Sunday, September 20, 2009
Blog Use in My Classroom
I would love to begin using blogs for online literature circles. The blog's purpose would be to foster discussion of various stories and novels. Students would interact with story content and use their blogs to analyze story elements such as plot and characterization. In addition, they would discuss the many literary elements that appear in their readings. I would be thrilled to see debates about the use of symbolism in Crane's The Red Badge of Courage, the use of irony and sarcasm in Twain's Puddin'head Wilson, even the elements of the Modern Gothic in today's vampire novels by Meyer, Pike, and Cast. Blogging would help students to overcome their lack of confidence and encourage them to participate. This would be a great enhancement to the lesson because it would allow them partial anonimity as well as give them more time to think about what they want to say and how they want to say it. Additionally, I have very small numbers in my classroom as well as mixed grade groups throughout the day. A blog would be a good tool for this instructional context because it would allow morning 9th graders to interact with the 9th graders in the afternoon etc...
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
A Little Honesty...
Ok, so I ranted a bit about how administration is not always supportive or thorough in providing for the technology needs of the classroom that they preside over. Well, in all honesty, I have to be fair and admit that in the school that I work for, they are at least trying.
I work for BOCES or the Boards of Cooperative Educational Services which do a lot of different things...including technology integration and support and special education services, for the school districts in the area. We also have numerous career and technical programs for the students of those schools. The program that I work for is an Alternative Education high school for grades 7-12 and we are just beginning our second year at this campus. I guess that I felt the need share that because my issues with technology are compounded by the fact that we are a new program and are still working through various problems and glitches, so I just need to remember that the process of fine tuning often takes years and that teachers, like musicians, need to practice in order become professionals. So, I will try not to complain and use my energy to take "technology" out of its case and practice instead.
One of the tools that they have given us to use is a web based program called Tool Box Pro. I have had it since the beginning of last year, but have not made time to practice with it.
http://www.toolboxpro.org/
Has anyone else had the opportunity to use this program and if so, what did you think about it?
I work for BOCES or the Boards of Cooperative Educational Services which do a lot of different things...including technology integration and support and special education services, for the school districts in the area. We also have numerous career and technical programs for the students of those schools. The program that I work for is an Alternative Education high school for grades 7-12 and we are just beginning our second year at this campus. I guess that I felt the need share that because my issues with technology are compounded by the fact that we are a new program and are still working through various problems and glitches, so I just need to remember that the process of fine tuning often takes years and that teachers, like musicians, need to practice in order become professionals. So, I will try not to complain and use my energy to take "technology" out of its case and practice instead.
One of the tools that they have given us to use is a web based program called Tool Box Pro. I have had it since the beginning of last year, but have not made time to practice with it.
http://www.toolboxpro.org/
Has anyone else had the opportunity to use this program and if so, what did you think about it?
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Social Bookmarking
I am in love with delicious.com and its social bookmarking site. A good friend introduced me to it and I have been a member (its free) for a while now. I find it is an easy way to share resources with other teachers, and people in general. You know how when you go to a colleague for help with something and 45 minutes later, you finally get back to your classroom only to realize that you never got around to asking for help...? Well, delicious.com is a great way to omit the lengthy conversations that seem to eat away at your planning time. I know, I know....we all need time for some adult conversation...but when you are in a pinch...this site is great! Let's network and share resources.... add me!
http://delicious.com/rewebster16933
http://delicious.com/rewebster16933
The Dreaded Classroom Technology...A Rant.
Mounting Frustration...
The Promethean Board, the computer, blogs, wikis, both my grade and plan books, and even the telephone in my classroom are technological innovations or at least linked in some way to a "TI" and I need to make friends with all of them so that I can be the best teacher possible. This means that I MUST LEARN how to use them proficiently enough so that I can TEACH my students at least the basic idea of how to use them and then hope that they will turn around and teach me a thing or two in the process.
I am in no way against technology; in fact, I adore it's intention to make my life easier. However, in the process of trying to save me bucket loads of time so that I can spend more time with my students, I am actually spending more time learning how to use these various gadgets and how to integrate them into my already existing lessons in addition to creating new lessons that are completely based on the new technology.
It's a process, I know. My principal, among others, has told me so again and again. "Things will be better next year" is a phrase that I don't care to hear again anytime soon. The reason? It is next year and it isn't any better. Why? Because teachers are not being given any time to learn, plan, or reflect on all of this new technology. Teachers often are not offered extra planning time or compensation for all the time spent learning outside of the regular school day. It is simply expected, and often, no support is given once the technology is received.
All of this is done in addition to an already overwhelming workload and then others wonder why teachers burn out so quickly.
Now that I have that off my chest, I must say that I really enjoy using all of this new technology even though "the process" is taking much longer than I think it should...
The Promethean Board, the computer, blogs, wikis, both my grade and plan books, and even the telephone in my classroom are technological innovations or at least linked in some way to a "TI" and I need to make friends with all of them so that I can be the best teacher possible. This means that I MUST LEARN how to use them proficiently enough so that I can TEACH my students at least the basic idea of how to use them and then hope that they will turn around and teach me a thing or two in the process.
I am in no way against technology; in fact, I adore it's intention to make my life easier. However, in the process of trying to save me bucket loads of time so that I can spend more time with my students, I am actually spending more time learning how to use these various gadgets and how to integrate them into my already existing lessons in addition to creating new lessons that are completely based on the new technology.
It's a process, I know. My principal, among others, has told me so again and again. "Things will be better next year" is a phrase that I don't care to hear again anytime soon. The reason? It is next year and it isn't any better. Why? Because teachers are not being given any time to learn, plan, or reflect on all of this new technology. Teachers often are not offered extra planning time or compensation for all the time spent learning outside of the regular school day. It is simply expected, and often, no support is given once the technology is received.
All of this is done in addition to an already overwhelming workload and then others wonder why teachers burn out so quickly.
Now that I have that off my chest, I must say that I really enjoy using all of this new technology even though "the process" is taking much longer than I think it should...
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