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School of the Future Mini-Brief 10-15

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  “Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.”

Who said it and does it apply to you? Answer and discussion here

 

For those of you that are new to the weekly briefs! The weekly briefs are my way of updating on you on the things going on in the Microsoft world as it relates to the School of the Future. Here you’ll find information on upcoming events, tours and activities sponsored by Microsoft and your school. Stay tuned, every week there will be something different to discover.

 

  • Portal Training is happening almost every day! Big thanks to Mr. Gaffey who has been spending many hours working with all educators to get them comfortable using the new redesigned portal. The portal has been an ongoing project at the school and has gone through major changes and updates to accommodate our ever changing environment. If you haven’t signed up for Mr. Gaffey’s portal training don’t worry, you will be able to sign up for additional portal training provided by me after school every Wed., or during my ‘lunch n learns (to be scheduled). You can also request PD on demand here.

      Portal training for Learners and Parents— I will be working with all of you to develop training you can provide your learners that are struggling with using the portal, BUT keep in mind that learners have a way of figuring technology out and to be honest, if they can figure out how to use Facebook , they can figure out how to use the Portal! In the interim, I will be putting together an instructional guide for them, that I will post on my portal site for you to download by next week! I will also start Parent Portal Sign up and training next week, so expect questions from parents in the coming weeks about where their learners homework and projects can be found.

      

       Did you know you can see all of the SOTF important dates here ?

 

Did you upload your interim reports?

 

 

 

  • NSDC Training conducted over the summer could be an ongoing activity? We need your input though, share your thoughts here.
  • We’re putting together an Exploratory Committee to visit other innovative schools along the east coast. Committee members include, but are not limited to: Tom Gaffey - Math/Technology Educator, Karen Keating - Special Education Liaison, Ms. Robin Walker - Development Coordinator and Co-SEL. The purpose of the Exploratory Committee will be to visit and report back innovative practices or projects that you can incorporate into your projects. Our first visit is scheduled for 10/23 at the New York School of the Future, they boast innovative teaching and learning, PBL, and innovative scheduling all of which are of interest to the committee.

Interested? There will be other opportunities for other educators to participate, sign up here

 

Anything you want to know about the New York School of the Future?

· Microsoft Resources— Microsoft has invested in the School of the Future in a variety of ways and many have asked how have we supported your activities.Here are a few items that we’ve supported since the start of the 2009-2010 school year:

               - NSDC Summer PD—$40K week long PBL professional development designed for you, by your peers.

               - Educator and Learner Orientation—$2K—Summer orientation activities for both educators and learners the entire week.

               - Tour registration website—$14K— In order for people to visit they have to register through an online registration site, the funding generated from tours goes directly into events that you request here at the school. If you know of people who want to visit, direct them here, otherwise they’re touring for free!

 

What is Microsoft’s commitment to School of the Future? What information do we share about you and the School of the Future community? What can you do to help drive awareness of the success, challenges, and opportunities you see in your own classrooms? You can help us help you by submitting comments and suggestions on any of our Education Blogs. After all, we’re writing about you!