Hard to believe, THE DREAM, my hope for a 1:1 initiative actually comes true tomorrow! The Clams are in my room charging as I type. No, Clam is not some fancy acronym. Since my students, parents, and I refer to my classroom as Collazo Cove, I figured calling them clams would be appropriate. I mean, after all, they open like one, right? Plus it will be fun for the kids to use that term when referring to their brand-spanking new HP 1101 netbooks!

HP 1101 Mini

I would be remiss if I didn’t thank Mr. Moore, my principal, for allowing me to come back home to Ingram and his faith in my dream; Mrs. Johnson, our county technology director, for her continued support as I’ve begged for this project over the past 6 years; my superintendent, Dr. Moss, for meeting with me to hear my ideas and then making the plan work; and finally to my great friend and colleague, Danita Russell (one of the best Instructional Tech Facilitators you’ll ever meet) for taking my phone calls at all hours and continually keeping me grounded! Here’s to proving what kids can do when you give them the tools!

So, the adventure starts tomorrow! My goal is to blog (at least a few sentences) every day about what we are doing in our room as we incorporate our netbooks into our learning. Hope you’ll join us often for the ride!

First of all, thank you for reading this blog post!  I have just scheduled a meeting with our Superintendent for next week to discuss the 1:1 pilot I’ve been dreaming of for six years now.  The project, entitled, “The STELLAR Project (Sharing Technology with Everyone using Laptops for Learning, Accountability, and Relevance)” has been growing at

http://stellarproject.wikispaces.com

I need your help! In a county where test scores are high priority (as they are in most these days), what are the top things you would communicate to the Superintendent about 1:1 in the short time you’ve been given?  If you have never commented on my blog, I beg you to add at least one thing this time!  Thanks!

Great news! I’ve just been given permission by my Superintendent to explore finding sponsors who will donate funds to make the 1:1 initiative I’ve dreamed about for 6 years now a reality!! Guess I need to start blogging again as this journey’s dim coals begin to ignite! If you know of anyone/company who would like to sponsor a child for $500 please let me know!

Find out more about The STELLAR Project at http://stellarproject.wikispaces.com

Photo Credit: Embers from Flickr

Well, my first big grant proposal ($10,000, big to me!) was sent off this afternoon at the click of the Enter button.  After lots of planning, thinking, writing, and re-writing, it’s time to wait with fingers crossed!  I guess at this point I should continue to pursue other avenues of funding and now that I have the bulk of the project in various written forms, the really hard work is finished.  I did send the grant packet on to my Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, and Technology Directory with a cover letter stating that if the county happened to “find” some funding for the project I would be happy to pilot Project WISE in the hopes that the data will help the county expand the 1:1 initiative further…. we’ll see!  : )

Thanks to Cindy P. at Teaching ‘N Technology I was reminded today of a fantastic site that I should be using a lot more, and will add to my CRITICAL SITES list as Project WISE becomes a reality!  It is ReadWriteThink from the International Reading Association.  It is jam-packed with many interactive, creative tools for students to create original content.  It is applicable to every subject area, and so kid-friendly, guidance from the teacher would be minimal!  If you haven’t checked it out lately, give it another glance!  I tried out the “flip book” application, and thought what a neat activity that would have been as my kids were learning the layers of the Earth!

So many cool tools, so little time to explore them all!  Isn’t it wonderful?  Stay Tuned….

Photo Credit: Gadgets on Flickr

Today was one of those days that just kept getting better. First it was a teacher workday, which, to those of us who are addicted to learning and teaching, is always good! Our HIFIVES gaming cohort met, and although there are still some gliches, it was good to talk gaming again. Sometimes you need to feel part of a group to get motivated. Another reason for striving to make the DREAM a reality for my kids!

Then, an email announcing that we were being awarded the NCaect grant to fund 12 digital cameras and 2 digital video cameras! Hooray! Now the kids will be able to capture images and video from their labs and other inquiry activities, and share that learning with the world! Piece one of the DREAM puzzle in place! Thank you NCaect!!

Ended the day catching up on my tweets! Okay, Danita, it’s your fault I’m an addict. Now you need to use your powers to get it unblocked at school!   Also read the blogs in my aggregator, and came upon this post by Chris O’Neal on Edutopia. Although I had heard of Gliffy before, it made me realize that I need to begin collecting and integrating these great tools into, yes my classroom today with its two desktop computers, but even more importantly, into what I’m planning for Project WISE!

Beginning to awaken into reality. Stay tuned…

Photo Credit: Yawn

My husband, Alex, and I firmly believe that things happen for a reason. Since we are Christians we know that it is often the Holy Spirit leading us. Surely with the millions of events that occur at every blink, it is not just coincidence. And so goes the recent events related to “The DREAM”. It started with this video, Having Our Say, created by the folks at the Friday Institute. Found it when I finally got around to catching up on my blog reading! Be sure you check it out!

As “The Dream” continues, I was thrilled when my bud, Danita, and our Technology Director, Cindy, allowed me to try out a cool little laptop called the One2One Student Mate a few weeks ago. We had seen it at the technology conference, and Danita had made arrangements to try it out! Well, it had several gliches, and was extremely slow on the Net. Since Project WISE (wiki coming soon) and many other initiatives I feel are crucial to my 21st Century classroom rely on Internet capabilities, I was sadly disappointed. However, Glenn, the salesman ensures that a new build will fix the gliches. We have agreed to send it back, have him update it, and try it again. The fact remains however that it is not built for speed. It does have some other really awesome traits however, like the touch screen and the built in response system type program for on the fly assessment! We’ll give it another try.

However in the meantime, Danita and I stumbled upon (almost at the exact same moment!) the Asus Eee Galaxy. Now this looks promising! Much faster, and built to address the multi-media needs of our kids (and Project WISE, by the way!).

So, where am I in planning for “The DREAM”? Well, I’ve submitted a grant proposal to NCaect for the digital cameras and video cameras my kids will need to create some of the visual content for their wikis. Keeping my fingers crossed! Also am finishing up the required portions of the Toyota Tapestry grant I hope will help us gain a set of the Asus Eee Galaxies! Wish I had more fingers, am running out of any more to cross!

Stay Tuned…

Photo Credit: Fingers Crossed…

Okay, so my comeback to blogging was short-lived. However, I am now reconsidering as the DREAM of 1:1 computing begins its journey toward reality. Thanks to my great friend, colleague and future teammate (still part of the DREAM), Danita, the fire has been lit once again! It was six years ago when I approached my former principal about seeking funding to support a 1:1 pilot project. Thankfully she was extremely supportive and helped in many ways, however the DREAM didn’t come to fruition. Now, still believing with all my heart that 1:1 computing can help my students grow to extremes not possible without it, I continue to venture down the path toward the DREAM’s reality.

I will make every effort to blog on a routine basis as I believe this will document the steps that have been taken toward a 21st Century success story. Great ideas are flowing, emails and phone calls are coming, doors are opening, and I have a great feeling that this might actually work out! Here’s to jumping off the edge! Stay tuned…..

Dreams of Summer – Flickr

Last year I attended a session by the folks in Stanly County who have implemented a 1:1 laptop project. It was AWESOME. Well, they are back to give an update, so here I am! Haven’t given up on the dream of having laptops every day for my kids…gaining more ammo!

The Horizon Project – North Albemarle – 21st Stanly (taking the county 1:1)

Presented by two tech facilitators. Their program started with discussions with Apple (note to self – start discussion with a PC rep). Changed their titles to 21st Century Skills Facilitators.

Now in their second year with 4/5 grades; now moving to 3rd grade. Moving to Albemarle Middle School as part of the 21Stanly Project; 6th grade this year, 7/8 next year.

Laptops do not go home with the kids, basically for safety reasons for the kids.

Their main start up group consisted of about 60 kids!!

Francis Bradburn going before the Blue Ribbon Commission advocating for removal of the 8th grade computer skills test! YEAH! However, admins need to set the expectation that technology be integrated on a daily basis with or without a test.

Teachers in Stanly feel the training from Apple was relevant and very supportive of their ideas. Apple Classroom of Tomorrow – based on research. Dell contracted Pearson Learning for this type of training?

Every one of their classrooms has an access point. Use MacBooks.

Check out http://podcasts.stanlycountyschools.org/north/barfield

matthew_barfield@scs.k12.nc.us North Albemarle Elementary School