Local District 4 Instructional Technology News

This poem was shared with us at a staff meeting.  I though it was very inspirational and uplifting so I’m sharing it with all of you.  When you finish reading it, read it again starting from the end and work your way back up to the top.

Lost Generation

By: Jonathan Reed

I am part of a lost generation

and I refuse to believe that

I can change the world

I realize that this may be a shock but

“Happiness comes from within”

is a lie, and

“Money will make me happy”

So in 30 years I will tell my children

They are not the most important thing in my life.

My employer will know that

I have my priorities straight because

Work

Is more important than

Family

I tell you this

Once upon a time

Families stayed together

But this will not be true in my era

This is a quick fix society

Experts tell me

30 years from now I will be celebrating the 10th anniversity of my divorce

I do not concede that

I will live in a country of my own making

In the future

Environmental destruction will be the norm

No longer can it be said that

My peers and I care about this earth

It will be evident that

My generation is apathetic and lethargic

It is foolish to presume that

There is hope.

And all of this will come true unless we choose to reverse it.

Now read it in reverse order starting with “There is hope”.

Tags: inspirational, poem

Podcasting Workshop
Apple has been conducting workshops for LA Unified Teachers for the past couple of months on Podcasting. In March, Dave Douglas, an Apple Rep., was at Local District 5 offering a workshop on Podcasting to those individuals that wanted to know what Podcasting is all about. Local District 4 and 5 Technology Coordinators were invited to attend this workshop. In April, Dave Douglas will be at Local District 4 for another introduction to Podcasting Workshop for those Technology Coordinators from Local District 4 that were unable to attend the March session. Local District 3 Tech. Coordinators will also join us. The workshop will be on April 19, 2007 from 3:30 to 5:30 in place of the Technology Coordinator Meeting. Interested participants need to register for the class at http://applela.com/?q=node/197 . This workshop is not limited to Technology Coordinators. Any educator is welcome to attend. Information regarding parking and room number will be sent out through email. If you are not on my email list, send me an email at antonio.hernandez@lausd.net and I will add you to the list.

With the ever growing population of iPods, we need to look at ways to use the technology that most students are using and turn it into a teaching tool. iPods can do much more than just play music and videos (video iPods). Administrators can use them to record meetings, administer professional development and maintain contact information for both students and staff. But the real benefits are in class use. Students can track their calories as a math/science activity, they can record themselves reading, create podcasts, and create digital flash cards that will enable EL students to only hear the word, see a picture of it and listen to the word being used in a sentence. The classroom possibilities are endless.

Digital Voice Awards 2007
Deadline: Monday, April 23, 2007 at 5:00 p.m.
The California Technology Assistance Project (CTAP) Region 11 and Multimedia Services of the Instructional Technology Outreach division at the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) invite K–12 school educators from Los Angeles County to submit exemplary classroom instructional technology projects to the Digital Voice Awards. Student-made curricular projects may be entered in up to two curricular award categories and may be created with a variety of technology tools, which are listed on the entry form. A complete Entry Form, including credits/citations, a lesson objective with California Content Standards correlations, and release for use, must accompany each submission. It is the intent that select projects be posted online as a model for other California educators. http://ctap.lacoe.edu/DVAwards

Inner-City Filmmakers (ICF)
Deadline: April 15. 2007
Inner-City Filmmakers provides low-income and minority youth free year-round artistic, technical, business and life-skills training with high quality teachers and award winning film industry mentors. Entry into ICF is through a Summer Program, 8 weeks and over 450 hours of intensive hands-on training, in July and August at USC and at Lantana Center in Santa Monica. Each student will create, shoot, edit and complete a 5-minute narrative film. Applications are now available for all interested graduating seniors and must be completed by parent/guardian, teacher and student. www.innercityfilmmakers.com

I wish you all a safe holiday winter break. Get plenty of rest and enjoy your time off with family and friends.

When we return from Winter Break, we will have our next Tech Coordinators’ Meeting on January 18, 2007. I would like to have the meeting at a school site. If you are interested in hosting the meeting, please let me know as soon as possible. This is a great opportunity to share with your colleagues the things you are doing at your school. It is also a good opportunity to share out with one another the types of problems you are experiencing. This way we can learn from one another and help each other out. We will also be having a Professional Development session for this meeting.

If you do decide to host the meeting, make sure you get approval from your principal. I am also looking for schools to host the remainder of the meetings. These are the dates available for the rest of the year.

• February 15
• March 15
• April 19
• May 17

On this page you will find the technology newsletter I put out every month for the Administrators’ meetings. Click on the links to view the newsletter you’d like to read. They contain information regarding available grants, professional development, and general technology news.

August Newsletter

September Newsletter

October Newsletter

November Newsletter

December Newsletter

January Newsletter

January Newsletter #2