Git 'Er Done...

Well, we have done exactly that! We got our PSA done. In fact, we did two 30 second spots... I enjoyed playing with the movie maker. I think that my students would love it too. I have found that jumping in and attacking is the best method for me to use when I am not sure about a tool. What is most unbelieveable is that now I think about how I can put this all together with my lessons and what the students will be learning and how much time I can allow and how much time I needed and...

The podcasting was fun because we got to play with hearing our voices, altering them and making something that we don't mind listening to because it is as though it is someone else's voice, not our own. Making the podcast for the public service wiki is a great use of the tool, but I can see that the podcast could also be added to my classroom blog for students who missed lectures. I also could find podcasts to use as introductions to lessons... the uses are endless!

I am sure that the students would love to experience the wikis, blogs, and podcasts. They are the types of tools that would engage them. I am sure that most of them already know what they are and will jump right into the creation without needing much instruction on the technique. But, what is best is that I can help them and share my personal experiences that came from the production of my group's PSA.

I am sure that Will Richardson would be proud to see that we read, we created, and we conquered! Perhaps we will be teacher leaders and go back into our schools and encourage two others to try the tools, and they will tell two colleagues, who will tell two colleagues, and the tools will spread through the school like wildfire! I students only stand to benefit from our boldly stepping into the information age and taking control of innovative tools of instruction.

Movie Making... Take ONE

Last night, my group and I worked on our public service announcement. The problem that we have is that we keep coming up with new, BETTER ideas! We have storyboarded several times and have redirected ourselves so much that I am a little worried that we have been too creative. Can it happen? One of my group colleagues suggested that what I am experiencing is that we are playing all of the roles in our public service announcement creation. Therefore, we have the power to change our script and direction based on the formulation of new ideas.

We are going to come up with a great public service announcement - that I am sure of. But, I think working with three minds that are full of ideas the hardest part of the project is going to be channeling that energy into one direction and creating a product that we can each be proud of. I know we can do it!

Reading Richardson and Becoming a Convert...

As I continue to read and reread the Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms book by Will Richardson I find myself increasingly convinced that I should spend some time this summer developing lesson plans that use these new tools. I am sure that my students will be more engaged because I will be speaking a "language" that they love and are familiar with. They will also enjoy the fact that they have already acquired a comfort level using the tools that I will be including.

I have tried highlighting and tagging the book (using the traditional sense of tagging ;o) and hope that I will be able to sit down and spend time playing with the tools. Hopefully, I will know enough and have enough planned to work with them in September.

As for the online learning... I will have to rethink my time line. I find it increasingly difficult to get through the reading and am concerned that I might fall dangerously behind with the modules. I am thankful that the mentor has a fixed plan of her actions so that I might fit into her schedule and not waste time waiting for responses and to send things in to her.

Hopefully, I will maneuver the technology in my favor! In the meantime, I have some editing of locusts' expressions to do ... with paint!

Just Perusing...

Tonight, as I experienced my new laptop (yeah!), I perused many of my cohort colleagues' blog sites. I have to admit that I am impressed with the variety and creativity! I'd love to have the links to all of our cohorts' blogs on my site... I will research this and either make it happen on my own or ask for assistance through my blog...

I am enjoying the Richardson text because it helps me to better understand what is happening in the techno world. One of my fears as a teacher is that I will get into a school and stay in there, never exploring the world outside, trying new ideas and struggling with new technology. The cohort has given me the confidence to try new things... to expand my repertoire of teaching tools.

The Leadership Academy is offering an opportunity to think about something that we all take for granted. It is a little funny, though, to think about the leadership course. If you think about it for a moment-they are preaching to the choir. We all have the responsibility (and have willingly taken it on at great expense) of taking leadership roles as we explore new techniques and open possibilities to share with others in our building.

As our cohort comes to a close-we can reflect on our learning through the itsipedia maintenance... we can see how much we have learned. If we share this learning with others we are taking on leadership roles. I look forward to working some of the knowledge I have gained in to authentic learning situations for my students (and their parents).

I have searched the web for locusts with smiley face - with no luck. ;o(

seeking methods to engage learners

I am always looking for methods to engage my students in learning. For many of my students the learning environment is a place where they experience failure. I believe that each of them has the ability to learn. Many have to be reintroduced to the excitement that they experienced when they were young - going to kindergarten for the first time. I often ask them to try to remember how they felt about school when they were young. "It was fun then," is a common reply.

Through project-based learning, I have found some success and lots of increased interest. I guess they may not know that they are learning and may not completely understand how they are being assessed. But, the unfamiliarity with my assessment practices provides the veil under which I can slip and teach them something - with no fear of failure. Blogging can be used to help my students do research on a topic. Wikis can be used to develop some stronger writing skills. Hopefully, I will get strong enough over the summer to put some new lesson plans into place using this engaging forum... encouraging my students to become geometry locusts!

Blogging in place of...

stagnate learning. I find myself increasingly frustrated with the email process. I am currently taking an online course and do the reading, create the work, and email my mentor with the products required of the curriculum.

Sometimes the things that I create are awesome! I'd love to have others look at them and critique them. I imagine that my students might feel this way also. It feels like I am running into a brick wall. I start a process, build the excitement, am enthusiastic about it, email it to my mentor, and get an email saying that I didn't do it, have to resend it and wait for reaction. Now, that might be the case with a blog also. But, if there are people out there, reading my blog, I am publishing my ideas and getting more feedback from a variety of people. How many times have I made my students feel stagnate? I don't want to make them feel stagnate. Feeling stagnate is frustrating. I don't want to frustrate my students.

I continue to read Will Richardson, trying to slowly learn the blogosphere. I can see how the use of blogs could be used with common curricular units or teams of teachers working together to create cross-curricular lessons. The blog is accessible to all and can comfortably provide a medium for students to access and read and make comments to.

Slow and Easy Wins the Race?

As we work more with wikis and learn about the versatility of blogging, I am finding myself more interested in the potential to use this technology in my classroom. Of course, we will need to iron out the kinks - how do we avoid some of the pitfalls of students doing things on the blog that will come back to "haunt" them? How do we prevent them from writing things that will cause problems with their peers? And, how will we help those whose writing skills leave them behind the eightball?

I would like to find subjects that can be investigated through my blog. Perhaps, for instance, rather than struggling through the processes to create a lovely and personal blog site, one of my peers might be able to offer some support. I am doing some of the reading and researching on my own, but having a peer to guide me makes learning even more fun.

I am struggling with the technology and learning the language. I can imagine how my students must feel as they go through the learning process in my classroom. But, I can remember when the other work associated with this cohort was also difficult for me albeit second nature to many of my peers.

I will continue to read... continue to learn... and hope to enjoy the process!

Growing in the name of blogging...

As I received my Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts book in the mail I felt obligated to dig in and begin reading. Unfortunately, the holiday weekend is very much needed and I haven't had as much time available to devote to my reading as I would have liked. But, the reading that I have done has started me thinking about blogging in a different way. I currently have been blogging in a kind of diary way... putting my thoughts on paper. What I feel that I will eventually hope to be able to do is to blog for the purpose of sharing information and growing with others in discussing the information.

I have experienced reflections journals (where I write what I feel about what I am studying and submit the journal to my professor). But, the reflective process was a little lost as the reflections were collected. I am hoping that blogging will give me more immediate feedback. Hopefully, I will grow to where I can include links and serious thought to my required blog. I am actually thinking about starting a family blog so that I can be in touch with my children. They can even help me by including pictures and things - they are truly technically saavy!

I think about many situations where blogs would be helpful and even maybe fun... I had a colleague share her powerpoint on slang... I will share it with others... maybe it will grow and become something that other English teachers will share with their students. Hence, the blogosphere!

Should young people be committed to a medium that might be used later in life to harm them? When one is young, one may write things that they would rather forget about once they have matured. The internet would be unforgiving, holding this electronic memory forever! Shouldn't we be teaching our students in an environment where they are safe from public viewing? Shouldn't we help the student to learn in a place where they can feel safe and secure experimenting?

I want to run to my children's myspace and facebook pages and warn them that someday, someone might pull up the page from May 27th 2007 and it may have a hedious picture of you on the beach with some wild-eyed bunch of your best buddies acting in a way that you don't want the selection committee at the State department to see ;o) ... I have taught my children to be cautious crossing the street, be careful with fire, and so on. Now, how do I teach them about something that is foreign to me?

Ramblings...

One of the things that I like most about blogging is that I can talk about anything that I want and no one, not anyone at all interrupts me. I could really get involved in some sort of rambling and find myself talking endlessly, never really saying anything of importance.

But, as a teacher, this is fun because most of the time so many people (my students) are listening to me and I have to be sure that what I am saying is right and that they are understanding me and that it is clear enough for them to go off and do it on their own... SOL

feel stress? ... just BLOG.

My Welcoming Entry

This blog promises to be a place where my many insights about what I am learning this semester will fall. I look forward to learning about blogging, wikis, and podcasting and hope to become a new expert user. I can imagine that blogging will help me to reflect on my experiences as I learn new things and I expect great things this summer. I must admit that I am worried that I will have difficulty keeping up with my more experienced colleagues who are already on board with much of this technology. I imagine that I will be like a child, investigating the new and enjoying the exploration...