more questions than answers

I’ve been working with a teacher who has a unit she’s been teaching for years and years to 2nd graders. She and I have a new relationship –as I’m using her unit as the basis for a class project. I’ve been creating and adding technology to it, and she’s in awe as it’s transformed. She’s aware of much of the technology, but she always felt it was too hard or too time consuming to find a way to include it in her teaching. As she sees the new components, she’s excited! It makes the lesson new for her and she’s learning that the technology isn’t as scary and hard as she thought! She’s helping me, too, to see how her creativity has made the work of teaching more fun for students. We each have some “tricks” we’re sharing with each other.

I found out about a great site for reading/creating lists, atlases, and databases called Listphile http://www.listphile.com/. This is where you can create a list of your favorite anything — and/or read/add to/comment on other people’s lists. How about the list of the things my grandmother used to tell me … or favorite rock songs … or best movies in this century. I’m a list maker and it’s fun to read what other people find list-worthy. You can also moderate lists of your own.

 The atlas feature allows you to add comments to places on a map. The sample one they show is of an area of California where people have put notes about the surfing conditions on the beaches.

 Enjoy!

I received a link to a site that explains wikis and offers ways to use them in the classroom.  Here’s the link: http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/

 Some of the teachers at our school are setting up wikis through Moodle, too.

Okay, I figured out a bit — how to set up this site and start writing, but the questions are already piling up! How will this work? Who will find this? What will I have to say that justifies my taking up this cyberspace?

 I’m studying Educational Technology, and this is my first attempt at learning how to use blogs as a teaching tool — both as a way to get students writing and sharing and as a way to share ideas with educators. I’m curious to see how this works! Is anyone out there reading this?

 I’ll be back soon with more questions!