Odds and Ends
Keyboarding post
I wanted to assure everyone that I am in fact working on a post about keyboarding at the elementary level. However, I am waiting for a response from the original MEMO presenter in order to properly credit her work. Keyboarding is difficult to fit into the elementary schedule so I wanted to see how others were doing it. That information will be posted as soon as possible.
Short break
In Minnesota at this time of the year students have a couple days off so teachers can attend the teacher’s union conference. I don’t go. Since I went to the MEMO conference at the beginning of October, I don’t feel the need to go to another one so soon. I’m busy trying to figure out how to apply the things I already learned.
Website woes
My website, Harambee Elementary School Media Center, is in desperate need of revamping. I’m really embarrassed to even link to it but this blog is about how I’m experiencing and learning about technology. I enjoyed working on my website and can get caught up in it but now I’m wondering if that’s where I should spend my time. I do use my site when teaching but finding the time to work on it is challenging. TeacherWeb is NOT a free service. When I first joined the cost was a mere $25 a year which I paid out of my own pocket. The price has gone up to $39 a year. I guess that’s still pretty reasonable but I know there are free options out there. Free Technology for Teachers, has an excellent post entitled 8 Ways to Build Websites. I highly recommend this blog to any educator interested in exploring education related online options.
Technology plans for the quarter
The quarter is half over and I’m feeling like I haven’t done much with my students. The new interactive whiteboard has been fun and challenging. Students are enjoying it but they haven’t been on the computers yet. I’m collaborating with the Community Cultures teacher and the 4th and 5th grade teachers. I’m planning on using Voicethread for their folktale presentations and just started figuring out how I would do that. I’m really excited about it so look for more information after we start using it.
Meetings
Sometimes I feel like I’ve spent more time in meetings than actual teaching. However, these meetings have been worthwhile. I met with my principal recently. We decided that we should try to meet once a quarter. That gives me a chance to update her on what we’re doing in the library, both from the instructional end of things and the administrative end. Since my clerical support has been cut we are trying to work together to find solutions.
Professional development
Yesterday was a PD day in our district. The first half of the day was spent exploring ways to differentiate. I thought it was time well-spent and hope to incorporate some of the things I learned into my lesson plans. We spent the second half of the day doing some sort of technology training. Those of us who already have interactive whiteboards shared some of the things that we are doing with them. It was really very enlightening. We have some great teachers. Those teachers who did not yet have a new board went to a basic presentation on the boards. I heard that they are very interested and want to use the boards themselves. Hopefully we can share until next year when more will be installed. These teachers also learned how to use the new cameras they received while those with whiteboards learned about more advanced options for the boards.
The Challenge
When I look back over all the things listed here I realize that there are some exciting things happening in my school. In fact, I didn’t even list everything! It’s fun, exciting and very challenging. I need to remember this when I get discouraged. I’ve changed a lot and so has my school. Now we need to see if the abilities of our students reflect those changes in a positive way.
