Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Frustrated... part of the cycle...

I went to a technology conference today and realized that I walked away frustrated. I am frustrated that I do not have time to implement many of the wonderful tools and strategies presented. Frustrated at the lack of enthusiasm sometimes exhibited by the teachers in my school. Frustrated at lack of funding... Now that I have been home for a few hours, I realize that this frustration is part of a cycle I go through after every conference. There is always so much to take in, so many new and innovative ideas I want to implement... my mind swirls with ideas and plans. It is often too much to wrap my arms around, so I get FRUSTRATED!

I guess this is normal and healthy. After all, it also reminded me of how much I enjoy writing on my new blog (hence this post- after over a month of not posting). In the end even it I implement one or two new things I am better off for having atended the conference and reconnecting with colleagues.

We heard Alan November speak today... I have not heard him for many years and he was as motivational and enjoyable as I remember. He spoke of the Learing Community and what we need to do to make our students successful in "A Flat World"... The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman. I have not read the book, yet, but I assume that eventually I will.

Enough pouting... back to work!

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Did You Know?

Wow! I just read a post by Karl Fisch about staff development. This is going to be a great way to start the year without getting to "heavy" when teachers' thoughts are often not on staff development, but on getting into their classrooms. I modified it to fit our school. I am so excited, it is exactly what I had in mind. Thanks to David Warlick for the lead.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Commenting on Comments

I just read Cool Cat Teacher's (Vicki) post on commenting. Really made me feel good - I am sure others are out there nervous about commenting, but after receiving comment from a few people: TechnoSpud (Jen) and Vicki, I am truly encouraged. I cannot believe how this all works- how we are all linked together. I hope I will keep reading and commenting. I guess the way I feel when someone comments to my posts, must be similar to the way everyone feels- just a real sense of productivity and affirmations galore.

As I am preparing a presentation for teachers next week on the Read/Write web, I found a post by a 3rd grade student named Dylan who really summed it up. The post is called "My Blog".

Have a good one...

Thursday, August 03, 2006

The journey continues...

I am preparing to teach a few classes to teachers next week, and as always, I learn the most when I do this. Trying to prepare and grow as a technologist and an educator seems to happen exponentially when faced with a room of my peers! A lot of work, but for this I am grateful (I guess).

Wow! I was just catching up on some of my feeds and read this one about a on-line whiteboard offered by GE. http://karynromeis.blogspot.com/2006/07/online-whiteboard.html
Hmmmmm.... has some interesting potential... I will have to explore it a bit more.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Diving in!!


This my first post, so I guess I'll just dive in. As my family would tell you, I am a caffeine junky... my kids try to block Starbucks and Caribou Coffee signs as we drive, so that I won't pull in for a fix. I also find sipping coffee to be very relaxing. Something about meeting a friend or my husband for coffee makes me stop and take a breather in the middle of a hurried day.

I hope this blog will be a place for me to reflect on life and work. It will also give me a chance to experience blogging first-hand to apply in my professional life as a technology trainer for educators. In some cases, I think a weblog would be a great place for teachers and students to connect on a more personal level - a level that limited time in the classroom might not allow for. Perhaps teachers will learn a little something more about their students than why they didn't do their homework or missed class.

I also hope weblogs are allowing teachers a place to publish their students' formal writing or art work. Whether formal writing or other, just getting kids to put their thoughts in writing is an important life skill. Imagine the difference between putting a grade on a piece paper and handing it back to a student -probably only to end up in the nearest garbage can on the way out of school or in the bottom of a locker- versus the pride a student might feel to have their writing on the Internet for others to read and comment on. Talk about collaboration!!!

I hope to use this blog both personally and professionally. I have been reading some of the best out there to try to see what this is all about:

http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/
http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/
http://weblogg-ed.com/

So, that's it... just getting started.