Well, I am back and it did not take much time for me to dive right in. I did feel a little lost at the beach. For the first couple of nights the internet wasn't working and then once we got it up a running I felt slightly guilty spending too much time playing around with it. Anyway, so far I have checked out my team's wiki and I must say I am proud to be part of such hard workers. Our wiki looks great! I have worked on my portfolio, a leadership module, responded to blogs, written a lesson plan and I am sure something else, but I just can't remember.
It is true I feel as if my brain has become mush with the wealth of information that we have gained in this 18 months. The cohort has energized and excited me and I look forward to using my newly gained information. The cohort is ending and we are going our separate ways, I wish all of you good luck in your endeavors...and enjoy the free time...I am sure it won't last long.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Monday, June 11, 2007
Advocacy, wikis, blogs...
Advocacy, wiki, blog....so much to do and so little time! I have never been one of those people who would write articles to advocate for something, or publish an editorial, or who would go lobby in DC. However, I will gladly give my opinion when asked and sometimes I don't even need to be asked. My point is I have enjoyed working on the advocacy project. I do understand how someone could get very pumped up by reading and researching controversial topics. For example the more we work on ourtopic the more involved we become with it.
I say this because I think that this idea of "advocacy" could be used it the classroom as part of authentic learning. Here I go again always with the "oooh I could use this in the classroom". Anyway, teachers could have students advocate for whatever is covered in the SOLs. For example in sixth grade history one side could advocate for entering WW2 and the other side could advocate for staying out, one side for the New Deal the other side against, same could be true for science, English, and maybe non core subjects like health. I think using something like our advocacy wiki page puts a modern spin on our old debate. Advocacy might fit our digital natives better.
I say this because I think that this idea of "advocacy" could be used it the classroom as part of authentic learning. Here I go again always with the "oooh I could use this in the classroom". Anyway, teachers could have students advocate for whatever is covered in the SOLs. For example in sixth grade history one side could advocate for entering WW2 and the other side could advocate for staying out, one side for the New Deal the other side against, same could be true for science, English, and maybe non core subjects like health. I think using something like our advocacy wiki page puts a modern spin on our old debate. Advocacy might fit our digital natives better.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
We are learning so much in class. I am struggling to find the time at home to play with all the cool gadgets. I know eventually I will igoogle and such, but right now I am trying to absorb information.
Creating a Wiki page about Freedom was fun and I found myself wanting to make it appealing to others. It seems there is a different sense of ownership when you know anyone can look at it. You want it to be the best it can be. I wonder if students feel this same way. It seemed to make it more important knowing that it could be viewed by others outside of the classroom. Oh if only that wiki page had stuck around long enough for someone to look at it....
The mystery is that we have no idea where it went...poor thing is bouncing around in cyberspace with no where to land :(
Our advocacy project is moving right along. We have all of these great ideas, sometimes the wording of them is the difficult part. I really enjoy working in groups and think it has helped me retain the information presented.
Creating a Wiki page about Freedom was fun and I found myself wanting to make it appealing to others. It seems there is a different sense of ownership when you know anyone can look at it. You want it to be the best it can be. I wonder if students feel this same way. It seemed to make it more important knowing that it could be viewed by others outside of the classroom. Oh if only that wiki page had stuck around long enough for someone to look at it....
The mystery is that we have no idea where it went...poor thing is bouncing around in cyberspace with no where to land :(
Our advocacy project is moving right along. We have all of these great ideas, sometimes the wording of them is the difficult part. I really enjoy working in groups and think it has helped me retain the information presented.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Soccer Weekend
Well, we are back from the soccer tournament and after 5 games our team walked away with their medals and t-shirts verifying that they are U10 Champions. It was a long, hot weekend with the girls playing 2 games on Sat and Sun and the Championship game on today. It was so exciting. The girls played some great competition and the played so hard!
As far as class goes I am one of those students that gets so excited when we learn something we can bring to the classroom! I think blogs have an great place in the curriculum. However, I am leary of putting a lot of personal information on the net. I do realize that the Digital Natives do not have the same fears, perhaps it is their naivte. Next year I would think it would be great if English students could discuss novels and stories read in class through a blog. I think blogs are going to be a great way to get students to want to extend their learning beyond the 8 hour day and the 4 classroom walls. Won't it be exciting when the students log in late at night or early in the morning to write their thoughts about a novel, short story or poem they have read, perhaps they could take on the role of a publisher and give suggestions of alternate endings for a novel, or maybe they could be a test audience for a novel and give feedback about what they liked and what they did not. I was also thinking that science and history students could use them whe discussing concepts, perhaps as a review of what was discusssed in class on that day.
Just some thoughts!
As far as class goes I am one of those students that gets so excited when we learn something we can bring to the classroom! I think blogs have an great place in the curriculum. However, I am leary of putting a lot of personal information on the net. I do realize that the Digital Natives do not have the same fears, perhaps it is their naivte. Next year I would think it would be great if English students could discuss novels and stories read in class through a blog. I think blogs are going to be a great way to get students to want to extend their learning beyond the 8 hour day and the 4 classroom walls. Won't it be exciting when the students log in late at night or early in the morning to write their thoughts about a novel, short story or poem they have read, perhaps they could take on the role of a publisher and give suggestions of alternate endings for a novel, or maybe they could be a test audience for a novel and give feedback about what they liked and what they did not. I was also thinking that science and history students could use them whe discussing concepts, perhaps as a review of what was discusssed in class on that day.
Just some thoughts!
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
ITS
My title reflects the ITS Cohort in many ways. The first being each letter referring to the initials of the program-I= ITS T=Time S=Success. I feel this program has given me success (also in the title) as an ITRT. I have learned lots of cool ideas and have been able to help teachers implement them. How exciting!
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