ESL Teachers Pilot “Imagine Learning” Software

Over the past few weeks, two of our district’s ESL teachers,  Bobbie Florey and Kari Hinker, have been given the opportunity to pilot a software called “Imagine Learning.”  This program is designed to help our ESL students acquire language and literacy skills.  The program uses engaging activities to help our students with language acquisition and also provides ongoing assessment so teachers know what students have learned and what is yet to be mastered.

Below are a few pictures of our middle school students using the program.

Middle School Students Using Technology

From the perspective of technology, it has been an exciting year at the Middle School.  We’ve installed over a dozen smart boards, and set up 30 laptops and 30 iPads that are currently being used by students nearly every day.  As we continue to move forward this year, it is exciting to see and hear the different ways these devices have been used throughout the school.  Take a look at the pictures, and if you’re one of the teachers or staff members who have participated in using these tools, feel free to post your thoughts in the Comments section.

Middle School Students Begin Using iPads

Recently, a school improvement grant received by the district allowed us to purchase a mobile cart of 30 Apple iPads for the Huron Middle School. Over the last week, teachers and students have begun using the iPads in their classes.  We are planning some training sessions for our teachers as we work toward integrating these great devices and software into our curriculum.  Check out the pictures to see some students using the iPads.

Parent Portal Now Available On Your iPhone and iPad

An update to DDN Campus over the Christmas break allows Huron students and parents to check grades and other school-related information from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. The “Infinite Campus Mobile Portal” app is a free download from the iTunes store.  Here’s a link to the app in the store…..

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/infinite-campus-mobile-portal/id464352883?mt=8

When you launch the app, you will be prompted to enter Huron’s DDN Campus web address and your parent portal username and password.  The address you need to enter is below:

https://sis2.ddncampus.net/campus/portal/huron.jsp

As always, you can direct any questions you may have to technology department.

Give the app a try and then post your thoughts in the “Comments” section!

Buchanan Teachers Start Using Waterford Software

On Tuesday, December 13, the Buchanan kindergarten teachers received training in the Waterford Early Learning software.  Designed specifically for grades K-2, the Waterford software will help our teachers introduce, explore, and apply skills in the areas of reading, math, and science.

Learn more about the software at the Waterford Early Learning website.

If It Seems Too Good To Be True….

As we enter the holiday season, please remember that spyware developers are not taking any time off.

In fact, you may see lots of “too-good-to-be-true” offers in your email or on websites over the next few weeks.  An article I just read over at PCWorld.com mentions that some people are already seeing  “free” iTunes gift certificates in their email that, when clicked on, install spyware on their computers.

The article goes on to describe basic tips that you can use to avoid spyware during the holiday season and beyond.  I have summarized the main points of the article below. A link to the entire article is there as well.

(Reprinted from PC World)

Protect Your Information

Legitimate businesses—at least reputable, respectable companies worthy of doing business with—will not ask you to share sensitive data via email, or with a link in an unsolicited email message. Any message that directs you to type your username, password, credit card or bank account numbers, Social Security number, or any other personal or sensitive information should be treated with suspicion.

Beware False Urgency

As long as there have been email spam and phishing scams, attackers have used urgency as a tactic to make people act. Think twice (or three or four times) before you click on any link or open any file attachment on an email message that implores you to act now. Generally, this is nothing more than a ploy to get you to act quickly before your common sense kicks in.

Don’t Trust Everyone

Another common tactic as old as email spam is to have the spam or phishing message come from someone you know. It may be that someone you know has been infected, and a virus or worm has infiltrated their contacts to send out messages to everyone they know in order to propagate the threat, or it may just be a case of a spam or phishing message that has spoofed the “From” information of the message to make it appear as if it is from someone you know. Either way, if it seems weird or out of character, it probably is. Don’t click a link or open a file attachment that seems suspicious just because it appears to be from someone you know.

 (The entire article can be found here.)

Staff Members Learn About Creating Websites

Just a few years ago, creating a website meant using a program like Frontpage or Dreamweaver to create the pages.  Now many sites can be set up in just minutes using online tools…..you no longer need to spend time to learn complicated software.

These sites really lend themselves to education because most teachers don’t have the time or training to be full-time web masters.  Teachers want to get information “out there” for parents and students to see, but want to do it quickly.

To help our teachers and staff, Darci Love and I shared some of our favorite tools for creating websites at the Instructional Planning Center on November 22.  We showed examples of sites created on Wikispaces, Blogspot, Shutterfly, WordPress, and our own Huron School District website.

All of these sites (and many more) are free to use and can help you get connected with parents and students and get them excited about what’s happening in your classroom.

For those of you who attended the session, share your thoughts about these tools in the comments section.  I hope you found something useful to take away from the training.

Is Your Password On This List?

If so, we need to talk. 🙂  Please do NOT post your passwords in the comments section. 🙂

The 25 Worst Passwords of 2011

Using YouTube In The Classroom….

Kim Mattke, 2nd grade teacher at Madison, has been using YouTube to share some of the activities happening in her classroom.  Check it out below……

Math Activity:

“Exploding Pumpkin” Activity.

App of the Week: Moms With Apps

If you liked the “Internet4Classrooms” website, (see one post down)  but want something for iPads and iPods, check out “Moms With Apps.”  This is an app that serves as a catalog of children’s apps.  Just like the “Internet4Classrooms” site, this app also categorizes the apps by subject area and age groups.  It makes discovering new apps for your classroom very easy and fun!  Best of all, it’s free. Check it out and let everyone know what you think the Comments section.

Thanks to Heather Rozell for sharing!