Ren Place in High Schools

On October 28, 2008, we conducted a Ren Learn Training for High Schools. During our class, we used materials and resources linked from: http://herbluetooth.wikispaces.com/Ren+Place.


Hopefully, those of you who attended have had some time to go back and share our discussion with stakeholders at your schools.


We would love to hear some feedback on your progress and on what your school has decided to do (if anything) regarding all or parts of the Ren Place tools.


Please click below to comment on this post and share your thoughts, ideas, etc.

Thanks!

MCSD’s “Compute the Future” Writing Contest

MCSD’s “Compute the Future” Writing Contest

In celebration of National Technology Learning Month in October, the MCSD Division of Technology Services is sponsoring a technology and writing contest. The contest is open to all students in the Muscogee County School District.

The winning contestants will receive a brand new computer!

This year’s theme: “What role will technology play in shaping the world our students will lead?”

Contest Guidelines
• All entries must be authentic student work that corresponds with the GA Performance Standards for Language Arts. The scoring rubric is online at http://www.mcsdga.net/inside/technology/writing_contest/writing_contest.html .
• Entries must be completed using Microsoft Word in APA format, which includes Times New Roman style font and a double-spaced document with size 12 point font.
• Schools must submit their top 3 entries as Microsoft Word document attachments via email to contest@mcsdga.net

• All entries must be received by 5:00 PM on Friday, November 14.


Prizes
There will be prizes awarded as follows:
· 1 new computer at the Elementary School level
· 1 new computer at the Middle School level
· 1 new computer at the High School level

Judging
Selection of the winning entries will be done by a panel of volunteer community members.

Notification and Awards
The top 5 finalists for each level will be notified on Friday, November 21.
An awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, December 4 at 5:30 PM in the Patrick Theatre at the Columbus Museum.

Questions
If you have any questions, please contact Michelle Obert at 706-329-9452 or 706-569-3777, or by email at mailto:mmobert@mcsdga.net

It's All Too Much!

Recently, I read Peter Walsh's It's All Too Much. This short book guides readers through cleaning out the clutter in their homes. He points out that in society today, we have too much stuff cluttering our homes, our minds, and our lives. Peter then carefully explains a thought process to go through in evaluating and deciding what is valuable to your life and what is not.

In the last few weeks, I have been wondering if we should also consider a similar method in the educational world. I travel to various schools in our district and attend trainings and meetings with others from around the state as well. There are *so many* new initiatives and programs and projects being pushed out to the schools, educators, and teachers, I am wondering... is it all too much? There are only so many hours in the school day, and so many school days in the school year. At some point, we have got to be realistic about what an educator can actually accomplish, and accomplish effectively.

I really feel that we currently have a great deal of clutter in our educational system. We not only have too much, we are trying to do too much! You get to a point where you cannot do anything well when you are trying to do too much.

I would like to see a stronger effort from the '"powers that be" to work together, carefully review and evaluate these initiatives globally as they come, and really decide if it is going to be valuable (and possible!) for our schools to participate, rather than just blindly implement every new thing that comes across the pipe.

Otherwise, it seems we will end up with way too much ... of nothing!