MassCue

Mrs. Sabella learned how to use Twitter
while waiting for the conference to begin.

In October, twenty educators from across the district attended the MassCue (Massachusetts Computer Using Educators) Conference at Gillette Stadium.

Workshops featured many of the latest technologies and practical strategies for implementing them in classrooms.  In between sessions, the room was buzzing with teachers exchanging ideas and sharing useful sites.

Sweetsir teachers were excited to learn about many of the free apps available to support our reading and writing programs.  Thanks to the PTO, our school recently received two new ipads.  One will be used by the Speech Language Pathologist, and the other will be shared by the grade two team.  These ipads will give our teachers an opportunity to explore using hand held devices as an educational tool.

Reading Tips from the 'Experts'

Research indicates math and reading skills can regress over the summer if children are not encouraged to read and practice math facts.  To provide Sweetsir parents with helpful information, our Title One teachers hosted a presentation at the Merrimac Public Library on  June 5th.  Ms. Toni Sabella and Ms. Emily Marsh gave an overview of the strategies we use in the classroom to help students learn to read.  Ms. Grimes showed parents the Every Day Math site they can access from home and provided tips on helping children master their math facts.  

Below are videos the Title One Teachers created for the presentation.  They feature the real 'experts'- some of our grade one and two super stars.  (To view videos of students explaining how to master math facts, follow the math label listed on the right).   

Reading Strategies 

First graders share tips with animal helpers.

Non-Fiction Text Features

Second graders share posters they created with text conventions.

PEF Trailblazer Awards

Ipad bought with PEF funds

The Pentucket Educational Foundation will be granting a $500 'Trailblazer Award' to an outstanding educator from each of the six PRSD schools at the School Committee Meeting in June.  Parents and other community members can help select the recipients by submitting nominations prior to May 11th.  Tracey McCarthy, a Sweetsir Preschool Teacher, used the award money she received last year to purchase an ipad2 for her classroom.  Nomination forms and additional information can be found on the PEF website: http://pentucketedfund.org/

2011 Trailblazer Recipients

Internet Safety Lesson

Ms. Sarah Angell, our School Counselor, visits k-2 classrooms every other week to provide guidance related lessons on topics such as friendship skills, conflict resolution, bullying prevention and personal safety.  She uses the Second Step Program, which is the curriculum used throughout the district, along with other resources.  Ms. Angell is currently teaching first and second graders about internet safety using a BrainpopJr video.  Brainpop is a website featuring these characters in short animated videos on a multitude of educational topics.  Many teachers use the clips as an activator to introduce lesson topics.  Although most of the site requires a subscription, there are a number of free videos worth viewing with your children.
BrainpopJr is geared for grades k-2 and the adjoining site, Brainpop, is more for grades 3-5.  I've embedded the 'free movie of the week' on the side bar of this blog.  Below is the link to the BrainpopJr movie on Internet Safety:
http://www.brainpopjr.com/artsandtechnology/technology/internetsafety/

Blogging Challenge

I always love a challenge, especially if it gives me an excuse to avoid housework, LOL.  I met Larry Fliegelman when he worked as a principal in nearby Boxford.  He has since moved to Vermont, but keeps in touch with many colleagues through twitter.  He has posted a challenge to blog 14 times in the month of February (#14inFeb). http://t.co/J4XpUyQL  Larry, you're on!

I started blogging after attending the Massachusetts Elementary School Principals Association conference last May.  I was inspired by meeting other administrators who were enthusiastic about using twitter to develop a PLN (Professional Learning Network).  I jumped on board and began reading tweets from educators across the globe.  Since tweets are limited to 140 characters, I love being able to read many snippets in a short time.  I find it helps me stay abreast of things happening in the education field.  I often stumble upon links to interesting blogs, podcasts and videos.  The past nine months have been not only enlightening, but also very validating.  I've read so many postings about the need for educators to focus on creativity, communication and collaboration, it made me realize how cutting edge we are as a school district with our multi-year focus on embedding 'Habits of Learning' in all k-12 classrooms.

Modern technology has helped educators across the globe connect in ways never before possible. Below is a chart from the traffic page of this blog.  Would you believe it been viewed by people from as far away as Latvia and Malaysia?  How exciting to think that teachers in other countries might borrow our idea to dress up as fact triangles and rack up 'Math Fact Power Hours!'

Pageviews by Countries United States 4,579 Russia 77 Germany 69 Canada 36 France 30 Australia 29 United Kingdom 28 Latvia 27 Ukraine 21 Malaysia 10

Is your child protected online?

With technology rapidly advancing, children are often more tech savvy than their parents.  On more than one occasion, I have had to call a parent and inform them their child accidentally stumbled upon an inappropriate adult site or YouTube video, and then shared explicit information with classmates.  The embarrassed parent is usually shocked and surprised to learn how easily this can happen.  Most parents I have spoken with are digitally naive.  They do not realize how accessible inappropriate information is or how easily it can be to install filter controls.

A generous relative recently gave my children an ipad.  While they were thrilled, I was a little apprehensive about loosing more control over their online activities.  While the Internet can be an amazing educational resource, like most parents, I worry about exposing them to information too advanced for their age.  Up until this point, I've been able to closely monitor their online activities by placing our desktop computer in a common area of the house.  Casually walking by, allowed me to easily monitor online activities.  I also installed parental control software to filter adult content and limit time usage.  When they were younger, I spent time exploring sites such as webkins and mooshi monsters before allowing them access.  Usually, the choices they made were fine.  However, after a few minutes on a virtual second life site, I placed a block and declared it off limits when visiting the friend who recommended the site.  Parents must decide for themselves what is within their comfort zone.


Technology continues to evolve as my children grow, making it challenging to stay a step ahead of them.  Fortunately, an Internet search allowed me to learn about parental control tools for handheld devices.  Apple has features for free on the settings tab of iphones, ipods and ipads.  Restrictions can be placed on app purchases, safari access, and media content.  My favorite discovery was the feature to ban explicit music.  However, there are limitations.  Having an avid teen reader in the house, I was disappointed to learn  ibooks do not have ratings, so the restriction setting is all or none. (If anyone has a tip for book filters, please let me know and I will update this post).  As parents, it is essential we continually explore ways to keep children safe.  Staying abreast of the latest technology is not easy, but if we share what we learn with each other we may be able to shield our children a little longer.
For more information about apple controls:  http://www.appleparentalcontrols.org/

NetSmartz is an online resource from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  The site features age appropriate games and videos along with resources for parents: http://www.netsmartz.org/Parents 

Power of Words and Actions

 I recently stumbled upon these two cute videos that made me think...

For the past several years, our district has focused professional development efforts on explicitly teaching students the 5 Habits of Learning: communication, collaboration, independence, thinking and creative exploration.  This first video highlights why explicitly teaching-  and encouraging- creativity is so important.

Derek Sivers also created this video, which has an important message about the power of our words and actions.  Just as harsh words can stay permanently in a person's heart, they may also stay permanently on the Internet.  It is so important for children, and adults, to realize when they write something on the Internet it is not easily erased- it becomes part of your "digital footprint." 

How Will We Keep Up?

"The Changing Media Landscape" is a thought provoking youtube video.  After watching the clip, I was surprised to discover it was produced several years ago- 2009!

This video really drives home how vitally important it is for students to develop digital literacy skills.  Due to budgetary cuts, this has been challenging for many schools.  Across our district, for example, all the elementary library media specialists and technology teachers have been eliminated.  In fact, the Pentucket School district has only two full time staff members responsible for maintaining all the computer equipment and technology database systems used in six school buildings and the business office.  (Fortunately, Jeanne Frasch and Craig Carlson are very dedicated and talented).  

At Sweetsir, faculty members have decided to make enhancing our knowledge and use of technology a school-wide goal this year.  Teachers are sharing resources and dedicating time to help each other further develop technology skills (i.e., blogging, skyping, creating video lessons, smart board lessons, assistive technologies and using social media professionally),  We are also collaborating to create livebinders to share technology resources. 

Take a risk and try something new this year... and then share it!

As a Principal,  I've sent a welcome back letter to faculty members every August.  It's a way to reconnect and set a positive tone for the upcoming school year.  Since I am often encouraging faculty members to learn new skills and share with each other... I decided to practice what I preach.   This is my August welcome back message to the faculty...

Recently, I've noticed an incredible surge in the number of educational articles (along with blogs and tweets!) focused on the importance of bringing 'media literacy' into today's classrooms.  As educators, we have an obligation to be ongoing 'digital learners' to best prepare our students for tomorrow.  Effectively using current technologies is rapidly becoming an essential communication skill for all ages.  (Even my 74 year old aunt has learned to Skype to see a newborn grandchild living three states away).  This inspired me to explore how to use the camera lens on my new home computer.  Using the Tutor for iMovie 'll App I taught myself to create and edit a video.  The Internet is filled with so many free technology tools and how to guides.  On this page, I've started a list of Educator's Blogs as a resource for any parents and educators who might like to see what technologies other schools are using... reading them you can even learn to twitter, blog, skype, and create a prezi!  My favorite, The Classroom Chronicles, is written by a teacher who taught her colleagues a new tech skill each week... then she shared all of her lessons on-line!  Amazing.  I can't wait to share that site at our opening faculty meeting!

Day One- My First Attempt at Blogging
Last week, I attended a fantastic conference put on by the Ma Elementary Principal's Association (MESPA).  The focus was on Technology in the 21st Century;  key speaker was Heidi Hayes Jacob (check out her site:  http://www.curriculum21.com/).  It was an excellent opportunity to network with other Elementary School Principals and discover how they are integrating technology in their schools.  Over a breakfast discussion, I became sold on Twitter and Blogging.  Apparently it is not just for movie stars and celebrities!  I've decided to start Twittering to build up a PLN - personal learning network and blogging to share information with parents and community members about the great things happening at the Sweetsir School!
Please keep in mind that blogging is new to me and  I am not particularly skilled in the tech area.  However, I do have a desire to learn and love a new challenge.  I believe it is important for Principals to model being learners.  This past week, I have found a number of resources on how to set up blogs, which has given me the guts to make a go at it.  Hopefully, I will share some of those links here once I get going.  I envision changing this blog over time.... just as I keep changing the picture on my Twitter Profile, lol.