EUSD Instructional Technology

Our district is participating in the 2008 NetDay Speak Up Survey which enables students, teachers and parents to contribute their opinion and experiences on technology, math and science in their school. Speak Up is an annual national research project that has collected the viewpoints of over 850,000 K-12 students, teachers and parents from all 50 states. This is the second year the district will be taking the survey. Thanks to all classes that participated in last years survey.

This survey is entirely voluntary, but we would like to have students and teachers at each school site actively participate by the deadline on December 19th. A large sample will benefit the district and your school in the following ways:

* Gives our students a voice in their own learning.
* Use data to make curriculum more dynamic and relevant to students.
* Help teachers gain a better understand of student expectations about using technology and how they use technology out of school.
* Access to data that will compare our schools locally and nationally on technology, math and science.
* Provide data on technologies that the school community would like to invest in.
* Help support our goals of preparing students for the 21st Century.

To access the survey:

1. Go to http://www.netdayspeakup.org and click on the student survey link. Teachers will click on the “teacher” link.
2. Type in the name of your school.
3. Enter the school secret word that you received in the Speak Up Survey email.
4. Select appropriate grade levels for survey.
5. Complete survey.

K-2 classes have the option of taking the survey as a whole group. The teacher will survey the class as a whole on each question and enter the total number of respondents for each question. This will make it much easier to facilitate the survey to students who cannot read the questions on their own.

We appreciate your support and look forward to review the data from the survey. All answers in the 25 question survey are 100% confidential. The survey will take around 15-20 minutes to complete. We sent out a separate announcements for parents in the district to take the survey.

There are several strategies for having students complete the survey. This will depend on the access that your students have to computers.

1. Students can take the survey as a whole class in the computer lab.
2. Students can rotate into classroom computers to take the survey.
3. Students can take the survey at home and have parent sign off that they completed it. Students who do not have access at home, can be given time during the school day to complete.
4. K-2 classes can use the whole group survey to have all students data collected at the same time.

Music

Egyptian Raps

Free Piano Music

DSO Kids Music Site

Podcasts

VAPA Podcast Site

Elementary Podcasts

iTunes U K-12 Content

We have updated all the help videos for WordPress so they demonstrate how to use the new version of the software.

You can check them all out here.

Topics

Hello Teachers,

California State Parks offers free video conferences which include the following units of study: Tidepools, Geology of Anza Borrego, Adaptations of Elephant Seals, Gold Rush, Paleontology, Government and more. The units meet specific content standard and can be adapted to all grade levels. Several Encinitas teachers have participated in these programs throughout the year and found them to be exceptional.  For more information go to http://www.ports.parks.ca.gov/ and click on UNITS OF STUDY.

Please contact me if there is a program that you feel would enhance your curriculum. I will assist you with the process. You will contact a ranger from the state parks to set up dates and times. Mike or I will setup the videoconferencing unit in your classroom and come in to assist on that day.   It does not require much on your end and the students are thoroughly engaged, learn a lot and absolutely love it.  Looking forward to hearing from you.

Ashley

Voice Thieves

Voice Thieves

DMA 20007

Chair Tippers Be Warned

Chair Tippers Be Warned

DMA 2007

We are going to be updating the software on the WordPress server this week and will need to have teachers stay off the system on Thursday night and all day Friday. There is a new look to the Dashboard that will make it easier to navigate and manage your WordPress site.

We will post some new training videos shortly, but in the meantime you can get a preview of the new changes, as well some basic training on how to use the new system by going to the Video Tutorials at EduBlogs.

EduBlogs Video Tutorials

On August 1st from 1:00-3:00pm at the District Office, Brad Krey from California State Parks will be providing an overview of the free video conferences that are offered. The units of study include Tidepools, Geology of Anza Borrego, Adaptations of Elephant Seals, Paleontology, Government and more.

The units meet specific content standard and can be adapted to all grade levels. Several Encinitas teachers participated in these programs throughout the year and found them to be exceptional.

For more information go to http://www.ports.parks.ca.gov/ If you are interested in attending please sign up from the link below.
REGISTER ONLINE

This summer Instructional Technology will be offering an open lab on a few Wednesdays at the district office for teachers to try out new technologies, receive help with planning for use of technology in the classroom and to get help with using software in the classroom.

The following dates and times will be offered on a drop in basis. If you want to learn more about technology or get some practice away from the demands of the school year just drop in.

Wednesday, July 23rd, 1-3 pm
Wednesday, July 30th, 1-3 pm
Wednesday, August 6th, 1-3 pm

Here are some things that you can get help with:

WordPress/Classroom Web Site
Google Docs
Digital Media
Digital Photos
Google Earth
United Streaming
Classroom Management
Collaborative Projects
Virtual Field Trips
Grade Level Resources
Arts and Technology

Hope to see you at the district office on one of these days. Please let me know ahead of time if you plan on dropping in and what you think you might want to learn more about.

iPhoto

Project Live Digital Photo Resources

iPhoto 06 Video Tutorials

Project Live iPhoto Basics PDF

Pictures For iPhoto Activity