What we did on our summer vacation
by David Benson, Educational Technology Consultant ()
Welcome back!
Are you all set for our first project? I want you to write a 300-word essay titled "What I Did on My Summer Vacation."
Scary words, aren't they? Even though the idea of the summer vacation essay is now more of a clich than an activity, every student knows about that assignment and lives in fear of the dreaded words, "Write an essay about how you spent your summer vacation."
But not this kid! I live for the moment I can regale you all with tales of summer vacations, so, here goes the essay ...
In truth, to be more appropriate, this essay should really be titled, "What We Did on Our Summer Vacation," because this summer PBS 45 & 49's Educational Services staff spent a great deal of time doing what we do around here training teachers in the integration of technology into their classrooms. We did programs like FrontPage and PhotoShop Elements. We showed teachers how to edit video, how to create a stock market simulation and how to create a WebQuest. We brought in trainers for NASA and Marco Polo workshops, and we did "Learn It, Love It, Leave With It" workshops for scanners and Palm handheld computers (the kind of workshop where you learn how to use the device and then take it with you).
In some ways, you might say we spent our summer vacation not having much of a summer vacation (trust me, we all managed to get away for at least a week or two). We prefer to look at it as preparing teachers who are getting prepared for their students. And throughout that time we had some great fun showing all sorts of great programs and devices to teachers from all over our service area.
So, we all hope that you have a great year and, about that essay instead of writing it down, why don't you stop by for a visit, see what we have to offer and tell us all about your summer vacation.
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