The PowerPoint about Copyright and Fair Use was enlightening. I knew there were copyright rules, but I'd felt "exempt" because the documents I created for classroom use were not for any financial gain. Now I know this is not the case, and I will be more careful about images and music I use. The quiz left me feeling very confused. They seemed to be trick questions designed to mislead you.

I am looking forward to comparing our district's ISAT scores with other similar districts using the iirc website. By the end of class, however, my brain was exhausted. I hope if we have time to work in class it will be in the earlier part of the session.

I also loved the gorilla video. I can't wait to try it out with my class.

I think it was great to review our districts technology plans. After reading and proofing it I now know I would never want to have to put one together! It was really intresting to see how much money they are budgeting for technology. I think it is great to have all of the diffrent technology available to the students, parents and staff. I also wanted to thank you for helping us get our classes and dates organized! We all really appericated it! It was finally nice to have some input!

I thought it was very intresting to get into the interactive school report card last night and compare schools. I had never actually gotten on that website and explored that far. I found that really intresting. I think our assignment of comparing the different school districts will be fun to do. I am very interested to see where Hedding/Abingdon falls in the scheme of things. I had never quite understood AYP so last night it was great to finally see how it is figured for each school. I was also unaware of the whole Safe Harbor idea. I think that it is a good idea to do that because it gives the schools a chance to get back on track. I still can't get over the fact that I didnt see the gorilla in the video clip. It sure made me wonder what I am missing in my classroom each day!

Our discussion last night about AYP was very interesting. I was never quite sure how that all worked. It made it pertinent using real examples such as Manual to see the percentages and how you meet, exceed, or do not meet. I had never heard of Safe Harbor either so now when I review my school on IIRC, I will know what that means.
I am anxious to do the compare and contrast assignment. I have been on IIRC before but never taken the time to really explore in depth. It was fascinating!
Also, the white shirt, black shirt activity was great. I was totally surprised when people started talking about a gorilla. I thought it was a joke. I did not see any part of a gorilla when viewing it. Wow! I like that it had meaning behind it.
EDL 518 has been very useful and interesting thus far.

Our schools are evaluated using state test scores. One of our biggest concerns is how can we as teachers make the state tests more important to the students taking them. Last night in class, Daggit's "Three R's" were discussed. These three principles seem to be as effective as any I've heard on making the tests more important to the students.
1. Rigorous - make school work challenging
2. Relevant - teach what the students need to know, why it is important, and why they need to know it.
3. Relationships - build individual relationships with students based on trust and mutual respect.
Teachers can use these three principles with their students to attempt to make state tests more important to the students taking them.

I am very excited about our upcoming assignment where we will compare our school's test results to others with similar demographics. I have always said, "What is the good of testing if we are not going to look at the results, determine our weak areas, and try to do something district-wide to correct our problem areas." I have used that site as a guide to help me with my curriculum planning.

I also agree with what you said about it being a district-wide concern, not just one part of a district (ex. high school). Everyone should be committed to helping all our students do well.

Great discussions!
*Yesterday we received our Individual Student Reports from the I.S.B.E.

Carline

I enjoyed last night's class because it was interesting to see all of the different data available on the IIRC website. Being able to look up all of that data would be quite helpful to teachers, I would think. I am going to spend some time on the website myself (AFTER ALL OF THE "FUN" HALLOWEEN ACTIVITIES ARE OVER, OF COURSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) I can't wait until our Halloween parade tomorrow, as you can tell! (Sorry, Connie! I know how much you love Halloween!) Anyway, I am excited about sitting down and really looking into the website. It is very interesting and insightful! It will be neat to see the differences from last night to today's if they did all of the updating like they said. :)

October 29 session

I look forward to looking at the IIRC and comparing our district with others with the same characteristics. There are many factors that determine how successful a school year will be. I agree that demographics, economic strength (or lack of), curriculum vision, student attendance, and parental involvement all influence student achievement. However, the bottom line for me, the major factor influencing children achievement is still the teacher. We are in the "front line" and need to better relate to the children. We need to reinvent ourselves to the needs of these children. I liked what you said about No Child Left Behind law. It is there so no minorities will be neglected, whether racial, social, economic, or disabled. As Harry Truman once said, and it still applies to teachers everywhere, the "buck stops here."

It was so nice to be able to have input about our up and coming schedules for class. EDL 518 seems like it will be a useful class. I love learning what I can directly use in my classroom.
By Christine Thompson

I enjoyed reviewing the District's Technology Plan. I reviewed Knoxvilles' since I was the only one from Galesburg. It was interesting to find that some necessary things were missing. I wonder how Galesburgs' is??? There is a lot of information in the Plans that I didn't even know were there. I actually didn't even know we had one and it took a little pull, for my district to even let me access a copy of it. I know some of the teachers that are on the Technology Committee but never knew this is what they were doing. As for EDL 518, I am looking forward to this class. I am looking forward to learning new things that will actually be pertinent to my profession. I am also thankful for some better organization taking place with this Cohort. Up till now, it has kind of been a mess. I am glad to see some upcoming dates set out for us so we have some idea of where we are headed. :)

I really enjoyed looking over and analyzing the Technology Plan. It made me realize that I am glad I am not in charge of putting one together. I didn't realize so much had to go into a Technology Plan. I am glad we went over the syllabus. I am looking forward to this class. It will be challenging, but fun!

EDL 518

The technology plan was much more detailed than I realized. It is obvious the district put a lot of work into such a plan. After viewing our technology plan, I realize our students are fortunate to have the technology we enjoy here at school.
I'm looking forward to learning more about how to use technology in my classes.

Wednesday, October 22

Hi! I am finally connected! I really enjoyed going over our district's technology plan. There was a great deal of information in it. I agreed with most of it. I had never looked at it before. I liked getting to work on it in a group, it allowed me to see different perspectives on it. I am excited to get to learn more about technology and am looking forward to this class. I am glad that we got to set dates for our next class as well. Thanks.

Khristi

Tom Robbins

I had a copy of the technology plan but never really looked at it. I found it interesting to see how much money our district is spending on technology and then on teaching us how to use it! I also wanted to say thanks for letting us work in class together. I do a lot of that in my third grade class. I find it very beneficial to all the students when we work together. I did call WIU and get my Ecom number. I also reset my Google account to a new password. I have so many passwords I forget which is which. I want to get a better handle on technology and how to use it in my classroom better. I am signed up for a smartboard and hope to get it soon. Tom Robbins

Hi!

Thanks you for the time and attention you gave us during class. I appreciated working on the tech plan together as a team. I am not a tech person, so this class will really challenge me! However, I am looking forward to learning a lot that I can use in the classroom!! See you Wednesday...
Marge

I'm looking forward to learning more about how to implement technology into the classroom. I use my smart board every class and I'm hoping to learn different tech. to bring to my lessons. During last class, it was interesting going through the tech plan of the district. There were many aspects of the plan that I liked, but there were also things I didn't. As a group, we had great talks about these things and overall it was a good beginning to the class.

I am excited about EDL 518. I had never taken a close look at our district technology plan and after reviewing it, I found several areas of concern. Plus, it was helpful working within a group where we could discuss and review the areas of concern.
It was also very thoughtful of you to allow us class time to figure out when our class would meet this semester. That has never happened before and I certainly appreciate that courtesy.
In addition, getting the portfolio/assignment listings in advance is helpful, too.
Looking forward to class Wednesday night.
Carline

October 22

I really appreciated going over the syllabus and portfolio projects on the first day of class. Understanding the expectations for the course up front is beneficial, and having an instructor that takes the time to explain the assignments gives me a clear view of the requirements for this class. I am excited about what we will be learning in this course.

Analyzing our district’s technology plan was not a simple task. I recognize now the extensive data collection that is involved in this endeavor.

Hi! I'm connected. Thanks!
I really enjoyed class last night. I spent most of our last class feeling resentful and frustrated, so this is a refreshing change. I love technology, and I fall in love with every techno trinket that comes on the market. I am excited about learning more! See you all next week!