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   1. G'ail Towne - May 19, 2010

3. G’ail Towne – May 19, 2010

G’ail Towne
May 18, 2010

I am going to reflect on the class: Producing End of the Year Website:
I teach kindergarten and my goal is to expose my students to the digital use of the computer. I worked with Tanna Kincaid in creating an end of the year DVD for my parents and students. I wanted to have a keepsake of our kindergarten year for our students to remember. I plan to show this video this week and show them the amazing techniques that go along with this DVD that include over 200 pictures and music. The students will be able to reflect their kindergarten experiences through electronic media. The students/parents will be able to play this on a regular DVD player.

Schoolatte-Discovery Streaming:
I learned how to download videos and create files for various subject areas. My kindergarten students are very visual and we do projects that are hands-on. For example for Cinco De Mayo, we learned about the culture in Mexico. I found a variety of videos about the content we were learning about. The children were able to see the variety of videos on “The Mexican Hat Dance,” “Breaking a Piñata,” “Celebrating Cinco De Mayo” and “Eating Mexican Food.” We did the exact same content after they viewed the video and the students were able to reflect on their own experiences and integrate them with Mexico. The children also visualized the climate and they viewed a map, so they could pretend they were in the actual setting. The students were very impressed why technology was of interest in this lesson! (The actual “Cinco De Mayo” lessons were in the pictures in the DVD also.)

LATTE SESSIONS:

1. IGoogle 4/21/2009 1.5 Hours
2. Staff Tracker lane change, registering, adding a class and more 5/5/2009 1.5 Hours
3. Wordle 4/7/2010 1.5 Hours
4. Blogs@EduTech 4/12/2010 1.5 Hours
5. Producing End of the Year or Special Classroom Websites 4/13/2010 1.5 Hours
6. Occasion Digital Picture Video 4/15/2010 1.5 Hours
7. Google Apps. 4/19/2010 1.5 Hours
8. Mixbook 4/22/2010 1.5 Hours
9. Google Earth 4/27/2010 1.5 Hours
10.Schoolatte-Discovery Streaming 5/4/2010 1.5 Hours

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   2. Carrie Hirst - May 20, 2010

I am a certified teacher and former technology staff member now working as a Special Education Aide. I love learning new ways to use technology and Latte Sessions are a wonderful way to give me snippets of the new things out there. I am currently working with a non-verbal student and was searching for a way to let the family interact with the student. I decided to create a monthy glog for this student so that the parents and family could enjoy his/her classroom activities and reactions to the sounds he/she will hear at home. I also hope that the glog will become a valuable resource for documentation between the school, home and outside services.

I decided the internet would be our best avenue to make this information easily accessible to all involved. I knew I would need still pictures because of ease, but also wanted video and sound to help convey the actual classroom. I recalled a FlipVideo Latte session I took last year and knew that that would be my form of videoing. A Kodak camera, FlipVideo and various forms of music will used to record the activities being featured. The goal was to record the activities as they actually were happening in the class.

First, a student schedule was compiled and the highlighted areas for the month were noted. At the beginning of the month a background page is created in glogster.com along with a sketching of what information will be compiled. A title, theme and clipart were downloaded onto the site for easy access when actually finalizing the page. Next, video and still images are taken throughout the month of the highlighed areas After that they are downloaded and edited using MovieMaker and http://www.zamzar.com. Finally, the information was loaded onto a created page in Glogster. Text was added where comments were needed. Then audio was added to stills showing the setting in class so that the student could respond to the sounds when heard at home. A link is also provided for the computer activities used by the class in computer lab or LMS.

Originally an iBook was the only machine I had access to and was used for storage and uploading. Editing the video was not an option on this older machine. I finally chose to do the work at home on a personal machine so I was not using school time to create this extra service. The FlipShare software would not successfully load on my machine so I chose to use Movie Maker to edit the clips. I also used software downloaded from http://www.zamzar.com to resize the still images for faster loading.

The students’ family has the link to this glog and they can access it at home and watch the student’s reactions to familiar sounds and sights. The parents can respond back in the comment section, or in their case by email or in the daily log book. Events are added throughout the month and noted in his log book. The September glog was sent out as a link. The parents have the user name and password to the actual glog and now access them as they are in progress.

The benefits from this form of interaction have been invaluable. As a young family, school was a whole new adventure for them. Since their child cannot talk about his/her day, this has let them feel like they are part of the school world. The glogs have also been used by in-house and outside support members to keep in touch with his advances. Yes, it takes time to do this, but the rewards have been phenomenal. A mother’s smile says it all.

Tracker Evidence of Classes
Class 1: Latte – Proctoring MAP (9/10/2008) Hours 1.5
Class 2: Latte – Google Docs (2/25/2009) Hours 1.5
Class 3: Latte – iGoogle (4/21/2009) Hours 1.5
Class 4: Latte – Blogs@Edutech (3/26/2009) Hours 1.5
Class 5: Latte – Concept Mapping with Kid/Inspiration and More (4/1/2009) Hours 1.5
Class 6: Latte – FLIP Video in the Classroom (5/11/2009)
Hours 1.5
Class 7: Latte – Reflecting, Assembling, and Applying for Latte Graduate Credit (5/19/2009) Hours 1.5
Class 8: Latte – BPS Project Showcase: Webbased/Standards Organized Curriculum Resources (6/25/2009) Hours1.5
Class 9: Latte – Introduction to ActiveStudio: Geared for Elementary Special Education (9/8/2009) Hours 1.5
Class 10: Latte – Classroom Web Pages: Additional Support/Training (11/23/2009) Hours 1.5

   3. Kim Brecht - June 3, 2010

Kim Brecht – June 3, 2010
Latte Session Reflection

Over the past few years, I have participated in a variety of BPS Latte sessions to improve my technology skills, enhance my teaching, improve the learning of my students and provide my students with new tools to showcase what they have learned. I teach middle school students who receive special education services. A majority of these students have programming that focus on life skills. One thing all of these students have in common is how much they enjoy using technology. I used it as a tool to help my students learn and demonstrate their knowledge of specified life skills. Let me tell you about a few of their favorites from this year.

As a part of being a technology BIM (building integration mentor) this year, I had the opportunity to participate in special latte sessions using several technology resources. Among these resources, were: ActivInspire, ActivExpressions, Discovery Education, and Glogster. While completing a unit on reading recipes, cooking, and nutrition, my students really enjoyed using the ActivExpressions as part of various learning activities on the ActivBoard. They got excited about being able to text in their answers on their student response systems. They especially enjoyed this as a competition when we played Jeopardy as a unit review. I downloaded a Jeopardy template from Promethean Planet and made it my own. Discovery Education was used to watch a video on nutrition and food science as well as kitchen safety. It is much more meaningful to students when they can see, through multiple visual examples, what we are talking about. Visuals help increase their level of understanding. One of the student projects was creating an interactive poster on edu.glogster.com (also known as a ‘Glog’) to demonstrate their understanding of the food pyramid and the foods they liked that were a part of each group. Students presented their final Glogs and answered questions from the audience. Here is a link to one student’s Food Pyramid Glog. The students were graded according to a rubric I had given them at the start of the project. They all did a great job and included many creative elements that showed their unique personalities. It is fun to see them get so excited about learning. Now that they have had this experience, each of them has asked when they will get to do it again.

The majority of my students learn best through very concrete, visual, and hands-on activities. They learn by being actively engaged. It is obvious to me that these technology tools are a key in helping to reach my students. They are teens and naturally tend to gravitate toward technology; they want to use it. I feel very fortunate to have many technological resources and training available to me. It has helped me to become a better teacher and in turn, increase the learning of my students.

Note: The other sessions that I have participated in have also been quite useful. With my access rights I have greater control over my computer. The del.icio.us social bookmarking helps me keep my online resources organized. By attending the project showcase I found out about bookmarked websites that align with standards my students are learning in math, English, science and social studies. Students have used these resources as an extension of their learning. They especially like doing them on the ActivBoard. Here is a link to math resources. With the Mixbook and Websites training, I was able to create an online photo album for our school’s Spirit Week pictures. Here is the link to my student council website if you would like to check it out. I have utilized each of the trainings I have participated in. Thank you for these opportunities.

Class 1: Latte – Administrative Access Rights (2/6/08) Hours: 1.5
Class 2: Latte – del.icio.us (3/13/08) Hours: 1.5
Class 3: Latte – BPS Project Showcase: Web based/Standards Organized Curriculum Resources (10/29/09) Hours: 1.5
Class 4: Latte – (By Invitation Only) BIM Secondary Technology Content Specific Training (2/25/2010) Hours: 1.5
Class 5: Latte – (By Invitation Only) BIM Initiation Training (2/17/10) Hours: 1.5
Class 6: Latte – (By Invitation Only) Expressions Training (3/3/10) Hours: 1.5
Class 7: Latte – Mixbook (4/22/10) Hours: 1.5
Class 8: SchooLatte – Discovery Education (United Streaming) (5/10/10) Hours: 1.5
Class 9: MooLatte – Classroom Websites (5/17/10) Hours 1.5
Class 10: Latte – Reflecting, Assembling and Apply for Graduate Credit (5/18/10) Hours: 1.5

   4. Andrea Sagsveen - December 16, 2010

Latte Credit Reflection – December 2010
By Andrea Sagsveen

In the Building Integration Mentor classes I have had the opportunity to create clear and in-depth instructions for my colleagues. I have enjoyed furthering their integration of technology and observing how it enhances their instruction with their students. For example, I recently facilitated a latte on Delicious bookmarking. One teacher created her own account, gathered websites, and now has a Delicious shortcut on her classroom computers for her students to access in their free time. Her website is http://www.delicious.com/knutson2. I am quite proud of her! In addition, I facilitated a session on Discovery Streaming and found that my colleagues were most interested in learning how to hook up a projector and speakers to their computer. My colleagues also began saving some of their favorite videos to their content on Discover Streaming.

I have been able to also involve students and their parents through the Pearson Successnet website. By creating a class and having my students take their selection tests online, I have made my life a lot easier. Instead of spending my reflection time correcting selection tests, I am able to spend my time analyzing the results according to the printout students receive and plan meaningful instruction for them. I also am appreciative of a printout that I can send home to parents after I have made my instructional plans for the week. Parents can easily see what skills their child has mastered and still needs to work on. My students can also take their selection tests at home if they are absent from school that day. Parents and students can just go to my http://www.delicious.com/sagsveen3 website and access the selection_tests tag.

Through the ActivExpressions training, I have become familiar with how to use both the ActivExpressions and the ActiVotes. I have found the use of the ActivExpressions and ActiVotes to be quite engaging for my students. My main avenue for finding relevant flipcharts is the Promethean Planet website, http://www.prometheanplanet.com/en-us/. I have dabbled with creating my own flipcharts, and have made a few Activ quizzes on grammar for my students.

Finally, I valued the early collaboration that the third grade teachers began in collecting videos from Discovery Streaming and flipcharts from Promethean Planet that fit our Scott Foresman Units 1 and 2. We were able to begin a collection of great add-ons to engage the students in our units of study. I came away with ready-to-use flipcharts and bookmarked videos for my students to use (Who can forget the actual footage of Gertrude Ederle swimming across the English Channel?!). By collaborating, we were able to collect a lot of valuable resources in a fraction of the time that it would have taken me to do this all on my own.

Latte Sessions:
Class 1 Latte – Pearson Successnet Setup and Tips (8/26/08) 1.5 hrs.
Class 2 Latte – Administrative Access Rights (11/26/08) 1.5 hrs.
Class 3 Latte – ActivBoard Grade Level Collaboration (2/25/09) 1.5 hrs.
Class 4 Latte – DIBELS for Returning 3-6 Teachers(9/2/09) 1.5 hrs.
Class 5 Latte – Grade Level Collaboration Grades K-6: Resource Gathering for Scott Fores . . . (8/26/08) 1.5 hrs.
Class 6 Latte – BIM Initiation Training (2/9/10)) 1.5 hrs.
Class 7Latte – BIM Elementary Technology Content Specific Training – Reading/Math (3/4/10) 3 hrs.
Class 8 Latte – Expressions Training (2/22/10) 1.5 hrs.
Class 9 Latte – Latte-HEC-Reflecting, Assembling, and Applying for Latte Graduate Credits (12/16/10)1.5 hrs.

Total: 15 hours

   5. Bethany Horning - December 16, 2010

Latte Session Reflection by Bethany Horning December 16, 2010
I have really enjoyed attending the Moolatte classes at my school and the Latte sessions held at by the Technology Department. I have learned a great deal of valuable technology tools that I have been able to incorporate into my lesson plans. Not only did I learn the “how to’s” of many of the updated applications (Microsoft 2010, Excel 2010, Microsoft Office) I was able to turn around and explain these applications to my students so they could create classroom projects and assignments such as brochures and posters.

In my North Dakota Studies class, I had my students create a Travel Brochure using the newest version of Microsoft 2010. Here are links to two of the brochures that a couple of my students created [Sample #1 - Sample #2].

My students had a great time creating these brochures and adding their own personal touches to their projects. It was great to see the different designs and styles. (Latte Session: Word 2007)

Another class that helped me incorporate technology into the classroom was called ActivExpressions Tips & Tricks. Here is a link to one of the government lessons that I prepared using some of the questions generated by my students.

Each student received a Promethean Expression and was able to input their answers into the device. The answers were then recorded onto the screen and became a fun way to learn the material rather writing their answers on a sheet of paper.

There are many latte sessions that I attended that helped me as an educator. One of the very first latte sessions that I attended was called Introduction to MAP Assessments. This latte class helped me understand more about NWEA and the MAP test that are conducted in our district. This information became very useful when I explained these reports at parent-conferences. Since my students had recently taken the MAP test I was able to distribute to each of my students a Student Goal Sheet. I was able to explain to my students how they had done in the area of Math and Reading and what their target learning gaps were that needed to be filled. Another latte session that helped in the area of MAP Assessments was called Assessing and Understanding MAP Reports. I was not only able to explain the MAP reports to the parents but also to some of the staff members at our school.

A great class to help you get organized and teach your students how to organize their files is called Let’s Get Organized! This class really helped me learn how to move files into folders and how to properly name the files so you don’t lose things.

One of the best Latte classes I took was a combination of classes that helped me when our school changed over all our Mac computers to PC’s. Not only did we receive new computers but these computers had the newest applications on them as well. I learned all the new tools, gadgets, shortcuts to many applications by taking a class titled Word 2007 & 2010; Photostory 3 for Windows, and ActiveExpressions Tips & Tricks.

Overall, I really enjoyed all of the latte sessions that I attended and would encourage you to attend a couple sessions if you are interested in expanding your own horizons or looking for a way to help you incorporate technology in your classroom. Below is a list of the latte classes that I took this year.

Latte Session Hours
Moolatte-Classroom Websites (4/13/2010) 1.5 hours
Moolatte-Google Apps (4/29/2010) 1.5 hours
Latte-Staff Tracker Lane Change & Account Management Guidance (9/2/1010) 1.5 hours
Latte-Introduction to MAP Assessments (9/9/ 2010) 1.5 hours
Latte-Let’s Get Organized! (9/16/2010) 1.5 hours
Latte-Word 2007 & 2010 (9/23/2010) 1.5 hours
Latte-HEC Photostory 3 for Windows (9/20/2010) 1.5 hours
Latte-Assessing & Understanding MAP Report (10/7/2010) 1.5 hours
Moolatte-Horizon: ActivExpressions Tips & Tricks (11/2/2010) 1.5 hours
Latte-HEC-Reflecting, Assembling, and Applying for Latte Graduate Credit (12/16/2010) 1.5
Total: 15 Latte Session Hours

   6. Jerry Zimprich - January 6, 2011

Latte Blog Post-Jerry Zimprich

My professional situation is rather unique in that I do not have a classroom. I am an assistive technology specialist with responsibilities to staff and students PreK-12+. Assistive technology is a mandated service under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and is intended to ensure that students with disabilities have access to technology that will help them be more successful and independent in their education.

The challenge is to provide student with disabilities not only access to typical classroom technology but to also provide technologies specific to their disability. For example, a student with a severe physical disability may need a specialized switch with scanning software to access academic activities. Another example would be for a student with a severe reading disability to have the computer “read aloud” curriculum print material.

My purpose for learning more about educational technology applications is therefore twofold. 1) to become familiar with the features of the general education technology and 2) to develop skills to utilize special software to improve access to the curriculum for students with disabilities. My list of Latte sessions reflects the dual purpose of my training.

From the range of knowledge I gained from these sessions, I have been able to improve both the staff trainings I conduct as well as individual student Assistive Technology consultations. Using the “general” education resource Delicious, I have been able to develop a “tagged” list of bookmarks appropriate for many types of assistive technology. (This will soon be converted to Diigo.). The United Streaming videos have been made more accessible to students with disabilities by integrating them into PowerPoint, ActiveStudio, or Classroom Suite. The latte sessions are a great vehicle for introducing and increasing knowledge of specific technologies both general and “special”.

http://www.diigo.com/user/jerry_zimprich

A major purpose of assistive technology is to improve access to the general curriculum for students with disabilities. The sessions have been key in getting the knowledge to staff so that they, in turn, can implement the technology in their specific classroom settings. These sessions have helped many BPS educators move forward with technology that greatly enhances the implementation of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

1.Latte – Delicious (1/26/2010) 1.5 hr
2.Latte – Using Contacts in Outlook 2007 (2/18/2010) 1.5 hr
3.Latte – Discovery Education (UnitedStreaming) (3/1/2010) 1.5 hr
4.Latte – Google Apps (2/24/2010) 1.5 hr
5.Latte: ActivInspire for the Specialist: Class 1 of 5 (2/10/2010) 1.5 hr
6.Latte – ActivInspire for the Specialist: Class 2 of 5 (3/3/2010) 1.5 hr
7.Latte – Word Prediction Programs-How they work and can they can help your students be successful. (3/31/2010) 1.5 hr
8.Latte – Intro to Intellitools Classroom Suite (4/15/2010) 1.5 hr
9.Latte – Using Kurzweil for Tests, Worksheets, and Written Assignments (4/8/2010) 1.5 hr
10.Latte – Creating a Social Story using Microsoft Office Powerpoint (4/21/2010) 1.5 hr

   7. Eliza Brown - May 10, 2011

Eliza Brown
Centennial Elementary
Latte Class Credit
May 10, 2011

As I reviewed the Lattes, Schoolattes, and Moolates I have attended, I was amazed at how much information I have gained from the sessions. I cannot select just one latte that has been most influential to my teaching and my students’ learning.

Photostory has become one of my absolute favorite programs for my fifth graders. I thought it would be something I would use regularly; however, it has become more of a tool my students use fluently and often. The first time my students used Photostory, I spent time showing them how to do everything I had learned. What a waste of time! Before long, they were dazzling me with their knowledge. This year, we have used Photostory after a Social Studies unit in which the students traveled across the United States. At each “stop,” the students gathered pictures and knowledge and added the photos and voice to the Photostory. We did a short Photostory when we researched types of rocks and minerals. The best project we did, though, was at the completion of a math unit on geometry. Students patrolled the classroom, hallways, and playground snapping digital pictures of various types of lines and angles. Students then downloaded the pictures onto the Netbooks and created a Photostory complete with voice describing each type of line or angle. The most amazing thing for me was how effective it was for my students to prove their learning and how quickly they completed the entire project. This project-based learning opportunity provided me with more information than a written test and proved my students had mastered the content in the geometry unit. We shared our Photostories on the class website. http://www.bismarckschools.org/centennial/academics/brown/happenings/
Photostory was also one the focuses I shared with my colleagues as part of our BIM technology study group. Many teachers have also taken on Photostory projects with their students because I have convinced them it really is user friendly.

My other favorite latte was the classroom website introduction. Even though that was just the beginning of the website training, I was inspired to dive into creating a website for my students. The website this year has been an absolute time saver for me and my students. I was fearful with how much time it would take, but that has not been the case. Oftentimes, I wonder how I communicated so much information with my students and parents prior to our class website. I love that our website contains information for my students and parents. It has also been extremely beneficial to be able to provide my students with information for projects. Many times, I have added word document templates for my students or website links. My students know exactly where to find websites we used at school for home use. The best benefit is being able to share information with parents. I now have a means to show pictures from class activities with parents. Parents also love being able to see student projects, which are attached to our class website. Our class website can be accessed at http://www.bismarckschools.org/centennial/academics/brown/

Lastly, the Expressions training was helpful. We use the Expressions every day in my classroom. I love that my students know how to use them, and I can problem solve if there is an issue. The Expressions are another tool I don’t think I could live without. My students would certainly agree.

I absolutely love the latte sessions. I enjoy being able to have the opportunity to learn new technology tools in a quick and timely manner. I also like to be able to have a small taste to see if the technology is valuable for my students and their learning. All of the lattes I have attended have been very beneficial.

Title Date Hours
Latte-Photostory 3 for Windows 9/30/2010 1.5
Latte-BIM Elementary Content Training 9/1/2010 1.5
Latte-Classroom Websites 5/17/2010 1.5
Schoolatte-Document Camera 5/12/2010 1.5
Schoolatte-Projector Resources 5/5/2010 1.5
Moolatte-Google Earth 4/27/2010 1.5
Moolatte—Social Bookmarking 3/30/2010 1.5
Latte—ActivBoard Grade Level Collaboration 3/2/2009 1.5
Latte—Expressions Training 2/22/2010 1.5
Latte-Pearson Successnet for Math Investigations 2/23/2010 1.5

   8. Margaret LoMurray - May 11, 2011

I took the Website development Latte, as I was asked to assist in developing and maintaining the BECEP website. Prior to this Latte session, I had no experience with website development. As a team at BECEP, we mapped out the various pages that we wanted to load onto the website. We learned the mechanics of developing, reviewing and posting website pages. We made the BECEP website live and now need to work at keeping the information current. With time, we would like to post more pages for parents, listing resources in the community and helpful hints re. parenting.

We found that it took some thought and effort to coordinate the different pages and the links on these pages. We needed to think about this from a user’s standpoint (parent) to make it easy to access and to provide the information that parents would be looking for. We also needed to keep it simple enough to maintain, so that the information would not become outdated too quickly. At this time we need to update some of the information, as program options and other details have changed. This will be updated as soon as final decisions are made. I am assisting the BECEP team in making sure this gets done this spring.

I have also taken the animoto session and hope to use it to post some animoto clips to the website. I have used animoto to assist classroom teachers in formatting their end of the school year programs (slide shows). This is a nice way to help families visualize the various activities that their children have been involved with over the course of the year. We could also use these videos to give new parents an idea of the types of activities that happen in preschool.

This is the web address for the BECEP website. I developed a number of these pages, including the busing page, the Early Childhood Special Education page and the Family Advocate page. http://www.becep.bismarckschools.org/becep/

These are the Latte session I took.

Classroom Websites Study Group (1/25/2010 – 3/11/2010)

Latte – Classroom Web pages: Additional Support/Training (3/3/2010) 1.5
Latte – Animoto (3/25/2010) 1.5
Latte – Social Bookmarking (Delicious) (3/30/2010) 1.5
Latte – Intro to Intellitools Classroom Suite (4/15/2010) 1.5 hr
Latte – Videomodeling with Ease Using a Flip Video Camera (4/28/2010) 1.5 hr
Latte – Discovery Education (UnitedStreaming) – BECEP Staff (4/30/2010) 1.5 hr
Latte-HEC-Let’s Get Organized (Technologically)! (9/16/2010) 1.5 hr.
Latte-HEC-Photostory 3 for Windows (9/30/2010) 1.5 hr.
Latte: Conscious Discipline: Empathy (2/11/2011)
Latte: Wrap up (2/11/2011) 1.5 hr.

   9. Stacey Knudson - May 16, 2011

Stacey Knudson May 16, 2011
Latte Session Reflection Paper
I have participated in various Latte sessions over the past two years and they have been extremely helpful in familiarizing me with all of the technology this district uses in assessment and curriculum instruction. The “Latte–New Teachers–DesCartes” and “Latte-DIBELS for K-2 Teachers and Specialists” were the most valuable to me as a teacher new to the Bismarck Public School District. As a reading specialist, both of these “tutoring” sessions helped me develop a better understanding of the learning continuum, differentiated instruction and grouping students with similar skills and learning needs to most efficiently meet student goals.
The “Latte-ActivInspire for the Specialist: Classes 1-5” were useful in helping me integrate technology into my small group reading lessons. I have not made a lot of my own flipcharts at this point, but I have used a lot of existing flipcharts that I’ve found and modified them to fit my needs. It is kind of fun to just play around with all of the tools and learn how to do different things. Using the ActivBoard with flipcharts and other educational software/internet programs brings learning to a whole new level. It’s a fun and creative way to learn. Best of all…….the students LOVE it!!!
The “Latte: Fun with Photos using Picasa” was interesting and will be useful to me on a more personal level as I try to get all of my digital photos on my computer organized and labeled. However, I don’t see much use for it educationally in my field.
Now, the “School Latte-Photostory” and “School Latte-Voice Thread” sessions both seem to have great possibilities for me as a Title I Reading Teacher working with elementary students in K-6. I’ve just started using these tools with my students to do short story re-tells, book/author recommendations, and digital book reports.

http://bismarckschools.ed.voicethread.com/share/2038134/

The most important aspect of reading is the comprehension component. If kids don’t remember what they’ve read and aren’t able to re-tell important parts of the story, what’s the point? The kids seem to enjoy these processes much more when technology is incorporated and they do a better job on these assignments as well.
Overall, I think that all of the lattes that I’ve attended to date have been well worth my time and very beneficial professional development opportunities.

Latte – New Teachers – DesCartes (2/19/2009) 3:30-5:00 PM 1.5 hours
Latte – DIBELS for K-2 Teachers & Specialists
(9/01/2009) 12:30-3:30 PM 3.0hours
Latte – ActivInspire for the Specialist: 1 of 5
(3/02/2010) 3:30-5:00 PM 1.5 hours
Latte – ActivInspire for the Specialist: 2 of 5
(3/03/2010) 3:30-5:00 PM 1.5 hours
Latte – ActivInspire for the Specialist: 4 of 5
(3/23/2010) 3:30-5:00 PM 1.5 hours
Latte – ActivInspire for the Specialist: 3 of 5
(3/30/2010) 3:30-5:00 PM 1.5 hours
Latte – ActivInspire for the Specialist: 5 of 5
(4/06/2010) 3:30-5:00 PM 1.5 hours
School Latte – PhotoStory (3/22/2011) 3:15-4:45 PM 1.5 hours
Latte – Fun with Photos using Picasa
(4/12/2011) 3:30-5:00 PM 1.5 hours
School Latte – Voice Thread
(4/26/2011) 3:15-4:45 PM 1.5 hours

   10. Kathryn Andersen - June 3, 2011

Latte Session Reflection #2 – Kathryn Andersen; June 1, 2011

I have attended several latte sessions during the past year. They have enriched my use of technology in the classroom and helped me to better serve as the BIM for our school. The latte session that has proven to be most beneficial for me and for the other teachers at our school are the ActivInspire and ActivExpressions sessions. At the first session I took I was a complete novice on the use of either one of these tools. Now I serve as facilitator for our school on the use of these in our classrooms. I have moved from simple flipcharts to creating complex containers for individual student use at student directed study centers.
The flipchart I have uploaded into the blog demonstrates the use of containers. The interactive nature of these flipcharts capture students’ attention much better than other review tools that are available. On the Promethean website teachers can download free resource packs on how to create containers within their flipcharts. These resource packs include already completed containers than can be modified to meet the needs of almost any teacher. This means teachers can concentrate on what is important to the students – the learning! They don’t have to be experts on the software, they can take advantage of the fact that someone else is an expert and has shared their creations with them. (Sample 1)
Currently I have an individual website through edutech. I attended a latte on creating a website with Melissa and am currently working on transferring the information I have on that website to the new website. Although the edutech environment provides a wider variety of page designs to choose from, I like the fact that the new website will be in a format more similar to the BPS website. The edutech site also provides a blogging feature not available through the other format, but I have not used this feature in the 2 ½ years that I have had my individual website. I am hoping to sign-up for the credit being offered for creating a website and to finish the process by the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year.
I attended several latte sessions on creating digital picture videos; Animoto, PhotoStory 3, and Picasa. These sessions were very interesting and all three of the formats are fairly easy to use. Right now I am in the process of experimenting with these three options compared to iPhoto/iVideo on my personal MacPro laptop. At this time I tend to lean towards the newest version of iPhoto, it has very professional looking predesigned themes to choose from with very little time needed to create these videos.
One of my goals for next year is to use one of these digital picture applications with students in my classroom. One idea I have is to have them create a video for younger students that would demonstrate the differences between perimeter, area, and volume and the units used to measure them. I also plan to continue the development of new flipcharts to help students with the transition to the new and more rigorous core math standards.

Latte – Producing an End of Year or Special Occasion Digital Picture Video (5/24/2011) 1.5 hours
Moolatte: (Simle) Getting Ready for a Lane Change (5/17/2011) 1.5 hours
Moolatte – Simle – Questions, Answers, and Work Time (5/4/2011) 1.5 hours
Moolatte: Simle Middle School – Website Help (4/20/2011) 1.5 hours
Moolatte: Simle Middle School – Animoto (4/19/2011) 1.5 hours
Moolatte – Simle: Fun with Photos using Picasa (4/12/2011) 1.5 hours
Latte: PhotoStory 3 (4/7/2011) 1.5 hours
Latte – Discovery Education (3/17/2011) 1.5 hours
Schoolatte – Simle: PhotoStory 3 (12/9/2010) 1.5 hours
Schoolatte-Simle: ActivInspire & ActivExpressions (10/27/2010) 1.5 hours

   11. Andrea Sagsveen - June 10, 2011

Latte Credit Reflection 2 – May 2011

In the last set of lattes that I have attended, I have found that I have been able to benefit as a teacher leader and as a teacher to my students.

As a teacher leader, I have found that the latte sessions that I led and also signed up for were valuable to me as a teacher and to my colleagues. For example, the latte that I led on making tables in Microsoft Word enabled me to explore tables and how to manipulate them. I learned how to distribute rows evenly, change text direction, and resize tables. As I “showed off” my new tables, my colleagues were excited to learn how to do the same. This spring I held a latte for teachers on making tables in Word. It was my most popular class! Teachers were able to make schedules that would help them more efficiently use their day. They felt confident in their skills and have been showing off their tables to their colleagues and to me. I think this was a great way to integrate technology learning in a meaningful way.

The second way that I feel helped me as a teacher leader is with the lane change latte that I plan on teaching next week. I learned how to gather my credits and apply for a lane change on my own. I know that there will be colleagues in my building who will struggle with finding this and that. If I can make it easier on teachers by leading them through the detailed instructions and be there to help with problems, then I feel that I am making the use of computers a bit less stressful. Our staff tracker has changed a bit and has some features that my colleagues need to know about to help them in their use of graduate credits to apply for a lane change.

As a teacher with students, there were two lattes that I attended that helped me further my knowledge to impact my students and their learning. One was FASTT Math. I was a fortunate teacher to be approved to use FASTT Math in my third grade classroom this past year. What has really impressed me is that I have a highly motivational program that is tailored to each individual student. The program differentiates the facts that each student needs to know. My students ask all of the time if it is a FASTT Math day. They spend about ten minutes, three days a week, on a lesson and game. The students have all made progress in their knowledge of facts. The use of the Fact Tracker to show students which facts they have mastered, which facts they need to study, and which facts still need to be studied is a great way to motivate them. The students love to see each others’ trackers and show me theirs!

The other latte session that I attended was an ActivInspire overview. When I was ready to move over to ActivInspire instead of ActivStudio, I thought it would be a rough transition. I found it quite helpful to have an overview. I enjoyed the overview so much that I decided to take up my principal’s offer to attend a Connecting Point training during the summer. As a result, I feel pretty comfortable making flipcharts and navigating the program. At this point I am still using flipcharts from Promethean Planet. I did join a study group that made flipcharts for lesson maps, which is a reading supplement for our Scott Foresman reading program. My students have benefitted with their decoding of multisyllabic words and word knowledge as a result.

Getting a little taste of everything through lattes has helped me make my teaching effective with my students and my colleagues. Being an elementary school teacher, I like having a taste of a little bit of everything since I have to know a little bit about everything! I think lattes are like a buffet of technology.

Latte Sessions
MooLatte-ActivInspire (PC users only) (3/23/2010) 1.5 hrs.
SchooLatte – Pearson SuccessNet (4/27/2010) 1.5 hrs.
SchooLatte – Discovery Streaming (5/4/2010) 1.5 hrs.
Latte – (By Invitation Only) BIM Elementary Technology Content Specific Training – Reading/Math: Choose Only One (1) Date (8/31/2010) 2 hrs.
Latte-HEC-FASTT Math Orientation & Training (11/30/2010) 1.5 hrs.
SchooLatte at Moses – Delicious! (12/7/2010) 1.5 hrs.
Latte – Making the move from Delicious to Diigo (Social Bookmarking) (1/24/2011) 1.5 hrs.
SchooLatte: Moses – Tables in Word (4/19/2011) 1.5 hrs.
Latte (Moses) Getting Ready for a Lane Change (5/17/2011) 1.5 hrs.
Latte-HEC-Reflecting, Assembling, and Applying for Latte Graduate Credit (5/10/2011) 1.5 hrs.

   12. Janice S. Peterson - December 7, 2011

I have completed 10 latte sessions this fall and found them all very interesting and insightful. I especially enjoyed the Animoto class by Erica Quale. Mrs. Quale uses a lot of technology in her 8th grade History class and I have learned a lot of different websites and their uses from her. I also found the use of Google Docs and Apps. informative to use for my own personal use while keeping track of when IEP’s and other meetings are due. I have put several videos together on Animoto and the students are going to make short videos for their parents to watch at home after they bring in some pictures. Kurzweil was a good class to review what I had forgotten over the years. There were some new ideas and information about it that has changed since I first learned how to use it when it first came into the education world. The website Prezi is another one that the teachers use at Wachter and that latte session helped me understand what I need to know to help my students. Discovery Education was a great refresher course for me as I found lots of videos and information I can use for my social skills class. I have used the videos on bullying for all of my middle school students.

Latte – Staff Tracker Lane Change 9/6/11 1.5 hours
Latte – Site you never knew existed 9/28/11 1.5 hours
Latte – Google Apps in the Classroom 9/29/11 1.5 hours
Latte – Prezi 10/4/11 1.5 hours
Latte – Google Docs in the Classroom 10/5/11 1.5 hour
Latte – Getting started with Kurzweil l 10/6/11 1.5 hours
Latte – Active Inspire Basics 10/10/11 1.5 hours
Latte – Technology in the Classroom 10/11/11 1.5 hours
Latte – Google Calendar in the Classroom 10/13/11 1.5 hours
Latte – Discovery Education 10/17/11 1.5 hours

website-www.bpsapps.com/geography/ damian wisdom, spencer bachmeier North Dakota Studies booklets
Website- http://www.animoto.com Carli Peterson video

   13. Eliza Brown - December 13, 2011

Eliza Brown
Centennial Elementary
21st Century Strategies and Tools—Part 2
December 13, 2011

Latte-New Laptop Training 8/4/2011 1.5 hours
Latte—Your Voice Matters 8/15/2011 1.5 hours
Latte-Field Trips with Google Earth 8/15/2011 1.5 hours
Latte-Collaborative, Multimedia Slideshows-Voicethread 8/16/2011 1.5 hours
Latte—Student-created videos that demonstrate learning 8/17/2011 1.5 hours
Latte—Big Huge Labs, Voki, and other tools for product development 8/18/2011 1.5 hours
Latte—Game Changing “Prezi” tations 8/17/2011 1.5 hours
Latte—Why do you ask? 8/17/2011 1.5 hours
Latte—Google Apps in the Classroom 11/1/2011 1.5 hours
Latte—Sites you never knew you needed 12/8/2011 1.5 hours
TOTAL 15 Hours
 
As I reviewed the Lattes, I was excited at how much information I have gained from the sessions. When I select Lattes to attend, I am looking for ways to enhance my fifth grade students’ learning. The Lattes I gained the most from would be Sites You Never Knew You Needed, Big Huge Labs and Voki, and New Laptop Training.

A majority of the Lattes I attended were during the summer technology sessions. I greatly enjoyed the format and the opportunity to select the information which would be most beneficial to me and my future students. During the summer technology session, I learned about Big Huge Labs and Voki. I had used some of the tools before but not often with my students. One of my favorites this year has been the use of Voki. My students absolutely love it! The thing I like about Voki is it is a fun way for students to demonstrate what they have learned. For example, our current reading theme is Inventions and Inventors. My students were asked to research three unique inventions and then select a favorite and create a Voki, which they were all able to do easily and greatly enjoy. The best part, in my opinion, is that my students can easily share their Vokis through Kidblog. Now that I have taught my students how to insert html code, they proficiently share many Web 2.0 tools on Kidblog. I love that students can see and comment on their classmates’ projects. http://kidblog.org/missbrownsclass2/

The other Latte I gained a great deal of knowledge was from Sites You Never Knew You Needed. Again, I liked this Latte because she presented a wealth of information and resources. The best thing I took away were the opportunities to use word clouds. I have used word clouds before, but what I liked about these options were the ability to use the html code for Kidblog and also the ability to save the clouds as jpegs and insert them into other projects, which is a much simpler way.

Of course, I also learned so many helpful tricks from the new laptop training. I especially liked the sticky notes, setting up signature on email, and using the snip tool. This was helpful with getting started on the new computers and made the transition much simpler.

The information I have gained through the Lattes not only made my life simpler but also added to the overall education of my students. I look forward to many more exciting technology adventures.

   14. Darlene Bondley - December 15, 2011

Darlene Bondley

I have taken a variety of Latte sessions. Many of the sessions were to help improve my skills as an educator, such as Office, Email Calendar and New Lap Top. I also benefited from many of the session by learning how to use various programs so I can use them with my students. Everything I learned from these lattes will obviously benefit me as an educator and in turn benefit my students.

I am a reading specialist and an assistant principal. One of my jobs as assistant principal is to develop a calendar for the staff of all the activities that are happening at our school. I was using Outlook to input information of school happenings and then would print the calendar and place into the mailboxes of all staff. However, if I used Outlook for the school, I needed to remove my personal appointments on the calendar before printing it for the staff, which was inconvenient. Plus, as a school we are trying to save on paper and would like to be able to share the calendar with the staff instead of printing a hard copy. Therefore, I took the latte Google Calendar which solved my problem. I can make two different calendars, one for me and one for the staff. I can also share this calendar with staff members without printing hard copies. I also like Google Calendar because it sends reminders to my phone, whereas Outlook was not able to do this task.

There are many times when I need to collaborate with other specialists and teachers. Therefore, Email Calendar was nice to learn. Now I am able to invite other teachers to meetings regarding shared students.

As a reading specialist I work with grades K-2 and my subject area is only reading. I was limited somewhat with what I could do with younger students that would be applicable to them. After taking Word Clouds, I used Wordle with my students. Short vowels are so difficult for younger students. We made word clouds using the sight words “I see a” and then added words with a short “a”. We did the same for the short e, i, o and u words.

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B7HSRhNpHYcwMzRmNGU2ZDAtOTc5MS00NzEzLWIwZjItYTVmNjAyY2M2Y2I2

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B7HSRhNpHYcwNjc1YmFhZTQtYjczNy00YzY5LTg2ZjctYjUzMmI4NzI2YmMy

The students were very excited to read their word cloud to each other and to their parents. This activity helped with learning the short vowel sounds and finding words with those sounds. It also helped with increasing their fluency as they needed to read their Wordle to me, a peer and to their parents. . Next we will be working on using Wordle to make word clouds with blends and diagraphs.

The district has purchased the program Read Naturally which I have implemented into my reading classroom. In the Read Naturally Refresher latte I learned a lot on how to access the reports for parents and how to change various settings. Read Naturally is an intervention tool that I use three times a week with students. It is important for students and their parents to see the improvement in their reading fluency. The reports show the words correct per minute in their cold reads and hot reads, along with the percent correct on their comprehension questions and what grade level they are reading. These reports are a valuable tool for progress monitoring and relaying information on students’ progress to the student, their teacher and their parents.

I have enjoyed taking lattes and will continue to do so in the future. They add to my teaching success.

Latte Sessions
Latte – Administration Access Rights 4-29-08 1½ hrs.
Latte – Email Calendar 11-19-08 1 ½ hrs.
Schoolatte – Document Cameras 5-12-10 1 ½ Hrs.
Latte – New Lap Top 8-2-11 3 hrs.
Latte – Read Naturally Refresher 9-14-11 1 ½ hrs.
Latte – Office 9-27-11 1 ½ hrs.
Latte – Word Clouds 10-18-11 1 ½ hrs.
Latte – Cool Ways to Customize your Computer 10-26-11 1 ½ hrs.
Latte – Google Calendar 12-6-11 1 ½ hrs.

   15. Ryan Larson - December 15, 2011

Ryan Larson

I have taken a variety of lattes over my two years teaching in the Bismarck School District. None have been more meaningful than the Google Latte sessions that I recently took the past few months. The Google Latte sessions included Apps in the Classroom, Docs in the Classroom, Google Calendar, and Google Sites.

The integration of technology in my classroom has dramatically risen over the years. I have seen many changes in the last 15 years that have been overwhelming and exciting. From basic dial up internet to Active Boards and tablets, technology change will definitely be a huge part of my student’s future. I have chosen to teach and guide my students through these changes.

I chose to develop a classroom website that would be easy to access, edit, and navigate. The Google Sites Latte session allowed me to easily develop this website for my students to access not only for news in the classroom, but for learning tools that my students use every day. I am now able to add meaningful educational links such as Spelling City, Fastt Math, and Social Studies Alive that my students can access at home, in a library, in school, or wherever access is available. I am able to add student led presentations and work into my sites that will show proof that they are meeting their required learning targets. I am able to add forms and blogs where my students can discuss assignments, vote for a student council member, and take a formative assessment. I can place a calendar showing our daily agenda (learned through another Latte, Google Calendars in the Classroom) showing parents and staff what we are planning to do for that day. I can place advanced and proficient exemplars online for students to use as a guide in completing quality work. I can upload videos from You Tube that are meaningful in learning a specific learning target (Schoolhouse Rock-Mr. Morton).

I have seen huge gains in my student’s multiplication facts from using the Fastt Math link embedded on my site. I have seen excitement about studying for tests and quizzes online whenever and wherever they are able. I have heard compliments from parents about student’s excitement about using the site as well.

I am very fortunate to be living during this great technological change and am excited to teach and guide my students in meaning ways to use technology that will benefit their lifelong goals.
See our classroom website below.

https://sites.google.com/a/bismarckschools.org/larson/

Latte Sessions

SchooLatte-WME-Pearson Successnet (9/2/2010) 1.5hrs.

Latte-WME-Triple Topic (11/30/2010) 2hrs.

SchooLatte-Saxvik-Classroom Website (12/13/2010) 1.5hrs.

Latte-Staff Tracker lane Change Guidance (1/6/2011) 1.5hrs.

SchooLatte-WME-PhotoStory3 (5/11/2011) 1.5hrs.

Latte-Google Apps in the Classroom (9/29/2011) 1.5hrs.

Latte-Google Docs in the Classroom (10/5/2011) 1.5hrs.

Latte-Google Sites in the Classroom (10/11/2011) 1.5hrs.

Latte-Google Calendar in the Classroom (10/13/2011) 1.5 hrs.

Latte-HEC-Reflecting, Assembling, and Applying for Latte Graduate Credit (12/15/2011) 1.5 hrs.

   16. Jill Meier - December 16, 2011

Jill Meier

The Latte sessions offered have been very informative and helpful in the professional aspect of my job and in my work with students with learning disabilities. The Office 2010, Word Clouds, and Kurzweil were of particular help in the work I do.

Office 2010 allowed me to learn about the changes in Word without having to try to find and discover them on my own. A good portion of my work involves production of documents, production of data sheets to track and document student growth, and production of various types of charts and graphs to help students in their daily learning struggles. Learning about the changes helped keep me on track with the production of needed documents in a timely manner.

Several of my students with learning disabilities struggle in the area of grammar skills and writing of sentences. The session on word clouds has been useful in working with the students on their grammar and writing skills. I used the word clouds to help these students define and understand nouns, action verbs, and adjectives. The students researched the definition for each of the parts of speech and we put together Wordles for each of them. They chose the important words in each definition for nouns, action verbs, and adjectives; and they also provided examples of nouns, action verbs, and adjectives. The Wordles have been printed in colored ink, laminated, and put on a bulletin board for a resource when they are writing sentences and paragraphs or completing English assignments. We will continue with work on past, present, and future tense verbs, linking verbs, irregular verb tenses, and adverbs. When all the grammar areas have been completed, the students will have a bulletin board full of useful grammar information from which they can construct appropriate and complete sentences.

The two sessions of Kurzweil were helpful to me as I have four students who use Kurzweil to help them with access to the regular education curriculum. They all have very good reasoning skills, but reading skills are two to three years below grade level. I have implemented Kurzweil for all of them as the grade level curriculum can be read to them via Kurzweil. It also allows my students to answer questions to assignments more readily and allows them more independence as they do not need an adult sitting with them reading the curriculum material to them. The second session, entitled Using Kurzweil for Tests, Worksheets, and Written Assignments, will allow me to help expand the capabilities of my students in completing grade level materials independently.

Example:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B5q54SJ7JhbKMTIzYTUwNDEtMGY0OC00MDI2LTlhY2QtNDhmZTVhYmU1MTRl

Latte Classes for Credit

1/22/2009 1.5 Hours Latte-AdminRights for KeyMath3
9/6/2011 1.5 Hours Latte-Staff Tracker Lane Change Guidance
9/12/2011 1.5 Hours Latte-Office 2010
9/28/2011 1.5 Hours Latte-Sites You Never Knew You Needed
9/29/2011 1.5 Hours Latte-Google Apps in the Classroom
10/6/2011 1.5 Hours Latte-Getting Started with Kurzweil
10/13/2011 1.5 Hours Latte-Google Calendar
10/18/2011 1.5 Hours Latte-Word Clouds
10/26/2011 1.5 Hours Latte-Cool Ways to Customize Your Computer
12/6/2011 1.5 Hours Latte-Kurzweil Using Kurzweil for Worksheets, and Written Assignments

15.0 Total Hours

   17. Bonnie Kettleson - December 18, 2011

Bonnie Kettleson

As a library media specialist, I do not have individual classes in which to use the strategies I have learned in the technology sessions. Instead, my goal has been to keep up with developing technologies to support classroom teachers and students with research and presentation projects using new and developing 21st century technologies available to students and teachers . I have also used the technology sessions to help me create and maintain a library web site to support students and teachers in the research area as well. The content , skills and strategies we learn in all the latte classes are important because there is always a situation in the library whether in a class situation, a small group situation on a one on one situation with a student or a teacher in which library media specialists can help with a research or presentation project by using one of the many skills and technologies available through those classes. I find that the classes have been very successful in that order. It is an efficient way to stay up to date as our district develops more technology applications , uses and stratiegies. As a library media specialist, I can integrate the knowledge I gain with the help , guidance, and education I can provide to our students and teachers at the point they need it.

Many of our students and teachers use Movie Maker with their school projects. The skills I learned with the session have helped me work with students when they work on individual and group projects in the library. Frequently, they have quick questions that require some guidance. They are often in a hurry so they also expect ready answers. With the class experience , I can provide that. This year I found that the latte with the new laptops before school began was not only helpful for me, but I could assist students and teachers with the new Windows 7 and Word 10 as soon as school began. Even now there are changes that students still encounter. I appreciate being able to help them recover and find documents and execute tasks they need to do. CHS uses many Google applications. All of the Google Documents and Google Apps classes I have taken have been necessary to keep up with and stay ahead of our students. As a librarian I can help them with enrolling, executing a project, or most of the problems they may encounter with Google .
The CHS Web pages are more useful with the addition of Delicious links, Animoto, our calendar and other links I have added through knowledge gained at the latte classes. Our Animoto classes show our new books each month or two. http://www.chs.bismarckschools.org/chs/library/ I also plan to add a nonfiction book Animoto to go along with the emphasis we are placing on nonfiction reading with the Common Core Standards. Our Delicious links I learned to set up through a Delicious latte classes help students and classes using the library link to web sites the teachers and I would like them to use for research. I use these links to provide reputable research web sites to go with our BPS and the ODIN Databases http://www.chs.bismarckschools.org/chs/library/academic-links/english/ We have also added a new resource guide (LibGuides) to help our students with access and use research sites. The web page lattes have helped me create those resource guides and LibGuide Links.

The knowledge I have gained from the latte classes as a whole has helped and will keep helping me stay current with the technologies and strategies our teachers and students need.

Latte Sessions
Latte Viewpoint 10/1/2008 – 1.5
Latte –Delicious 10/21/2008 – 1.5
Latte- Google Docs 3/31/2009 – 1.5
Latte- Administrative Access Rights 12/18/2008 – 1.5
Latte- Web Pages- Support 1/15/ 2009 – 1.5
Latte- Animoto 1/26/2009 - 1.5
Moolatte- Google Apps 4/19/2010 – 1.5
Latte-Windows Movie Maker 2/11/2010 – 1.5
Latte- Making the Move from Delicious to Diigo Social Bookmarking 1/6/2011 - 1.5
Schoolatte-Microsoft Outlook Tips and Tricks 2/16/2011 – 1.5

   18. Kathleen Bergquist - December 19, 2011

Kathleen Bergquist 12-15-11
G/T Levels of Service Teacher
Grimsrud & Prairie Rose Elementary

Since I was new in the district and also new to Levels of Service, I began taking lattes to help me to become acquainted with the MAP Assessment and PowerSchool training for Levels of Service. The Introduction to MAP Assessments latte helped me learn how to access MAP Assessment data and how it applies to Levels of Service. Jennifer Weber explained what a RIT score means and how it’s used in BPS educational practice. The Levels of Service PowerSchool training helped me learn how to manage students in the program, how to search, and also how to run records needed in my position as Levels of Service teacher. In the schoolatte on Promethean Planet, I learned how to access Promethean Planet and search for resources by subject and also by age or grade level. I was able to create a “toolbox” of resources that I was able to use right away to integrate technology within the curriculum when I returned to my classroom. I was able to find a flipchart on graphing linear functions. I was able to modify the flipchart and make it my own. I added the sixth grade standards that I was working on with my students on the first page of the flipchart. The students were very engaged and better able to understand the process of graphing linear functions by using the Activboard during my lesson. https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BzBOxW4XgpL-ZDc1M2M0NjctMTQ5OS00NGYxLTkzNDgtNDYxMDJkZmI3ZTg1

The next several lattes that I attended helped me to create a webpage using iAdmin. Melissa Ochsner came to Prairie Rose and provided the initial instruction on how to get started. I then attended several lattes on Website Help where Melissa helped me to create the pages on my website for Levels of Service both at Prairie Rose and also at Grimsrud. She helped me to create a Google calendar on my site and also add diigo internet web links on my Internet Resources page. I also attended a latte on working with Animoto and one on Flipvideo. At these two lattes, I learned how to use the Flipvideo and learned how to create an Animoto. I created an Animoto of the Grimsrud Geography Bee 2011 Finalists and with Melissa’s help I was able to add that to my webpage as well. Here is a link to my Grimsrud Elementary LoS Website: http://www.grimsrud.bismarckschools.org/grimsrud/los/

During the end of the 2010-2011 school year, I attended a schoolatte on Photostory. The session was very good and I was able to have my fourth grade LoS students create a Photostory. I had the students write a story of their own using Microsoft Office to type their story. They then illustrated their storybook pages. A couple students wrote a personal narrative and I allowed them to bring in pictures from home that they wanted to use in their story. I showed them how to scan their pictures and insert the pictures into their Microsoft Office Word document. The students then created a hard cover book of their story that they wrote. I showed them how they can take cardboard and cut it the size of the book. The created a cover, back cover, and a spine for their book. We taped those pieces together allowing a slight gap between the covers and the spine (so that the book will be able to open). We wrapped the books with contact paper and glued in their book pages. They also glued on their front cover. We used a labeling machine to type the title of the book in which we added it to the spine of the book. After that I showed them how to create Photostory of their story. I had them first take a picture of their illustrations. I then showed the students how to use Photostory. The students typed up their story onto the pages and then they inserted a picture of the illustration that goes with each page onto the follow Photostory page. The students then typed up their second page and then inserted a picture of their second illustration. They then recorded their voices to the Photostory. The students loved sharing their stories with parents. Unfortunately, I didn’t save a copy for myself of the student’s final project. It worked out so well that I do plan on teaching Photostory to my students again this year. https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BzBOxW4XgpL-NTdkMzAwNDQtNDY0MC00NWY2LWFkYWMtNDMxYzIzMjFiZDcy

Another latte that I took was Office 2010. The technology staff provided an overview of the new program and helped me to personalize it for my usage. I was able to learn more about Office 2010 during that session. I used that knowledge to create a newsletter for my Levels of Service students and parents. I was able to explain what the students have been learning in the LoS classes, inform parents on upcoming events, and list websites that are helpful for their children. The last latte that I attended was on Google Docs. I plan on spending some more time using Google Docs this school year and looking for ways to have my students use Google Docs as well. I learned quite a bit with these latte sessions. I feel that my students are better engaged when they have a chance to use technology in the classroom. They seem to learn more and better able to internalize their learning when they have to create some sort of product using technology.
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BzBOxW4XgpL-YWM2YThiYzktYzQ4Ny00ZDY3LTg2YTktOWJlNTIyMTY1OTQ3

Latte Sessions
Class 1: Latte – Introduction to MAP Assessments (9/9/2010) Hours: 1.5
Class 2: Latte – Levels of Service PowerSchool training (10/4/2010) Hours: 1.5
Class 3: Grimsrud Schoolatte Promethean Planet (11/1/2010) Hours: 1
Class 4. School-latte – Working with Animoto (1/24/2011) Hours: 1.5
Class 5: SchooLatte: Prairie Rose – Classroom Website (1/31/2011) Hours: 1.5
Class 6: Latte – Website Help (2/23/2011) Hours: 1.5
Class 7: Latte – Flip Video (3/17/2011) Hours: 1
Class 8: Schoolatte – Prairie Rose: Photostory for the elementary classroom (4/5/2011) Hours: 1.5
Class 9: Latte – Pearson Successnet (8/31/2011) Hours: 1.5
Class 10: Latte – Office 2010 (New/Updated Laptops) (9/12/2011) Hours: 1.5
Class 11: Latte – Google Docs in the Classroom (10/5/2011) Hours: 1.5

   19. Cindy DeGree - December 20, 2011

Cindy DeGree
Latte Credit

I have attended a number of latte sessions over the last couple of years. My focus for this blog will be the Read Naturally Training. At Rita Murphy School, we use this technology for grades 2nd through 6th with students who are under an IEP or are eligible for District Reading. Depending on student education needs, the learning objectives can include decoding, fluency, and reading comprehension. This technology helps with addressing learning objectives. Many of the students have an intrinsic interest in the computer application. It provides immediate feedback and results regarding progress toward a specific objective. The student cannot progress until that objective is met. There are appealing graphic representations of gains that motivate the student.
Students are positioned at the computer and ready to start a new story. First, there’s a review of story vocabulary. Students see a picture icon with the name of the story and are asked to make a prediction of what they expect the story to be about. The teacher then sits with the student who does a “cold timing” read. A cold timing is the first time a student reads the story with no experience or help. While this is happening, the teacher clicks on each misread word. A goal is then set by the program with a graphic representation of their score (correct words per min.) The story is then slowly read to them and they are to read along orally. This is done three times. Next, they practice reading the story orally with no computer assist at least three times or until they meet their goal. The student then takes a quiz that includes multiple choice. A word list is the next assessment step for a student placed in the Phonics Series of this Program. Accordingly, a retell is required of those placed in the Sequence Series of this Program. A” hot timing” is done for all students. A hot timing is the final read after intervention.
There is integration for both teacher and student with this technology. The teacher needs to understand the program and the various options available. It provides a nice data collection system and produces learning objectives that are in a logical sequence. The technology use and integration for the student includes the providing of immediate feedback on performance. They can see the graphic representation of their cold and hot timing. The intrinsic interest of the computer application also is a great assist for maintaining the student’s interest in the program and fostering motivation.
My reflection: A positive feature of this application is that it offers a clear direction of instruction, and you can easily determine when a student is ready to advance to the next level. It provides convenient data collection with information that can be shared with the classroom teacher and parents. Along that line, it is possible to print out the story and all its features (e.g., story vocabulary, comprehension questions, misread vocabulary, etc.) for home practice. An additional attractive aspect is the “Reader Awards” can be printed out and used to communicate progress to parents. The learning experience was made very enjoyable by Jenny Wills. She has much expertise with this program and provides consistent, efficient, and timely instruction. Jenny is a great resource! There are many positive features of the Read Naturally Series; however, it does channel and limit alternative instructional methods that may be beneficial for particular students. For example, it requires extensive commitment of time (minimum of 30 minutes at least 3 times a week) and does not allow for use of other interventions.
Project example: Attached is a copy of a standard progress report produced by the program.
https://docs.google.com/a/bismarckschools.org/#advanced-search/q=Read_Nat_Expl&view=0
This is helpful data that can be shared with the classroom teacher and parent. Also attached is a simple form I made up for students to fill out with each new story. I have students put the completed forms in their individual file folders until they have finished all 12 stories in that level. I find it helpful for myself and the students in keeping track of completed stories and to easily check scores.

Latte sessions completed by Cindy DeGree:
Latte – DIBELS for New/Returning 3-6 Teachers (9/1/2009)
Latte – Introduction to MAP Assessments (9/10/2009)
Latte – Discovery Education (United Streaming) (11/16/2009)
MooLatte Google Docs (3/24/2010)
Latte – Wordle (4/7/2010)
SchoolLatte – Expressions (5/5/2010)
SchoolLatte – Discovery Education/New Projectors (2/24/2011)
Latte – Read Naturally Placement & Virtual Environment (3/3/2011)
Latte – Read Naturally Phonics Series Training – Reporting, Level Changes, and Printing Stories (4/11/2011)
Latte – Read Naturally Phonics Series Training – Part 2 (4/20/2011)

   20. Mariah Thiel - December 23, 2011

Mariah Thiel
BECEP Early Childhood Special Education Teacher

In reflecting over the Latte sessions that I’ve completed, I find myself being a continued student in the ever growing age of technology. The children enrolled in the BECEP program are finding learning and /or reviewing early learning benchmarks, with the support of technology, engaging and motivating. Some of the tools that have been incorporated into my thematic studies include: ActivBoard (flip charts YouTube songs, and Discovery Ed, etc), memorable Animoto videos, Classroom Suite activites, and numerous free educational websites.

The enclosed google doc (http://goo.gl/3EvcQ) shows two examples of early learning activities created using Classroom Suite. This process is a clearly defined step by step method with provided templates. The templates share the common features of: Customize, Preview, and Publish, Instructions (provides a person with detailed instructions for using the templates), and Close.

The first activity, referenced below, is located in the Templates\Early Learning-2 Choice. By using this template, I was able to create simple question and answer activities to promote comprehension of questions as well as language development (e.x. Which one is used to pack school supplies?). Specific pictures were provided using the photo library in Classroom Suite.

The second activity, referenced below, is located in the Math\Early Math Concepts -Sorting. Two categories were selected which focus on our curricular benchmarks in science and early math. In this activity, the student is asked to sort animals into two categories (e.x. animals in the sky, and animals on the land). Again, the photo library in Classroom Suite was used. However, the creator is not limited to the provided photo library, as the option of importing preferred pictures is also available.

The capabilities of Classroom Suite are endless. The ability for creators to design and publish activities specific to curricular benchmarks and individual programming needs, promotes effective instruction and the learning process, on an individual basis. The creating and publishing process is user friendly, due to the clearly defined step by step instructions. Sharing activities, via uploading ideas from the Activity Exchange, followed by saving them in My Work ( both are located on the Classroom Suite Home Page), and/or publishing individual materials, is beneficial for students and colleagues.

The Bismarck Public Schools does an stellar job of technological support in an individual basis, as well as providing a vast number of topics for the Latte training sessions. Thank You, and I look forward to taking more trainings in the future.

Latte Session Log (12 total sessions)
1. 9/25/2009 Digital Camera & Photos with New Computers (BECEP Only) 1.5
2. 4/15/2010 Introduction to IntellitoolsClassroom Suite 1.5
3.11/1/2010 ActivInspire Tips and Tricks (Connecting Point) 1.5
4. 3/4/2011 ActivBoard 1.5
5.3/21/2011ActivBoard Part 2 .75
6. 3/7/2011 Classroom Suite Part 1 .75 .
7.8/16/2011 Find What You are Looking For: Google Search 1.5
8.8/18/2011 Moodle -Dave Sherwin 1.5
9.8/18/2011 Do You Have 15 Hours of Lattes? 1.5
10. 9/8/2011 Outlook 2010- Mail, Contacts, & Calendars 1.5
11.1.9/12/2011 Office 2010 (New/Update Laptops) 1.5
12.12/15/2011 Reflecting, Assembling, & Applying For Latte Credit 1.5