I've Been Tagged - Eight Random Facts

David Robb tagged me for “Eight Random Facts” meme. I have seen these on a number of other blogs and wanted to play. Thanks, David!

Rules:
1. Post these rules before you give your facts.
2. List 8 random facts about yourself.
3. At the end of your post, choose (tag) 8 people and list their names, linking to them.
4. Leave a comment on their blog, letting them know they’ve been tagged.

My 8 Random Things:
1. I was first runner up for Miss Douglas High School my senior year.
2. I am the most insecure person I know.
3. I am married to my high school sweetheart - after we married and divorced other people.
4. I love Texas Hold 'Em.
5. I should have been born at a time when dinner parties were stylish.
6. I love to bake.
7. I would love to own a Ford Mustang.
8. Even though my husband would like to move to warmer climates, I would like to always live in South Dakota.

My Tags
If I tagged you, please don't feel obligated to participate.
1. Heather - http://tiggyanne.wordpress.com
2. Geoff - http://ateacherswrites.wordpress.com


Okay, I guess I'm only tagging two. How bad is that? Seems everyone I know is tagged and I am still so new at this blogging business.

Maybe I Need to Relax ... A Little

Yesterday I spent the day really quite in a funk. I felt frustrated with the way some of my ideas were rained on by one of our technology coordinators. It made me start doubting myself. As usual, things in our district are in flux and that just wasn't sitting well either. I have spent much of the summer working on new curriculum and ways to integrate technology, only to find that I may have to switch those methods. And then there was that lovely Scholastic article that set me off. It was just too much.

I got an email from a friend who made it clear that I needed to relax about some things. He pointed out that it didn't seem that I had taken any time off this summer to just relax. Hmmm, I did take a week off to clean out some closets that I had been ignoring and I am sure there was a day or two when I spent just with the family. I guess he is right. I have been so worried about school that I haven't relaxed. I used to be more flexible and take changes in the district well.

Then today I got to read a blog entry by Clarence Fisher titled Getting Over Ourselves. For the most part, I do believe that I show my students I am a lifelong learner and I do learn with them. I think it is important to show them how to access information when needed. So why have I been freaking out about becoming an expert with the tools I want to use in my classroom this year? I am going to have my students blog this year and I have now blogged enough to be able to lead the way, but I don't have to know every little thing. We can learn it together. The same is true of the wikis I want to use. Do they really have to be complete before school starts? Isn't that the purpose of a wiki - collaboration? Wow! I really do need to get over myself. Thanks Clarence!

I have just under two weeks before we are back at inservice and three until I see students. I do have some work to do. My new classroom needs things put away and I do have a technology inservice to plan. But I bet there is time to take a day with some girlfriends and just laugh about life. I am sure my teenage sons need a little more "Mom time". (They might not admit to that though.)

Do I feel completely confident about teaching English and Social Studies this year? No. I want to know more. But I am fully prepared for the first few weeks. I know what and how we are going about it. And the rest I can learn as we go along. Ultimately, I am a good teacher. I know how to teach middle school students. I LOVE spending time with 8th graders! I really miss them. What more do I need to prepare? Taking a deep breath and getting over myself!

Waging war? Are you kidding?

Twitter just alerted me that ijohnpederson had a new blog post. Thought I would give it a read and now I am sitting here alternating between stunned and just plain angry. John read the cover of Scholastic Administrator Magazine and the cover story was "When Tech Attacks." The article can be found at: http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3746915.

Okay, the gist of the article is that technology is causing so many problems in school that some schools are banning faster than they know what they have. They talked about a teacher who was attacked and it was recorded on a cell phone. I am still trying to figure out how the cell phone is at fault. Even though I understand that we don't want students to think it is cool to beat up a teacher and that recording it is not some trophy, didn't the police have concrete evidence of the crime?

Another teacher is in trouble because of what come up in pop-ups, but that district didn't change anything significant. Excuse me?

We are living in a world where you can access just about everything on the Internet. Isn't it our jobs as educators to teach our students how to function appropriately in this environment? This article goes on to talk about teachers that don't have enough knowledge and therefore are bad role models. Well then, why aren't we doing something about that? (By the way, I know an awful lot of teachers that work long, hard hours of their own precious time teaching themselves the technology!)

We are dealing with NCLB and doing everything in our power to raise those test scores. We are encouraged to integrate technology, but at least in my district, there is limited training and support given to teachers to accomplish that. As a matter of fact, many of us are struggling with a five-year technology plan that pulls computers out that are five-years old, but are not replacing them until we reach the proper five year date. Every time I go online, I find more and more sites blocked. We have so much information right at our fingertips and those above us who panic at letting our kids have access to that.

I resent the attitude that is prevailing. And this article just makes it worse. I am already dealing with parents that are asking how they block their kids from the social networking sites like MySpace and Bebo. I jump on my soapbox and tell these parents that banning sites is not the answer. It makes it more appealing to their kids and they just go to someone else's house to gain access. I encourage parents to get their own MySpace or Bebo accounts and to learn to live in their kids' environment. I ask them if the are aware that the presidential candidates have MySpace accounts. I assure them that there is a lot of good stuff there, but it is just as important that they teach their children the safety of the Internet as it is to teach them to look both ways before they cross the street.

My son just got home from a summer internship and told me that all the drafters and engineers had FaceBook accounts. When I first talked to him about these sites, he thought they were pretty silly. Now he has used them in a workplace atmosphere and is networking with other professionals across the country. He is amazed by the usefulness of this application.

Articles like this cause panic and doesn't deal with the issues at hand. The Internet is a part of all of our lives. Our students are going to be in a workplace where these are the tools they will utilize. The last time I checked, it was our job to prepare them for becoming productive members of society. This brings me back to the quote from John Dewey I discussed in my last entry: "The world is moving at a tremendous rate. Going no one knows where. We must prepare our children, not for the world of the past. Not for our world. But for their world. The world of the future." We MUST prepare our children for THEIR world.

Let's find a way to train more of our teachers to be good role models. Let's teach our students how to use the Internet in a safe, appropriate, and effective way. Let' not panic. Let's take these tools - computers, iPods, cell phones, whatever - and find a way to use them to the fullest. Stop giving us the negatives and give us more time and access to the Will Richardsons and so many others we have leading the way. We are teachers and lifelong learners. We are capable of mastering technology and leading our students to their future.

Theorists and Teachers

"The world is moving at a tremendous rate. Going no one knows where. We must prepare our children, not for the world of the past. Not for our world. But for their world. The world of the future." This quote by John Dewey was brought to my attention this week by Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach first at Twitter and more at her blog at 21st Century Collaborative. She made me think about all the theorists I learned during both of my degrees. I am a strong supporter of the constructivist theory of teaching. I believe that students need to take ownership in what they are learning in order to engage fully. I believe that teachers must be a "guide on the side" instead of a "sage on the stage." I believe we must prepare students for the world they are going to live and work in. I believe that particularly middle school students (because that is what I know the most about) are social creatures that learn best in cooperative learning situation. I believe it is my job to excite students about a topic and then turn them loose to discover whatever there is to know about it. I need to observe their process, nudging them back on track if they should stray, and, ideally, give them a wide variety of methods to gather and give back the information they retrieve.

My first thought is that all teachers SHOULD teach this way. And I do believe that. But then I remember some of my favorite teachers from high school. Back then (that was another life ago) teachers still routinely taught with the "suck and puke" method. They would lecture and assign textbook pages and we were expected to suck in the information and puke it out on worksheets and tests. Amazingly, I managed to learn a few things along the way. My government teacher was a pro with this method. I think she had been using the same overhead note sheets for years.
Even more, I had an English teacher that did what most of us would consider unthinkable now. She would assign a composition that would be due on a Friday. Monday we would come in and above someone's desk would be the "Golden Gong Award" for the student that had the most spelling errors in their paper. Both of these teachers use methods that are no longer acceptable, but they were a couple of my favorite teachers. I learned a great deal from these ladies. Why? Because these teachers exhibited a love of learning that I still remember. They cared about their students. We knew that they would go above and beyond for everyone of us.

My point? While I believe that we need to use the best methods for our students, being a concerned and caring teacher is every bit, if not more, important. We need teachers with the whole package. Our students deserve it.

Am I Tech Savvy Yet?

I have been a computer teacher for 10 years and thought I was doing a pretty good job of keeping up. (I really wasn't.) Then I have spent the last two years working on my Master's in Technology as well as National Boards. I learned a lot during my Master's, but there was no time to really explore the things I was learning. I had the opportunity to go to NECC this year and get really charged up about the things I wanted to learn. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and applied for a different teaching position within my school. By teaching English and Social Studies, it is my goal to show the staff in my school that technology integration doesn't have to be hard and can enrich learning of our students. With that in mind, I set up classblogmeister so that my 8th grade can publish some of their writing. I feel that they need to learn how to write for that audience. I have planned my first assignment and I am going to have them write about the summer break using all the IM/text language. I think they will find that to be fun. That will give me the opportunity to talk to them about casual and formal language and we will re-write the same story in formal language. I am setting up a classroom wiki and we will add resources we find on the web that can help them in their writing. For my one Social Studies class, my mind is flying. The first unit is over geography. Google Earth is begging for this assignment. They will have to set up a tour showing me certain things like mountains and major waterways. Then for the next unit, I am planning to give them an outline and break them into groups. They will have an outline and a wiki and they will research their little hearts crazy. I will monitor their progress and make certain they are finding the things they need to learn. Our state has access to Colonial Williamsburg, so I see that going into the plan somewhere, too. I would like to use Tapped In and set up at least one of my classes to collaborate with a great teacher and her class in Texas. I think US History would work well with that. South Dakota could learn much about Texas through talking to other kids. Trying to be in the right frame of mind, I have been exploring many online tools. I am set in Technorati, Flickr, Bloglines, Delicious, and Twitter. I am trying to get Furl unblocked at school, but will work with it at home. I am working my way through blogging and setting up my classroom wiki. (Certainly can't have students doing what I don't!) But in my whirlwind of preparation, am I ready? Panic starts to set in and I feel like I just have scratched the surface. I don't mind learning with my students, but I also know I have a number of staff watching (some, I think, secretly hoping my technology integration will fail.) I can't let my fears win. I KNOW my students are going to enjoy this. It will be something knew. Whoever thought you could learn history without listening to lecture and watching movies. (Umm, I do have a couple of cool movies!) Students will be here in 25 days, so I need to push forward. I do have to teach a technology inservice to the staff before that, so I have some prep work to do there as well. My new classroom is starting to feel more like mine and less like the old teacher's. While still a bit nervous, I just can't wait to get students back in class. Several of them have found me online and messaged me. It makes me think summer is just a bit too long!

Technology

I find that the more I read and learn, the less I feel like I know. I spent the evening setting up my Technorati account and now it doesn't know me. Frustrating. Then it took me several tries to log into my new classroom wiki. Finally got that working and my new Yahoo mail was giving me trouble. Some nights I think cyberspace goes on strike!

In the meantime, I have started creating some new lesson plans for the coming year. I am feeling better about the new classes and about integrating technology into the curriculum. I have two weeks left to learn a lot of things, but I am up to the task. I really want my students to enjoy English and Social Studies and be interested enough to engage in learning. This may be my first year teaching English and Social Studies, but it is not my first time teaching 8th graders.

Technorati

I am finally getting Technorati savvy. There are so many web tools that I need to be current on before school starts! Time seems to be moving too fast.

NECC 2007

I had intended to blog about every session I attended, but I got pushed out of one session on Monday because it was full. Someone there said to plan on only going to every other session and going and getting in line for the next session. Wow! You can tell this little South Dakota girl doesn't get out enough!

I did get to go see Process Writing for the MySpace Generation. I already knew that we need to change the way we are teaching, but this takes it to that level! It was put on by the folks at Teaching Matters and I know I am going to be spending some time checking out their website when I get home. They are very reality-based and that is what matters to my kids!

Then I wandered into the Exhibit Hall! Talk about sensory overload. I spent 1 1/2 hours in there and didn't make it half way across the room. Yahoo is getting ready to pilot some new stuff for teachers. I signed up, but who knows if they are taking everyone. I met a wonderful lady who designed her own writing program, but I was surprised that she knew nothing about blogs, wikis, or other online tools. I know I am far from being an expert, but I did realize that I know more than the average teacher as to the Web 2.0 and the environment our kids need to be learning in. Towards the end of my visit to the Exhibit Hall I found Google. Since I am convinced that Google is taking over the world, I popped in. Fun for me...I found I do everything they were showcasing (and many things they weren't) except for the custom search engine. (I popped back in there today to do the Scavenger Hunt and found that it is fun and easy.)

Yesterday was a bad day. I woke up with a terrible headache, went back to bed for a while, then got up and got ready for the afternoon. I made it as far as waiting for the bus, only to have to run back and get sick. I missed the whole day. I can't tell you how bummed I am about that! Thank heavens there are so many people that have blogged about NECC. I have my reading cut out for me for the next week!

Today I feel better and started my day with Digital Game-based Learning in American History. I stopped at their booth on Monday. The are the Colonial Williamsburg group. I can't wait to dig deeper into this. I know our state pays for us to see all the broadcasts, but I really need to sign up for the teacher materials. There are many games and sites for students to interact at. I just need to remember there will be a lot more in my curriculum than just the Revolutionary War!


The second session of the day I went back in to see Will Richardson. I know, I know...a case of hero worship, but I get really inspired listening to him. His wiki for today was at

http://handitinnecc.wikispaces.com/

I know I now need to add Wikinomics to my summer reading list. I don't know that I learned any more than I have from seeing him two other times and from reading his book, but I am more prepared to go back to the classroom and fight the fight to have my kids using these tools and really preparing them for the world THEY are going to live in verses the one we grew up in. I know that blogging isn't where all teachers agree we need to be, but I am going to have my kids there doing their thing and showing teachers it not only CAN but SHOULD be done. While I agree with Will that we shouldn't be keeping our kids TOO protected, I do know I am going to have to take little steps. I am very confident that I can get the district to not squawk if I start with Class Blogmeister. Sometimes baby steps are better than no steps at all. I am going to set up my own wiki and put all the assignments and resources for my kids there. I have more to learn before I am up to podcasting, but would like to find a way to use that before the end of the school year. Perhaps my US History class could do their own podcast about the Revolutionary War? Hmm, something to think about!

I wanted to go to the Hands-On Wikis in the Classroom session, but again it was full. (Guess I would have had to skip Will!) I did go see Creating to Learn: Integrating Technology into your Classroom, Grades 5-12. I was almost on overload by then. Jacqueline Keane has put a lot of work into this and, thankfully, she sent me out with a book and folder packed with information. (More summer reading!)

Since I didn't think I could handle any more sessions, I went back to the Exhibit hall. (As if that wouldn't push me over the edge!) I finally saw the back half. I don't feel like I did it justice though! I have a backpack full of information. I found a great deal on thumb drives. I hope I can convince my wonderful principal that she needs to purchase one for every teacher. Maybe if I keep putting technology into teachers' hands, they will get excited! I saw things that make me want to drool and also realized how lucky we are in South Dakota. Most teachers aren't given web space around here. We all have it available. WebCT available to every teacher? They laughed at me. Promethian Boards starting to come into all the classrooms. I had teachers asking where was it I was from. Okay, we may be on the low end of the pay scale, but it is no wonder South Dakota scored an A- on the technology report card. (Only behind Georgia's A.)

There is only one keynote left for me today and the conference is over. It was a fluke that I got to come this year. I guess I am going to have to really start the campaign so I can be in San Antonio next year!

NECC Session 1 ~ Will Richardson

The first NECC session I attended was Will Richardson's

Learning with Blogs: Bringing the Read/Write Web into the Classroom
I have heard Will speak at the TIE conference in Rapid City. Now that I have started my own blog and am planning to use them in my English class, it seems to be a whole new conversation. I will record some of what I heard:

Will's Wiki
Will's Blog

Will had been a 21 year educator. Quit to become a full-time blogger and speaker. Will has been blogging for six years.

Google Blog Search
Technorati

To start blogging you need to read blogs. The links above are great places to start to find blogs that interest you. You then need to start commenting on other blogs. Engaging is a very important piece. At that point you may feel comfortable to start your own blog. There are many places you can start your own blogs. I have a couple started, but I am not sure where I want to "live."

Blogs are reflective. You can use it as a journal, but the real power is to put your thinking and opinions in there and see what people think. You put in intellectual sweat.There is a lot of synthesis in blogs. There is a lot of hypertext. Kids will be working in linked environments.

The question was posed to Will asking the difference between a blog and a wiki: A blog is a conversation. A wiki is a collection. What is the difference between blogs and forums? Blogs are deeply personal. They are your space. Forums are not. They are a group of people.

Reading blogs is an important part of being a blogger and a few that Will talked about were:
Clarence Fisher's blog
Konrad Glogowski
Karl Fisch

Teacher modeling works best when teaching blogging. Here are a couple more:

Vickie Davis - Cool Cat Teacher
Bud Hunt

IM is a very effective language and we should be teaching students that as well as formal language. We need to tell them when it is appropriate.

There are many places you can set up blogs. Here are a few:
learnblogs.org
wordpress

I have a blog. I read blogs and occasionally comment in other's blogs. I am not yet to a point that I consider myself a blogger. I am getting there though. I really want my 8th graders to publish their writing to a blog this year and comment on one another's blogs. I HAVE to be a good role model, so my summer is cut out for me. I am so excited!

I always enjoy Will's presentations and hope to catch a few more!

Courage to Teach

I have just spent the last three days in the most amazing retreat imaginable. Courage to Teach has been truly a gift to me. When you are a teacher, there are conferences and workshops you can go to amongst the lesson planning, grading, curriculum mapping, and tons of reading we do. What of that nourishes your soul? Everything we do is for improving the work we do and it's important work. But how often do we really take the time to reflect on who we are and what our purpose is? Where do we celebrate that? Where are we given the opportunity to spend time with the most amazing teachers and just share in their joy?

This week was our Summer Retreat and we were celebrating abundance. And that we did. Every teacher was to make a personal statement. We were given 1/2 an hour. The recommendation was that you speak for 15 minutes, then everyone else would take a few minutes to write an affirmation for you on a little card, and finally the chance was given for verbal affirmation. I have gotten to know many of these teachers pretty well over the retreat series, but what came out of these statements took me on a roller coaster of emotions. And I am left feeling: "I want to be like you....and you....and you...." Wow! I am truly blessed to be able to share the same space with these teachers.

My statement was last (a place I was regretting after listening to so many amazing teachers) and I stood before the group and told them I felt like a fraud among them, yet blessed to be able to learn from each of them. In usual fashion, I got wound up in my statement and storytelling and talked for over 30 minutes! And this gracious, wonderful group of people let me have every minute I needed and celebrated my journey with me.

Courage to Teach is Parker Palmer's gift to the world. I highly recommend his books and can never put the right words to to wonder of the retreats. I am feeling totally overwhelmed and energized and renewed. Good for us for being teachers! I can't wait for summer to be over so I can get back in the classroom to see my kids!