I made these cute tags for a give away at a recent Regional Convention. I thought they were adorable. My sister-in-law said they would make great lunch box notes for kids. Gift tags.. not just for gifts anymore!
Gift tags or Lunch box notes
Thank you card
This is a great little thank you card. I love the colors! I can create this card for you in singles or in a pack. Let me know how I can help you!
My Favorite Gift
I love making these wonderful little stationary books for friends. They make wonderful gifts. The stationary can be catered to your favorite colors or themes.
Inside the book there is hand stamped stationary and matching envelopes.
My Wedding
My husband and I were engaged in February and married in May. With that short 3 months to plan a wedding I decided to take on making my own invites. We were going to have a casual wedding so I thought it would be fun to create colorful invites with different papers. I ended up creating 10 different designs of the same card.
I loved making the invitations and ended up having a few girls nights to help me finish them. This ended up leading to whole series of homemade items for the wedding. I created “Family Tree” centerpieces for the reception. I got the idea from The Knot but put my own twist on it. We put photos from both of our families on magnolia branches in mason jars with river rock. I also created a gift/memory book. I used my Bind-it-All for the book and it turned out great! Finally to keep in line with the color scheme I created “Thank you” postcards to send out for gifts.
The biggest compliment I received from the wedding is that it was completely us. From the invitations to the service to the reception. It was all about family fun and CHOCOLATE. We decided to not have a wedding cake… we got a chocolate fountain instead.
2011-2012 School Year: Off and Running
So we just finished our first week with students. It was an interesting week. The school is still in the midst of what I would consider major renovations and construction. We opened a new wing – that still needs LOTS of work. Teachers finally received internet/network access on Friday of last week. We still don’t have our SMART boards.
This week I spent much of my week asking/saying, “Did you plug in the cables from the wall to your computer?” or “Oh, here it is… you need to plug in this cord.”
I haven’t spent one moment helping anyone with our new technology initiatives. It makes me sad but I know I have to get people up and running to be able to use technology. Or at least that is what I keep telling myself. The frustration comes from with the construction going on at the school there are SO many cables and things missing. I don’t have the cords to replace what is missing.
With all of my frustrations I can say there is awesomeness going on in the district.
1. Google Apps for everyone! I am SO excited about the use of Google Apps with faculty/staff and students.
2. We are planning the 1:1 mobile learning rollout. Within the next two years every child in the district will have a mobile device. The device has not been decided but we have a couple pilots going on in the district to figure out what is best.
3. Cell Phone Usage! This is a major shift in learning. Out School Board is looking in to changing the policy to allow cell phones for educational use in schools.
There is a lot going on… I just want to get there. I want to get passed the cords and non-working or missing equipment and move on to the integration. I know I will get there but its just in the meantime.
Edmodo is my new love
I have been tinkering with Edmodo for a while now mainly using it for my own professional development. If you haven’t heard of Edmodo it is “a free and secure social learning network for teachers, students and schools. Edmodo provides classrooms a safe and easy way to connect and collaborate, offering a real-time platform to exchange ideas, share content, and access homework, grades and school notices.” In the last month, my district has set up a district Edmodo domain.This will allow the schools to have a community connected to students, teachers, and parents.
There are a few things I really like about Edmodo:
1. The familiar social networking type interface. It resembles Facebook so its something students are familiar.
2. I like that parents can join in the class to observe what their child is doing in the class.
3. You have a private group but the ability to make portions of it public for parent or student access without being logged in.
4. The ability for a student to have all of their classes in one login.
If you haven’t looked in to Edmodo maybe its something you take a look at over the summer. Edmodo provides a great Help Center with materials and webinars to help you learn how to use the site. They even provide great user created materials such as the “A Guide to Explain It All” below.
Edmodo
Skype Professional Development Thursday, April 28. – Help needed.
On Thurday, April 28 I am conducting SKYPE Professional Development throughout the day for the teachers in my school. I am looking for a few educators who use Skype to join us to discuss how you use Skype in your classroom or career. If your class would like to join us please bring them! If you would take a moment to sign up for a time I would appreciate it. Please sign up here.
As school is on the down cycle I want have declared May Skype month and to kick it off I want to give teachers options and opportunities to make the last month of the school year a bit more fun with bringing guests in to the classroom. Please help me show the teachers how limitless using Skype can be in the classroom.
SCAET … the board breakdown
I have to say I was very surprised with the response from my last post on the SCAET. Only two people commented on the blog but I received numerous emails and Facebook messages agreeing with me, posing more questions, or even giving me information on where to find out more. Since then I have found a list of board members of SCAET. Their names are printed annually in the SC EdTech program. When you look at where the board members are from, the question I ask is whose interests are they are looking out for?
SC Budget and Control Board, Division of State Information Technology (1 member)
SC Department of Education, Internal Technology (1 member)
SCAET Business Manager (1 member)
SCETV Representative (1 member)
Business (AT&T, Relational Technology Solutions) (2 members)
Universities (Charleston Southern, College of Charleston, USC) (3 members)
District Technology Directors (Anderson Four, Dillon II) (2 members)
SC Association of School Librarians(SCASL) (1 member) This is the only rotating position on the board.
When I look at this list I see a couple things …
1. The board seems to be heavy in State Agency members.
2. The board is also extremely heavy in Information Technology, as in infrastructure. Even the business board members mainly deal with the infrastructure side of our state technology.
3. The District Technology Directors on the board do not represent all aspects of the state when it comes to district technology. Why aren’t there any directors from the low country or the midlands?
4. The ONLY school level position is the SCASL board member. One person connected to a school on the board is NOT enough.
5. There are NO Instructional Technology positions, no principals, and no teachers on the board.
So I ask again, whose interests are they looking out for?
I found out through a couple of my email and Facebook communications that SCAET was at one time in competition with AECT of SC, another technology association in the state. Both groups had common members. The SCAET finally won out and AECT of SC slowly died out. So how and when did the SCAET stop accepting members? When did we stop having a say and why?
What is next for South Carolina? What is your vision for our state technology? Is this something that can be reformed or do we need to start anew?
Branding and Marriage in the Modern World
Recently, I have published a twtpoll asking people to help me decide on my new last name. I am getting married in a couple months and it is a serious question to ask of a 37 year old woman who has made her mark on her career with her maiden name. So I am polling anyone on the internet about what my name should be. I understand the decision in the end is my choice but I am interested in other’s weighing in. I have had a number of responses from friends and family explaining what they chose and why. I am surprised that at the time of this blog post the option of MaryAnn Sansonetti Wood with Sansonetti as my middle name is in the lead.
Over the last 13 years, I have conducted workshops, presented at conferences, and received awards as MaryAnn Sansonetti. So if I continue on my career path would I have the same recognition as MaryAnn Wood or even MaryAnn S. Wood? Would people make the connection that I am that person they saw a year ago at whatever conference where I did a presentation on SMART board or iPods? In today’s world branding is mainstream and my brand is my name. So I am leaning towards the hyphen but please feel free to weigh in!
Beginning a Cell phone and Electronic Communication Device Pilot
We are starting a cellphone/electronic communication device pilot in my school next week. This is part of a district wide pilot that will last for a semester. Electronic Communication Devices are defined as any personal mobile device that can be used for communication, i.e. cell phone, smart phone, iPod Touch, personal laptop, netbook, etc. Goals for the project are very broad but will help us develop a better understanding of the usage in a school.
Goals:
1. To determine if allowing students to use their own ECDs increases student engagement and satisfaction with their learning environment without increased incidents of abuse or negative consequences for teaching and learning.
2. To learn more about what types of devices students prefer and for what kinds of work they prefer to use them.
I am in the process of creating a survey to ask the students involved about the types of devices they have and the services with those devices. This survey will help us determine the types of activities we can do with the students. Could you look over the questions below and let me know if you have any additional suggestions on what to ask the students?
Life is a Maker Faire 