LTucker360

The Administrators Technology Academy (ATA)  is quickly approaching, and I just previewed the range of topics that will be available.  This appears to be a great opportunity for administrators to acquire staff development in the area of instructional technology. Sometimes, the pure tech stuff seems to get lost in the day to day operation of school.  It is now impossible to separate TECHNOLOGY from the teaching and learning process.  The goal is to make instructional technology transparent.  It is no longer something to be mastered and taught in a vacuum but is just as natural as textbooks, paper, pencils, and other tools of the trade. So where do administrators go to keep abreast of change trends and innovations?  I am sure this varies from person to person, and there may be a void in this area of professional development for administrators.  ATA will not provide you will answers to all your questions and provide all of the training that you need to...

I never really planned to post everything to a blog, but it does make it easier for other folks to find "stuff". My original goal for this blog was to create a demo site. It served that purpose well. I have let it lie dormant for a few months. Occasionally, I run into someone and they ask when am I going to start posting again. I usually answer. "Any day now." That time will soon come. Here is a brief video using Animoto.com to create a presentation used for our district Christmas dinner. If I wanted to be self-critical, I would say it is too long, the music is not smooth in transition, and some of the photos are poor in quality. But I don't want to say those things. Enjoy - Merry Christmas. LT

Some things are just meant to be shared! First, I know that I am a public school employee, and I understand the separation between church and state. Second thing, I know that overzealous, hard-core, religious fundamental messages tend to turn folks off rather quickly. That is not what this is about, or at least, that is not what it is meant to be. This past week, I had the unique opportunity to travel to Orlando, Fl as a chaperon for the Gibson County High School BETA Club. Six of their members were attending the National Beta Convention. One of their members was on the program to introduce a speaker, and GCHS was representing the state Beta Club in the individual talent competition. A quartet of talented young ladies had worked on a medley of old-time, religious songs for weeks, since early spring. They performed a cappella and they are very, very good. I was initially invited to hear them sing in a practice session at a local church. The performance was recorded and placed on...

Having the right tools available to do the job is always important to overall success. In my current role, I sometimes talk about the similarities of what I do and that of someone on a high wire, riding a unicycle, juggling balls in one hand, spinning plates on a stick on the nose, and spinning rings on the ankle of one foot all at the sametime. Sounds pretty complicated. Let's break part of the task down into its simplest form. Here we can see how the right tool make may a big difference. Being on a highwire appears treacherous, and there is a certain level of risk involved. Many daredevils attempt such feats while holding onto a weighted pole. Now, that is where a simple principle of physics comes into play. The weight of the pole lowers the center of gravity below the wire itself, and the force of gravity actually pulls the performer tightly onto the wire making what appears to be difficult much easier. This simple video will explain this. Enjoy...

Nothing new here, I am just sharing some observations. Yesterday started early. Long before the sun came up, I was in route to a daylong judging session in Rutherford County. Although I did not know the location of their board of education office, I was not concerned. I have a GARMIN. The rain was relentless, and patches of fog added to the mounting tension. Literally, muscle tension was rising from the base of my neck and moving forward to my forehead. I think squinting, as if it would make me see better, was the contributing factor here. As I entered Madison County, I thought about a colleague traveling to the same destination and wondered if she was having the same difficulties that I was experiencing…so I texted her. I did not pull over. In a blinding downpour, I managed to punch out a brief text. Fat thumbs and an archaic phone only contributed to making an easy task extremely difficult. One-handed maneuvers kept the Ford off the shoulder and out of the ditch, althoug...

We have reached the time when it is necessary to involve you in the “next steps”. In an effort to engage all of our teachers and administrator in the use of more of the Web 2.0 tools, we are turning our immediate attention towards blogging. I know that you are aware of blogs, and many of you may already be actively blogging. The reason that we are bringing this to the forefront today is related to a future activity for professional development. All school faculties will be participating in a book study as part of their local professional development during the fall. One of the ways that principals can incorporate the use of Web 2.0 tools into something they’re already going to be doing would be through a blog. It is my “hope” that some of our teachers will see the possible uses of a classroom blog…etc We have to start somewhere and we can not continue to wait for everybody to get on board. We have to gently push...may even have to shove some. I want to meet one afternoon, prior...