Catching up on DVD's

I continue to be thankful that I have my electricity which means I have HEAT! I am also thankful to have my Internet up and running after being pretty sporadic yesterday. However, the only thing I still do not have is cable. Therefore, I've been catching up on watching DVD's.

I've mentioned before that I'm not much of a movie fan, but I do have 2 seasons of one of my favorite shows on DVD. I have always been a huge fan of The Waltons. Many who know me know that I am more of a fan of the older TV shows and I love The Waltons and their family dynamic and how they lived. I miss my DVR capability that I have with my cable from Insight. How did we ever live a few years ago when we only had recording capabilities with a VHS tape and having to program a VCR!!

Just another example of how far technology has come and how we have grown to rely on it!




Keep safe and warm!
Susan

I've Rejoined Society..mostly...

Hello everyone! What a winter weather mess we have had here in Kentucky. We got hit hard here in Bullitt County and all parts throughout! My family in Grayson County is still in the dark with no phone service.

I lived without power from sometime in the middle of the night Tuesday until about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday evening. Needless to say I was getting quite cold! I think that's the longest stretch I've ever had to go without power. God bless everyone who is still without. After the electricity was back on, my Internet was down all day today and I still have no cable. But at least I have HEAT!! I got caught up on my house cleaning and laundry today without the TV and internet to distract me.

Keep all the families in your prayers that are here in the Louisville area as well as the Leitchfield and Grayson County area and all over Kentucky who are still waiting for their electric to be restored.

On Monday night all of my work friends and I were waiting eagerly for ONE snow day or maybe even 2, but not 4!! Hopefully this icy mess gets cleaned up soon and temperatures will be on the rise. The picture below is the view outside of the window of my condo on Wednesay.

I'm ready for spring!

Susan

Time for Some Snow

Are you ready for this? Well the forecast has talked about it for a few days now. A winter storm warning is supposed to be going into effect for this area around 10 p.m. tonight. The hype has commenced and I am now "officially" hyped up for at least one and maybe 2 days off from work.

I'm not normally one for a lot of snow days so that we don't have to make a lot up at the end, but I'm ready for these days off. January sure does turn into a long month. So, if that snow doesn't come I know a lot of teachers, including this one, who will be very disappointed!! Probably even more disappointed than the students. We've got the day off mindset and the snow better start falling.

Have a good week, and thanks for joining in my snow prayer!

Susan

A Trip to the Movies

I had an awesome time last night getting together with a few old friends to go and see a movie. I'm not a huge movie fan as I am more into TV shows. Maybe my attention span is not long enough for a marathon of movies like some people can do! At least when I sit and catch up on TV shows, I have somewhat of a variety and commercial breaks to get up and stretch. I do have some favorite movies of which Forrest Gump and Titanic top the list. A couple other favorites of mine are The Bucket List, Music & Lyrics, and The Holiday.





Anyway, my friends and I did get out to the movies last night and saw Last Chance Harvey starring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. I enjoyed it greatly. It is a nice love story and making you think about remembering the important things in life and not letting your priorities get out of order.





I would recommend this one, especially to any of you "chick flick" fans out there. So what is your favorite movie? Feel free to comment and share!





Enjoy the day and the rest of the weekend!



Susan

Pilates

Good evening readers! As you know, I've been trying to stay up with my exercising. I haven't been to Curves in over a week...Shame on me, I know. Work has been a little crazy busy. I've been trying to do some at home in the evening, though.


I was at one of the schools today, that I go to pretty often to do technology lessons and trainings, and they have a twice a week or so exercise group of a few teachers and staff. I decided to join them after school today and they were going through a Pilates tape and using the huge, bouncy balls. Boy, am I sore in the tummy, not to mention the bottom!! LOL. If I feel like this now, what is it going to be like when I try to roll out of bed in the morning? I needed the good workout, though, as I have never tried much of the Pilates stuff before. I have mostly been a step aerobics or Curves girl.

My goal is to get back into Curves next week, but will visit my Pilates pals when I can also!

Have a wonderful evening!

Susan

PhotoStory

Good evening! It's time for another tool of my trade! Today I want to talk about PhotoStory which is a free download from Microsoft. This is a great way to get students involved in Digital Storytelling.


I just spent today at one of our district elementary schools with two 3rd grade classes creating a PhotoStory video that went with their study of Martin Luther King, Jr. Students had drawn pictures that showed various aspects of the Civil Rights Movement and various scenes of freedom. One class had a Reader's Theater and another class had a poem. I let each class record their performance of their play or poem using Audacity. With PhotoStory, the user is able to Import the pictures in and make transitions, record narration, etc. At the end, the user can attach music or sound files. We attached the student recitations along with a short clip of the ending of King's "I Have a Dream" speech. The students were so proud.


Another use of this program has been used from a group of 7th grade students I worked with last year. They had written a memoir piece for their writing portfolio. We had them bring in photographs and put them in PhotoStory and narrate the story using the writings from the memoir.


At the end of the PhotoStory once the pictures and sound files are attached, the project can be saved as a Windows Media File. Photostory is a great alternative or next step up from PowerPoint.

Enjoy the Evening!

Susan

Cooking

Something else I have been trying to work on throughout the last several months is learning to cook. Being single, I've mainly taken the easy way out and stuck with something from a frozen box and pop it into the oven or zoom through the drive through on the way home from work. Unfortunately that is where many of those unwanted pounds I mentioned a few posts ago came from!

I have been on the look out for some easy recipes that do not take long to prepare or are easy to throw into a crock pot. I've slowly mastered a few things over the past few months thanks to the advice of my Mom and my Sister (they got the cooking talent in the family), and a few other friends. One thing that I've mastered pretty well is barbecue. I put the pork roast into the crock pot and let it cook and then pull it apart and add bbq sauce and there we go...Barbecue! I've also mastered Tortilla Soup with a great, easy recipe I found online. I've tried my mom's meat loaf a couple of times, which is an easy recipe but am still working on making it not fall apart. I've also been working on chili which is coming along. Today I cooked a chicken in the crock pot overnight and just ate it and it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. I had some instant mashed potatoes and canned green beans and I really look like I cooked something!! Ha!

It does feel good when I try something new, that I always watch other people make, and it turns out somewhat edible for me! Please feel free to comment and share any easy recipes that a single girl like me could handle trying!

Have a wonderful day!

Susan

Rank I

Here's another facet of my busy life. I am working on finishing my Rank I degree. Those who may not be familiar with that term, Rank I in the world of Kentucky Teaching Certification is the next pay rank above the Master's Degree. When a teacher in Kentucky has just a bachelor's he/she is considered Rank III, then with a Master's Rank II. A Rank I is the next level which requires some form of continuing education through 30 more college hours or obtaining National Board Certification. I decided to go ahead and go the route of the college hours, which I will finish this coming May through Western Kentucky University, and finally reach the next pay level. My Rank I will be in... I bet you can't guess.... Educational Technology, what else? This semester, I am actually completing a practicum. However, this practicum for me is my normal every day job thankfully so it should not be too bad.


I will be happy to finally be finished with classes for a while.


I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend if you get the day off tomorrow.

Susan

Cold Weather and Other Thoughts

I'm sure you are well aware of the cold weather snap we have had here in Kentucky. It was actually 1 below 0 this morning when I left for work at 7:20 a.m.! My thoughts were that I don't even have enough layers to put on without having to roll out the door in the bulky winter coat! So I proudly put on a long sleeve t-shirt with an oversize pull over sweater over, a pair of thick socks and warm pants and I was good to go. I then wrapped my scarf tightly around my neck and zipped up the bulky brown coat and was out the door to let the car warm up. I just can't imagine how people who live up north deal with those temperatures that way or below on a daily basis!! God bless their hearts. I'm ready for spring!!


What a miracle that happened yesterday with plane that had to land in the Hudson River. Even though I hate to hear of accidents such as this, it is nice to hear the stories of the passenger assisting each other and, for the most part, keeping calm through it all. They were definitely protected! Thank God they are okay!


It's a 3 day weekend and I am ready for the rest! Did I mention I'm ready for spring?


Have a great evening,
Susan

Active Learning with the Activ Board

I've blogged a couple of times about some of the "tools of my trade." I had a picture in a previous post of the document camera which, if you remember, was red and looked like a space ship or something. If you look in the picture above you can see the document camera image projected on the left side. My co-worker and I were doing a model/demonstration lesson for a 2nd grade teacher at one of our district elementary schools using counting money and making change as the topic. As you can see the document camera allows us to put real money underneath it and project it, in clear detail, up on the board.

Now to the image on the right where you see the student and me standing. That is what I really what to point out today. That is called an Activ Board. It is manufactured by a company called Promethean. You may have also heard of a SMART Board which does the same thing just a different manufacturing company. Whichever one you are using, Activ or SMART, these boards allow you to interact with the projected image from your computer. With the Activ board the teacher or student takes a pen in hand and is able to mouse click, write digitally on the board, and manipulate a huge resource library of graphics and interactive images. There is also a wonderful website with lesson resources for teachers that they can download lessons that are already pre-made into "flipchart" format.

Students that I have interviewed after using this say it makes learning more real and interesting for them. Teachers have indicated that after years in the profession it makes them enjoy teaching again because they can see that students are much more engaged in the lesson being presented.

For more information and pictures of the Activ Board go to the following websites: www.prometheanplanet.com or www.prometheanworld.com.

Hope you have had a great day!

Susan

American Idol

I guess I haven't covered this yet in any of my blogs, but for those of you who do not know me well will soon find out that I am a huge American Idol Fan. I don't watch many current TV shows, I'm more of a classic TV sitcom person, but I tune in as faithfully as possible to American Idol!

So tonight was the premiere of Season 8 and they were doing auditions in Phoenix. My favorites of the night were the last 2 shown. The one guy's name was Alex. He had a nice voice but was kind of geeky looking, but hey so was Clay Aiken. The last guy's name was Scott McIntyre and he was almost 100% blind. He mentioned he had a bit of tunnel vision which could be compared to looking through a straw. However, he has made the most out of his life by learning piano, ball room dancing, and entering college at 14 and finishing soon thereafter! I would love to see him go far in the competition.

So here we go, American Idol Season 8, and they even came to Louisville for auditions this year!!

Have a great evening!

Susan

Looks Like a Pizza Night Tonight

Well the technology lover in me is loving being able to order Papa Johns right online. Get on Papa John's website and build your pizza and you don't even have to worry about looking up the phone number or picking up the phone. You can even save your favorite orders and they are right there ready for next time! They will send you an email letting you know the status and it is on its way.

Dominoe's has online ordering too. You can even track your order from prep to the oven to it's journey down the road of delivery.

Yes, random thoughts tonight... Gimmie a break it's Monday!!

Have a good week everyone!

Susan

ZAC Browser

Those of you who have small children, grandchildren, or are teachers may be interested in this website I have to share with you today. A colleague at one of the schools I travel to introduced me to this as she and her husband use it with their children at home. Take a look at ZAC Browser (www.zacbrowser.com). ZAC Browser was designed by a computer engineer after his grandson was showing signs of autism. He wanted an interactive site that would engage his autistic grandson while helping him learn, so the idea for ZAC Browser was born.

ZAC browser, though, is wonderful for all children whether they are on track developmentally or have special needs. ZAC Browser is either downloaded to your computer or just run straight from the site and provides a safe environment for children to play online. When it loads you get an overlay type screen which is essentially a new desktop screen that can only be exited by pressing CTRL-L on your keyboard. This is indicated on the bottom right of the screen. Most young children are not going to figure this out and therefore will be safe and not accidentally clicking and exiting into random websites and bunches of ads.

ZAC browser provides many engaging activities for kids to enjoy such as games, music, stories, and even TV/video clips of modern and classic children's shows. I even found some neat clips that you people my age would enjoy seeing!! Take a look at the You Tube clip below to hear more about ZAC Browser.

Have a blessed Sunday!

Susan

A New Favorite Dessert

Ok, yes, I AM on a diet! However, I was out shopping with some friends after work yesterday and we went for desserts at BJ's which is located at Oxmoor Mall in Louisville. I've done well with my exercising this week and had eaten light calories for the most part throughout the week so I splurged and went for dessert.

The friends I was with introduced me to the Pizookie! Here's a picture:

It is kind of like a personal pan pizza but the bottom crust in the pan is all cookie and then you have ice cream on top. Now ice cream is a favorite of mine, and give me an oreo cookie with it and I am happy! So last night's dessert for me was an Oreo Pizookie. Just imagine the picture to the left with an oreo crust and then ice cream and whipped cream on top and it comes to you to the table warm out of the oven! Mmmmmmmm!! :)

So, tell me about your favorite dessert from a restaurant! Even though I'm trying to eat healthier I can enjoy reading about your favorite restaurant desserts. Oh yeah, and today, I've done well, just soup and salad for me so far!

At Work

This is a picture of me at work from back in September. It was taken at our annual District Showcase of Schools. This is where the public is able to come in and visit a booth set up by each school to see what types of great things are going on. Here, our technology department was able to setup some various equipment that is used in some of our classrooms to enhance instruction. It was nice to be able to show the community how our 21st century students are learning compared to what it was like when they were in school.

The red thing that you see that looks somewhat like a UFO is called a document camera. This works much like the old overhead projectors that would have used the old flimsy transparency sheets. However, the document camera is projected through the computer onto a white board or projection screen. With this, a teacher/student is able to put down printed text, a book, a calculator, money, etc. and be able to see it in color and in detail. The teacher and/or student can then take a pen or pencil or marker and write on the paper or move the objects around to observe.

In front of the document camera near my arms in front of the laptop you can see what we call a "clicker." These are more commonly known as Student Response Systems. These work in much the same way as asking the audience in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Using these "clickers" teachers are able to use various questions and have the students click in an answer anonymously to the rest of the class other than the teacher to get instant feedback. This allows students that instant gratification that they love and allows the teacher to quickly be able to see if students are grasping the concept being taught by asking quick questions.

To the left of the clickers you see another piece of equipment that is gray and orange. That is called an Activ Slate. This allows the teacher to be projecting the computer image on a white board or screen and not be tied to the computer to click through slides, sites, etc. With the Activ Slate the teacher can roam anywhere in the room and work the computer from there. It can also be quickly handed to students to demonstrate concepts. The software that comes with this is full of wonderful resources to help enhance the teacher's instruction.

These are just a few tools of my trade! This is what I spend my day doing; teaching teachers to use these devices as well as many others!

Hope your day has been well!! Tomorrow is Friday...Enjoy!!

Susan

2009 Resolutions - Better a Week Late than Never!

Well now that I've introduced myself, I have to publish my 2009 New Year's Resolutions. I'm banking on the fact that actually writing them down in ink in a regular paper journal as well as posting them here will keep me somewhat motivated. We'll see!!

The deal is that I have gained about 15-20 unwanted pounds in the last year and a half or so. Not sure why. The only thing that I can think of is that when I am off work and am home, I eat because I'm bored. So my resolutions are pretty much the normal ones, but like I said I'm putting them here in print for whole blogoshpere to see! So here is my journal entry from yesterday, which is the first one I have done for 2009:

1/6/09 ___ lbs. (I have my weight written there; I won't blog that one though!)

For 2009:

• Eat healthier - Don't eat out of boredom****
• Be Active when getting home from work, don't just collapse on the recliner with the computer for the rest of the evening.
• Begin a blog and keep it updated
• Get back to drinking Green Tea - this was doing me good for a while there and I need to get back to it.

So, keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I try to take off some of those unwanted pounds and try to better my eating habits!!

Thanks for reading!

Susan

Here's Susan

I've done some blogging before here and there for classes and such, but never have started an official blog here on a site like this. I know I am a Technology Specialist and I haven't started a blog yet??? Well, I'm too busy teaching others how to do it, that I don't have much time for my own. So we'll see how much I actually am able to take time to post here. Hopefully it will be somewhat regularly!

Well I guess I should start with an introduction! I am Susan Kerr Jenkins originally from the small town of Leitchfield, Kentucky in Grayson County about 30 miles from Elizabethtown on the Western Kentucky Parkway. I grew up as the "baby" of my family with my sister being 12 years older than me and having married while I was still young. She and her husband lived away for a while traveling with the Army. I graduated from high school in 1992 and went on to attend Western Kentucky University with a degree in Elementary Education and minoring in Library Media Education. College was wonderful and full of great friends!!

After graduating from Western I worked as an Instructional Assistant for 2 years in Warren County and then taught for a year in Logan County then got married and moved to Oklahoma with a husband who was in the army. While in Oklahoma I taught 3rd grade for 2 years at a Christian School in Lawton.

In 2002, my husband and I divorced and I moved back to Kentucky. I ended up here in Bullitt County to be near my sister and her husband who were long out of the Army and pastoring a church in the small community of Mt. Washington. I applied for teaching positions and with my minor in Library ended up being hired as a Library Media Specialist at Overdale Elementary in Bullitt County. This is where I found the type of work I love. I always wanted to be a teacher, but when I got into the library and the technology world, I loved it.

I spent 5 years at Overdale and was fortunate to be among a group who was able to help write a Grant to bring three Technology Integration Specialist positions to our school district. I was excited to then be hired as one of them! Some of you may know this position to be formerly known as a Technology Resource Teacher or TRT. I have now been in that position for a year and a half now and love it. I travel from school to school working with teachers to integrate technology into their day to day instructional activities. I love being able to help teachers learn new things and be excited about, in turn, teaching it to their students.

That is me in a nutshell if you are still reading! More about what a Technology Integration Specialist (TIS) is in future posts!