Are You Addicted to Your Device?

I think this is a perfect time to share this, right before teachers and parents are gearing up for SPRING break! I ran across 4 videos from Common Sense Media that will make you take a step back and evaluate your technology use around students/children. Be honest in your evaluation of yourself. Do you see yourself in any of  these clips? Can you find moments where you are guilty of any examples? I you have an empty nest (no children home) you can easily relate it to your spouse. Well, don't sit there and beat yourself up, get a grip and make some much needed changes. I know it may be helpful to just say, "I AM A ADDICT" and need HELP! Find someone that that will make you accountable. Limit your technology use around your children or spouse. They need YOU! 100% you without any device. Can you manage?  Don't just watch one of these videos, watch all four!

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Posted in addict, attention, common sense media, family, modeling, parent, parenting, role modeling, techno-phobia, technology, time, training

Made with Code

This website is to inspire girls with a coding experience, but I wouldn't keep boys away! There are three options or projects to do while having fun with coding:

1. Light up the Christmas tree at the Nation's capital (Beginner)
2. Create animations on aYeti (Beginner)
3. Snowflake design (Intermediate)
   
   If you are sold on coding, there's even more projects for you to try. It's all great fun, but that's what you would expect from Google, right? More projects will be added so you can check back. How do you like coding?
   

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Posted in animation, Christmas, coding, computer science, girls, hour of code, projects, snowflake, STEM, technology, Yeti

LCM Technology Team is Challenged

On Saturday, September 7, 2014  I took the ALS challenge after being nominated by a Kindergarten teacher (Joanne Hill) in Bridge City. My daughter, Aimee Bates, had the honor of pouring the ice cold water on me with granddaughter, Emma Loren supporting the "take it slow...very slow" plan.

Here is where you can go to read more about the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. I challenged my LCM Technology team at work and thought I would post the rules of the Ice Bucket Challenge:

When doing the challenge, please use the hashtags #icebucketchallenge, #alsicebucketchallenge, and #strikeoutals. The Ice Bucket Challenge may not be suitable for small children, the elderly, anyone in poor health or animals of any kind, so please use good judgment. Please be thoughtful about water usage. If you’re in an area of the country or world affected by drought, please consider making a donation instead, or repurpose the water for later use

ALS is near and dear to my family. We lost my mother-in-law (Eloise Hale) in 1997 to ALS and also a neighbor (Richard Powell). Most recently, a dear friend, Debbie Bean lost her mother. This disease is now given the attention and awareness that it needs to find a cure. Please go to the ALS Society and watch some of the stories and testimonies of what it is to live with this disease. It will break your heart.

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Posted in #ALS Society, ALS, Bucket Challenge, Ice Bucket, technology

Customer Service in Technology

We had our first team meeting this year and focused on customer service in our Technology Department. We broke into groups and brainstormed words that were related to customer service. See the word cloud from our word choices. Our customers are teachers students and it is important to our job to keep them happy. We are working this year in making sure we do our best to have the right attitude and serve with a smile. Check out some tips that will help us improve:

1. Remember that our JOBs are reliant on teachers and student
2. Be a good listener- effective listening and giving them your undivided attention is important
3. Identify and diagnose needs
4. Make your customers (teachers and students) feel important and appreciated
5. Take the time to explain the how and why on technology changes and projects
6. Always look for ways to help and follow through with your words
7. When things go wrong, don't be afraid  to apologize
8. Keep your customers (teachers and students) happy, even doing more than expected
9. Get feedback, taking constructive criticism, suggestions, and comments
10. Treat your customers (teachers and students) with respect

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Posted in customer, service, technology, tips attitude, wordle

TCEA 2014

  I am a blessed woman! I am spending this week in Austin, Texas. I wish I could say the warm, sunny home of the Longhorns. But my friends, it is way too cold for me especially since I neglected to pack my jacket. Have it hung on the door, so I wouldn't forget it. Yes...somehow I forgot. Anyway, I will be posting the great information that we are learning on a shared Google document. Hope you enjoy all of the resources and can glean from the information. Folks this is the highlight of my year! Love TCEA. My teacher friend +Brenda Jones is here with me and we are learning so much. She has a blog of her own and has a fantastic post on AR (Augmented Realisty) called Valentine Card Instamotion. In fact, we stopped at Target on the way to Austin so that I could pick up my own box of those awesome valentines.

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Posted in AR, Austin, cold, Longhorns, TCEA 2014, technology, valentine

Engaging Students with the Hunger Games (Part 2)

My email box had a surprise email today from Michelle Manno at Teach.com. She posted a comment on my Tech Talk blog and I have it set to email me so that I can respond to the comments if necessary. Her comment is below asking me to add the link for the resource page on my first blog post about Engaging Students with the Hunger Games (post 1).  Her request just makes me so happy in many ways. First, to know that others appreciate the time and effort that it takes to post on blogs makes me ecstatic. Secondly, that she actually wants me to put out a link to her resource for others to access is another great reason Internet and technology is awesome! I will gladly post the resource for Michelle and Teach.com any time. I do hope it will save many of you time from having to search on your own. We all know teachers have limited time! Have a great holiday time with family and friends.

Hunger Games Resource Page

Here is my sweet email/comment from Michelle!

Hi Peggy,
I hope this message finds you well! My name is Michelle Manno, and I'm the associate editor at Teach.com. I admire the work done on Tech Talk for Teachers, and your dedication to sharing quality resources with your community of readers.
I came across your article "Engaging Students with The Hunger Games" where you share Teach.com's "Sparking Their Interest" teaching guide.
I had a question: I noticed that there isn't a link to the teaching guide's website and original source — do you think it'd be possible to add that in case one of your readers is interesting in learning more after reading your article? Our Hunger Games resource page can be found here: http://teach.com/great-educational-resources/sparking-their-interest-engaging-students-with-the-hunger-games-catching-fire
Tech Talk for Teachers is such a great resource, and I'd love for your readers to be able to find out more information of they choose to.
Thank you so much for your time! Please let me know if you have any questions.
All the best,
Michelle Mannommanno@teach.com

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Posted in Hunger Games, link, pln, teach.com, teacher guides, technology

SAMR model for Tech Integration

This is great information on SAMR for technology integration. I like how the author of the blog, "Let's Dance Through Life" gives examples at each stage. I had viewed and bookmarked the video, SAMR in 120 seconds previous before coming across her blog article. In Edutopia's awesome course for Getting Started with Technology Integration, they highlight a short history of technology integration. My take from it is the section titled, "New Demands on Learners, Teachers" pointing out the new transformation in education. It is not the same and we need to accept this and move on. I do hope you take the time to go through this information.
I have a different blog post on this SAMR model below. Go to the article to locate more details on it.

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Posted in integration, SAMR, technology, technology integration

Another Smackdown

What is it about Smackdowns that draws me in? I like the rapid pace of sharing tech tools and new emerging technologies, but also that it gives you so many resources at one spot! This one is definitely one you don't want to miss. You will hear from host +Matt Gomez. +Sam Patterson, +Jon Samuelson, +Jeff Bradbury, and +Jeff Herb. Love the list of linked tools here.  The video podcast can be seen and heard on YouTube if you want to add it to your Playlist or Subscribe. By the way, if you are a Google Blogger, I am using my iPad app to write this post. It is my first try on the Blogger app. Anxious to see if it works!

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Posted in blogger, ipad, resources, smackdown, technology, Tools

The Evolution of Educational Technology

Check out this great infographic on the evolution of Edtech! Students, believe it or not, it did not begin with the iPad! Love the timeline feature. It has an embed feature if you are interested. The Evolution of Educational Technology - Articles - Educational Technology - ICT in Education

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Posted in edtech, educational, evolution, history, technology, timeline

New Technology Applications TEKS

www.learning.com/texas/pdfs/TEKS Revision-K-8.pdf

Familiarize yourself with the new Technology Application TEKS. This is a nice copy that Learning.com has put together.

Click image to go to their website

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Posted in edtech, education, Learning.com, standards, TA TEKS, technology

2nd Tool for my Challenge

I have taken the 10 Tool Challenge from Jane Hart's encouragement on her Learning in the Social Workplace blog and it has been helpful. I have already surpassed the number of blog posts I have made on Blogger in the past years.  I have chosen  for my 2nd Tool.

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Posted in Google plus, Learning in the Social workplace, technology, tool challenge