Summercore 2009 Application:

please complete via Plan A or Plan B or Plan C!

Last revised 7/20/08
Plan A: copy and paste this into an e-mail to
Plan B: print this and send via snail mail to
Steve Bergen
400 East 90th Street #6F
New York NY 10128

Plan C: print this and fax to 781-240-0363

Checks should be made payable to The Original Teaching Company and mailed via snail mail to above address

Call 781-953-9699 or e-mail us at if you have questions

--Steve Bergen and Lynne Schalman (www.summercore.com)

p.s. this Summercore application is posted on line at http://www.summercore.com/scapplication.html

The total cost of Summercore is $1099, with $333 being the deposit at time of application and the balance of $766 due by June 1. Registration will be confirmed several weeks after we have received both the $333 deposit (payable to The Original Teaching Company and mailed to the above address) and the completed Summercore application. If your application is not accepted, your deposit will be fully refunded. Sorry, but no phone reservations and no payments by credit card.

Print name clearly: _____________________________

Today's date: _____________________________

I am applying to the _________ session

note#1: do NOT make plane reservation until you receive confirmation

note#2: to any employee at The Children's Storefront, Milwaukee Montessori School, Horace Mann School, Castilleja School or Shorecrest Preparatory School, please ignore all references to deposits or money in this generic application ...

note#3: to any employee of a NYC Charter School, see the note below about the total fee being reduced to $333 ("the deposit") for you

I heard of Summercore through _________________________

Please read and PUT YOUR INITIALS in the blanks for each of the following items; this form will help us know if Summercore is the right program for you

--- I understand that the non-refundable deposit of $333 is needed as part of this application and that I will get a formal confirmation once both this application and the $333 non-refundable deposit have been received

--- I will be employed next year in the Charter School called ________________________ located in __________________ ; I understand that after the deposit of $333, there is no additional payment due because I am working at a NYC charter school.

--- For those in the Shorecrest Summercore or for those in either Horace Mann Summercore, I understand that the balance of $766 is due by is due by 6/1/09 making a total of $1099; I understand that both payments are non-refundable but that in case of cancellation, someone else from my school can attend instead. After 6/01/09, I understand that my spot may be given to someone else or that there will be a $50 late fee. If there are issues with my business office regarding the payment, I will send a note to s and seek permission to have the fee paid by a certain date.

Regarding my boarding situation, feel free to send e-mail to for info about motels or hotels in the area

--- I understand that Summercore is not a training program centered around one specific piece of software. I understand that except for the software programs featured in the Summercore flyer (the Web, Powerpoint, iMovie, Inspiration, First Class, Microsoft Word & Excel) the instructors are under no obligation to provide in-depth training on other software, even though they will provide help within the time constraints of the program.

--- I understand that the standard time frame for Summercore (although it may be modified for your school) involves 9AM to 6PM on Mon-Thursday and 9AM to 12:33 on Friday.

--- I understand that Summercore is not a workshop for system managers secretaries, administrative assistants, or school staff whose technology priority is other than the use of computers in the classroom. If I am in one of these categories and choose to come to Summercore anyway, I understand that there will be several sessions where "classroom issues and pedagogy" is emphasized, but I understand that I will participate as a non-teacher.

--- I understand that it is not appropriate for those seeking expertise in one specific area.

--- I understand that Summercore does not have an onsite nurse and participants taken ill must visit the local hospital for medical attention.

--- I understand that if I choose to bring a personal laptop to the Summercore labs (which is a pesonal option that some participants chooose to do) that I am responsible for any loss or theft of this item.

--- I understand that Summercore is approximately 35 required hours (schedule varies based on location) and that I must commit myself to being there for the full program; I understand that missing various sessions for personal reasons or conflicts compromises the quality of the program for the instructors as well as the synergy of the group.

--- I understand that there are homework assignments of required reading for about 33-60 minutes per night.

--- I understand that there will be an "intro handout" sent in June as a PDF or posted on the Web for participants to read.

--- I understand that there may be 1 or 2 students helping us as student interns.

--- I understand that extremely proficient computer users may find Summercore to be the wrong program for them. Although we try very hard to make Summercore work for everyone -- and split most sessions into JV and Varsity -- it is absolutely true that we do not and cannot do an effective job with "Super Varsity computer users" given the overall range of Summercore participants

--- I understand that my e-mail address will be shared with the 15 or 20 or 25 other people who attend this section of Summercore but that no one else will receive it.

--- I understand that my name and some of my work at Summercore will be posted on a Summercore Web page. This may include photos taken at Summercore or a Summercore video posted on YouTube.

--- If I wish to board at the Hilton Hotel in Florida (St. Petersburg Bayfront on 333 First Street South) that is mentioned on http://www.summercore.com/wheretostay.html#florida, then I need to receive an official confirmation number from The Original Teaching Company by June 1st and need to understand that I am financially committed as of June 1 to paying for that room. This comes as a result of the hotel being fairly difficult with us and insisting on these terms. Steve Bergen 4/25/08

Please Note: no application will be considered without the following two short essays:

1. On the back of this form or on a separate piece of paper or via e-mail, please include 1-2 paragraphs explaining your computer background and level of expertise.

2. On the back of this form or on a separate piece of paper or via e-mail, please include 1-2 paragraphs explaining your goals and specific expectations for Summercore.

Digital or printed picture

Please include a picture as part of your application ... you can send a digital picture to or mail it if you are using sending in your printed application. Or if your picture is online, you can just include the URL here: __________________________
Note: this particular picture will not be posted on the Web or shared with others.

Summercore Alum?

--- I am a Summercore Alum and think that the year I was last at Summercore was _____

Rate yourself 1 through 10 on each item below:

(10 = extremely skilled and 1 = complete novice)

We use the metaphors of Varsity (level 10), JV (level 5) and Thirds (level 1) as we cover each topic during Summercore ... we frequently have two simultaneous sessions going on at the same time, one might be called "thirds/JV" and the other might be called "JV/Varsity" ... we encourage you to choose the session appropriate to you for each topic (e.g. Excel, HTML, PowerPoint, WebQuests) ... so you may choose to be in JV for Excel and Varsity for WebQuests ... we also allow you "jump ship" in the first 15 minutes if you find yourself in the wrong room ;-)

FIRST CLASS: ______
USING A MAC: ______
USING A PC: ______
MANAGING FILES & FOLDERS: ______
USING A SMARTBOARD: ______
MICROSOFT WORD: ______
MICROSOFT EXCEL: ______
MICROSOFT POWERPOINT: ______
PHOTOSHOP (any version): ______
CREATING WEB PAGES (whether by software or HTML): ______
INSPIRATION: ______
USING WEBQUESTS: ______
USING A SCANNER: ______
USING AN IPOD: ______
USING A DIGITAL CAMERA: ______
USING A PROJECTOR WHEN TEACHING: ______
HAVING STUDENTS USE LAPTOPS WHEN TEACHING: ______
WEB 2.0: ______
GOOGLE EARTH: ______
RSS FEEDS: ______
BLOGS AND WIKIS: ______

General Info:

School Name: -----------------------------------------
Your First and Last Name: -----------------------------------------
Preferred nickname: -----------------------------------------
Male/Female: -----------------------------------------
Home Phone #: -----------------------------------------
Position/title: -----------------------------------------
E-mail address (please PRINT this carefully)?: -----------------------------------------
Secondary E-mail address (optional of course)?: -----------------------------------------
Home Address, City, State, Zip: --------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
Subject(s) and grade(s) you teach?: -----------------------------------------
# of years employed in schools?: -----------------------------------------
# of years at current school?: -----------------------------------------

Food preferences or restrictions (e.g. vegetarian): ----------------------------------

Computer Choice and Experience:

Choose one or more:
--- I want to use a Macintosh at Summercore
--- I want to use a PC at Summercore
--- I want to use both a Mac and PC at Summercore

--- I plan on bringing my own Mac laptop and hope that it can be connected to the Internet once I arrive

--- I plan on bringing my own PC laptop and hope that it can be connected to the Internet once I arrive

Check which ONE phrase best describes your computer usage?
--- computer novice
--- computer teacher
--- tech coordinator
--- occasional user
--- fairly regular word processing user but not much else
--- regular user with several computer areas
--- fairly skilled in many areas
---- other? you describe: _____________

Make a rough estimate at what percent of the teaching faculty at your school is in each of the four levels below.

This classification scheme comes from Tim Fish, one of the authors of the book Leadership and Technology at Independent Schools. You can read more about this on the Web page of http://summercore.chapin.edu/timfish if you are interested. Please understand that we are just asking you to make a "rough estimate" and put down 4 numbers that add to 100%. One of the most important themes at Summercore involves "how to move faculty to the next level without stress" and so this section of the application provides us with a head start!

  • How many teachers are at level one? ____ This level refers to people whose only computer usage is required work, e.g. required e-mail, required comments. These teachers are typically not very comfortable with using a computer. Level one teachers are often wonderful in the classroom; they just have not adopted technology as a personal or instructional tool.

  • How many teachers are at level two? _____ This level refers to people who use the computer for personal and professional use. They may use the computer quite a bit to shop online, create materials for the classroom, e-mail with fellow teachers, do web research, etc. Level two teachers may also use the computer and a projector to deliver classroom materials to students, they may have their own web page, etc. The key distinction with level two teachers is that they very rarely have students use technology as part of the learning process.

  • How many teachers are at level three, what Tim calls Isolated Integrators? ____ This level refers to people who occasionally have students use technology as part of the learning process. Level three teachers may have the students do between 1 and 6 technology integrated units each year. An example may be a foreign language teacher who brings her class to the technology center in November each year to make French newspapers using MS publisher and then returns in the Spring to have students make travel brochures for the country they are studying.

  • How many teachers are at level four, what Tim calls Frequent Flyers? ___ Level four teachers regularly have students use technology. These are teachers who would be very excited about a school's decision to have students purchase laptops. These teachers see limitless potential for the use of technology in the classroom and are excited to move forward. They are viewed as the power users of technology. Computers are important to them personally and instructionally.

    Final question ... what level would you say you are in? ____

    Remember there are 3 ways to submit this. You will get a confirmation within 2 weeks of submitting!

    Plan A: copy and paste this into an e-mail to
    Plan B: print this and send via snail mail to

    Steve Bergen
    400 East 90th Street #6F
    New York NY 10128

    Plan C: print this and fax to 781-240-0363