Welcome to amazingly beautiful August days! Days when educators count the weeks, days, hours and enjoy every moment possible- fit in as much fun, finish those projects, gear up for the new school year! Bitter sweet.
I sit here trying to squeeze in some of that "work" I was talking about before going off to have some fun. I am currently taking a course called The Networked Teacher. For this course I have chosen a project that looks into using internet resources in the classroom while maintaining student safety. While I search for resources, advice, blogs, articles I feel overwhelmed. I don't know where to start, where to look, what is reliable. I realize how my students feel when I let them lose on the internet!
So... I'm going to use my resources! How do you keep students (or your own children) safe on the internet? What skills do you think are essential? What internet resources do your children use? What internet resources do you use in the classroom?
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Reflections after a Long Day
Ever hear that teachers get the summers "off"? Yeah, that's what I thought. So here is a little reflection on my week "off:"
Monday- While drinking my coffee, I reviewed last summer's Welcome Back letter I sent to students. Being a "work smarter, not harder" person, I revised the letter to fit this year's class, saved, printed, and emailed it to my other 5th grade colleagues. I then went to school to my new classroom to clean all the shelves and cubbies. To do this I brought rags and cleaning supplies. After about 2-3 hours my task was complete. Woo hoo! Time to head home and take another shower.
Tuesday- I was at school by 8:30 ready to go! Since I have moved classes this year, my room was a sea of boxes. So, I started sorting boxes- those labeled "math" went to where I thought the math supplies would be. Those labeled "classroom" library went to the appropriate place as well. Around 9:30 I headed down to the office to make sure my class list was still current. While talking to our amazing secretary, the principal pulled me into her office. There I spent about 45 minutes discussing the possibility of a grant for the up coming school year and chatted about how our summers had been so far. During this time, my fabulous mother showed up to help me unpack (she has the weird desire to help unpack and organize- lucky me). So from 10:30 - 3:00 my mother and I moved boxes, unpacked, sorted, arranged, and even stopped to eat lunch. GO US! While my mother finished the area she was working on, I diligently put my Welcome Back letters into envelopes to mail to my new students. The sea of boxes from the morning now looked like several Great Lakes of boxes. What a productive day!
Wednesday- I spent the day with an amazing friend that is getting married soon. It was a great day filled with relaxation, laughs, and fun.
Thursday (today)- I spent today in a professional meeting (but not for school). It was a productive day; filled with discussions, opposing viewpoints, and lots of dialogue. Fortunately for me, I enjoy that type of work!
Interspersed with all this work has been readings for my on-line class, research for my project for said class, reading class postings, looking at classmates' wiki's and blogs, and thinking about how to use my project topic in my class.
So, besides being ubber busy prepping my classroom and continuing my own education, I have been thinking about how to use the new internet resources in my classroom while keeping my students safe. I don't want to use technology simply for the sake of using technology. I don't want to haphazardly throw technology into a lesson. I want to systematically use the tools I learn in a meaningful way while teaching my students how to be safe and responsible internet citizens.
If you would like more information about my project (or ideas for my project, or resources)... feel free to visit my Wiki: http://alisonsylvester.wikispaces.com/ While I have ideas floating around in my head, I'm having a difficult time getting it all down and organized in a reasonable fashion.
So much for having the summers "off."
Oh, did I mention I'm off to a reading workshop for three days next week?
Monday- While drinking my coffee, I reviewed last summer's Welcome Back letter I sent to students. Being a "work smarter, not harder" person, I revised the letter to fit this year's class, saved, printed, and emailed it to my other 5th grade colleagues. I then went to school to my new classroom to clean all the shelves and cubbies. To do this I brought rags and cleaning supplies. After about 2-3 hours my task was complete. Woo hoo! Time to head home and take another shower.
Tuesday- I was at school by 8:30 ready to go! Since I have moved classes this year, my room was a sea of boxes. So, I started sorting boxes- those labeled "math" went to where I thought the math supplies would be. Those labeled "classroom" library went to the appropriate place as well. Around 9:30 I headed down to the office to make sure my class list was still current. While talking to our amazing secretary, the principal pulled me into her office. There I spent about 45 minutes discussing the possibility of a grant for the up coming school year and chatted about how our summers had been so far. During this time, my fabulous mother showed up to help me unpack (she has the weird desire to help unpack and organize- lucky me). So from 10:30 - 3:00 my mother and I moved boxes, unpacked, sorted, arranged, and even stopped to eat lunch. GO US! While my mother finished the area she was working on, I diligently put my Welcome Back letters into envelopes to mail to my new students. The sea of boxes from the morning now looked like several Great Lakes of boxes. What a productive day!
Wednesday- I spent the day with an amazing friend that is getting married soon. It was a great day filled with relaxation, laughs, and fun.
Thursday (today)- I spent today in a professional meeting (but not for school). It was a productive day; filled with discussions, opposing viewpoints, and lots of dialogue. Fortunately for me, I enjoy that type of work!
Interspersed with all this work has been readings for my on-line class, research for my project for said class, reading class postings, looking at classmates' wiki's and blogs, and thinking about how to use my project topic in my class.
So, besides being ubber busy prepping my classroom and continuing my own education, I have been thinking about how to use the new internet resources in my classroom while keeping my students safe. I don't want to use technology simply for the sake of using technology. I don't want to haphazardly throw technology into a lesson. I want to systematically use the tools I learn in a meaningful way while teaching my students how to be safe and responsible internet citizens.
If you would like more information about my project (or ideas for my project, or resources)... feel free to visit my Wiki: http://alisonsylvester.wikispaces.com/ While I have ideas floating around in my head, I'm having a difficult time getting it all down and organized in a reasonable fashion.
So much for having the summers "off."
Oh, did I mention I'm off to a reading workshop for three days next week?
Sunday, July 31, 2011
My Very First Blog
Welcome to my first foray into the Blog-o-sphere. I start this journey only having read blogs.
What is my goal here? My purpose? To become more connected to my colleagues in the educational world, to expand my network of colleagues to learn more about the world around me to allow me to become a better teacher and colleague, to help engage my students in 21st century learning and to be life long learners.
Lofty goals? Perhaps. However, isn't teaching a lofty goal?
So, welcome to my blog. Welcome to my journey. Let the fun begin.
What is my goal here? My purpose? To become more connected to my colleagues in the educational world, to expand my network of colleagues to learn more about the world around me to allow me to become a better teacher and colleague, to help engage my students in 21st century learning and to be life long learners.
Lofty goals? Perhaps. However, isn't teaching a lofty goal?
So, welcome to my blog. Welcome to my journey. Let the fun begin.
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