Recent Articles:
What Common Core State Standards Mean to Catholic Schools
The Common Core State Standards are becoming increasingly important in the Catholic School Industry and the NCEA is taking it seriously. Sister Dale McDonald discusses why it’s important for Catholic schools to get on board and how they can do so.
How to integrate iPads into the classroom
Tom Ulses & Joanna Seymour, from Cedar Valley Catholic Schools in Waterloo, Iowa, presented “The Time is Now: Leading the Way with Technology Integration and the iPad 2”. The presentation covered current technology topics such as integrating an iPad 1-to-1 program at the high school and middle school levels. At the conclusion of the presentation, Joanna discussed her favorite “Top 10 iPad Apps for Education.” You can download the whole presentation here: http://bit.ly/nceaipads
Top iPad apps for education:
1) iBooks is Apple’s free e-reader that allows users to directly interact with the text. Students can highlight, define and search unknown words within the text, making the iPad more interactive. Additionally, teachers can use this app to distribute custom books.
2) Speak It! is a tool for kids who have trouble visually reading. Any text can be copied and pasted into Speak It, which will turn the text into an audiobook.
3) Dragon Dictation is a free verbal dictation tool. Joanna thinks this app is most beneficial for students who have dysgraphia and have trouble writing. Once the program deciphers the recording, the student can copy and paste the dictated word into other word processing programs.
4) Offline Reader is especially crucial for students in Cedar Valley who don’t have wifi. This app allows them to download website texts to view later.
5) Dropbox is a cloud-based storage system that can access documents from multiple locations.
6) Evernote allows you to take notes and automatically sync to the cloud. Joanna suggests this app as the preferred note-taking program because it automatically backs up the students’ notes. Paired with Peek, students can turn their Evernote notes into electronic flashcards.
7) iWork (although she admits this is more than one app.): the suite of Apple products that allows students to properly organize notes, create layouts, share data and give presentations.
8) Calcupad is a robust calculating app that works well for math teachers. In addition to crunching the numbers, the app keeps a running tape of the calculations, allowing for mistakes to be found and corrected.
9) Garage Band was originally created for the desktop computer, but Joanna believes iPad app is more robust than the desktop version because of its ability to create music in the same motion as the real instruments.
10) Comic Life is an illustration app that students can use to quickly and easily translate what they’re learning into comic books.
11) Educreations all users to create pictures and drawings, while recording your voice at the same time. Teachers and students can create demos or class discussions that can be sent anywhere throughout the worl.
12) AppleTV is a $99 device connects to an HD projector or TV. Cedar Valley Schools selected to use Airplay with the AppleTV with a regular whiteboard, cutting down on costs for upgrading every classroom.
13) Reflection App allows the screen of the iPad to be reflected onto a screen in the room via airport technology. This app reduces the need to buy costly projectors for each classroom.
12 Edtech Tools that Any Religion Teacher Can Use Effectively.
To help encourage active participation and inspire new ideas, many teachers have begun to integrate digital media into their classrooms. We often here about science, English or world languages teachers using digital media, many religion teachers are also starting to incorporate them into their curriculum. Whether it’s to help engage students or breathe new life into traditional concepts, digital media tools can help.
Jared Dees, otherwise known as The Religion Teacher highlighted 12 Edtech Tools that Any Religion Teacher Can Use Effectively.
Google Search
Gather keywords students are likely to use to research particular topic or question.
PowerPoint
Students can apply what they’ve learned and create a presentation.
Google Docs
Using Forms/Surveys, teachers can create quizzes that can be automatically grade,
Evernote
Create virtual notebooks on specific topics with information clipped and collected from around the web
Prezi
Present on topics creatively and visually, useful for telling stories
YouTube
Watch educational videos, create and upload videos
Screenr & Jing
Create screencasts of lectures to be used for Flipping the Classroom.
Animoto
Create short videos for in class meditations
Wordle
Create word clouds that illustrate popular keywords, topics and issues present in passages or presentations.
Quora
Follow relevant questions to better engage students or answer questions based on material covered in class
Create pages or share information related to class material
Many of these tools may already be present in classrooms, while others are new. However, all of them provide new ways to present and share material that can facilitate engaging and interactive discussions in and outside the classroom.
Do you have a favorite tool? Please tell us in the comments.
Polacco’s body of work honored with Regina Medal
Patricia Polacco, the 2012 Catholic Library Association Regina Medal award winner, was honored at the NCEA national convention for her work in the children’s book writing. The annual award, established in 1959, is sponsored and given, at will, by Catholic Library Executive Board. The only criterion for the award is that of excellence and is given to a living exemplar of the words of the English poet, Walter de la Mare “only the rarest kind of best in anything can be good enough for the young,” for continued, distinguished contribution to children’s literature without regard to the nature of the contribution.
Polacco, an author and illustrator who is dyslexic and dysgraphic, began to express herself through publishing. She was unable to read until the age of 14, when an influential teacher observed her struggles and was able to guide in the right direction. Thank You, Mr. Falker, which honors the teacher that changed her life, is one of the many personal historical recounts that illustrate her past and future.
An enamoring storyteller, Polacco captures the audience with her vibrant details and recollections of past experiences.
Children’s book author Patricia Polacco uncovers a murder mystery
Patricia Polacco, the 2012 Regina Medal award winner, was honored at the NCEA national convention for her work in the children’s book writing.
An enamoring storyteller, Polacco captures the audience with her vibrant details and recollections of past experiences. In this exclusive interview, she recalls the unearthing of an unanticipated family tale of murder in the family.
Marketing Your School’s Mission, Philosophy and Vision
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A school is made up of students, teachers, administration, classrooms, books and a variety of resources. An education is both tangible and intangible, in that it provides outcomes that can be measured and resonate emotionally. In order to successfully market a school’s educational experience, Catholic schools need to showcase a school’s value as a product that is both priceless and affordable.
In the session Mission, Message, Markets, & Methods: A Marketing Framework for Schools, Al Catelli, Advancement Director, Pope John Paul II High School and Steven Virgadamo, who has devoted more than twenty years of expert guidance to college, school, parish, and diocesean leadership, helped Catholic educators connect marketing essentials with Catholic school marketing strategies.
People Don’t Buy Based on Price, They Buy Based on Value.
According to Mr. Catelli, most schools don’t close based on product, but rather because they didn’t market effectively. The value of a Catholic school education is inherent in its design and mission, however, it’s not always effectively communicated to its community.
Mr. Catelli encourages schools to highlight three key elements associated with their institutions: Image, enrollment, and resources. Prospective students and parents alike will have their own perceptions of a school’s reputation and resources. It is the responsibility of schools to present an image that either matches or exceeds the perceptions of the community.
Just because you can control your image, doesn’t mean you can create just any perception. As Rev. Ronald Rolheiser discussed previously being transparent and sincere in our beliefs and mission is crucial to living in the heart that is closest to Jesus.
Product v. Service
As you know, however, the product of a quality education is hard to wrap up and package. Rather, schools provide a service. By selling a service, relationships are built, cultivated and sustained. Does your school’s service match its mission?
Create a Vision Based on Your Mission
Of course, a school’s vision is only as strong as its mission and philosophy. Without a well-defined mission and philosophy upon which a school serves its students and teachers. Without it, a school can’t possibly market its vision successfully. However, as Mr. Virgadamo notes, missions can change to better serve its community. Schools need to be in tune with how their students, parents and teachers are evolving in the communities around them. Being able to effectively evolve alongside emerging trends is not only necessary, it requires schools to be aware of how they can best serve and sustain their constituents over time.
Provide Consistency
Though emerging trends may force you to adjust your services from time to time, Mr. Catelli warns schools not to change too often. Develop the right message and let it soak in and stick with your constituents. Changing your brand, logo, mission or philosophy will only serve to confuse and alienate your followers.
Overall, the more secure a school is in who they are, what they stand for and what type of experience they provide, the better equipped they are to attract the right people, be it students or donors, and serve them well.
Lift Up the People We Serve – Dr. Mary C. McDonald’s Call to Action for NCEA 2012
photo courtesy of Green Line Marketing Group
Day two of the National Catholic Educational Association 2012 Conference and Expo featured a keynote address by Dr. Mary C. McDonald, superintendent of the Catholic schools in the Diocese of Memphis, Tennessee. She spoke about the importance of developing a history with God.
How Do You Know Jesus?
After serving as a good Samaritan for a man with a missing wallet, Dr. McDonald began to ponder how her relationship with God as a vocation began. For her, it started as a geometry teacher, then as a principal and eventually as a superintendent. Throughout, she called on God to help her thrive, drive and survive the challenges presented to her in the classroom, in the schools and in the city of Memphis.
Participate in Your Miracle
The difference between being ordinary and miraculous is often a product of your own participation, Dr. McDonald says. To sit idly by while God intervenes is not always the best option – in many situations, it’s essential that individuals participate fully in God’s plan.
To err is to be human. Making mistakes is a part of the human condition, but too often we are preoccupied with perfection. Being perfect isn’t the same as being loved and as such McDonald says that being perfect isn’t the goal — ensuring that everyone is loved, is.
We Are God’s Arms in the World
Educators have many challenges in front of them. As well, there are often very little resources made available, be it limited staff, money or access. Dr. McDonald says that where there’s a will, there is a way. It may be easy to shift responsibility onto God, but ultimately it is our job to do the work. With His support and love, however, anything is possible, but it will not be easy. By fully participating, difficult endeavors can lead to the most rewarding moments. To fully embody the arms of God, Dr. McDonald reminds educators that they must lift up the people they serve if they are to be truly successful.
Passionate revelations: 2012 NPCD Emmaus Award for Excellence in Catechesis
At the National Catholic Educational Association 2012 Convention and Expo, Michael Carotta, national leader in ministry support for Youth, Confirmation programs, and Vocational Development, received the 2012 NPCD Emmaus Award for Excellence in Catechesis, which honors someone with a national or international reputation in the field of catechetics/religious education who has made a significant contribution to Catholic catechesis through writing, publishing, teaching at the college or university level, administration or research and development over a period of at least 10 years.
He wildly demonstrates his passionate revelation when he received this award.
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