Loss

I think that this will be the straw that breaks my back and makes me more diligent about saving data. Once again, I begin typing a response to a blog right into the box- instead of what I should do which is type into a word document and then cut and paste- and upon submission of my comment, name and password ( which was mathp- which was ironic because the pg belongs to a math teacher), I lost a whole response to my cohort and about 45 minutes of my time. Note to self- Don't do that again- it is the fourth or fifth time!!! My only consolation is that it will type faster the second time??? I guess maybe it will because the information will become more ingrained and fluent in my brain?

21st Century Literacy

Partnership for 21st Century Skills

I enjoyed this interactive, organized website. It had a number of good goals that we have been studying to prepare our students with the skills needed for the 21st century. I was surprised at the extensive amount of information, links, classes, and games that were available and the skills and ideas that were explored. One I will share with my students teaches checking the accuracy of a site through triangulation. Most of the micro modules would be above my third graders' heads.
While I really don't disagree with anything on this site, I find it to be more focused on research than functionality. I prefer the Online Resources for Big6 Informational Skills any day for my purposes and age group. The organization is better and it is more practical than academic. I think teachers would get more out of this focus on "information literacy skills".

I think that the implications of this partnership of corporations and states for the betterment of the students and for education will be for the good of all. Their advocacy for our students is important and I appreciate that they aim to help teachers infuse these 21st century skills with core subject information. Not many states are on board at this time- but that doesn't mean that teachers can't utilize these sources independently. Following in the footsteps of commendable organizations including that National Council of Teachers for Mathematics or the National Science Teachers Association, this site offers great frameworks and overviews that can avail teachers to great ideas and resources, but will ultimately play second fiddle to state standards and the practical needs of teachers.

Leonardo Da Vinci

Exploring Leonardo

Creativity

After seeing all the "thinking outside the box" that Leoardo did, I feel that creativity is sorely needed in the classrooms of all children. Maybe some of these could be morning work and morning meeting ideas sprinkled through the year. In a world where the jobs of the future haven't even been conceived of yet, being able to think creatively is crucial.

Creativity sample lessons

from Creative Press

Snow Day

Tomorrow is a snow day~ so I will have some more time to work on links for the wiki. I am excited about the possibility of snow- but I had wanted to see the inauguration with the children and my co-teachers. There was some grumbling about watching it at school- but I think it is going to be very moving in many ways.

Need to find delicious password for the district account I made... grrr- I hand-wrote it on the handouts for my coworkers and now have no paper trail of it. Being an unorganized person, saved files and multiple trails to the information I need is great. I am also unusually adept at organizing files in the computer for both myself and shared drives... it is the total opposite of me with paper files- the storage systems and notebooks for tax, personal, and financial paperwork is laughable (only because it keeps you from crying). So that is one thing that computers have really assisted me in- being organized.

Blog

I do have an additional blog that I have been using for my classroom:
my class blog.

The blog serves as a place for students to share their ideas on quotes and readings- as well as anything else they want to talk about. At this point, I think that is works to stimulate their thinking a little bit. It also allows them to practice interacting through blog. At this point, with third graders, I see it as a time-saver for introspection and a tool for practicing interaction on the web.
My experience so far is that it hasn't really taken off with a majority of the students. I have third graders and I only see them once a week- so it is a little bit out of sight, out of mind. I open the blog and read entries that students do make and I know they love hearing their comments read aloud. I am going to try to add more links to the blog in order to hopefully entice them to come. I put many games and fun links on my website and we visit them for short periods of time in class so they can familiarize themselves with the site. I also make them enter sites for webquests that I use in class through my website as I feel that the more they visit, the more it will become a habit.

Here is a link to an interesting blog...
http://www.edutopia.org/new-teacher-anxiety

It is funny to read her description of the open schools because that is the type of school I started in. We had particle board dividers by the time I got there- but the general issues remain.

Wii and Beyond

What elements of learning virtual reality do you foresee in future education???