Entries from May 2008 ↓

Yes, the end has come and it’s time to celebrate for a number of reasons.  First and foremost, I’m  finished!

I’m graduating!

It’s time to celebrate! 

But on the other hand, I have become addicted to this blog and I don’t want the class to end.

Thank you to Shelley and David for their encouragement along the way! Some days I felt stupid, and some days I felt accomplished….mostly the former, but who’s counting days!

I feel like I have learned sooooooooo much in this course.  I know we are suppose to use the resources online, but I would love to have a printed copy of the sites and where to go for what.  I am a vintage teacher who still needs her instruction booklet in front of her.  I have a hard time going back and forth from site to site.  When I work on this course, I have the K12 site, my blog, my wiki page, google, and several other things open to manipulate back and forth.  Am I crazy or what?  No wonder my computer is slow! Many times I would print off instructions to have them in front of me  and it did make it easier.

I believe this course is way beyond what they are learning at the college level and I have impressed my family many times over. Even my son who graduated with an Advertising degree and New Media is surprised by what I have learned.  Guess what?  I’m surprised too!

The favorite tool  I have embraced is “blogging”.  I feel very good about my skills and have created a class blog for our last novel this year.  It has been fun for all of us…especially the students.  They love “not” writing out paragraphs on paper and communicating through blogging.  I have some good questions and suggestions for EDUBLOGS and how they can improve this site for normal, regular teachers like me.

Our department has started the library site for book talks but we have not gotten as far as we planned. Maybe next week when I put this blog to bed, I will have more time to devote to the other.

I have read several other blogs throughout this class and one thing I agree on…..administrators should HAVE to become familiar with all this stuff so they know how much time and effort it takes a teacher to do this.   We are doing some great stuff and they don’t have a clue!

As I talk to fellow teacher friends in other areas, it becomes very apparent that I am very fortunate to teach in a place that values this kind of learning……we are so far ahead of what the majority of teachers are able to do out there in the world….wow!  This is definitely cutting edge stuff and I’m glad I have been able to learn from some of the best! OK…..all of the best!

                 So, it’s all over…..

                Technology Has NOT Gone Wild afterall…

                I crown my own self…..Computer Wizard!

I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel…it’s getting brighter!

I have lost all sense of self preservation and joined Classroom 2.0.  Yes, I even joined a group called “A Crazy Place Called Middle School“….sounded like fun!  And I commented about my blogging to see if I would get any response.  They obviously know I’m old when I said how long I had been teaching…Overall, I think I like Classroom 2.0 especially the tool bar on the right side…very handy information.

And yes…I explored Ning and went directly to Frequently Asked Questions to figure out what the heck a “Ning” really is.  Now I know…but the whole time I was asking myself how and why I would use a ning.  Then I found some discussion about social networking asking about whether to use a “wiki or a ning”.  Good question! After reading several comments to that question, it became clearer.  The comments suggested that a wiki would be utilized in more reporting situations (kind of like I used the 8th honors wiki to house projects) where as the “ning” would be a social networking place where dialogue  takes place during various stages of the learning process.  I think that sounds reasonable.

So, I’m thinking that if you had a burning question or problem you want to solve, ning would be the thing!