I'm No Wendy

Just a little reminder about using what you’ve got: don’t forget to use the Web to reach your community. I don’t know about your Web setup, but our school site was VERY complicated. You actually had to be familiar with html in order to update or post anything. Now, we have a new program and posting information is as easy as attaching a form to an email. Thank goodness for progress.

Inspired by the SitePal (Wendy!) on the SPN, I decided to create a virtual training session for my evaluators. We hold Board Night on a Wednesday from 5:00pm to 9:00 pm. Some of my evaluators are not able to make it to the training which I hold before and during dinner from 5:30-6:00, so many of them went untrained—bad idea. Instead of training them during the portfolio evaluation time, which they love, I decided to bring the training to them at their convenience. I created a PowerPoint with and without narration and posted it on our school site.

The PowerPoint still has some timing glitches and I can’t stand the sound of my voice, but the feedback has been great. I think people, especially new evaluators, really like to have an idea about what Senior Project is all about before they arrive on campus. Parents have even viewed it so they would know what to expect for their kids on Board Night.

In addition, we use the Web for our invitation process. It saves time, postage, and paper. I really like having an electronic archive of correspondence, and the evaluators have responded positively to electronic communication. I think we are all tired of shuffling (and losing) papers.

I am working on a virtual session for Mentors, Experts (our Project/Practical Experience supervisor), and parents for next semester. I think having the ability to “converse” with the additional stakeholders will really bring life to our project. It’s all about communication, right?

Check out my stuff at http://www.buncombe.k12.nc.us/acrhs/site/default.asp. I’m no Wendy, but I think I’ll suffice.


***REMEMBER THAT POSTING YOUR STUDENT MANUAL ON THE “UNPROTECTED” WEB IS A NO-NO. INFORMATION CONTAINED IN YOUR MANUAL IS MOST LIKELY THE RESULT OF TRAINING YOU RECEIVED FROM CARLEEN OSHER, DIRECTOR, OR ANOTHER SENIOR PROJECT CENTER CONSULTANT. THAT MAKES THE INFORMATION INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF P4DL. IN ADDITION, SCHOOLS THAT HAVE NOT ATTENDED TRAINING SHOULD NOT HAVE ACCESS TO SENIOR PROJECT MATERIALS. IF YOU NEED TO MAKE IT AVAILABLE, PROTECT IT WITH A PASSWORD.***