Good to be home

It is great to be home -- but is was also an exciting week of education and making new friends. I cannot wait to have some time to process some of this. Also want to check websites at LHS to see what ones will work with the filter. Have a great weekend everyone! Hope everyone has safe travels home.

National Weather Center more than crawlers on the screen

• NWC Facts
• Educators Resource
• Science on a Sphere
• Weather in the Movies

Just off I 35 on Highway 9, along the Oklahoma Technology Corridor is the National Weather Center. In Oklahoma, most people are familiar with the weather service through the crawlers across the bottom of the TV screen indicating severe or adverse weather conditions. There is more to the National Weather Center than the crawlers on the screen.

The National Weather Center sits on a 22 acre site at the corner of Jenkins and Highway 9 in Norman, Oklahoma.

• Groundbreaking November 2002
• Building dedication September 2006
• 250,000 square feet with five stories
• Rooftop outdoor classroom
• Enclosed weather observation deck
• Houses 550 people

The building is the home to research scientists, operational meteorologist, climatologists, engineers, technicians, support staff and graduate/undergraduate students. Students work alongside professionals and professionals become role models for students. Networking occurs from the time a student steps into the building until the time they graduate.

The National Weather Center is a working classroom and it houses a unique confederation of University Of Oklahoma, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and state organizations that work together in partnership to improve understanding of events occurring in the Earth's atmosphere over a wide range of time and space scales.

The NWC provides tours, outreach education and a host of other resources for educators. Storm spotters can find a wide array of resources from learning what to look for in a storm to reporting forms.


The National Weather Center also houses some fun and unusual items. The props from the movie TWISTER are located on the ground floor of the building. Continuing with the TWISTER movie theme is the FLYING COW CAFE.

TEACHING CHANGES DYNAMICALLY

Technology is changing the dynamics of teaching minute by minute. In a workshop attended by teachers from across the state of Oklahoma technology has brains spinning, minds racing and lesson plans changing.

• Changing technology changing classroom learning
• Classroom lessons become more interactive
• Multi media meets different learning styles

Teachers were challenged to find new and innovative ways to educate the students in their schools using the multi media tools available. Technology changes minute by minute. Dr. Sybril Bennett, Ms. Tammy Parks, Janet Kerby, and Carol Knopes provided a plethora of websites, technology tools, and uses for ways to make classrooms more interactive.

According to John Dewey, "If we teach today as we taught yesterday we rob our children of tomorrow." Children today live in a world of technology and their learning styles reflect this need for learning. According to the many of the high school journalism experts, high school journalism is not the same mad dash to print a paper, late night deadlines, or the never ending stories of prom, clubs or sports. There is a plethora of resources for the high school journalism teacher.

The most innovative application for technology I discovered was the use of cell phones in the classroom. From the use of wiffiti to twitter to using it for photo assignments. Classrooms should become more interactive. According to a survey posted on cnet.com "About four out of every five teens carry a cell phone. This is up from 40 percent of teens owning a cell phone in 2004. And almost half of the teens surveyed today say that having a cell phone is "key" to their social lives." So instead of fighting the use of cell phones in the classroom, why not embrace them and use the power of the technology to enhance learning. Cell phones can become a tool in the classroom. Studies and industry reports are encouraging the use of cell phones as another way to introduce multi media technology into the classrooom.

This is a new one

Okay I will try this new blog business thank you Sybrill, Tammy, Janet & Carol ... and all my fellow teachers who are learning along with me.