More Photos from the Gaylord Opryland Hotel

Today's post contains more photos from this beautiful hotel. Stay tuned for photos of "Divine, the Living Grapevine" and photos related to the workshop on Outlook.

I had written about Photobucket in this post. It's a nice touch, but a little bit of it goes a long way. I try not to overdo it.

Can I Sync My BlackBerry to Entourage?

Following the Outlook workshop at NAESP, I received an e-mail with a question regarding synchronizing the BlackBerry with a Mac. The Mac equivalent of Outlook is a program called "Entourage."

In order to sync a BlackBerry with Entourage on the Mac, you need a program called "PocketMac for BlackBerry." The direct link to the download site is here.

Scenes from the Gaylord Opryland Hotel

The NAESP Convention was held at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville. The next several posts will bring you scenes from that beautiful hotel.

NAESP Review

If you are visiting this blog as a result of attending Get Organized With Outlook at the NAESP National Convention, thanks for stopping by! I was thrilled to see the overwhelming response and know just how much interest there is on organizing digitally. Maybe next time, they will give us a bigger room, because we certainly used every square inch of the one we had!

I hope you will come back often. In addition to the book and the material here on my blog, I have a set of approximately a dozen essays that follow-up or expand on the material from the session. If you would like for me to add you to the list of people who receive these monthly essays, simply e-mail me by clicking here and let me know you would like to receive them.

If you would like to talk with me about professional development for your teachers or administrators, simply e-mail me. I would enjoy the opportunity to make a difference in your school system.

Please Say "Thank You"

I was recently moved by an article written by Gary Stager for DistrictAdministration. In his article "Please Say Thank You," subtitled "The time is now to thank your heroes and mentors," Gary reminds of us of...well, exactly what the subtitle says.

Any of us who has had any success can surely trace much of the responsibility for where we are to someone else. Someone went out of his or her way for us, saw something in us that we perhaps did not see in ourselves, and nurtured those qualities. It reminds me of a few people I am overdue in thanking.

That article appears here. It's enjoyable reading. Thanks, Gary!

Play from Your Strengths

Over the last year, I have become quite a fan of John Maxwell's writings. His positive message wrapped in beautiful prose make reading his books a delight. The point I focus on today is from Maxwell's The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader.

At one point in the book, John Maxwell discusses strengths versus weaknesses. In the book, he suggests:

• Focus 70% of your time and energy on strengths
• Focus 25 % on new things
• Focus 5% on weaknesses

Maxwell suggestion is simple: Play from your strengths. Furthermore, if echoes the message of virtually every leadership and management book I have read lately. As just one example, in The Effective Executive, Peter Drucker talks of making strengths productive, and doing so in such a way that it makes weaknesses irrelevant.

Playing from one's strengths is opposite from what we are often encouraged to do...especially in education. Our typical evaluation system is designed to identify our weaknesses and lead us through the formation of a plan to shore up those weaknesses.

Certainly I am not in favor of overlooking flaws which significantly hinder performance. Ignoring strengths while continuously focusing on weaknesses, however, is a formula for mediocrity.

What about the weaknesses? Can they be delegated to someone else who has some strengths in that area? Can you "swap out" and handle for someone else an are where you are strong and he/she is weak while the other person does the same for you? Does the weakness necessarily need to be addressed at all? If the impact is not terribly negative, ignoring it may be the best alternative. Generally, the areas where we are strong are also the areas where we like to spend time. The reverse of this point is also true. Playing from your strengths is not only more productive, but more enjoyable.

I think Maxwell is correct. We should spend the majority of our time honing those areas which are strong.

Presentation at ASCD

If you are coming here as a result of attending the session at ASCD, welcome! I hope you will come back often. As I mentioned, in addition to the book and the material here on my blog, I have a set of approximately a dozen essays that follow-up or expand on the material from the workshop. If you would like for me to add you to the list of people who receive these monthly essays, simply e-mail me by clicking here and let me know you would like to receive them.

If you would like to talk with me about professional development for your teachers or administrators, simply e-mail me. I would enjoy the opportunity to make a difference in your school system.

Thanks to Jan Borelli for the kind words she posted. Jan is blogging about her experiences at ASCD on their blog. Her post is here.

Other comments from one of the attendees are posted here on a blog entitled "Human Voices Wake Us."

RSS in Plain English

Thanks for visiting this blog. I hope you will visit often. If you are like me, you probably have at least several blogs you like to read on a regular basis. One that number grows, the amount of time it takes to visit each one grows as well. Often, you find there is no new content since the last time you visited.

Wouldn't it be great if the e-mails came directly to your e-mail? That capability is here now, and it's called "RSS" or "Really Simple Syndication." I talked about the program that use to do this in this post. Here is video that explains the concept of RSS:



Thanks to Lee and Sachi LeFever for producing this video and making it available through the Common Craft Show.

Extended Daylight Saving Time Once Again

About this time a year ago, I first wrote about the challenges posed by Extended Daylight Saving Time. That post is here, and dealt primarily with the need for those who have smartphones with any age on them at all to download a patch. Without the patch, the time would "spring forward" several weeks late.

Yes, the starting time for DST changed a year ago. It used to change on the first Sunday of April. Now, DST kicks in the second Sunday of March.

We all need to think in terms of two elements:

1. What clocks and other devices are we going to need to "spring forward" this Saturday night?
2. What clocks and other devices are programmed to "spring forward" on their own, but won't be doing so until the first Sunday of April?

The second question is the one for focus. We are going to have to manually set those devices. That's only half the battle. We are then going to have to come back in several weeks and set them back an hour when they automatically jump ahead.

Source for Graph Paper, Flags, Calendars, Staff Paper, Storyboards

You probably don't need polar coordinate graph paper, the flag of Lithuania, or SSATB staff paper very often. When you do, however, it would be nice to know where you can get it.

PDF Pad is a free site which allows you to print calendars, flags of every country in the world, graph paper, staff paper, story boards, and even Sudoku puzzles.

That's a bookmark I am adding to my del.icio.us (and "del.icio.us" is another post for another day).

Daily Home "Friends & Neighbors"

Our local newspaper, The Daily Home is a wonderful friend to our school system and has been so gracious to me personally in helping us spotlight the good things happening in our midst. Sunday's paper included a special "Friends & Neighbors" section in which an entire half page was devoted to me, my background, and the work I have been able to accomplish through working with some very talented people.

The text of that article can be found by going here.

Online Photo Storage and Sharing

Storing photos online is easy. They can be shared with others as well. Here is a short video that shows you how to do it.



Thanks to Lee and Sachi LeFever for producing this video and making it available through the Common Craft Show.

ELPP Spreadsheet--Let Technology Do the Work

Welcome Special Ed. coordinators! Those who know me well know how passionate I am about letting technology handle administrivia and free our time for other things. This article, written for Principal magazine, illustrates that passion.

This post is designed to give you an explanation of the spreadsheet I designed to crunch the ELPP numbers and give you instructions on how you can download it and use it.

I have included two spreadsheets. One has some sample names and data in it. Feel free to add more names, change the data, and “play around with it.” The second is a blank spreadsheet that you can use for your own purposes.

Here is how to use the spreadsheet:

1. When a pre-school student qualifies for special education, enter the student’s name and the year they will exit to kindergarten (For example, those exiting to kindergarten this spring would have 2008 in that column). Also enter the dates asked for in the first several columns.
2. Tab across and fill in all of the entry data (0,1,2). The items on which the child is being scored appear at the top of each column.
3. When the student exits to kindergarten or moves away, fill in the exit data. If a student moves away during this year, you would change the date of exit from kindergarten to “2008.” As you see, all data for one student goes on one line of that spreadsheet.

All of this is done on that first tab, the one marked "Input."

During the year, you can check on how things are progressing by having your pre-school teachers e-mail the spreadsheet to you. Once you look at them, you could delete them OR save them in case your teachers have not learned the value of backing up their data and a hard drive bites the dust.

When it's time to report your numbers:

1. Have your teachers e-mail the spreadsheet to you.
2. Copy and paste the data into one spreadsheet.
3. Click on the "Entry Data" tab and fill in the yellow squares. The whole spreadsheet hinges on the yellow square for the year. When you enter that number, everything calculates. This spring, you would enter 2008 in that square.
4. Print that sheet.
5. Click on the "Exit Data" tab and hit print. (Everything will be already filled out, including the name of your school system, the year, etc.)
6. Fax the two sheets.
7. Celebrate not having to do all of the paperwork you did last year!!!

When it's time to crank up next year, you can leave all of the old names and just add new ones. The spreadsheet will hold up to 999 kids before anything would have to be done to it. By then, either the ELPP will be handled by SETS or won't be in existence anymore.

What about the paper forms you had been filling out and then putting in student folders? I am all for doing away with those forms and letting the data be simply entered into the spreadsheet. Jan and Cathy say that Washington requires the paper form and that it be housed in the child’s folder. (Bummer)

Once you have looked at the spreadsheet and played around with putting some numbers in there, I think you will be pleased with how easy it makes the process. Please feel free to call me if I can help you get started or at point along the way. My direct number at work is (256) 315-5617.

To get the sample ELPP spreadsheet with sample data, click here.

To get the blank ELPP spreadsheet click here. In either case, you do not need a password. If asked for one, simply click "cancel."

Blogs in Plain English

Mrs. Pattie Thomas and I enjoyed sharing our school system blog with the Talladega Kiwanis Club earlier today. For the members of the Kiwanis Club, and for the community as a whole, we hope you enjoy this short video explaining blogs.



Thanks to Lee and Sachi LeFever for producing this video and making it available through Common Craft.

AETC Keynote

You can be among the first to know that the keynote speaker for this summer’s Alabama Education Technology Conference with be Dr. Tim Tyson. Dr. Tyson was the closing keynote for the National Educational Computing Conference this past summer. To see and hear that keynote address, go here. Scroll to the bottom of the page and select “Closing Keynote.” The first 10 minutes consist of introductions, so just be patient and have some reading material handy. It’s going to be worth it. The address centers around the projects done by middle school students.

iGoogle

I am continuing to enjoy iGoogle as my home page. In a previous post, I told you about the organization of my iGoogle page. In this post, I focus specifically on the "Google Bookmarks," one of the sections on that page.

In that square, I want to see those sites I use most frequently. In addition, I want access to my most commonly used forms stored on our server. Often, it helps to see an example of what someone else has done to serve as a starting point for setting up your own. Here is a list of the links in my Google Bookmarks:

• Accelerated Reader (so that I can view data and run reports)
• Alabama State Dept. of Education
• Blogger
• Data Warehouse (a new feature from the Alabama State Dept. of Education)
• Delicious (so that I can access all of my bookmarks)
• Field Trip Request (a common form stored on our server)
• Frank Buck (my own blog)
• Leave Request (a common form stored on our server)
• The Daily Motivator
• PDWeb (professional development records)
• SETWeb (special education records)
• Talladega City Schools (our blog for the community)
• Teach Talladega (our blog for employees)
• Travel Form (a common form stored on our server)

You can see a screen shot of my iGoogle home page here.

Saving STI Classroom Reports

During the "Managing Digital Data with Ease" workshop on January 2, once of the topics we discussed was the ability to save any STIOffice report as a Word document. That capability allows the school the flexibility to modify the report, add information to it, copy and paste data, and even e-mail that data.

The question was asked if that same capability is available in STI Classroom. I explored that issue this morning, and the answer seems to be "yes." I have a demo loaded on my computer, so the student data I have (and hence the reports I can run) are limited.

When you run a report on any STI product, the report is first simply printed to the screen. At that point, look at the row of icons at the top of the screen. Starting at the right-most icon (the door), count back to the 4th icon from the right. That icon will look something a world. When you click on it, you have the choices "Export to HTML" and "Export to RTF." You want the later, which stands for "Rich Text Format." Basically, it's going to be a Word document.

The next part is something I think is not very well done. You see a box labeled "Export Report." It's wanting to know where you want to save the report. Click the little button with the 3 dots. My suggestion would be use a flash drive. At the bottom of the box where it says "Drive," choose the correct letter for your flash drive.

If you have ever found yourself looking at STI data on your screen and copying it on paper by hand, this one feature may be a big time-saver for you.

Removing the Blogger Navigation Bar

Two of my earlier posts have involved directions on how to remove the Blogger navigation bar. The objection is the "Next Blog" feature which takes your readers to a random blog. The risk always exists that the "Next Blog" will contain inappropriate material.

I have simplified the directions for removing the "Next Blog." To view those directions, click here.

“Simplicity allows people to act.”

The November 2007 issue of Fast Company included an article by Dan & Chip Heath entitled, “Analysis of Paralysis.” The essence of the article is captured in the sentence which ended the article’s first paragraph: “Simplicity allows people to act.”

I find that when I look at to-do list, I gravitate to the tasks which are easy to do, and you probably do as well. We like that which is simple and easy. When complexity and ambiguity set in, we procrastinate on that activity and choose something which presents a little more clarity.

Perhaps the answer is to make everything simple and make everything clear. The paradox is that some work is required in order to make things easy. The work consists of thinking a project all the way through from beginning to end. The work consists of figuring out all of the steps as well as knowing when it may not be possible to know all of them. Furthermore, keeping all of the notes and documents related to that project neatly organized takes some thought.

The good news is once we have structured a system and are willing to spend a little time keeping it clear, the rest becomes easy, incredibly easy.

Imagine looking at your list and knowing in which order to tackle the items and exactly how to proceed on each one. How simple that would make your day. Simple enough, you would actually act.

Let it Snow!

Just proof that it really does snow down here in Alabama. Even thought it only happens once every 10 years and lasts for about an hour and a half, none-the-less, it's snow! Our two Shelties got their first experience with this new phenomenon this past weekend.