Issue 16, Volume 8 December 13, 2007     Thought for the Week Well done is better than well said. -- Benjamin Franklin     See our animated holiday greeting at http://www.cpsb.org/seasonsgreetings/. Region V Announces 2007 TNT Grant Winners The purpose of the Region V TNT Technology Innovation Grants was to provide up to $1,000 mini-grants as seed funds for technology-based classroom projects. All classroom teachers who attended the Region V LACUE TNT Institute this past fall were eligible to submit a proposal for funding consideration. Region V LACUE is honored to recognize the Region V 2007 TNT Technology Innovation Grant Award Winners! Congratulations to the following teachers! Lynzie Boudreaux Fenton High, Jeff Davis Parish Sherry Dattola F. K. White Middle, Calcasieu Parish Lydia Kebodeaux Hebert F. K. White Middle, Calcasieu Parish Della Pearce Dolby Elementary, Calcasieu Parish Peggy Pennington Frasch Elementary, Calcasieu Parish Kacie Pugh Watkins Elementary, Calcasieu Parish JoAnna Guillory Oak Park Elementary, Calcasieu Parish Ashleigh Schulz Moss Bluff Elementary, Calcasieu Parish Yessica Walker Sulphur 9th Grade, Calcasieu Parish Kimmy Smith LaGrange High, Calcasieu Parish Each award winner will share the results of their technology-based project during TNT 2008. We look forward to learning from these award winners through their presentations at TNT 2008! Prepping Hardware And Software For The Holidays In preparing for the holidays, shopping for gifts, finalizing the list, and calling Santa to make sure our names are not on the naughty list, there is a lot going on at this time. Before the holiday break sneaks up, be aware of the computers and data that is stored on the computers in the district. Please take the following precautions before leaving for the holiday. 1. Backup your data. Use CDs, flash drives, whatever you have. It is a good idea to make sure you have the material that is important to you on a backup to ensure you have a copy in the event of Santa crashing into your school 2. To prevent saturated bandwidth at schools for updates and such, leave your computers turned on. Updates and patches are uploaded to district machines on a nightly basis, and if you leave your computer off for a period of time, the updates backup and are uploaded the next time the machine turns on. 3. Do not install that free Santa pinup background or anything that is “FREE” on the internet. Things in this tech age are not free, if is free, then the likelihood of spyware, viruses, greyware or malicious code getting on your computer is HIGH. 4. Do not install any software like AOL, Shareezza, or any other software that violates the district AUP. Please refer to this link if you have any questions. : (http://www.cpsb.org/system/policies/aup.pdf) 5. And the most important tip of the Holidays…. BE SAFE and HAVE FUN! Remember Santa is always checking his list. For any Tech Help issues, be sure to email tech.help@cpsb.org. Leadership And Technology With Web 2.0 Although many educators are just becoming comfortable with email, the Internet, and various software packages, Web 2.0 tools are already changing the way people work. There are many definitions of Web 2.0; however, one constant component in defining Web 2.0 is that Internet users become content providers. This is a very different perspective from what we’ve been used to in the past where information was delivered from a top-down approach. It is now being replaced by users who create and build content and information from the bottom up. Some ways Web 2.0 tools might assist busy leaders are to (1) blog about daily tasks and issues, (2) use a Wiki to work collaboratively with another individual or a group to create a document, (3) collect RSS feeds to get the news and updates you want to listen to all in one place, and (4) create podcasts to share school updates. If you are interested in learning more about Web 2.0, here is the link to a recent book produced by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) http://www.iste.org/source/Orders/isteProductDetail.cfm?product_code=newtoo  Basic Computer Maintenance Computer running slow? Pages loading in pieces? Would you like to be able to make your computer run faster? You might need to run Disk Defragmenter. On your computer there is a tool called Disk Defragmenter. Disk Defragmenter puts files in order on your computer. Think of your computer as a room that has file cabinets. Inside the file cabinets are folders for documents. Pretend that instead of putting each of your documents in the folders in the correct file cabinet, you just toss them into the room and let them sit on the floor. When you need to find a document you will have to go in and sift through all the papers. The Disk Defragmenter tool is your computer's way of going into the room and putting all of those papers in the correct folders in the correct file cabinets so that the next time you ask your computer to find something it doesn't have to run all over looking for what you asked for. It's a good idea to run the Disk Defragmenter no less than once a month. You can run the Disk Defragmenter every day if you want to. If Disk Defragmenter has never been run on your computer it may take hours to run the first time. To run Disk Defragmenter follow these steps: Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter. Click one time on the drive (C:) at the top of the box and then click Defrag. Even if you get the message that you don't need to run defrag at that time, run it anyway. Virtual School Symposium Resources Available The North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL) is pleased to announce that the 2007 VSS Resources page is now available online at http://www.virtualschoolsymposium.org/resources.php. On this page, you will find links to webcasts, vodcasts, articles, PowerPoint presentations, photos, etc. from many of the presentations offered at last month's Virtual School Symposium.   Do You Have A Digital Wish? Tool Factory and Olympus launched Digital Wish to help educators locate much-needed funding for technology. Regardless of whether you win one of these grants, your technology wish list will be posted publicly so that donors can make a contribution to your classroom. It's basically a wedding registry for technology products! There's a searchable library of grants and a myriad of ideas for fundraising. The entire site is designed to help teachers find funding for technology for the classroom. Link to Digital Wish, surf the national lesson plan repository or write your own lesson plans. Locate friends from other schools and see how other educators are integrating technology in the classroom. Find out more at the folling websites: Digital Wish Grants: http://www.digitalwish.com/dw/digitalwish/grant_awards  Tool Factory Contests: http://www.toolfactory.com/olympus_contest/ Witty Writing In December 1733 Benjamin Franklin started publishing Poor Richard's Almanack. Almanacs of the era were printed annually, and contained things like weather reports, recipes, predictions and homilies. Franklin published his almanac under the guise of a man named Richard Saunders, a poor man who needed money to take care of his carping wife. What distinguished Franklin's almanac were his witty aphorisms and lively writing. Many of the famous phrases associated with Franklin, such as, "A penny saved is a penny earned" come from Poor Richard. December marks the 275th anniversary of Ben Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack. Explore Franklin's quotes here! http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/quotable/ 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) International Education and Resource Network http://www.iearn.org/ Started in 1988, iEARN is the world's largest non-profit global network that enables teachers and young people to use the Internet and other new technologies to collaborate on projects that both enhance learning and make a difference in the world. There are over 150 projects in iEARN all designed and facilitated by teachers and students to fit their curriculum and classroom needs and schedules. In addition to connecting students' learning with local issues and meeting specific curriculum needs, every project proposed by teachers and students in iEARN has to answer the question, "How will this project improve the quality of life on the planet?" This vision and purpose is the glue that holds iEARN together, enabling participants to become global citizens who make a difference by collaborating with their peers around the world.   Christmas: The Story and Music of The Nutcracker http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/xmas/music1/nutcracker.html How many of your students have an annual tradition of attending the Nutcracker ballet? How many have seen the Nutcracker on television, if they haven't attended a live performance? And finally, if you still have negative replies to the first two questions, then how many students left know of the Nutcracker ballet and/or story? Chances are quite high that your students are familiar with this holiday tale. This site offers photos of the ballet performance, with midi files of the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Miniature Overview. Share this classic with your students, using the files and movies, as well as the background text offered at this site.    Christmas Around the World http://www.christmas.com/worldview  This site is full of information on how Christmas is celebrated world-wide. Click on a Continent on the interactive map or the linked list. There are recipes, music, and more. There are also links to the various Christmas symbols. Visit a different country everyday to find out how different cultures celebrate. Check out the CPSB’s Best of the Web for more Holiday Ideas, including Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and other cultures around the world: http://www.cpsb.org/Resources/bestofweb/sites.asp   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  Best on the Net Tech Guides  Computer Purchasing Information  Tech Connect Archive