Treasure Chest of Thoughts

Today was another full day of technological professional growth!

1. Shopped for Cafe Classroom Redesign.
2. Spent seven+ hours plotting and planning (using our mini’s!) for the first week of school.
3. Currently we are riding out a storm…there just has to be a metaphor involved here somewhere!…of course, four of the six of us are still using our mini’s!

Two points worth discussng here from today’s work-a-thon:

• Select what tools work for you and then truly use them.  Today, some of us (storm update:  just lost electricity…mini’s are fully charged.  Is very still and green outside…no, not a good sign.)….Today, some of us created Protopages, while others worked on wikis.  Really glad that I still have two months to plan and prepare.  Really glad.
• Pre-planning is the key in creating a successful 1:1 program.  Again, let me reiterate…really glad that I have two months to plan and prepare. 

A thought from today that I need to share with my peers:  I would really like for us to get together throughout the summer and share and discuss what progress we have made since our last bonding time, which is exactly what this has become.  A point made early by Lisa Huff:  next summer when we are hosting such an event for the round of mini users, time away from school, from home really does allow for time to bond, or what I l like to refer to as professional development and growth.

Update #2:  Just had a discussion with the other teachers, and we all agreed:  we do not want to wait six weeks to get together.  Checking our calendars so we can showcase what we have created and learned every two-to-three weeks or so.

Update #3:  Storm is over, and as so often happens, the temperature has dropped, and life is wonderfully cool…both literally and figuratively!

Tech Tools we used today:

• Flickr
• Protopage ~ Sticky Note feature
• Voki
• Mini Computer built-in camera
• Voice Thread
• Continued work on wikis and blogs

Promise…I will comment on these more!  As of now, we have put in a 13-hour day.  Shhhh…time for some R and R…with no technology involved!