October+2010

Monthly Activity Reflection
October 2010 Standards V-C, VI-B, VI-C, VII-B, VII-C During the month I worked with the Special Education teachers at the high school to evaluate and purchase new hardware and software for their students. We made several decisions; one was to purchase a new server for their software, a newer version of the software they use, some netbooks for student use, and an interactive whiteboard for one of the classrooms. I worked with several vendors to find the best fit for them, initiated the purchase process, ordered the items and assisted them with setting up the hardware and installing the software when they arrived. This is another one of the activities that I really like doing. I like talking to vendors, comparing products and finding the best fit for the students and teachers. I have a tendency to take too long in making purchases because I want to find the best buy for the money and even after I make a decision I sometimes feel that I might have made the wrong one. We began having some afternoon mini-shops on using Microsoft products such as PowerPoint, Moviemaker, Publisher, and Excel. These workshops took place 3 afternoons each week with both the middle school and high school tech teachers and myself facilitating. We took turns working with the teachers. Many times, even though the teachers already use this software they will learn something new, something they did not realize they could do. Sometimes one of the other facilitators would show a feature that I had forgotten or did not know. So these lessons were also beneficial to me. Working with the teachers both for purchasing new items, and for training has led me to realize that even the smallest bit of new knowledge can kick start a refreshing leap in the learning process.