Staff Development Tips - Week of 3/13/00
Welcome to tips on Staff Development. All of you have attended a workshop
or session I have done at a Connected Classroom Conference. That's why
you're receiving this. If you would prefer to not get these weekly
updates, just reply to cates@techtamers.com and I'll be glad to remove
you from the list.
**********************************
Have Fun with Technology
**********************************
I have five principles for taming technology - the first of which is Make
Technology Fun.
Too often technology is seen as a serious topic. If we can make it fun,
it becomes a more natural part of our life. This little technique will
start you on the road to fun with technology. It might be a way to jazz
up an Introduction to Word Workshop and would certainly be a great way to
introduce the Thesaurus tool - but be prepared for your attendees to want
to spend some additional time looking up other words!
Something to do in your sparetime
---------------------------------
Perhaps this is the true reason behind the government's antitrust
persecution of Microsoft:
Go into Microsoft Works or Word, then type (copy from here):
1. I'd like Bill Clinton to resign
2. Highlight it
3. Go to Tools and click on Language, then Thesaurus
4. What happens next is a look into Bill Gates' sense of humor
**********************************
New Resource
**********************************
I'm always on the lookout for new resources that we can use on the 'net.
While most of you are familiar with the Apple Learning Interchange, you
may not know that they have recently added a customization feature. This
allows you to choose a "channel" that you are interested in and get a
custom front page based on your channel. You can combine two channels,
but I would suggest you start with one, since two makes the page too long.
Go to http://ali.apple.com and click
on My ALI. You'll need to become a
member of ALI - just fill out the form - it's free, it's cross-platform,
and it's got great resources in it.
**********************************
Remember when...
**********************************
One of the traditions we have at our house stems from an old comedy
routine. One comedian would say "Remember when we did such-and-such" and
the other would respond "Yeah, that was AWESOME, dude." I think of that
when I think back over a conference or a workshop I attended. So this
section will be a "review" of things we did or learned at prior
conferences.
One of the effective ways to support your technology is to provide Tech
Squads of Students. Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach presented a breakout session on
Feb 18 on Students as Technology Leaders. In the handout she gave a
four-page overview of the program, the components of the program, the
list of training session, and an application form. It's invaluable for
starting or improving on a program! Her online resources are great, too.
Download it all from the Connected Classroom conference site at
http://forum.classroom.com/talk?13@68.0FGjaas3bkU^0@.ee7170e
Remember, the postings for the Chicago conference will disappear on March
19!
**********************************
Thanks
**********************************
Thanks for sharing a few minutes with me. I would welcome you input and
ideas on resources to features and tips to share. Email me at
cates@techtamers.com.
See you next week!
Jeanette S. Cates, Ph.D.
 Return to Past Newsletters
 Top of Page
Back to Free Resources
|
