Thursday, December 16, 2010

Winter Break/Calendar/D.ream Lab/Tax Credit

Snow
Snowflake beautiful
Skating, sledding, skiing
Ice sculptures are gorgeous
Snowfall
(shared by Mason C.M. 3rd grade, Mrs. Sanders)

Winter break Dec. 20-Dec. 31 School resumes Jan. 3
I wish you and your family a safe and magical holiday season!

A link above has been provided for you to have access to the 2011-2012 school year calendar!

The D.ream Lab is being painted and prepared for our Jan. 24th Opening! Ipads are still on tour, MacBooks have arrived, and the flip cameras are capturing school activities!

15 days to get your Tax Credit in!!You don't need to bring it to school, but can simply mail it to Desert Trails, with your check dated no later than Dec. 31, 2010. We will send you a receipt! Your Tax Credit goes toward the before/after school programs and field trip scholarships! Thank you!

Friday, December 10, 2010

McTeacher's Technology Night/SpeakUp/Feedback to Grow

WOW! We are still sailing high here at school today from last night's awesome turnout for McTeacher's night!! THANK YOU~THANK YOU~THANK YOU parents for your support last night!
We raised over $1500.00 in 3hours, and all for our D.ream T.ech Lab!!!
With the District matching funds, this makes a grand total of $3000.00. The Technology Team and myself can't express our gratitude enough. I told the students on morning announcements that at Desert Trails once teachers ask ~~ our parents support!!! Thank you!

Speak Up!
Since 2003, over 1.85 million K-12 education stakeholders have participated in the annual Speak Up National Research Project which collects and reports on the authentic, unfiltered views and opinions of K-12 students, parents and educators on critical 21st century education issues. Speak Up is facilitated by Project Tomorrow® (www.tomorrow.org). Data findings are shared each year with federal, state and local policymakers to inform education programs and funding.
Arizona has always been well-represented in responding to this survey and last year was the state with the second-most participation in the nation, with only Texas having more students participate than us. The information and trends that are provided are valuable in helping inform our state leaders about the use, attitudes, and effect of technology on education in Arizona. Due to our high usage of the Speak Up Survey, the Ed Tech unit at ADE receives aggregate data that is compared to the national average. This data is invaluable to us.
One trend it has highlighted is that Arizona teachers prefer and participate in online professional development more than their colleagues in other states.
Another trend shows that Arizona teachers have more obstacles using technology in their schools than teachers around the US and that Arizona teachers use less technology in their classrooms to increase student achievement. The data also shows that our middle school students have less access to technology outside of school and have less access to high speed internet connections at home.

We hope you will join the conversation about the use of technology for learning through Speak Up and take advantage this data collecting opportunity. The online survey is open to students, educators (including future educators) and parents; it’s quick and easy to get involved.

The survey is posted above and the password is: future

Feedback to Grow!
A link above has been provided 24/7 for you to share any concerns, ideas, and thoughts with us that will enable us to improve what we do. The nucleus of a school community is an ever changing hub of many activities, goals, and objectives. We want to hear from you!
Please take advantage to share your thoughts with us!