School days around the world

Imagine if you will:
1. Two breaks a day to collaborate with teachers.
2. Fifty minute lunches.
3. School delayed one day a week to accommodate a weekly faculty meeting.

This is not a fantasy. This is real life in New Zealand!  What are these two breaks exactly?  This is a customary "teatime".  Students get "teatime" as well.  The writer of this article went around during this time to talk to teachers and students and he found that the "adults felt like they had time to share concerns with peers, grow philosophically, innovate."  The students also felt that they could decompress from class time, take a break, and get ready to learn again.  The writer himself witnessed this in the classroom shortly after teatime.  The best thing about this schedule is that " teachers and students in New Zealand have roughly ten hours of collaborative professional development time built into the schedule."  Any time for professional development built into the schedule in the United States would be a luxury.  


Another philosophy that I thought was interesting was their idea of homework.  The writer interviewed a Head of School (or a principal) about homework and they said, "Our job is to inspire them to want to learn, not to work them to death. When you're that busy and that stressed, it's a recipe to hate education, to hate learning, to hate school."  I feel that in the U.S., as a whole, we don't feel this way.  

Would it be hard to implement this kind of school day?  Would it work?  It is interesting, and I would definitely be willing to try it.

Provost, Adam. ""School Time" in New Zealand." Weblog post. Edutopia. N.p., 6 May 2013. Web. 30 May 2013. <http://www.edutopia.org/blog/school-time-in-new-zealand-adam-provost>.

Significance of Wikis

I've known about wikis for many years.  I graduated from high school in 2003, and I vividly remember using a wiki for a class I was taking.  I don't remember the specifics, but it had to do with a group project and collaboration.  I remember liking it and thinking that it was a great tool to use.  I'm surprised in myself that I haven't put wikis to use in my own classroom.  After reading 7 things you should know about Wikis, I will start implementing them into my teaching. I also coach Speech and Debate.  I've thought about making a wiki page for this club. What a great way for kids to collaborate and post videos to make them better competitors!  One part of the article that really stuck with me was the idea that from a educational technology standpoint, "wikis allow faculty and students to engage in collaborative activities that might not be possible in the classroom."  This goes back to using blogs.  The more introverted students may feel better about sharing with their teacher and classmates in this kind of setting.  Wikis are not intimidating and easier to use.  I feel they will be a great tool for my classroom.

"7 Things You Should Know about Wikis." Educase Learning Initiative (2005): n. pag. Web.

My First Podcast

I love technology, and I'm a self-proclaimed "tech junkie".  I'm always looking up the newest trend and begging my husband to let me purchase the newest device!  This is probably the main reason I decided to get this masters degree.  One thing I never ventured to try was making a podcast.  I was happy and nervous when I saw we were going to be making a podcast for our week 4 assignment.  I read Chapter 8 in the textbook and tried different software to begin making my podcast.  I found that Garageband was the most user friendly and I began putting together my ideas.  Making my first podcast went incredibly well!  It was FUN and I look forward to using this technology in my classroom.  It seems a bit overwhelming at first because I always assume that the students know more about technology than I do, but that sometimes is not the case.  According to the textbook, "you do not need a lot of technical expertise to make it work."  This is a relief.  Now that I've made my own podcast, I will be able to help my students make one of their own.

My cup is empty...

As the school year begins to wind down, many teachers (and students) are feeling tired and warn out.  This week we have MSLs (Common Exams) and next week we have finals and EOCs (End of Course).  Students have been studying hard and teachers have been reviewing and tutoring.  Personally, this is the time of year that I feel completely overwhelmed and EXHAUSTED.  My school uses Edmodo, and someone I am connected with on this program always posts about the blog, Dear Teacher Love Teacher.  Today I finally got a chance to look at it and I found it to be a nice, inspirational blog that I will look at more often.  The posts are meant to inspire and have teachers take a step back and evaluate their day, lesson, students, or self.  The post from today was called The Choice.  I really connected with this blog because I strive to be a positive teacher, even if my day isn't going as well as I would like.  Being positive the last 10 days of school can be trying, especially with a holiday weekend coming up.

One part of the blog that really struck a cord with me was this quote, "We don’t have many seconds with them, in the span of their lives, so we need to make each one count!  We can’t afford to have many “bad seconds” with our students."  I never thought about it this way before.  We get so used to the daily grind, that sometimes teachers forget about the students.  We only have them for a brief amount of time, might as well make the best of it.  Being positive when it's hard, being caring when you don't care, that is what separates the good teachers from the "not so good" teachers.  The last few days of school are here!  We are almost done!  I am going to read this blog for inspiration.

New Tech Blog

I found a great blog called ilearntechnology.com.  The post that stood out the most to me was about digital storytelling.  This blog tries out technology, gives background about the tool, and then tells how to implement it into the classroom.  This is a fantastic idea.  Many times, teachers find great technology, but have no idea how to use it in the classroom.  This blog was helpful and had many posts of different types of technology.  The digital storytelling post reviewed a tool that any student can use.  The problem I run into when trying to implement digital storytelling into the classroom is that many students don't have the software at home to complete the project.  The tool described can be accessed from the internet on any computer.  I like how the blog gives examples and makes implementing technology seem more fun instead of a chore.

The Great Gatsby

I currently teach two sections of American Literature.  With the release of the new Gatsby movie, I couldn't resist reading this classic with my students.  Even though I haven't seen the new movie yet, many of my students have.  We are midway through the book, and many of them are excited to continue reading.  Technology and pop culture to excite reading?  I'm in!  I came across this article, Bringing Web Tools to Gatsby's Party:  A Digital Path into a Jazz Age Classic, and I had to read it!  The whole premise of the article is to get kids to do textual analysis using web tools.  How clever!  Textual analysis can get tedious and boring. This article suggested using Wordle and Google Books.  I can see how both ways would peak the interest of my students.  Next year, when the novelty of a new movie wears off, these strategies will help engage my students in this classic novel.  Other web tools that would work well with this are Glogster, to create a poster of color symbolism in the story, and Prezi to show understanding of the characters connection.  I'm excited to try these strategies next year with my students.

Chapter 2: Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts

I found Chapter 2 to be quite interesting.  As an English teacher, I require many writing assignments in my class.  Even in my short five years of teaching, I've seen a huge change in the way I teach my classes and the technology I use to conduct lessons and assignments.  When I began teaching in 2008, I used an "old school" overhead projector!  Currently, I'm using a SMARTboard, a portable laptop station, a document camera, and response clickers!  Technology at my school has advanced quickly and I feel that using blogs would continue this trend.

Now that my classroom has a portable laptop station, it will be much easier to incorporate blogging into my lessons.  Students love posting their ideas to the internet and getting feedback from their peers.  Richardson states, "I will never forget the first time I posted my opinion, and the first time someone responded to it" (17).  There are many instances in my class where students could use blogging to get ideas for writing and to "bounce" ideas off of each other OUTSIDE of the classroom.

The biggest plus I saw about using blogs in the classroom was the fact that it will give my quite students a voice.  Blogs are tools "that support different learning styles"( 27).  Everyone has a voice and blogs allow the students that are quite in class, to express their thoughts.

I am going to make it a goal to use blogs in my class next year.

Richardson, Will. Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand                  Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2010. Print.

Technology is awesome!

I just came across this article about Google Glass.  This is a new device that will eventually replace cell phones.  It is warn on the head, and has an eye piece to view time and other phone features.  It is astounding to think how quickly technology is evolving. As teachers, we need to expose students to technology as much as possible.  If students are to be prepared for a 21st century world, they need the appropriate background and tools to be successful.  This article just goes to show how much technology plays a role in our everyday lives.  

Geeky English Teacher

I'm always looking for resources to make me a more effective English teacher.  The blog assignment has me on the "look out" for these resources constantly.  I came across an article on edudemic.com called "10 Online Resources To Inspire Writers Of Any Age".  The resources in this article truly were "inspiring" as an English teacher.  Like the article says, the Common Core focuses primarily on informational text.  While this is important, there still needs to be room for the classics and for fiction reading.  This article rejoices the fact that fiction is important and is needed in the English classroom.

Cyber Pop Blog

While searching for new and interesting blogs to follow, I came across a blog called Cyber Pop Blog!  There is many useful posts for teachers, and for implementing technology in the classroom.  The entry I found interesting is called "Say No to PowerPoint".  This entry talked about different ways to present information.  Some of the tools she talked about I have never heard of before.  She doesn't "bash" PowerPoint in anyway, but it is interesting to have other options for delivery of information.  In my own classroom, my students actually prefer Prezi over PowerPoint.  She references the slideshow "You Suck at PowerPoint" which is a presentation that shows the 5 major mistakes in PowerPoint designing and making.  This could be fun to show students before a presentation.

My First Blog!

Hello everyone!  Just making sure my blog is working!  I've written blogs before...on livejournal...remember livejournal?? :)  Looking forward to your comments.