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ASSET - Association of Suffolk County Supervisors for Educational Technology

ASSET - Association of Suffolk County Supervisors for Educational Technology

Bright Lights Award Winner

http://www.suffolkasset.com/

 

ASSET presentation speech given at annual recognition luncheon (1/18/2012):

 

 

            I know that I only have a few minutes to highlight some of the things I have done in my classroom with regards to infusing technology into my curriculum, but . . . .

          The ultimate purpose of education is to produce individuals who strive for excellence for themselves, their peers, and their community.  The well-rounded individual, the total individual, is one in whom the higher ideals of life have been instilled. 

In this way, the improvement of the student is also the improvement of the instructor and that’s why I teach.

I started this self-improvement process as a technology teacher in the Sayville High school 18 years ago teaching Introduction to occupations, computer graphics, Communication Systems and Principal’s of Engineering.  My first experience with incorporating technology into my teaching was to begin a dial-up BBS, which was the brain child of a few of my POE students.  I told them if they set it up, which included acquiring the computer and phone line’s, I would use that as a project grade in lew of what the rest of the class was doing which was taking apart defunct VCRS and 8-track tape players to build battery power wire walkers.  I acquired a brand new IBM desktop, a dial in modem for them through a connection I had from a previous career and 2 phone lines from IMC and the kids did the rest.

 

A few years later I transferred to the Middle school where my experiences with teaching Technology to 7th and 8th graders really took off.  I started by creating a website for the Middle School and for myself and over the years I have developed several projects that incorporate some aspect of technology.  I use Lego Mindstorms, Robolab and a white board to teach robotics and engineering principle’s.  My classes produced musical instruments such Cigar box guitars and 2 x 4 xylophones where all of the lessons and tuning of the instruments were done via the internet with the support of our general Music teacher Dr. Jen Morgo.  Built Rockets incorporating nose cone shaping software and tested student made Bridge designs using WPBD.  

 

I use Easyteach software, which came with the whiteboard, in my classroom for my demonstrations.  All of which are archived on my local computer or my website for students to refer at a later date and for those who may have been absent from class that day. I mounted a video camera over my desk to capture and record all demos for students to review later if necessary and to make it easier for students to see that day’s lesson instead of crowding around a work table.

My most rewarding experience with Technology was my ability to incorporate it into our annual 8th grade over night field trip to Frost Valley. 

Frost Valley is an environmental education camp in the Catskill Mountains that will create, in the most rapid and efficient way possible, an environmentally literate citizen.

The mission of the Sayville Middle School . . . . . . . . is, to produce individuals who strive for excellence for themselves, their peers, and their community.  During the four days of this trip, we want the students to see and experience as many examples of higher ideals and values as possible from their chaperones and peers.

Anna Martin and I have been organizing this trip for the past 7 or 8 years of the 30+ years it has been offered, and through those years brought it to the new level. 

 

We take 280 students and 35 teachers and administrators to Frost Valley for three nights and four days to learn about character.  Each year, themes are developed based on the six pillars of character:

Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, Citizenship

And each year I load up my truck with laptops, Flip video cameras, digital cameras for computer based art projects, GPS units for our orienteering and adventure hiking activities, and video projectors and DVD players for Character education presentations each evening. 

2 years ago, for the first time, we used the E-instruction’s student response clickers to survey the students with a variety of moral dilemmas before each of their meal times.  For Example, you see someone walking in front of you drop a $20.00 bill, what do you do? Give it back, step over it and keep walking, or keep it?  In this way, they could anonymously be truthful as to how they would react to each situation and show the results instantly to the kids as to how their character matches up with their peers.  We also were able to do a special live presentation via the internet of our final night.  This enabled our parents, from home, to experience a little of what the kids are learning about. 

This past year we took it a little further.  Along with broadcasting our special guest speaker’s “Take Time to Think” presentation via the internet to Sunrise Drive Elementary school for parents and community members to see together, Anna and I developed a special video project.  Students were given a moral scenario (Bullying) and in groups of 8-10, they had to develop a skit that demonstrated their understanding of the situation and record it using a flip video camera.  All 32 student videos were then shown approx. 1:00 in length during our final night presentation to the students as well as to the parents at Sunrise Drive Elem as a segway for our presenter. 

          I’m sure as new themes are developed, there will be different ways technology will be incorporated.

          I come up with Ideas all of the time and Anna sometimes thinks I’m crazy, but “pulling them off” would not be possible with out her support and the support of my former principal Dr. Walter Schartner, current principal Tom Murray, Barbara Hall and Will Sues and his incredible staff at our IMC.