BMR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER First
Semester ’04-‘05
In-Service
Courses: Thank you to our Fall
2004 Technology In-Service Course instructors:
Lynn Price, Elizabeth Ganis, John Carroll, Patricia Robinson, Christine
Carpenter, Sandra Wynacht and Mike Cronan.
Seventy-two staff members have signed up for the classes. More classes may be offered after the start
of the new year.
Student
Administrative Software Update: The District has purchased a new student
administrative software. It is called
X2. This product is being designed and
marketed by the founders of Nordex, our current
software package. The cost to the
District for data conversion and software is $0. The District, as with all student
administrative software packages, pays an annual support fee. Nordex currently
performs these services for us: student
registration, attendance, health records, conduct, grading in the MS and HS,
reports cards in the MS and HS, and scheduling.
Nordex is no longer a supported product by its
creator. X2 has the following additional
modules and features: It is a web-based product; it has a teacher gradebook;
it has archival look-up of past years’ data; it has File-Print capability on
each screen; it has options for home-room attendance on-line; and others. A training schedule will be established for
principals and their secretaries, nurses, guidance personnel, teachers, other
administrative personnel, and others as the need arises.
Website
Updates: With the assistance of Mrs. Ganis, Mr.
Toupin, Mr.
1.
Principal
newsletter at the individual schools.
2.
The District
Events Calendar:
http://www.bmrsd.net/cgi-bin/labcals.pl?Op=ShowIt&CalendarName=BMRSD_EVENTS
3.
The Student
Handbook for the Elementary Schools.
4.
Scrolling news at
the 5 schools, the District page, High School Guidance.
5.
Hartnett Middle
School PTO at http://www.bmrsd.net/middle_school/pto/index.htm
6.
Hartnett Middle
School Guidance at http://www.bmrsd.net/middle_school/guidance/index.htm
7.
BMR Music
Department Updates: http://www.bmrsd.net/music/index.htm
8.
The School
Committee page: http://www.bmrsd.net/school_committee/members.htm
9.
All links have
been fixed on the:
The Student Resources page: http://www.bmrsd.net/student_resources/index.htm
10. The
Teacher Resources Page: http://www.bmrsd.net/teacher_resources/index.htm
11. The Parent Resources page at http://www.bmrsd.net/parent_resources/index.htm
12. A new Awards page was created for the Paul G. Keough Earth Artists Program Award winners from JFK: http://www.bmrsd.net/jfk/awards/2004a.htm
Budget
Requests: Staff members who would like to have various
technology items included in the budget process for the 2005-2006 school year
(hardware, software, supplies, etc.) should submit them to their Building
Principal who will, if they so choose, pass them along to
Websites of
Interest:
1.
From Eileen
Tetreault, MES Principal: Science Bulletins http://sciencebulletins.amnh.org/index.php
Feature stories, interactive data visualizations, and weekly
Snapshot images bring you recent discoveries and new technologies in
astrophysics, Earth science, and biodiversity.
2.
From
John Carroll, Library Media Director: Great Websites for Kids http://www.ala.org/greatsites
An American Library Association
collection of websites organized by subject.
3.
From
Priscilla Dauphinee, Library Media Aide:
Technology Tips for Classroom
Teachers http://www.edzone.net/~mwestern/ “Stuff Ya Gotta Try, Interesting places on the www, Marilyn Western's
Technology Tips for Classroom Teachers, Tutorials How to's for pc users, Integrating Technology Workshops ......
Technology
Standards for Students, Teachers and Administrators:
The Massachusetts Department
of Education has presented various technology competencies and standards for specific
groups.
For Teachers:
The Massachusetts Technology Self-Assessment Tool
(TSAT) is a technology instrument which has been designed for:
1. Teachers: to determine their own levels of
technology proficiency and to identify personal technology professional
development needs.
2. Schools/Districts: to assess their
professional development needs and to plan professional development activities
that will help all teachers become proficient in technology.
3. The State: to gather and report data on
technology competencies and technology professional development.
Mastery Levels
The TSAT has four mastery levels: Early Technology, Developing Technology,
Proficient and Advanced. Although some
levels do not require that you complete all of the skills, you can go back at
any time to check off new skills you have learned. The skills are divided into 3 main areas:
- Technology Operations & Concepts
- Ethics and Safety
- Teaching & Learning with Technology
The Massachusetts Technology Self-Assessment Tool
(TSAT) is available at:
http://www.doe.mass.edu/edtech/standards/sa_tool.html
For Teachers and Students:
http://www.doe.mass.edu/edtech/standards/itstand.pdf
Standard
1 - Demonstrate proficiency in
the use of computers and applications as well as an
understanding of concepts underlying hardware, software, and connectivity
Standard
2 - Demonstrate responsible
use of technology and an understanding of ethics and
safety issues in using electronic media
Standard
3 - Demonstrate ability to use
technology for research, problem-solving, and
communication. Students locate, evaluate, collect, and process
information from a variety of
electronic sources. Students use telecommunications and other
media to interact or collaborate
with peers, experts, and other audiences.
Alignment to the Standards:
1. Technology Operations & Concepts
Demonstrate proficiency in the use of computers and
applications as well as an understanding of concepts underlying hardware,
software, and connectivity.
2. Ethics & Safety
Demonstrate responsible use of technology and an
understanding of ethics and safety issues in
using electronic media.
3. Teaching & Learning with Technology
Demonstrate ability to use technology for research,
problem-solving, and communication.
Implement "technology enhanced instructional
strategies to support the needs of diverse
learners". Locate, evaluate, collect, and process
information from a variety of electronic sources
for integration into the curriculum. Use
telecommunications and other media to interact or
collaborate with peers, experts, and other audiences. Use and
apply technology resources to
assess student subject matter learning. "Use technology
resources to collect and analyze data,
interpret results, and communicate findings to improve
instructional practice and maximize
student learning."
ISTE National Technology Standards are available at:
http://cnets.iste.org/teachers/t_stands.html
1. Technology Operations and Concepts
2. Planning and Designing Learning Environments and
Experiences
3. Teaching, Learning and the Curriculum
4. Assessment and Evaluation
5. Productivity and professional practice
6. Social Ethical, Legal and
Human Issues
For Administrators:
Standards for Administrators
are at the National Educational Technology Standards website:
http://cnets.iste.org/administrators/
Technology Toolkit - watch for future
announcements and the website…
District/School Administration 
PK-16 Program Support Educational Technology http://www.doe.mass.edu/edtech/toolkit/
The Massachusetts DOE has developed a technology toolkit to help schools
harness the power of technology to support teaching and learning. The toolkit
contains multimedia examples of technology-rich projects from
The toolkit includes knowledge developed through Project MEET (Massachusetts Empowering Educators with Technology). Project MEET provided professional development to hundreds of educators throughout the state from 1998 to 2004, with a vision of improving student learning through the use of technology.
The toolkit, which consists of a booklet and CD, will be mailed to school superintendents, principals, and technology directors in early December, so be on the lookout for it! All of the information on the CD is will be available on this website.
Twenty-first
century technologies can help teachers customize teaching and learning to meet
the needs of today's students. They can also help educators streamline processes
and better utilize information. In order to benefit from the power of
technology, however, education leaders and teachers need to understand how to
use it."
--David
P. Driscoll, Commissioner of Education
This toolkit is designed to be a resource for
education leaders. It offers tools for districts that want to use technology
more effectively to support teaching and learning.
Project MEET provided professional development for
teachers, teacher support specialists, and administrators through a statewide
collaborative of nationally recognized organizations. The print component of the toolkit contains
insights from Project MEET participants across the Commonwealth.
The Toolkit contains: Promising Practices in Massachusetts Schools
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These examples provide glimpses into Each example features a lesson unit on a specific curriculum topic. Several criteria were used to select these lesson units. First the lesson needed to have a clear curriculum focus that aligned with the state's Curriculum Frameworks, and it had to integrate learning technology skills with learning the curriculum content. The lesson also had to address the fact that students have varying abilities, backgrounds, and interests. Finally, the lesson needed to have a way to evaluate how much students had learned. The examples themselves take advantage of the power of technology, including links to sample student work, classroom photographs, videos, multimedia presentations, and digital artwork. |
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