netTrekker Blog

Hidden Gems

There are so many gems in netTrekker, and with over 300,000 resources, it’s easy to get sidetracked by a few. A few of my favorites are actually found in the netTrekker Reference Section.

Aside from the typical encyclopedias, dictionaries, converters, and such, you’ll also find some valuable resources to help with the creativity side of things in the classroom. Classrooms that are creative are gems for our students. Those are the classrooms in which students can participate and come alive rather than simply sitting on the sideline.

Pics4Learning is absolutely one of my favorite places for images to use in storytelling. This resource is found in all three of the grade level tabs in the reference section, under the “Finders” near the bottom. What’s a digital story without images? And these images are fantastic for classroom use!

Also in the “Finders” section is another one of my favorite resources, FindSounds. I use to play a sound for my students during our creative writing segments. I would tell them to close their eyes and just listen. I would play that sound two or three times and then tell them to open their eyes and write me a story based on that sound. FindSounds is a perfect place to go and get these great sound bytes to use in digital storytelling and for other creative writing projects.

You can learn more about digital storytelling by reading an article from Forsyth County, GA in our latest newsletter or joining Jill Hobson in her presentation on Digital Storytelling: The Tools to Create the Magic at NECC 2009.

cheer This sound alone has so much potential! But I’d rather you think of it as netTrekker cheering on you!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

Tags: digital storytelling, netTrekker, reference

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