NYSCATE Day 1

I got there way too early and left even earlier. I heard that registering was trouble if you didn't get there early enough, so I I did just that. There wasn't much going on when I got to the Convention Center, but I was able to hook into the RRCC's wireless to check out the sessions for the day. I also got to check out my new Bean. It is very cool... 3.2 mega pixel digital camera, video camera, webcam, mass storage device. Talk about a do all tool... Thanks NYSCATE.

I went to two sessions this afternoon and got exactly what I was looking for. The first was a sessions about PLNs and how to develop one. The second was a session about blogging and using wikis in an elementary classroom. I left after that. I wanted to see David Jakes, but I did not pay $45 for the banquet/dinner/keynote. When I got home, I felt short changed and all night I felt like I was missing out on an opportunity to make new friends and learn from them.

I didn't miss everything though. I was able to catch Jakes' presentation via Ustream, compliments of Brian C Smith. Thanks Brian!

So here's what I take from today:

• I feel ahead of the ballgame with what I do in my classroom. Many of the ideas that were thrown around today were things that I am doing or have experimented with. I was able to grab some specific ideas that I will certainly use.
• I'm on the the right track to developing my Professional Learning Network. I have been following blogs for over a year and writing here for almost half. (Before today, I didn't realize this was a way to develop a PLN.) I've got some work to do with Twitter though. I need help, both technical and theoretical. I will be sure to tap into the playground tomorrow.
  
• Next year, pay the $45 to go to the dinner. Or even better, get school to pay for it!
  

More tomorrow.

NYSCATE 2008

In about an hour I will be heading downtown for the 2008 NYSCATE conference. I am psyched! I am looking forward to learning some new things and making some new connections. I've set some goals for myself... Here they are:

One thing I hope to do this weekend is to make a connection with a teacher who is interested in collaborating in some sort of distance learning project. My students are really starting to see that learning does not merely take place inside our room. They are researching earthquakes at home, writing on their bogs on Saturdays and while they are away on vacation. I really want to foster this and keep this movement happening. What better way than doing a project with someone far away? Any takers?

Another thing I would like to get out of this week is to challenge my thoughts of technology in schools. I am really looking forward to listening to all of the keynote speakers, particularly David Jakes and Gary Stager. I am looking forward to the 'big picture' discussions and how they will challenge my previous thinking of technology's role in schools.

Last, among many others, I want to continue to develop my PLN. That may include trying out some new tools like Twitter, and it hopefully will include meeting many fantastic people.

Check back for more, I will be writing lots over the next two days...

Sweet Tool

Northside school is fantastic. We are lucky to have a supportive administration, brilliant colleagues, and great technology tools. And we have the greatest selection of books ever! We have hundreds of class sets of novels to read. Our school's Lead Teacher, Linda S., has devoted herself to keeping the latest titles coming in and finding a place to put them. We have so many books that we are out of space (I'd rather too many books and not enough space than the contrary) and organization is an issue.

"Linda, where so I find A Dog's Life? What Level Q, dog books do we have? Know of any good adventure books?" I think she hears questions this 12 times a day. And she knows the answers to all of these questions. Every time.

Enter a fantastic tool to save the day... Library Thing. Library thing is a 'social network' for readers. It will allow us to enter all of our books, tag them, and easily search them for what we are looking to use with our class. We'll know where to find the books and who has resources that we can use. On top of all of that, Library Thing is web based so it is accessible from home for those of us who know no boundaries between home and school.

Linda, you are now free to order us more fantastic books!

Gas in the Engine

Comments are the gas that drives blogs. In my (inexperienced) opinion, comments are what drive a blog. They inspire, they encourage, and they challenge readers and writers to learn. Comments motivate bloggers to write more and readers to read more.

I have witnessed how comments can put the proverbial 'pedal to the metal' for bloggers, even 4th grade bloggers. My 4th graders each had their own blog through classblogmeister. It was a great experience for all, but the students that got the most out of blogging were the ones who received the most comments. The kids who got the comments were the ones who write from home, blogged during their free time , or wrote on their blogs while they were on vacation. They had an audience to listen to them and they knew it. They performed for them.

One of my gripes (see my Pie in the Sky post from June) was that there was not enough parents or other family members commenting on my students' posts. This year I got my wish. I routinely have 4-5 comments awaiting moderation in my inbox. This has certainly translated to more writing. One of my boys even writes posts on Saturday mornings... How cool is that? Let me just say that I am so enthused that my kids are learning and working outside of the four walls of my classroom.

I can't say the kids are alone here. When I opened up this blog I received few comments. I worked hard to gain readers. I went commented, I linked, I tried all the tricks I could think of short of offering free stuff. I had a few loyal readers (Thanks Bret and Brian!) but did not receive many comments. Total comments up to last week: 4. I started to feel like I was writing for myself (not an awful thing, I suppose) and I felt that I was wasting time. You can guess what happened next, I stopped writing.

Of course, there is one other explanation to the lack of comments... When I was writing last, gas prices were out of this world ($4.09 was the highest I paid). People were conserving their gas. Comments were at a premium,. Now gas prices are coming down... I have been thinking of things I should be writing about lately and I have a dashboard full of unfinished posts. I am re-energized to write and this time I hope I find an audience who wants to fill my engine with gas.

Am I Alone On This One?

The end of the year brings a lot of feelings. I am excited to know that the alarm will not wake me for almost two months and I am stressed by completing report cards and wrapping up all of my paperwork. I have 'pain' because the last thing I want to do is clean out my classroom and I am saddened that my students are moving on. I have another feeling that I thought was a strange one. A feeling that I have not shared with many, the feeling of failure. I thought I was alone here, but earlier this week I read a post by Mark Ahlness (and the follow up comments) and I felt a little better. I am not really alone.

Each year as I complete my students report cards I start thinking to myself, "you definitely did not do a good enough job teaching this," or, "you really could have spent more time on that," or even worse,"you really didn't do enough for this student." The more I think about these feelings, though, the more I think that this is healthy, in a strange sort of way. The desire to improve on the past is a good quality to possess.

In fact, it is kind of exciting looking for ways to make myself a better teacher. The hope of a relatively open summer to read, learn and improve, and knowing that the 'boards will be clean' in the fall seems to make it better. The pile of teaching books and files in my closet is exciting, when just a month ago it would have been dreadful and daunting. I really find the fact that feeling failure leads to hope so interesting.

Now I am just left with trying to figure out where to start...

Pie in the Sky

This post was originally a comment on Avenue4Learning as a response to a Top 5 Wish List post. Through her requests, the author seems to be a middle/high school teacher. It is interesting to see how her list and my list compare. Here's the original comment. Feel free to leave me your list and we can compare.

Here's a wish list... from an elementary teacher.

1- More parents interest- My students used classblogmeister for much of this past school year. I sent multiple e-mails (and hard copies in backpacks) asking them to read and comment on their student's work. I did not get much of a response at all. I do not think parents understand that their comments (especially if they go beyond 'nice blog') really drive the students motivation and care for writing.

2- A class set of iPods (I could settle for 5 if I had to). Being an elementary teacher, one of my goals is to get my students excited about reading. Among many other uses the iPods would be an excellent way to share read alouds. The kids could listen to professionally recorded books, books read my myself, or (probably the most powerful) books read by their peers.

3- A set of laptops for my room. I don't need one per student, but a few in addition to the two desktops in my room would allow my students who really are into publishing their thoughts the opportunity to do so more frequently.

4- More opportunities to connect with classrooms, experts, etc. through Skype. My class made friends with class 500 miles away this year through blogs and a few Skype calls. It was an awesome, powerful experience. It would be so cool to connect with scientists when kids have great science questions or to an author that the class is reading.

5- More opportunities to investigate new tools to use in the classroom. I was lucky to be chosen to be part of a Technology Vision Team (TVT) this year. We had 4 days of release time and during that time we experimented with 'right now' tools (wikis, blogs, etc.) and 'someday tools' (video gaming and Second Life). This was a great experience because I was able to sit on a team with about 15 excellent teachers, at all levels, and bounce ideas around. I'd have to stay up all night by myself for a month to equal the amount of learning in only 1 day of working with the TVT. (On a side note: I was asked to participate in 08-09's TVT.)

Yeah, I may need to find a few pennies in the parking lot to make these all happen, but you never know if you do not shoot for the moon!

WOW!

Like I said in the beginning, there's going to be some randomness to this blog. I hope this post does not make my blog lose credibility in it's purpose, but the new Coldplay is simply fantastic. I can't peel my ears away from the speakers. Take a close listen to Cemeteries of London and Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love. Amazing. I can't wait to get my hands on a hard copy.

The Future for Tessa Rae

Tonight, as I rocked my daughter of two weeks to sleep I couldn't help but think: What is school going to be like for my little girl?

I've only been at this for 4+ years and I am already light years ahead of where I was in the beginning.
My first year I don't think I went home without overhead marker covering my hands or colored chalk all over my back. Only one year later was I playing with SMART Notebook using only a projector. A year later I was lucky enough to get a SMART Board mounted in my classroom. This year was the year of web 2.0, classblogmeister, wikis, podcasting, skype, connecting with classrooms outside of our building...

If I have gone from the dinosaur ages to where I am now, what will be the state of education in 2018 when my little Tessa is entering the fourth grade? Will she 'go' to school? Will there be books? Pencils? I can't even begin to imagine.

Ok, I'm A Rookie

So I've been reading all of the educational technology stars blogs for some time. You know who I am talking about, David Warlick, Will Richardson, Brian Crosby ... I'm just a newbie compared to them. I've only been teaching for 4+ years now and this is my first year experimenting with web 2.0 technologies. That said, I've been hooked on technology from the start. I feel behind the times and ahead of the curve all at the same time, if that makes any sense.

I've been thinking about expressing my thoughts through a blog and have been encouraged to do so by a few colleagues that I respect greatly. To this point I thought I had nothing to say, nothing too profound to add to the ongoing conversations going on out there in 2.0 space so I felt that reading and commenting here and there was enough. With the end of school quickly approaching I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, I could add something. Something of relevance. So here it is... linked.woodster.

I can not promise anything consistent here. I thought, for the longest time, that a blog needed to have a consistent platform, topic, format, or stance. I still am not sure about this, but this blog certainly won't. I am sure I'll write about the big picture, reflect on events from school days, talk about things that worked (and didn't work), and ask questions, with the focus being on technology in education. Elementary education specifically.

An important person in my life once told me, "Don't be the salt if you are really the pepper." Well, here we go... I am an elementary education teacher with lots of thoughts. Now it is time to share them.