School/Business Partnerships

• What motivates a business to assist schools?
• Who should you contact at a business? PR, Employment relations?
• Out of date equipment issues
• Who is the district contact?
• Matching needs with businesses
• Identifying tangible and intangible needs
• Rotary, Lions, etc are looking for service projects
• Use your Chambers of Commerce

Staff Development

• Have a plan
• Administrative buy-in
• Individual Learning Plans (ILPs)
• Don't try to be global
• Staff development is only going to hit 15% at one time
• Set aside funding
• Find teachers who have created model lessons and are willing to share

Trying to sell the concept of buying an LCD projector for your site or district? Approach it with your administration like you'd approach buying a computer...it's a rapidly changing technology which needs replacing every two or three years. Barbara expressed concern that those of us who have a high level of understanding about computer hardware or software often suffer from a lack of knowledge about projection devices. This can lead us to being talked into buying old or incompatible equipment.

• Newer software programs require 600 x 800 monitors to work; most older projectors can't meet that resolution
• Don't just jump on purchasing the brighter projector; look for resolution technology too. You need to standardize the same way you standardize your other hardware.
• When computers get hooked up to a TV screen you may lose quality of text. Your newer projectors can be set up to be "backwardly compatible" to show 400 x 600, but you'll get the same text problem as with the TV converter.
• How long does the projector lamp last? 2000 hours is good. A $460 lamp isn't unreasonable. Know how to justify to the powers that be that it's a technology with a limited life-span.
• Use projectors in classrooms, not just in a closet for special occasions, because they will become obsolete at some point, too.
• LCD panels are old technologies at this point. When you see them for sale in magazines, they're trying to offload them . $1200 is the most you should pay for an LCD panel.
• Don't pay more than $2400 for a 400 x 600 projector either.
• The projection industry is moving to flat-panel displays and plasma screens that just get plugged in. 2000x4000 resolution. Right now they cost $10,000, but soon will cost same as LCD projectors.