December+2008

It is easier to find course listing here first, then go to Protraxx to register. The courses listed here will indicate whether they are free or fee-based., with the fees indicated.

**Ad free wikispaces:**
Go to this link to set up an ad-free wiki for your students:

**http://www.wikispaces.com/help Teachers**
Winnie Bracco gave an overview of the Renzulli program, Tabula Digita and the iLead Institute. The presentation is attached. Click on the individual programs on the menu to the left for more information.

**Reso A Updates:**

 * 150 schools in Queens have received Reso A funding this year, ranging from $35K to $2 million for capital improvements.**

Schools need to be proactive to obtain Reso A funding -- contact should be made with your city council person. It's a good idea to invite the council person to your school to see your facility (be sure to remove all non-working equipment -- to the uninformed observer, a computer is a computer, whether it works or not). Reso A is a rolling program, so requests can be submitting throughout the year. It is recommended that you keep requests for computers, interactive whtieboards, etc. general without specific numbers. For example, for a lab upgrade and interactive boards for each classroom, just indicate that you need a lab upgrade and interactive whiteboards for each classroom at an approximate cost of $300K. Then see what you actually get awarded. If you receive an award, make sure you schedule a ribbon cutting ceremony, with press invited along with the council person. Get your whole school involved if possible and make it into an event. After the ribbon cutting, it is recommended that you walk the council person through the school, thank them for their generosity and then point out all the other things that your school still needs to start the wheels rolling on your next Reso A grant.

**[|Net Day Speak Up]**
To access the surveys, your secret word is "District___" i.e. District51. No spaces, capital "D". Winnie worked through a sample survey for a third grade student.
 * The Net Day Speak Up 2008 is open through December 19, 2008. Please encourage your students, parents and teachers to participate! More information is available on the [|OITQueens Ning.]**

Winnie presented a quick overview of

**Thinkquest NYC.**
Teachers may register teams at

**[|http://nyc.thinkquest.org]**
If there are enough interested parties, we can set up a free Saturday Thinkquest Bootcamp**
 * More information is available at the [|OIT Queens Ning.]

**Thinkquest NYC 2008 NBC Universal Digital Media Challenge**

 * is now open. For more information, see the OIT Queens Ning or go to:**

**You must enroll by January 29, 2009.**

 * If there are enough interested parties, we can set up a free workshop on using cameras, working with students and creating a video.**

**Ning: Professional/Educational Networks**
(Coming soon: Jing screencast on creating a Ning Network)
 * Ellen Phillips presented a brief overview of Ning, with a quick walk through for signup up to the** [|OIT Queens Ning.]
 * Benefits of using Ning for educational/professional learning networks:**
 * **Provides an interactive site for sharing projects, posing questions, and networking with peers.**
 * **Network creators can set privacy controls and comment and content moderation for the site.**
 * **Allows embedding of video, audio and images**
 * **Allows attaching of files (documents, presentations, etc.)**
 * **Every network member gets a free page of their own, for which they can set permissions and moderating.**
 * **Every member can have a blog on their page**
 * **Networks being used with students in grades 7 through 12 can be created ad-free. (This is not an option available to younger students because of COPPA requirements). To apply for an ad-free Ning network go to** [|Ning In Education.]*

Working with Google Docs
Presented by Fran O'Neill and Kelly Gallagher**

Reimaging your PC or Mac
Presented by Wayne DeMacque and Jim Leahy