delete ALL messages in ALL FULL mailboxes in order to prepare the mail server for the start of school. If you wish to avoid a full mailbox and having all of the messages deleted at the end of summer, you will need to check and manage your mail. You can check your email by using any Internet service and browser you have access to and going to http://mail.cpsb.org or by going up to school periodically and downloading your mail to your computer.
- If you are checking out a classroom computer for use at home during the summer, please be aware of the following items:
* Most desktop computers do not have phone modems installed in them. You cannot plug your home phone cord into the network jack on the computer to get Internet service. This will damage the network connector. Please don’t do this. * If you have a cable modem or DSL line for Internet access at your home and you are going to plug your CPSB computer into it, you need to have a router / firewall installed between the modem and the computers to protect your computers from hackers. This is something that the cable company or phone company does not tell you about. If you don’t have one, contact us for information on what you need to have to protect yourself and your CPSB computer. * Do not install America Online (AOL) software on the computer. It can disable the computer’s built-in networking and cause your computer not to operate on the CPSB network when you return. * CPSB computers are only to be used for work related tasks so do not install video games and/or other personal software or peer-to-peer file sharing software (KaZaa, Gnutella, Limewire, etc.) for copyrighted music and software. Not only is this a violation of CPSB copyright policy, the file sharing services are also the primary place where new viruses and worms are release onto the Internet. If you have any questions, please contact the CPSB Help Desk at tech.help@cpsb.org.
Attention! Register Now For Summer Blackboard Training!
Blackboard Training Courses - Summer 2007
Register Online Now: https://www.cpsb.org/techclasses/
Utilizing Blackboard to Support Curriculum – Getting Students Involved
Prerequisite: Must currently have a Blackboard website and be proficient with Blackboard basics. This is not a proficiency class.
Dates of Training: July 2 (1 face-to-face orientation) and July 2 – July 23 (3 weeks online)
Time: 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. (face-to-face, orientation)
Location: Lab A
Level: Intermediate
Technology Requirements: Internet Access at Home/Computer Proficient
CLUs: 8
This hands-on workshop combined with an online class will guide participants through the enhancement of their current Blackboard Website to utilize with students during the upcoming 2007-2008 school year. Participants will learn how to utilize the many tools of Blackboard to create a rich, engaging online environment for students extending instruction beyond the classroom.
Using StudyMate within Blackboard
Prerequisite: Enrollment for this workshop is only open to classroom teachers who currently have students that log into Blackboard with usernames and passwords.
Date of Training: July 25
Time: 9 a.m. – 11 a.m.
Location: Lab C
Level: Intermediate
CLUs: 2
This workshop will cover the software, StudyMate, an “authoring tool that lets you create 10 Flash-based activities and games using simple templates that can be published directly to Blackboard.” Participants who attend will receive a copy of the StudyMate software. To view what Studymate can do, visit: http://www.respondus.com/studymate/samples.shtml
Using Blackboard Assessment Tools
Prerequisite: Must currently have a Blackboard website
Date of Training: July 31
Time: 9 a.m. – 11 a.m.
Location: Lab C
Level: Intermediate
CLUs: 2
This workshop is for department staff, school administrators and teachers who already have experience using Blackboard’s basic functions and want to learn more about utilizing Blackboard tools to collect data within their school or department. Topics covered will include: Tests, Surveys, Course Statistics, and Performance Dashboard.
For Questions Contact: Kim Leblanc (kim.leblanc@cpsb.org)
Summer Teaching Books Fun Tip: A Reminder To Teachers
Enjoy the summer by playing on http://TeachingBooks.net! Here's how you could use TeachingBooks over the summer:
- Watch all of the cool movies and slideshows that TeachingBooks has created, now that you have the time! These are accessible via the QuickSearch pull down menu labeled "TB.net Author Programs" or are found at http://www.teachingbooks.net/AuthorPrograms.
- Listen to audio excerpts of books you would like to introduce to students next school year. You'll find these in the orange tab marked "Book Readings" or at http://www.teachingbooks.net/BookReadings.
- Figure out how to say an author's name correctly by exploring the Author Name Pronunciation Guide. This is an ever-growing audio collection of authors pronouncing their names, found at http://www.teachingbooks.net/AuthorPronunciations.
For access from inside the CPSB network, go to http://www.teachingbooks.net/home/. No password is required. Home access requires a password. To find password information, go to the Tech Support Center's Help On The Net from the CPSB network. Home access passwords are available there for TeachingBooks, WorldBook, and EBSCO. If you need the password and you are not able to get to the CPSB network, simply email tech.help@cpsb.org and they can assist you with the password. Remember, anytime you email Tech Help, you must be using your cpsb.org email account.
Have fun this summer with these inspiring resources about books and authors!
Louisiana Voices Summer Teacher Workshops
Louisiana State Museum and Louisiana Voices have partnered to bring Louisiana teachers two free summer workshops at the Louisiana State Museum in Baton Rouge on Louisiana Foodways and Louisiana Celebrations. Check out the details under the heading Louisiana Voices Teacher Summer Workshops.
The two workshops available are entitled Jambalaya, Crawfish Pie, Vietnamese Spring Rolls: Louisiana Foodways (Thursday, June 14, 2007) and Laissez le bon temps rouler: Louisiana Celebrations and Festivals (Tuesday, July 17, 2007). Both workshops are 9 am to 3 pm.
Learn how you can bring Louisiana’s culture to your classroom through the food dishes that have made Louisiana famous. Louisiana Foodways activities are standards-based, great learning, and fun. Participants will leave with materials to incorporate in social studies, language arts, and foreign language lessons. The Louisiana Celebrations workshop provides background information on a number of Louisiana celebrations and festivals and instructs teachers in how to bring them into their classroom to enhance many interdisciplinary skills. Artifacts from a variety of sources and LV worksheets on events, writing about events, interviewing, and producing products will instruct teachers on new and innovative classroom practices.
Download the application at http://www.louisianavoices.org/07SummerWorkshopsApplication.doc.
Free Award-Winning Science Publications, Videos, And Materials
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is a nonprofit that provides an online catalogue for K-12 teachers to browse and order free award-winning publications, videos, and materials. Find DVDs, CD-ROMs, and books about plants, animals, the human body, biomedics, evolution, genetics, research findings, and lab safety - all free. The URL: http://www.hhmi.org/catalog/main?action=home
Live Monarch Foundation Educator Grant Award
The Live Monarch Foundation (501c3) Educator Outreach Program is providing funding for 4,600 teachers throughout the United States to enroll into the National Campaign: to bring Monarch Butterflies into the classroom. This program provides education and materials to strengthen the Monarch’s 3,000 mile migratory route within North America by creating self sustaining butterfly gardens and refuges.
Current funds will be allocated to the first 4,600 registrants; additional registrants will be added in order to the wait list to await additional funds. All registrants will receive updates and the monthly newsletter. Find out more at http://www.lmf-educator-award.com/index.html.
Best on the Net!! -- 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)
Quizlet Vocabulary Site
http://www.quizlet.com
Quizlet is a free, web-based tool designed to help students learn and practice vocabulary. Users enter the vocabulary terms and definitions; and, the site creates flashcards and other study tools, including collaboration tools so students can share, edit, and discuss word sets. After entering vocabulary words, students can use any one of three study methods: the flashcard method; a configurable test page that includes written, matching, multiple-choice, and true-false questions; and a specialized "learn" mode that tracks the user's knowledge of individual words and retests the user only on unlearned words.
Primary Source Learning
http://www.primarysourcelearning.org/index.shtml
Created and updated by practicing educators, Primary Source Learning helps teachers use primary-source materials from the Library of Congress in their lessons. The site's Teaching Materials database helps educators quickly find and use primary sources related to specific curriculum standards in all subject areas. The site also offers professional development activities to help teachers learn to use primary-source materials in their classes.Thinkfinity
http://www.thinkfinity.org/home.aspx
MarcoPolo has merged with the Verizon Literacy Network to become a single digital learning platform called Thinkfinity, which Verizon defines as "endless possibilities for learning and infinite intelligence." The new Thinkfinity contains more than 47,000 educational resources, such as lesson plans and interactive student activities, across seven academic disciplines. Offered in partnership with eight educational organizations, Thinkfinity is commercial free and accessible from any internet-connected computer at no cost.
