Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Convert PDF files to Word ... and more
A great file conversion tool -- with some restrictions, but it worked
when I converted a three page pdf to Word.
when I converted a three page pdf to Word.
Re: Weekly memo/newsletter
I recommend a blog. for a host of reasons:
1) It's easy and you can email directly to the blog if you used Blogger.
2) Access can be restricted only to those desired and all information in one place.
3) If you wish to verify their receipt, you can require teachers to sign in the comment box.
4) If you are seeking input on an item, you can obtain it and you'll have a record for the future.
5) It's environmentally friendly.
6) Searching and referencing is easy.
7) Teachers and you always have access ... you can post even if you are away and teachers can access if they are away (sick leave, conference leave, etc.)
8) If you have techno-phobic teachers, it exposes them to blogging and requires their use of technology.
9) If you cross reference, the original content is easily accessible.
10) Links to other sources can be included, and you can add multimedia - music, video, PowerPoint, files, etc.
Mike
Jeff wrote:
1) It's easy and you can email directly to the blog if you used Blogger.
2) Access can be restricted only to those desired and all information in one place.
3) If you wish to verify their receipt, you can require teachers to sign in the comment box.
4) If you are seeking input on an item, you can obtain it and you'll have a record for the future.
5) It's environmentally friendly.
6) Searching and referencing is easy.
7) Teachers and you always have access ... you can post even if you are away and teachers can access if they are away (sick leave, conference leave, etc.)
8) If you have techno-phobic teachers, it exposes them to blogging and requires their use of technology.
9) If you cross reference, the original content is easily accessible.
10) Links to other sources can be included, and you can add multimedia - music, video, PowerPoint, files, etc.
Mike
Jeff wrote:
I am interested in seeing examples of weekly communication
other administrators use with their staffs. Do you use a
Monday Memo, Friday Focus, or some other form of weekly
business items to disseminate?If you are willing to share would you email me at
jryanin80@gmail.comThanks!
New: Respond to this post online: Weekly memo/newsletter
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Sunday, August 9, 2009
File Conversion Application - Zamzar
My district also blocks YouTube. I have found many things on YT that
would help the kids understand some things that we study so much better!
I use zamzar.com to convert the files to mpg files to use on QuickPlayer
and send them my personal email account and then attach them to
ActivBoard flipcharts or add to other files so that they are easy to
find and use. If you use zamzar, it is free for files smaller than
100MB. When the homepage opens, click on the tab that says "Download
Videos". Copy and paste the URL from the YT page into the first area,
change the format to mpg, enter your email address, and hit convert. It
usually takes a couple of minutes for zamzar to upload the clip and then
you will get a "download complete" message. The converted file will then
go to your email address and you can save it or attach it to other
programs as you need. Hope this helps!!!
would help the kids understand some things that we study so much better!
I use zamzar.com to convert the files to mpg files to use on QuickPlayer
and send them my personal email account and then attach them to
ActivBoard flipcharts or add to other files so that they are easy to
find and use. If you use zamzar, it is free for files smaller than
100MB. When the homepage opens, click on the tab that says "Download
Videos". Copy and paste the URL from the YT page into the first area,
change the format to mpg, enter your email address, and hit convert. It
usually takes a couple of minutes for zamzar to upload the clip and then
you will get a "download complete" message. The converted file will then
go to your email address and you can save it or attach it to other
programs as you need. Hope this helps!!!
Mary Anne Parrish
Faith Elementary School
3rd grade
Site Support Leader/Mentor
parrishma@rss.k12.nc.us
Motivation
There is an organization that films very very short clips of educators
who answer three questions: why did you become an educator? What is the
biggest issue in education in your view? And what is the best way to
tackle this problem. These short videos about two to five minutes or so
all together are amazing and inspiring.
who answer three questions: why did you become an educator? What is the
biggest issue in education in your view? And what is the best way to
tackle this problem. These short videos about two to five minutes or so
all together are amazing and inspiring.
You can find them on the One Voice website, an advocacy site for
educators, front page left side (click on link for videos and enjoy!)
www.elementalethics.com.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
[Fwd: Re: New Principals, essentials]
This was an email sent as a response to a listerv member who was newly assigned as an AP to two buildings:
I was a principal for 12 years, worked in a state office supporting 66 districts, and now consult. Based on this, I recommend you treat this as two part time positions. While the positions are in the same district, each building has its own culture and needs. You will want to minimize the amount of things you need to remember or transport. That said, here are a few suggestions that should help keep your life sane. Categories are highlighted in bold italics.
Personal items are needed in each place (hairbrush, etc.) so I would have a set at both schools, AND in my car for freshening up on your way to a sports event in case you forgot as you ran out of the office. You can supply each in the course of your normal shopping, or go to COSTCO and buy a case.
The rest of this posting is about how to make the most of the technology. I do not know your current uses of technology so accept apologies if any of this is basic. Many I work with as a leadership consultant do not know about the following.
You will want one calendar and you will want it with you at all times. Paper is out and electronic is in. If you are not using an electronic device such as a Blackberry now, you almost surely will need it to manage the proliferation of tasks and responsibilities. You'll just need to keep it synced with your desktop/laptop so it's current wherever you are.
If you don't have a laptop, I recommend one - even if the district does not supply it. Nothing worse than having a few minutes at School A to work on a report for School B then going back to School B to find the report is on your computer as School A.
Consider requesting TWO NEW email addresses from the district and cancel the current one:
Have one for each school (e.g., lizsmithjoneselem@district.org and lizsmithkingelementary@district.org). All current email files should be moved into ONE of the new accounts so it is not lost. If you do this, you will want to assure that people do not start double emailing "just in case you did not see it."
In having two addresses, you will ALWAYS have email separated. Managing two accounts is VERY easy if done using ONE client such as Thunderbird (free) or Outlook. Each account can have their own distinct folders for incoming, sent, trash, etc. (I actually use Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0 to manage four email accounts.) When you send email, you will have the option of pulling down the address from which you wish to send.
Use district email addresses for district business and a personal address for personal business.
This, more than anything, is one of the hardest things for my clients to understand. The reality is you would not have your mortgage company or doctor send their bills to you at "work". Email accounts are the property of the employer and, as such, email sent and received through district accounts is not private. Additionally, an employer could use email as grounds for dismissal because state laws, and likely board policies, exist to prohibit the use of state property for personal matters. While the district woul need to prove willful and wanton disregard vs. incidental use, you'll need an attorney in the process.
Use a blog for your notes and abandon the notebook.
Blogs are easily searched when I need to find something I wrote about. Blogger.com (through Google) is exceptional. It is simple to use, has great privacy settings, allows for posting directly from email, and can be exported.
I have multiple blogs I use for a variety of purposes. The one I have for client notes is set to private and is password protected so only I see it. I really like that I can write and email and send it to post directly to the blog. This allows me to use one tool (email) for communication and documentation. In fact, I often BCC emails to clients so they are documented in the blog.
Clearly define subjects in email headers.
I am amazed at how many professionals send emails with subjects like: Interview, follow-up, meeting. While they know to whom and what this was about in the present, six months from now, there are 200 emails titled "follow-up". Consider: 1) Interview/Smith-Sci 8, Smith Elem , or 2) Parent Meeting Jan 12, 2pm - suspension follow-up, or 3) 1/12/09 meeting - Tier 1 interventions for Smith, Jones, Gomez
Establish naming conventions for all files (documents, spreadsheets, powerpoints, etc.).
Almost everything an administrator does is time based. I automatically prefix almost all file names with a date in a YYMMDD format. I do this because I generally remember WHEN I did something, but not what I saved it as. Consider the following:
FROM School Handbook TO 0909-SchoolHandbook (this would be for the Sept 2009 version)
FROM School Handbook TO 1009-SchoolHandbook (this would be for the Sept 2010 version)
FROM Suspension letter TO 0909-SuspensionLetterTemplate (the general format)
FROM Teacher Memo 12 TO 091113-TeacherMemo12 (Now I know teacher memo 12 was distributed on November 13, 2009)
FROM Workshop presentation TO 090823-RTI New Teachers Workshop Presentation
Create FOLDERS for Personnel or Student items.
I create individual "working" folders for each (as I need them), no different than paper. A well organized system will serve you well in many ways. The example below shows a folder for teacher Harrington which contains two reprimands and the recommendation to the Board for suspension. If the Union contacts me, I can easily see my chronology (which I can print!) and I can access all related files.
EXAMPLE:
FOLDER NAME - Harrington
CONTENTS:
You may be wondering why since all email is stored on your district's server and in their back-ups. The operative term here is "their". While you can expect the best, as an administrator, you must plan for the worst since you never know what might happen.
Suppose you are being investigated for something and the district feels obligated or chooses to remove you while they investigate. They will likely suspend your access to their computer system. You will have no access to your files. Having your sent emails in another location protects you. To do this, you can modify the settings for outgoing email so all sent email automatically is sent without having to add a BCC.
If there is anything I can do to support you, please let me know.
Mike
Liz wrote:
I was a principal for 12 years, worked in a state office supporting 66 districts, and now consult. Based on this, I recommend you treat this as two part time positions. While the positions are in the same district, each building has its own culture and needs. You will want to minimize the amount of things you need to remember or transport. That said, here are a few suggestions that should help keep your life sane. Categories are highlighted in bold italics.
Personal items are needed in each place (hairbrush, etc.) so I would have a set at both schools, AND in my car for freshening up on your way to a sports event in case you forgot as you ran out of the office. You can supply each in the course of your normal shopping, or go to COSTCO and buy a case.
The rest of this posting is about how to make the most of the technology. I do not know your current uses of technology so accept apologies if any of this is basic. Many I work with as a leadership consultant do not know about the following.
You will want one calendar and you will want it with you at all times. Paper is out and electronic is in. If you are not using an electronic device such as a Blackberry now, you almost surely will need it to manage the proliferation of tasks and responsibilities. You'll just need to keep it synced with your desktop/laptop so it's current wherever you are.
If you don't have a laptop, I recommend one - even if the district does not supply it. Nothing worse than having a few minutes at School A to work on a report for School B then going back to School B to find the report is on your computer as School A.
Consider requesting TWO NEW email addresses from the district and cancel the current one:
Have one for each school (e.g., lizsmithjoneselem@district.org and lizsmithkingelementary@district.org). All current email files should be moved into ONE of the new accounts so it is not lost. If you do this, you will want to assure that people do not start double emailing "just in case you did not see it."
In having two addresses, you will ALWAYS have email separated. Managing two accounts is VERY easy if done using ONE client such as Thunderbird (free) or Outlook. Each account can have their own distinct folders for incoming, sent, trash, etc. (I actually use Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0 to manage four email accounts.) When you send email, you will have the option of pulling down the address from which you wish to send.
Use district email addresses for district business and a personal address for personal business.
This, more than anything, is one of the hardest things for my clients to understand. The reality is you would not have your mortgage company or doctor send their bills to you at "work". Email accounts are the property of the employer and, as such, email sent and received through district accounts is not private. Additionally, an employer could use email as grounds for dismissal because state laws, and likely board policies, exist to prohibit the use of state property for personal matters. While the district woul need to prove willful and wanton disregard vs. incidental use, you'll need an attorney in the process.
Use a blog for your notes and abandon the notebook.
Blogs are easily searched when I need to find something I wrote about. Blogger.com (through Google) is exceptional. It is simple to use, has great privacy settings, allows for posting directly from email, and can be exported.
I have multiple blogs I use for a variety of purposes. The one I have for client notes is set to private and is password protected so only I see it. I really like that I can write and email and send it to post directly to the blog. This allows me to use one tool (email) for communication and documentation. In fact, I often BCC emails to clients so they are documented in the blog.
Clearly define subjects in email headers.
I am amazed at how many professionals send emails with subjects like: Interview, follow-up, meeting. While they know to whom and what this was about in the present, six months from now, there are 200 emails titled "follow-up". Consider: 1) Interview/Smith-Sci 8, Smith Elem , or 2) Parent Meeting Jan 12, 2pm - suspension follow-up, or 3) 1/12/09 meeting - Tier 1 interventions for Smith, Jones, Gomez
Establish naming conventions for all files (documents, spreadsheets, powerpoints, etc.).
Almost everything an administrator does is time based. I automatically prefix almost all file names with a date in a YYMMDD format. I do this because I generally remember WHEN I did something, but not what I saved it as. Consider the following:
FROM School Handbook TO 0909-SchoolHandbook (this would be for the Sept 2009 version)
FROM School Handbook TO 1009-SchoolHandbook (this would be for the Sept 2010 version)
FROM Suspension letter TO 0909-SuspensionLetterTemplate (the general format)
FROM Teacher Memo 12 TO 091113-TeacherMemo12 (Now I know teacher memo 12 was distributed on November 13, 2009)
FROM Workshop presentation TO 090823-RTI New Teachers Workshop Presentation
Create FOLDERS for Personnel or Student items.
I create individual "working" folders for each (as I need them), no different than paper. A well organized system will serve you well in many ways. The example below shows a folder for teacher Harrington which contains two reprimands and the recommendation to the Board for suspension. If the Union contacts me, I can easily see my chronology (which I can print!) and I can access all related files.
EXAMPLE:
FOLDER NAME - Harrington
CONTENTS:
090910-TardyReprimand#1Set up an email account to catch all outgoing emails. I highly recommend opening a new free email account (yahoo, gmail, etc.) for use as a storage bin for ALL outgoing email.
090927-TardyReprimand#2
091015-BoardSuspensionRecommendation
You may be wondering why since all email is stored on your district's server and in their back-ups. The operative term here is "their". While you can expect the best, as an administrator, you must plan for the worst since you never know what might happen.
Suppose you are being investigated for something and the district feels obligated or chooses to remove you while they investigate. They will likely suspend your access to their computer system. You will have no access to your files. Having your sent emails in another location protects you. To do this, you can modify the settings for outgoing email so all sent email automatically is sent without having to add a BCC.
If there is anything I can do to support you, please let me know.
Mike
Liz wrote:
I'm getting ready to go to work on monday, first time
assistant principal. The next few weeks will be meetings in
different buildings/places, and then my actual assignment is
in two buildings plus some sports games after school.I'd like to put together a few items to keep in my tote as
I'm going to be on the go a lot. I have spiral notebooks,
pens, highlighter, small hairbush and hair clip, and later
small snack to add. Anything else you recommend?
New: Respond to this post online: Principals, essentials
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