Are these free?

This could have been the most humorous question I received all week.  Yes, after all of the information we put out about the iPads some students were still wondering if there was a charge they would need to pay.  As of today we have about 200 of the 800 iPads out.  The first three distribution nights have been a success as we have been able to be efficient with our time and the students along with their families are so appreciative to receive their device.  If you see LeAnne Wagner, Colin Wikan, Jennifer Like, Robert Ogan, Eric McCoy, Christina Linville, Beau Huber, and Jason Verbout please thank them for all of the help and support they are providing.

Students have been told the devices need to be left in their cases. Please do not allow them to remove the device from the case.  We are working to develop a solution for locker room storage with a concern about security.  We will keep you updated when we have something with more direction.  If you are a coach/sponsor please think through how to handle students that bring devices and where they are stored.  Please see me with questions.

A good reminder and awareness piece for all staff is that these devices all have camera, video, and audio recording capabilities.  We should always hold ourselves to a high standard and be open to anyone seeing what goes on in our building.  However, there is a legitimate concern about taking bits and pieces of what we say and editing it.  Remember, we will not be disabling any of these as that would work against where we are headed.  If you have a concern of this nature I would be happy to meet with you and talk through it.

We are excited to keep moving forward this week with the final freshman distribution nights.

Matt
     

The time is now!

The time has arrived.  Wednesday, September 26th our first group of Freshman will receive their iPads.  I am so excited that this time has come. There are so many people who have worked to make this possible and we all have been anxiously waiting on implementation!  Our student tech team, newly named the BYTE Squad received their's last week so we have went through a practice run and feel confident in the process.  You will soon be able to identify these students in their specially designed lanyards.

If you have still have freshman or sophomore students that have not signed up please direct them to the following link.  http://bhs.bettendorf.k12.ia.us/Teachers/library/ipadresources

Again, thank you to everyone that has played a part in this effort.  We could not have accomplished this without everyone working together.  This however is just the first step. The meaningful work begins now.  Please, please, please communicate your wants and needs as we continue through this process.  I hope this is a vehicle for allowing the change you want in your classrooms. Finally, we are closely monitoring the bandwidth situation and will adjust accordingly.  If something is not working be sure to speak up.  "It is truly a great day to be a BULLDOG!"

September 12 Professional Development, 12 Days Away!

Below you will find the agenda for September 12th.  On this date we are giving you time to explore and discuss with your content team and for to share content specific apps.  Your team members on the tech team have some exciting things planned for you on this afternoon with what they have learned.  Please be familiarizing yourself with LeAnne's Bulldog Bytes as they come out.  She has a lot of good resources included. We have about  35 students signed up for the Bulldog Tech Corps and will be giving them devices on September 17.  The first Freshman distribution date is on September 26.  Let's get ready!

1:15 - Meet in Fine Arts room for United Way Presentation

1:30 - Explain afternoon format
            Math - Ms. Wikan's Room - C301
            SS - Ms. Ahrens' Room - C362
            Language Arts - Ms. King's Room - D112
            Science - Mr. Bruecken's Room - D317
            World Language - Mr. Bonnstetter's Room - D264
            PE - Ms. Puglisi's Room - B208
            Special  Education - Ms. Retter's Room- D114
            Business - Business Lounge Area
            Industrial Tech - Cadd Lab - G108
            Art - Mr. Solbrig's Room - E103
            Music - Instrumental Music Office

1:35 - Dismiss to Departments for Team Time

3:15 - Meet in Fine Arts room

Make it a great week!
Matt

One Week Closer

Last week we held professional development sessions on learning management systems.  I want to be clear that our position at this time is to not choose a single system or app.  We want to explore these further before investing into one. I also believe there is value in asking the students to use different options.  With the rapid changing world we live in I believe it would be short sighted to go with just one.

There are only 16 days until we start giving out the iPads.  Please pass the word to Freshman and Sophomores that they need to be registered for a distribution night.  The link is: http://bhs.bettendorf.k12.ia.us/Teachers/library/iPad%20Resources:%20Parent

This week is the first opportunity for staff to have app and accessory purchases approved. Please make sure those are submitted by 4pm on Tuesday.  Other major steps this week will be to complete the student enrollment process for devices and to discuss wireless security options for the building and district.  We also are looking to add some additional devices.  We had about forty more freshman than anticipated this school year so we will be increasing the amount of iPads we have for check-out and break/damage scenarios.

The Bulldog Tech Corps had their first meeting this week and will be holding another session at 3:15 this Thursday in the library.  Please encourage any interested members to attend.  This group's purpose is not just to take apart computers, we will be working with all aspects of technology, so please help us recruit.

This Thursday Johnathan Wylie, from GWAEA, will be here to work with the Tech Team.  We will follow up with this work on the 12th of September at our next professional development opportunity.

Finally, favorite app that I found this week: Pulse News.  You can create your own news magazine.

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