Discovery Streaming Now Available to YOU!

NMUSD launched a district wide implementation of Discovery Streaming Plus this year. This program integrates 9,000 full-length videos segmented into content-specific clips into any curriculum and is tied directly to CA and national standards.  Mandi is our Site Discovery Leader (SDL); contact her at mspottsville@nmusd.us for more info.

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CUE Tip (part 2)…more Open Source resources

As a follow up to Martha’s previous post about Open Source (free) versions of Word, Excel and Power Point, I wanted to post additional resources available.  At OpenEducationDisc, there is a list of MANY other programs that are all free and almost identical to the original versions. There is a PDF creator that you can use without [...]

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Let Your Fingers Do the Talking…

Texting. You’ve seen it. You’ve probably even done it. But chances are you don’t do it in class. Guess what? We’re breaking all the rules! We are bringing texting into the classroom! Nearly every student has a cell phone and chances are they are texting in class anyway. Why not have them use their piece [...]

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CUE Tip ~ Open Source (free) Programs for Educators

Mandi and I promised to share CUE Tips from the March CUE Conference.   Hey, did you know…?  According to Wikipedia Etymology, the word Q-Tip means “Quality Tip.”  And, yes, this is a quality tip that can clean out more than ear wax.  Listen up, friends…

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Martha and Mandi Go to CUE

Thanks to NMUSD ED Tech’s offer, Mandi and I will be attending the annual state technology conference, Computer Using Educators, held in Palm Springs on March 5-7. Thanks, Ed Tech!
Our Tech Team elected Mandi to be our site tech coordinator for 2008-09.  Thank you, Mandi, for representing our teachers.
Mandi and I are excited to attend [...]

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Shift Happens

ShiftHappens
Video posted on TeacherTube
Runtime: 07:37

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Bite-Size Inspiration

Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things
Video posted on TeacherTube
Runtime: 03:49

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Pay Attention

Check out this video!  Pay Attention
Transforming Teaching Through Technology

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Animation with PowerPoint

Here’s a screencast that shows you how to add animation to your PowerPoint.

Animation with PowerPoint (video) on TeacherTube

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Tech & Professional Growth Team Mtg

Here is our agenda for today’s meeting from 2:30-4:00pm (BESST Center, room 114).  We plan to do the following:

review our Technolution Plan 2008-10
discuss and begin planning our Tech/Professional Growth trainings for 2008-09

Update 11/19/08 at 4:45 pm:
Here are the meeting minutes in full. 
Here’s a snapshot:

We made changes to Goal 5 Monitoring and Evaluation of our 2008-10 Tech Plan.
We adopted the [...]

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NMUSD Adult School in the 21st Century

This post is an updated version of Adult Education in the 21st Century, posted on October 18, 2007.
Without 21st century skills, students are being prepared to succeed in yesterday’s world – not tomorrow’s.  Education must keep pace with societal changes and workplace demands, and adult education is no exception.
At Newport-Mesa Adult School, our mission is to [...]

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Adults + Blogs + CASAS = ABCs of 21st Century Learning

Check out how Teacher Taylor used a couple o’ blogs to prepare his Intermediate ESL students for this week’s CASAS Post Test I. 
TeacherT4U Blog – October 31, 2008 Post
Scroll down to AFTERNOON CLASS ONLY: CASAS TEST ON TUESDAY SO LET’S PRACTICE FOR  IT.

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Technolution Plan 2008-10

Our Tech / Professional Growth Team met this afternoon from 2:30 – 4:00pm to draft our Newport-Mesa Adult School’s Technology Plan, 2008-2010.  Here it is.  Your suggestions, additions, deletions, and commendations are welcome here in the comment field and/or by email.  Thanks, everyone, for your input. (Click continue to view…)

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Blog to Blog Learning

Why did yesterday’s blog post Verb Power! Simply Pointing It Out get 329 student views in less than six hours?
One reason is that Newport-Mesa Adult School ESL Multi-Intermediate teacher, Taylor Blakely, linked to the post on his class blog.  Check out what he did here: 
 TeacherT4U’s Weblog
Great idea, Taylor! 

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Talkin’ ’bout a Technolution, Verse III

On Wednesday, October 22, we’ll continue talkin’ ’bout our technolution at NMUSD Adult School.
Here’s what we accomplished at our October 6th Tech Team meeting:

Reflected on where we’ve been (reviewing our 2004-08 Tech Plan)
Assessed where we are now
Dreamed about where we want to go
Started to craft our 2008-10 Tech Plan to help us get there.  Technology Plan – Vision, [...]

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Talkin’ ’bout a Technolution – Verse II

Yesterday our Tech/PG Team met from 2:30pm-4:00pm to discuss our vision and goals for our 2008-10 Technology Plan. 
Here is a draft of our work.  Feel free to email Martha your comments and/or submit them in the comment box of this post.  Thank you!
Technology Plan – Vision, Rationale, and Goals
The Technology/Professional Growth Team:
Carlos, Carole, Corinne, Jeff, [...]

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Talkin’ ’bout a Technolution

Hi N-MUSD Adult School Tech/PG Team (You rate!),
On Monday, October 6th, we’ll start talkin’ ’bout our technolution. 
Here’s what we’ll do at our first 2008-09 Tech/Professional Growth Team meeting:

Reflect on where we’ve been (reviewing our 2004-08 Tech Plan)
Assess where we are now
Dream about where we want to go
Start to craft our 2008-10 Tech Plan to help us get there

For reflection [...]

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Using Video in ESL Instruction

Check out this easy-to-make video on teachertube.com:   
ESL Instruction-Teaching Eating Utensils.

Description from teachertube.com
Although obviously homemade, this video is a wonderful example of ESL instruction using video implementation. It is a great jumping off point for you to use in your classroom, creating your own videos for vocabulary lessons, or even encouraging your students to create their [...]

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Did You Know? 2.0 Video

Great video posted by ksblues at TeacherTube.com.  Check it out by clicking here.
As adult educators, we need to ask ourselves: 
How are we helping our adult learners become literate in the 21st century? 
Are we providing the resources and training necessary to prepare our adult learners to be successful in our 21st century workforce and society?
This video will make us rethink our [...]

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Safe and Sound Blogging

At our March 26th tech training, we will discuss “safe and sound blogging.”  Here’s a brief preview.
Sound blogging:
In this 2.5 minute video, teachers and students share their positive experiences with blogging for educational purposes.
 
 
 Safe blogging:

Don’t post confidential information. 

Don’t write anything that will embarrass you later. 

Use features in blogging software that restrict anonymous comments. 

When leaving a reply, consider pros [...]

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March 26th Tech Training – post your share-out here!

Our next all-staff tech training is Wednesday, March 26, 2008. 
To view/download our informational flyer (including training’s topics, presenters, and expected learner outcomes) click on the green hyperlink here:
Informational Flyer – March 26 Tech Training
To view/download our March 26 Tech Training Evaluation, click on the green hyperlink here:
Tech Training Evaluation 03-26-08
Our application requirement for this training is to use your newly [...]

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Fast-Acting Relief for the Computer-Lab Headache

You want to take your class of 30 adult ESL students to the computer lab for hands-on computer experience.  Your lesson objective is to teach how to access and use free ESL web sites.  For many students, it will be their first time navigating the web.  They feel nervous…and so do you! 
Read on for some tips from experts in the field on how [...]

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Pressing On with WordPress

Are you looking for information on creating a blog?  Adult Education Matters is a blog.  And we created it with WordPress.  Here’s why and how we use WordPress.   Read on!  Press on!!

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More e-Surveys for Program Improvement

We have added 7 electronic surveys to our blog.  You can access these surveys on the Downloads page.  Read on to learn how NMUSD Adult School is using these surveys to monitor, evaluate and improve our various adult programs. 

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Video Tutorials for the Virtual Learning Community

This weekend I met with the Professional Development Center managers at a CALPRO meeting up in the Bay Area.  We discussed the need to expand professional growth opportunities for our virtual learning community in adult education.  We acknowledge how difficult it is for adult educators to regularly attend workshops due to busy and divergent schedules.  One way to address [...]

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Two Transformative Movements in Adult Education

There are two major movements surging concurrently in education today that I believe will have significant impacts on transforming our adult education world: 

professional learning communities

technology-enhanced instruction

Independently, each movement is a powerful force for educational reform.  But, working interdependently, these two movements can transcend the present challenges of our day  – empowering our learning communities and transforming our world.  Read on [...]

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You Can Build a Teacher Web Page!

By Carole Kamper – NMUSD Adult School Technology Peer Mentor
DID YOU KNOW???  You can easily build a web page for use with your Adult Education class.  We share to impart, impact, improve and empower!  Read on. Lead on!

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Adult Education in the 21st Century

Without 21st century skills, students are being prepared to succeed in yesterday’s world – not tomorrow’s.  Adult Education must keep pace with societal changes and workplace demands.  Our mission  is to help students get the basic skills necessary to be productive workers, family members and citizens.  In today’s Digital Age, we must embrace new designs [...]

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Two Thumbs Up for this ESL Site

The 80th annual Academy Awards are coming!  Create your own BUZZ by using this free website that helps your students study English through movie trailers and reproducible ESL activities that go with them.  You’ll be an instant celebrity!   Read on. Lead on!

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Online Tools for Teachers

If you have Microsoft Office available, this gallery provides templates for creating certificates, newsletters, various tests, class gradebooks, a seating chart, lesson plans and a syllabus.  Read on. Lead on!

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Have You Tried Google’s Web Page Translation?

Google breaks the language barrier with this translation feature. Using machine translation technology, Google now gives you the ability to translate any web page with a single click.  Read on to see how Google Translation can work as a powerful instructional tool for you!  Read on. Lead on!

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