Letters to the North Pole

Mrs. Claus visited seven of Cabell County's Title I schools this holiday season. Since it's such a hectic time of year in the North Pole, she put the powers of technology to good use. Using our newly implemented Polycom videoconferencing system, Claus was able to talk with children across the county without leaving the warmth of her North Pole fireplace.

I designed this project to address Reading/ Language Arts Curriculum Standards and Objectives in writing, listening, speaking, and reading comprehension. PreK- Grade 3 classrooms were invited to participate. The work began in the classrooms with students writing their annual Letter to Santa. Teachers composed a Nice List to forward to the North Pole so that students would know that their good deeds and behavior does not go unnoticed. We also incorporated Science and Social Studies by making a connection between the wildlife in West Virginia and that found at the North Pole.

During her high-tech visits to the schools, Mrs. Claus shared a lesson in good character and kindness with the children by reading Silver Packages, written by West Virginia author Cynthia Rylant. This story shares a lesson about the value of personal relationships and the importance of giving of ourselves every day. We hope to run the project again next year, reaching even more classrooms in our Title I schools.

To view our collaborative project space, visit http://letterstothenorthpole.pbworks.com.

Polycom Video Conferencing

At the end of April, I was hired as a TIS for Cabell County Schools. One of the first initiatives that they have assigned to me is to attend a series of Polycom training. I will be responsible for coming up with a plan to integrate this equipment in the schools. In January, seven HDX Media Centers were placed in the schools, one in each of the Title I funded schools. The county also purchased several for the Central Office and three server-mounted units that will record or stream conferences, manage student/ teacher access, and assist with scheduling. Needless to say, I was a little anxious about traveling to Andover, MA alone to attend what I anticipated to be a training that was far beyond my technical ability, let alone comprehension. I met with Dennis one afternoon for a quick run-down of the RSS 2000. He left me with some words of encouragement, "Don't let those engineers intimidate you!" Those few words and a black pin-striped suit gave me the confidence that I needed to step in to my new position. I am scheduled to be in Atlanta the first week of June for training on the SE 200. I hope I'm ready!

• RSS 2000 Technical Course Certificate