Authors from Ohio and New York Visit Tahoma Classroom

Global Academy students at Tahoma High School have been studying sustainability issues and systems thinking, both topics that the novel Vapor Trails explores against the backdrop of Hurricane Katrina. On December 15, the students spoke with the authors, Bob Siegel and Roger Salient, via video conference. Sailant joined the class from Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio, and Siegel tuned in from Rochester, NY. The connection with the authors was made through http://www.tokbox.com/, a free video conferencing service. Students gathered in the lecture hall to speak with the authors, who were projected on the large screen. All that was necessary to create this successful and meaningful activity for students was a teacher laptop, an inexpensive external microphone (which allowed us to turn off our microphone when the authors were talking to reduce feedback), and a little testing to make sure everything would work BEFORE trying it in front of 86 students. If you are interested in connecting your students with the world outside your classroom via video conference, let Kimberly Allison know; she can help you set things up.

E-Mail Safety: Be Cyber Smart!

Doug Eash, Technology Supervisor, recently alerted staff members to a particularly deceptive email. We thought we'd follow up with some information about email safety.

Our spam filter does a great job of blocking most spam. In fact, according to Ben Hyatt, Technology System Engineer, this week alone we have received over 156,000 e-mail messages. Of those, only about 1/5 of them were deemed clean and delivered to the user. Of the 4/5 that were rejected as spam, nearly 100 of them included viruses. Sure, occassionally spam makes its way into our inbox, but thanks to our spam filter, staff members don't have to deal with the majority of it. However, when spam does makes its way to our inbox, it's important that we act appropriately by not clicking links, not opening attachments, and deleting the message. In the case of the spam that Doug alterted us to today, the spammers ingeniously made it seem like the e-mail was coming from someone connected to our tech department. No way, Jose! Our tech department will never send e-mails like this. (Same for your bank--never click on links to reset your password that appear to come from a reputable source unless you've requested to have your password reset.) Clinking on links in spam e-mail can have a range of negative effects from increasing the spam you receive in the future to more nefarious consequences such as viruses and identity theft. If you'd like to learn more, read about e-mail safety here.

10Tech Learn and Earn (Clock Hours) On-line Class

What? Both an elementary and a secondary version of this class are being offered.
When? Begins February 2, ends in May
How? 15 minutes a week for 12 weeks = 3 clock hours
Where? You decide. Your living room? School? Starbucks? Wherever you can carve out 15 minutes to read and respond to a weekly prompt/activity.

In an effort to introduce teachers to the wide array of technology tools and resources that they can take advantage of and how blogging can be used as a method of communication, we will be hosting an online conversation for Tahoma School District educators beginning in February. To participate, simply send Kimberly Allison and email telling her to sign you up and indicate whether you want the elementary or secondary version of this class. Each week we will be exploring a tech tool with potential for classroom use. We hope this experience will give you an opportunity not only to learn more about educational technology and blogging, but also to share your thoughts and ideas in a public forum.