Google Docs

I know it's been a while, but school is in session and I've been focused on our program blog and new Facebook page.

The opportunity to present at several professional development days has given me cause to investigate the many amazing resources available on Google Docs. I've previously only used it for spreadsheets. Today I've discovered how amazing Google Forms and Google Presentations can be in my work. I love that I can get a big document or presentation into a link without having any actual programming ability or a professionally managed website.  The sharing options keep the privacy curtain up when necessary and broadcast as far as the internet can imagine with the simple click of a box.  Currently I have a private excel spreadsheet of my senior class (documenting their progress on applications, testing, etc.) that I share with my colleagues, a board meeting minutes warehouse available to our membership, and my MASFAA PowerPoint available for anyone that cares (very few I'm sure).  I can't think of a profession that can't make good use of these technologies and you can't beat the price!

As an example I've included a link to a quick presentation I am giving later this week at the Massachusetts Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (MASFAA) Conference. It's wonderful that I can give a presentation and simply refer people to the blog to get a copy of it rather than working with the conference committee to send it out via email to workshop participants. It's also a great data backup (yes I did pull two thumb drives out of the dryer this weekend)! The Google Docs YouTube page is a great resource for all of the features a free Google account can offer. Get out there and mess around with these tools, no points are deducted for trial and error. The more we learn the more effective we are and the more likely we are to enthusiastically pass these skills on to our colleagues and students.

MASFAA PowerPoint

GEAR UP ACCUPLACER GRANT! by Robert Dais, GEAR UP Massachusetts Director

We are pleased to announce that GEAR UP Massachusetts is the recipient of a competitive grant awarded through the U.S. Department of Education and Research Triangle Institute (RTI), to test and evaluate new learning strategies to help at-risk students who want to attend college after graduation.


As a recipient of the grant, our program is receiving additional funding for a Mathematics intervention for 12th graders in the 2010-’11 school year. This new program, Math Plus will work with 12th graders who have an interest in college but whose scores on Mathematics assessments would place them in remedial education rather than college-level courses upon entry into a college or university.

We believe this initiative is a tremendous opportunity for students at North High School. If successful, more students will start college without the costly remediation that is often a financial barrier to success. The grant will fully fund a mathematics elective course at the high school for GEAR UP students who fit the project criteria and who may require, under new state rules, an individualized plan for success.

Math Plus is based on a successful program at Worcester State University designed to help students move quickly from remedial status in mathematics to eligibility for college credit-bearing coursework. It is designed for students whose scores on the Elementary Algebra Accuplacer would place them in a remedial course in their first year of college. Accuplacer was developed by the College Board and is an assessment given by Massachusetts public institutions to determine whether students can enroll in college-level instruction.

Many students are interested in college, yet a surprising number—even some who pass MCAS— still place into remedial courses in higher education, and studies show that a large share of students in remediation often fail to attain a degree or certificate.

We look forward to partnering with you and welcome your support for this timely initiative.

Wordle

This is a great website: http://www.wordle.net/.  Input some text and you get "word clouds". The more times a word is mentioned the larger it gets.  I used some information about my program (GEAR UP) and I think the result highlights what we aim to do very well.  Try it with a text you are reading with your students (a historical document, a poem they've written, your class motto).  I think it's fun for visual learners.

My first podcast!

Gabcast! Bringing Web2.0 to College Access #1



This quick podcast was created through my free Gabcast (http://www.gabcast.com/) account.  I simply made a toll free call with my home phone and two minutes later I had this cute podcast all set and ready to share.  It was easier than recording my voicemail.  Give it a try, what a nice little tool!

GEAR UP Massachusetts

 What is GEAR UP?  Take a look!
(shared with permission from GEAR UP Massachusetts 08/12/2010)

Screencasting

I had a lot of fun using Jing (jingproject.com) to collect screen shots from a couple of websites my students frequent.  I took the screen shots and loaded them into a PowerPoint and used Jing again, only this time to do a video capture.  This enabled me to narrate the screencast and then upload it to screencast.com.  Now I have two screencasts to share with students registering for the SAT and ACT online for the first time.  Hopefully I won't have to hang over their shoulders as they register.   If they would rather do this at home or with a friend outside of school hours they still have the opportunity to have some assistance.  I hate when kids run in on the registration deadline (2 minutes before I have to fly out of the building to collect my first grader from the school bus) clearly needing help but I'm not in a position to offer it.  Now I can direct kids to our class blog where they can watch the tutorial and register without a problem.  Let me know what you think of the screencasts.  How are you using this technology?

ACT Screencast: http://screencast.com/t/NDEyNmZhZjMt

SAT Screencast: http://screencast.com/t/YjkzODRlZ 

TEDxDenverEd- Brian Crosby- Back to the Future

Great example of Web2.0 in the classroom
(shared with permission of Brian Crosby 07/30/2010)