netTrekker Blog

Teachers Hold the Key: Unlocking Abilities

My son, Joey, has a T-shirt that says, “If you can read this, thank a teacher”. Joey has a learning disability, or rather, disabilities. If I’ve conducted training for you, you’ve probably heard the story of Joey and Read Aloud. I recently demoed how to use Read Aloud with a special education teacher at a technology fair and we were discussing my son. The teacher quickly corrected me and said, “Joey doesn’t have a learning disability. He has the potential to learn, so he has learning possibilities. We just need to find the right tools that enhance each learner’s capabilities, and helps them reach their potential.”

I want to take that statement one step further. netTrekker is a cool tool, and we definitely have the tools to help you unlock students potentials. But it goes back to the shirt “If you can read this, thank a teacher.” If the students are using netTrekker in their school, or ANY other tool, it’s because the teachers have taken the time to learn the tool, they have taken the time to implement it in their classroom and integrate it into their lessons. They have taken the opportunity to truly unlock all the possibilities.

And for that, on behalf of all the different children that you teach, netTrekker thanks you.

I would love to hear stories about teachers who have helped you unlock your potential and you would love to thank. We’d also love to have you join us on the netTrekker Village to share how you unlock all of your students’ abilities. If you participate in the commenting or the blog, you’ll have a chance to get a small thank you from netTrekker!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

Tags: abilities, disabilities, read aloud, Teacher Appreciation Day, Training

A Thank You to All Librarians!

My favorite place in any school is the media center, or the “liberry” as I lovingly called it when I was in elementary school. I find the knowledge, entertainment, and the quietness to be as delicious as a ripe strawberry freshly picked for enjoyment. (But really it was a speech impediment that caused me to say liberry.) It was my librarian who turned me onto the Bobbsey Twins series, to learning more about Abraham Lincoln, and gave me the passion I have for books today.

But just like a caterpillar turns into a beautiful butterfly, the role of librarian has turned into the all knowledgeable media specialist. When I first became a teacher, I knew the one person who I could count on for information and assistance was my media specialists.

It was my media specialist, Mrs. Floyd, who taught me about the computer and the Internet hidden in a closet my first year of teaching in 1996.

It was my media specialist, Mr. Geddings, who helped me find all my resources for career education when I decided to try my hand teaching middle school business.

It was the media specialists in my district who assisted me as a technology coach in getting the word out about technology and various projects, and helped plan our literature bowl. They were always there to light the path.

Today, I enjoy talking to all of the media specialists who assist with implementing netTrekker d.i. in their school or district. They are the ones who teach how to distinguish a good site from a great site. They are the ones teaching the students how to research properly. They are often the ones who train teachers on how to use the various technologies at their school. Media Specialists wear the hat for encouraging students to read a great book and fostering that love, to finding the right resource, to using technology well.  And many that I know are the best multi-taskers in the world! Their library runs like a well oiled machine, or is as inviting as a field of red berries on a warm summer day.

In honor of the National Library Week, netTrekker d.i. would like to thank all media specialists and librarians – no matter which hat you are wearing – for your dedication to the students and teachers.

For those of you interested in learning more about library skills, check out the Teacher Tools and 21st Century’s ICT Literacy.

Tags: ALA, National Library Week, netTrekker

It’s Linda Morrell Day!

At Thinkronize, we value our customers and continue to appreciate their feedback and support towards our mission… ”enhancing the education of youth with highly effective technologies”.

Today, we would like to honor one of the first and most prominent advocates for netTrekker d.i. – Linda Morrell – Instructional Technology Director at Cobb County, GA.  Linda provided netTrekker d.i. district-wide to Cobb County in the earliest years and with her team have provided us with a wealth of knowledge.  We want to honor Linda Morrell by officially making today, February 27, 2009 – Linda Morrell day at Thinkronize!

You can join in on our well wishes at the netTrekker Village.

Joel Petersen

VP Strategic Relations

Thinkronize – Makers of netTrekker d.i

Tags: Cobb County, customer, Linda Morrell, netTrekker d.i., Thinkronize

A Biting Find to Read

Psst. Wanna know a secret? I’m terribly afraid of vampires. Yeah, they really freak me out. Which is probably why I’m the last one on planet Earth to read the series Twilight. Jill Allen, the Director of netTrekker’s Customer Relationship and Training Department, seemed shocked that I, an avid reader, had not read this series. She almost convinced me to begin Twilight during FETC. Almost, because, well, I was still a bit nervous about the whole vampire deal. (Yes, I know there are no real vampires. I have an overactive imagination though.)

On March 2nd we will be celebrating Read Across America, and it should be a celebration for all readers, not

just limited to elementary students. Middle school and high school students should also enjoy this day of reading. And from what I understand, Twilight is the new Harry Potter,  when it comes to encouraging reluctant readers to crack open a book.

With Twilight being a newer book that’s just starting to take hold in the classroom, I wasn’t sure if I would find any resources in netTrekker d.i. . Not only was I pleasantly surprised to find a few, I was also pleased to find results that were not from bookstores selling the book or movie reviews. I used “twilight” as my keyword search. My first two results were related to the series! The first site was the official website of Stephenie Meyer. It was interesting to read about the dream that inspired her to write the story and how the town of Forks became the setting.

The second site is the one that I’m enjoying right now as I write this. It’s a site from the Library of Congress and includes a presentation from Stephenie Meyer at the 2006 National Book Festival.

If you search with Stephenie Meyer as the keyword, you’ll find three websites about the author. On the same note, there are 30 sites about vampires, most dealing with other writings involving these legendary creatures.

If you know of any great sites with lessons on how to use Twilight in the classroom, please share those links with our content editors in the netTrekker Village. Our content editors are always on the prowl for fresh new relevant sites.

Tags: netTrekker, read, read across America, Stephenie Meyer, Twilight, vampire

Seussical Reads

By the way, the blog is written in collaboration with Amanda Barton from Content Editors and the entire Customer Relations Team. My name is Danielle Abernethy, the main voice of the blog. I am a former military BRAT, and once lived in Bitburg, Germany. On Saturday mornings, my brother and I would go down to the German bakery for fresh bread.  On the way, we would pass a “Dr. Seuss”. I firmly believed that this  Dr. Seuss (a family doctor)  was my favorite author Dr. Seuss. So one morning I got up, grabbed my Dr. Seuss books, and went to visit the good ole’ Doc. Thankfully he was a very understanding old man and didn’t turn away this naive eight year- old. He told me he wasn’t the author Seuss, but he would read with me just the same. We read quite a few books that day.

On March 2nd, all across the world, we’ll be celebrating Dr. Seuss’s 105th birthday, along with the celebration of reading during Read Across America. This is one of my favorite days in schools, and I personally love the fact that Dr. Seuss is celebrated at the same time. He is the reason I love to read! I am tempted to take my son (Joey) out of school, drive down the road to Universal Studios to Seuss Landing and celebrate with them. It’s my favorite place to play in Universal.

But I’m a responsible parent, so we’ll take our trip on the weekend. In the meantime, I’ll find other learning activities for school or home, and what better place to find these activities than through netTrekker d.i. By using “Suess” as my key word I was able to find 40 results in elementary. My favorite website found there is Seussville. This weekend Joey and I created our own story using characters, backgrounds, and sounds from Seuss world. We also found a website that had Joey practicing his math facts with Dr. Seuss.

When Joey gets older, I can go to the middle school tab and type in Seuss to find 16 results or the high school tab to find 14 results. Among those results are sites showcasing the political side to Dr. Seuss books. Here’s a trivia question, which famous World War Two Leader was the basis for Yertle the Turtle? Social Studies Teachers studying World War Two could have students study the different leaders and try to deduce who the leader was. If you know the answer, leave it in a comment below.

So with that, I’ll leave you to netTrekker to explore.
Use Seuss as the search keyword to open the door.
More than lessons, games and resources you’ll find.
For one of the greatest authors of our time.

(I think I’ll stick to writing blogs
Instead of leaving my audience in a fog!)

Tags: Dr. Seuss, netTrekker, read, read across America