I've really enjoyed getting blog entries via RSS feed this year. This
was a new thing for me (I'm SO web 1.0) My google reader is now my favorite home page. I found a new favorite today, at www.authenticeducation.org. I have enjoyed reading their responses to essential questions about education. Lately, they've been discussing "What one change would you make to public education?". For me, it would have to be the standards. It is exceedingly difficult to bring in depth of knowledge for my students when we have so many standards that are fact-based that span three miles of knowledge. We go three miles wide, and a half-inch deep. It would be nice to be able to take the time to delve deeply into an area, and let kids explore for awhile. It seems to me, as an average Jane, that everyone had a pet project to throw into the standards, so now instead of doing a few things well, we do a lot of things poorly. There are far more factoids to teach than thinking skills or processes. Another thought I have is that it would be nice, if we are going to have standards, to make them truly standard across districts. It would have been nice, when my son moved from the district where I used to teach to the one I teach in now, if there hadn't been so many gaps to fill between curricula. I enjoyed homeschooling last summer, but it didn't help me prepare for my new classroom!!
Monday, February 11, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
So many meetings, so little time . . .
With this being my first year in a new district, at a level I've never taught, with all new everything to me, I'm stretched beyond my capabilities to blog most days. I tend to read a lot as stress relief, but posting has taken a back burner.
We had a "technology workshop" on Monday. It was SO different from what I was used to in my old district. We saw all these great things you can do with technology, but we were in a school with only two computer labs for the entire elementary teaching staff for the district (7 schools x 40+staff at each > 60 people!!) I am used to tech workshops being held in a space where we can try out what we've learned right away. In this case, we had two sessions altogether in the morning, and then we were sent back to our teams in our own building to share what we'd learned. The rest of the afternoon was supposed to be "exploration" time, but as is true for most teachers, with two hours of unstructured time in my own building in my own room, I didn't spend it all looking at web resources (please don't tell the powers that be!). I did take care of my part in a web project we saw, and I used a couple of the sites in my teaching already this week. I am excited to share resources with my team, but I am afraid they aren't all as stoked about the things technology can do as I am. Change is a slow process, isn't it!
Here are some of the great sites we were exposed to (thanks to Adrian Champine for her great presentation and for sharing her list publicly!): http://www.district112.org/cre/Media/online%20tools.htm
I have already used the Bobbie bear activity (from the math illuminations site) with my math class when I was teaching how to make an organized list. I plan on using the biocubes (from readwritethink) with my ELA class next week, as I head into a biography unit.
What are your favorite web resources for teachers? One not mentioned on her site that I just LOVE is teachingbooks.net. I have found many resources to use in my ELA classes here. Also, I didn't see any mention in any of my classes about the power of social bookmarking (del.icio.us). Seriously, I couldn't live without that one tool and continue to teach!
We had a "technology workshop" on Monday. It was SO different from what I was used to in my old district. We saw all these great things you can do with technology, but we were in a school with only two computer labs for the entire elementary teaching staff for the district (7 schools x 40+staff at each > 60 people!!) I am used to tech workshops being held in a space where we can try out what we've learned right away. In this case, we had two sessions altogether in the morning, and then we were sent back to our teams in our own building to share what we'd learned. The rest of the afternoon was supposed to be "exploration" time, but as is true for most teachers, with two hours of unstructured time in my own building in my own room, I didn't spend it all looking at web resources (please don't tell the powers that be!). I did take care of my part in a web project we saw, and I used a couple of the sites in my teaching already this week. I am excited to share resources with my team, but I am afraid they aren't all as stoked about the things technology can do as I am. Change is a slow process, isn't it!
Here are some of the great sites we were exposed to (thanks to Adrian Champine for her great presentation and for sharing her list publicly!): http://www.district112.org/cre/Media/online%20tools.htm
I have already used the Bobbie bear activity (from the math illuminations site) with my math class when I was teaching how to make an organized list. I plan on using the biocubes (from readwritethink) with my ELA class next week, as I head into a biography unit.
What are your favorite web resources for teachers? One not mentioned on her site that I just LOVE is teachingbooks.net. I have found many resources to use in my ELA classes here. Also, I didn't see any mention in any of my classes about the power of social bookmarking (del.icio.us). Seriously, I couldn't live without that one tool and continue to teach!
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