In order to fulfuill my obligation for a "B" contract, I took advantage of four technology training opportunities created by Scott Fitzsimmons, the Technology Director for Proctor Schools and the Department of Community Education in Proctor/Hermantown. Each course was specifically designed for our school districts' teachers and staff. The content of the courses were varied. Some focused on internet while others concentrated on how to use the many features offered by Claris Works. Each course provided us with friendly, practical, hands-on technology training.

The first class I attended was called "Internet Education: Beyond the Basics". This course reminded me of the training session Scott taught our Cohort at UMD. It provided us with and demonstrated additional ways in which the Internet can be used. We learned time saving searching techniques and were given a wealth of teacher Internet resources and ideas.

This class was more of a refresher for me. Basically, I knew the majority of what was being taught but I found it was helpful to have extra practice.

The second class was called "Claris Works 4.0 Draw & Paint." This class showed us how to create newsletters, calendars, charts, maps, signs, bulletins and much more using the frequently underused portion of Claris Works "Draw & Paint" program. I can see why it is under used because I had never even noticed it was there before taking this class. Previously, I never used Claris Works for anything beyond my word processing needs. We spent the majority of the time finding out what each of the little tools did and how they worked. I even made a Christmas card for my nephew.

The third class was titled Claris Works 4.0 Database Starter. This class dissapointed me a little. I was hoping to learn more about electronic grade books. I must have been thinking about spreadsheets. This class really didn't offer me a whole lot of useful information for my

classroom but I found out a few ways I could possibly use databases at home.

The fourth and final class "Claris Works 4.0 Slide Show Starter" was my favorite. This class gave me ideas on how to "spice up" my daily lessons with presentation software. I actually made my own slide show, with pictures and everything. I am going to give a slide show on our awards night in June on the PHS Spanish Costa Rica Trip. This was also the class where I found out that our school actually owns a couple of digital cameras. I don't think many people in our district are aware of this. I can't wait to try them out!!!

I realize I only needed to attend one of these for my contract grade but I found all of them to be interesting and helpful. Like someone in our Cohort said... Run with technology before technology runs over you.

-- Anonymous, February 11, 1999