The Wonderment of JMC Student access

The Wonderment of JMC Student access

I have been asked many times by students to be able to check their own grades with JMC online access. So, I have added a link along the top of the SHCSD webpage called 7-12 Student Access. This link will allow students to watch their grades and check on their progress. If a student wants to get access to JMC they need to see Mr. Hehr or Mrs. Pulis (Office Secretary) and they can set up your account.

The Wonderment of Marketing

The Wonderment of marketing or Why Microsoft hates the world.

When MS unleashed their newest version of Office on the world they changed the fundamental base of how their files worked. By doing so they are forcing users to upgrade or find ways to open the new .docx/.xlsx/.pptx files. Not everyone has the money to go out and buy a new copy of Office (South Hamilton CSD included). So I have a solution.

If you are "blessed" enough to have the newest version of Office and are sending your friends, family, business associates .docx files you may have been causing those folks a lot of work. The easiest way to prevent issues and the dreaded.... I typed this assignment at home and I can't open it at school scenario is to use "Save-As"

When you create a document in Office 2007 (windows) or 2008 (OsX) go up to your File menu and choose Save-As. This will allow you to choose an older format (.doc) that most people will be able to open wiothout a lot of sweat or heartache. This will also also allow files to be moved back and forth to and from school. (These steps also work if you have Word Perfect or MS Works you would just save-as to .rtf)

But my suggestion to solve the problem is just get a new piece of software, and you can stick it to MS beacause it is completely free. Go to Open Office.org and download Open Office Suite, it has a Word processor, Presentation software, Spreadsheet software, and database software all for free and for ANY platform you can think of. Did I mention it is free? OF allows you to open and save MS word and many many many other word processing documents and edit and save them to a variety of other programs.

Of course there are many other things you can do downloading converts, buying more software, dig out the typewriter, or just handwrite papers. Just remember Just beacuse it is the newest doesn't mean it is the best, and just because MS makes it doesn't mean you HAVE to have it.

More on 1:1

The Wonderment of 1:1 (cont.)

Apple has always been a big proponent of computers in education and has been at the front with curriculum initiatives and PD to help best integrate technology in the classroom. There have been schools that have gone before us that have already paved the way for 1:1 computing and working with Apple to make them work well. Apple has created a few videos to focus on some goo implementations with insightful reflective pieces. I have will post the link below.

Apple Education Videos

The Wonderment of Learning new tricks

The Wonderment of Learning new tricks

There is nothing better than learning something new that will help you get things done faster or more efficiently during your work day. I love finding new places to learn new bits of information, and I recently came across one that I have never seen before direct from Apple.

Apple has a great resource called the genius bar in every Apple store they open including the one in the Jordan Creek mall. This genius bar allows users to bring in there laptops/desktops/ipods in for help and service for Apple Geniuses. These folks are called geniuses for a reason and are (from my experiences) very knowlegable about many different topics, as long as they are Apple related. Apple has created a "virtual" genius bar with on-demand videos that will help you learn new tips and tricks to mac your computer do things quicker than you ever thought possible.

Apple Business Theater

The Wonderment of Engagement

The Wonderment of Engagement ...

This video is getting a lot of play at conferences and locations where folks are trying to inspire teachers to switch their educational thinking.

The Wonderment of 1:1

At last nights school board meeting (2-9-09) a discussion was had about moving South Hamilton into a 1:1 Laptop program at the MS/HS building. A 1:1 Laptop program will mean that every student enrolled in grades 7-12 at South Hamilton will be giving a laptop computer to take between home and school for the duration of their years at South Hamilton.

I am including a few links for research on 1:1. Please take a few minutes to post a comment about your feelings on a 1:1 at South Hamilton.

Links:
Maine's State-Wide Laptop Initiative
Stillwater Public Schools

This would be a very large program and initiative to start so please if you have any comments post them so we can start a discussion.

I am helping add info to a State-Wide 1:1 wiki that will have more information too, feel free to check into it. It currently has only a little information.

1:1 Wiki

Short SHCSD Survey for parents and Students

As part of our desire to communicate in the best way possible we have developed a short survey for parents and students to fill out. This is a short survey and will provide us with a great deal of useful information.

Survey

The Wonderment of RSS Feeds

RSS Feeds:

One of our goals here are South Hamilton is to increase our communication avenues with parents. Our first line of communication is this very newsletter. Currently we have two mailing lists, one for the daily announcements and one for schedule changes due to weather (further information can be found about the mailing lists in this months newsletter). South Hamilton also has a well-used and informative school webpage with teacher emails and contact information. The webpage even has a section devoted to special announcements on the main page with changes in upcoming events, on important messages for parents and the community. Parents/guardians also can access grades, attendance, and lunch balances through the SHCSD webpage. One new communication tool that we added just this year was the incorporation of teacher weblogs. These teacher created pages gives anyone wanting to know access to what is being taught in the classrooms, with assignments and upcoming test dates. We have now added the ability for you to have this information delivered directly to your home computer through the use of RSS Feeds.

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and can be found all over the internet. The purpose of these feeds is to have information sent directly to your computer without having to go to the actual website. For example; Mrs. Pulis updates her weblog and as soon as the new information is posted the changes will be automatically sent to your RSS reader on your home computer. The best part about RSS is that there are many FREE readers available on the internet.

Some of the free readers are FeedReader3, AmphetaDesk, NetNewsWire (not free but very good), and Google,has a built in RSS Feed aggregator. Once you have a favorite installed you can add the RSS feed from ANY site that has RSS. To determine what sites have RSS look for this icon.

By clicking the RSS button it gives you the URL to put into your reader. There are many, many other readers and things you can do with RSS feeds, but for our purposes this is it. If you have any questions please email Mr. Hehr at Karl_Hehr@s-hamilton.k12.ia.us or visit the school’s website for more information.

The Wonderment of the Welcome

I Wonder...
As part of my continued desire to communicate to the community, faculty and staff of South Hamilton CSD I have started this blog. This blog will include a number of different items for a variety of audiences. Please feel free to comment or send me ideas on how I could change or improve this blog.