linked.woodster

Thank You Mr. Jobs

2011-10-07T07:51:00.001-04:00

The world lost a genius on Wednesday. An innovator. A visionary. Someone who thinks differently than most of the rest of us. I would personally thank Mr. Steve Jobs for his contributions to the world and how his hand has touched me as a teacher.

Mr. Jobs-
Your Apple computers were the first in my classrooms as a kid, the ones that inspired my wonder. Your iPods are the ones that carry my music on the long road ahead and allow me to get lost in music and dream. Your iPad is where I post this message from and where I watch my young daughter interacting with the world at her fingertips. Your Mac Books are what we use to produce and share all of the amazing occurrences here at Northside School. Your tools have transformed my thinking, doing, and producing. For that I thank you.

More importantly, your creativity, innovation, design, and approach to thinking is at the roots of who I am was a teacher. I hope to inspire my students to think differently as you have inspired millions to do. I will forever push my students to "stay hungry, [and] stay foolish," and attempt to inspire them to leave a "ding in the universe." And of course, I strive to make my students "the round pegs in the square holes."

Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Mr. Jobs, thank you. Your inspiration and innovations have had a profound influence on me, as well as the students I teach. You will live on forever.

Fondly,
Travis Wood

Getting started on 2011-2012

2011-07-24T21:26:00.001-04:00

Ideas come in the most awkward places sometimes. After quite a bit of summer reading and some time thinking, here is a new and MUCH improved list of classroom expectations. I am taking Derek Sivers advice in making my classroom utopia and Tony Dungy’s advice in that he didn’t have rules for the Colts, just high expectations for them.

Be Uncommon- from Tony Dungy’s Uncommon, about integrity, taking risks, failing, care for others, setting the example, optimistic

Be Remarkable-from Seth Godin’s The Big Moo, about taking risks, showing up every day, going above and beyond, best every time

Be Creative, innovative, and playful- Sir Ken Robinson, Papert, Reggio, project based learning,

Be a leader, be part of a tribe- from Seth Godin’s Tribes

Be reflective

In the next couple of weeks, I plan on breaking each of these ideas down in more detail if for nothing other than spelling them out for myself.

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Doodle 4 Google

2011-01-25T22:26:00.001-05:00

In case you haven't heard by now, Goggle is sponsoring a competition for students to earn a $15,000 college scholarship AND $25,000 for the students school to spend on technology. Pretty cool!

We decided to participate in this project to give our students an opportunity to create, design, and innovate (there's that word again) on an artistic level. The excitement was palpable. There was major disappointment when it was time to pack up for the day and many questions of whether or not they could take it home to work on over the weekend.

The theme for this year's contest is, "What I'd Like to Do Someday..." We expected many of the designs to be about careers, but we were astounded with the way the students interpreted Google's theme. One student she wanted to travel the world and one student said he wanted to invent 'things'. Another student, in particular, captured my attention. He said he wanted to be a father. I was struck by this for some reason. Maybe it was that I never knew this about him. Maybe it was that I never thought kids thought about being parents. Maybe it was the beauty of his illustration. (I mean the l in Google is a rolled up birth certificate!) Regardless, I was in awe, not really knowing how to respond.


Neng's Doodle 4 Google- Someday I want to be a Father.

His illustration, and those of his classmates, demonstrates what hope, creativity, design and innovation are all about. If you give kids the challenge and a platform, they respond.

Note to Self

2011-01-24T22:08:00.001-05:00

Our Pad for the Weekend

Always confirm room reservations. Or book them yourself.

This morning, one of the guys (Mark) that is in this years EduCon crew stopped in and asked if I had heard anything about our room reservations, of which I had not. I placed a quick call to the Windsor Suites and they had no reservations for us. In addition, they already had a wait list of 7 or more. Not good. I'm not sure where our reservations got lost, somewhere between our building secretaries and myself, I think.

After some quick phone calls and some finagling, and an additional 70 bucks per room, we scored a room at the Embassy Suites just across the street from the Windsor. I hear that it is actually much nicer that the Windsor. We will see.

Oh, and I hear that Wilt Chamberlain once lived there when he played for the Sixers. That's pretty cool. Not sure I want his room though...

Innovation

2011-01-23T21:26:00.001-05:00

I was very excited to see the topic of the opening panel at Educon, innovation. The opening panel is always a highlight of Educon, perhaps because of the venue or the brilliance on the stage that night. This year the contingent coming from my school is growing again (I was the only one at Educon 2.0 from my school, last year my coteacher joined me) and I have been talking Educon up to them, big time. The topic of innovation, the Franklin Institute, and the great minds on display should prove my contention that Educon is where its at. I digress...

This evening as I thinking forward to next weekend, I settled down and I did a quick google search on innovation. I started with the wikipedia page about innovation.

Innovation comes from the Latin innovationem, noun of action from innovare. The Etymology Dictionary further explains innovare as dating back to 1540 and stemming from the Latin innovatus, pp. of innovare "to renew or change," from in- "into" + novus "new".

Innovation can therefore be seen as the process that renews something that exists and not, as is commonly assumed, the introduction of something new.

As I continued my search, I found a great post that really made me think how I approach teaching.

“Just pretend you’re teaching you. How would you do that? What would you want to know? What did you dislike when you were taught? What stories would you tell to make it understandable? What would keep you interested and engaged?”

Should I really be thinking about myself as a learner as I design learning experiences?

Shortly after, I found another great post, this one by George Curos. Shockingly coincidental at I come across two posts with similar thoughts. Curos suggests that we need to ask ourselves, "Does this work for me?" as we design our classroom environment and experiences. Of course, we need to think of our students at the end of the day (Curos suggests this also), but I thought that this was an interesting approach to designing opportunities for my students.

So, in the spirit of innovation, I am going to try to renew my approach over the next couple of days and weeks. I am going to think about myself as a learner, with the hope of this reflecting being that my students get more.

Happy New Year 2011

2010-12-31T21:44:00.003-05:00

Downtown to see fireworks... Happy New Year!

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NYSCATE 2010

2010-11-23T20:05:00.001-05:00

NYSCATE was great again this year, thought provoking as always. It was great to catch up with old friends and meet new. I'm left with a tired brain and more questions than answers. (Mission accomplished NYSCATE, I am always trying to do that with my students.)

Over the next few days, I'll dig through my notes and tweets and I will share some of what I gathered from the conference and some of the questions I'm left with.

Happy Thanksgiving break!

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Dusting the Blog Off

2010-11-20T22:47:00.001-05:00

Brian Smith is someone who I consider a good friend. I also respect him as a colleague. He challenges me to think and pushes me to do more. Last week, at a Rocheater Area Literacy Council meeting he sat on a panel and remarked that we have an obligation share what we are doing. We have had conversations about this type of thing before. We have had conversations before and he has told me to write, share, reflect, and be transparent, but I didn't bite.

Here I am, sitting on the couch at 10 on a Saturday night, still thinking about Brian's comment (perhaps inspired by NYSCATE starting tomorrow). So here it is... A concerted effort at reviving my blog and sharing.

Today, I had the privilege of presenting at the NYSCATE Preconference Session. My session was entitled Using Technology to Transform the Writing Process and I felt that it went very well. There was some good conversation in the beginning and lots of great questions at the end of the session. During the session, one of the questions I brought up came from a quote by Arthur Ashe,

Success is a journey not a destination. The doing is usually more important than the outcome.

My question was more specific to writing, but in essence, the question was something like this: Is it more important to give a student a good experience to learn from or is it more important to get to understand or be able to do something? I bought up taking road trips with friends. (When you begin one you don't yell "ROAD TRIP" for nothing, right?) You remember a particular trip with friends just as much as I do, and I am sure that the destination was not the only thing you remember. I'm sure you remember getting pulled over, running out of gas, and/or getting lost in the middle of the night just as much as, or more than, the actual trip itself.

That said, why, then, do we focus so much on end destination for kids? Do we really know where their journey will take them? Of course we need to have a goal in mind, but is it OK to say everyone in our classes isn't ready to 'get it' yet? Does my road trip theory apply to learning?

I would argue that it does.

Transparency: Do you see through it?

2010-02-04T07:27:00.004-05:00

Are incompetence or lacking confidence synonyms for transparency? Do you view someone who is transparent as weak and not up to the task? Or do you value transparency in others?

In the past I have had interesting 'discussions' (more like, "How could you write that where people can read it?") because of things that I have written or said. Namely, a post that I wrote a few years ago at the end of a school year about feeling like I failed. My colleague could not get past the fact that I admitted that I think I may have been able to do better. He kept saying, "What if one of your parents sees that post?" "What is your administrators see that post?"

I'll often get looks from passers-by when I admit to my students that I made a mistake. The looks on students' faces at the beginning of the year when I say I made a mistake are priceless. They act as they have never have heard "my bad" from a teacher before.

In others, I value humility. I value someone who is not afraid to take a shot, and will claim responsibility for missing. I value when someone is self-reflective and is not afraid (or too wrapped up in being 'right') to admit a mistake. The people with these qualities are the leaders I choose to follow. These are the qualities I try live and pass on to my students each day.

So, what do you think? Is transparency a weakness? Or is being 'right all of the time' not all its cracked up to be?

Question of the Day?

2009-11-25T05:57:00.001-05:00

“What does it mean to be well educated in the 21st century?” -David Jakes

NYSCATE Quick Hitters

2009-11-24T22:22:00.007-05:00

This year's NYSCATE Conference was a great experience. There was a great blend of 'tool' sessions and Educon-like conversation sessions. My bucket is completely full, so here's a list of some important notes, quotes, opinions (if they are worth anything), and tidbits from the 3 day barrage. Expect more elaboration after I wrap my head around the following ideas.

Chris Lehmann, David Jakes, and Sir Ken Robinson (among many others) are equal parts depressing and inspiring. They paint a clear picture of where 'we' (you decide who we refers to) are in education in America. They also make it clear that there is hope and plenty of opportunity for change. 'We' just need to make that happen.

Jim Klein gets it. He does some really interesting things. How would you feel about letting kids Tweet out during a test when they come to a question that they need help on? Don't we do that in the real world? If you're not sure how to do something you ask, right? Not in schools though. I know this seems to be a far out idea but he suggested, and I paraphrase, "Start simple and gradually expand your reach." Words to live by.

Here's a quote from Sylvia Martinez to think about: "If you can Google it, it shouldn't be on a test." Thoughts?

Everyone needs to have the 21st century skills discussion with their colleagues. Kind of feels like the birds and the bees conversations I had with my dad.

Old texts and ideas are relevant: Abe Lincoln was quoted by Sir Ken Robinson (still looking for the exact quote), Seymour Papert's work from the 70's still rings true, and Gandhi's "Be the change you want to see," quote just may be my new motto. Not everything has to be 21st century.

Wait until you see GE's Augmented Reality. Think: What are the possibilities?

In terms of tools, Fairport is in GREAT shape compared to other schools. We have access to the stuff, now it's getting the teachers on board in using it. Making it happen is the next hurdle. (Much more to come on this topic.) See Gandhi's quote above.

This last one is not exclusively a NYSCATE idea, but as I drove out of the parking garage I was thinking its time I do what I ask of my students, be a leader and take a risk. (Much more to come on this topic also.)

What did you take from NYSCATE?

Letter to My School

2009-03-25T22:25:00.004-04:00

I thought I'd share this. It is a copy of an e-mail that I sent to my school regarding Earth Hour and the grassroots work my students have done.

Northside School-

This Saturday is the official Earth Hour. Since Earth Hour is on a Saturday, my students came up with the idea of having all of Northside turn off their classroom lights from 9-9:30 on Friday in honor of Earth Hour. We hope you join us and participate in Northside Schools Earth Hour. It would be so cool to walk through school school and only see necessary lights on!

Don't forget to turn off your lights on Saturday too, from 8:30-9:30. Don't forget to spread the word among other family and friends also.

Feel free to take a picture or a short video of what you choose to do either Friday OR Saturday and send it to me. I am planning on putting a movie together showing how NS celebrated this awesome day! Read on below if you'd like more info about Earth Hour.

Thanks for participating!

Travis

Earth Hour started out in 2007 as an initiative in Sydney, Australia. The people at the World Wildlife Federation came up with a plan to encourage as many people in Sydney to turn off their lights for 1 hour to save energy and fight global warming. They estimated that 2.2 million people participated and landmarks such as the Sydney Opera House even turned off the lights. In '08 Earth Hour grew tremendously. The WWF estimated 55 million people around the globe participated.

Fast forward to 2009: The goal is to get 1 billion people in 1,000 cities to participate. Earth Hour has been relying on social media (twitter, facebook, blogs, etc. )(yes I am a geek) and word of mouth to convince people to turn off their lights from 8:30-9:30. I came across it while searching for something cool to do for a conserving electricity lesson. I shared Earth Hour with my class decided to spread the word. They wanted to convince Fairport to participate, but aimed to start with Northside. We may not have reached our end goal, but we have reached as far as England via our class blog.

I could not more proud of a group of students. Nine and ten year old students stepped up and worked to make a change and a difference in the world. They ran the show, deciding on goals and how to achieve them. They split into groups depending on their strengths. The artists made posters. The computer 'geek squad' made digital ads via PowerPoint and GoogleDocs Presentations to share on our class blog. The writers wrote to school leaders, local newspapers and even wrote scripts for school announcements and video ads (see below). The Woodsters never cease to amaze me with their care and drive once they believe in something.

I'm looking forward to voting for the Earth Saturday and to spreading the word for next year's Earth Hour when the current Woodsters and next year's group can team up to see the difference they can make.

Check back for a video of what everyone did during their Earth Hour celebration!

Earth Hour 2009 Video

2009-03-21T12:07:00.004-04:00

This is a video created by my fourth graders about Earth Hour.

Earth Hour 2009

2009-03-04T21:29:00.001-05:00

We are participating, are you? More information to follow!

Hello? Anyone Listening?

2009-01-29T21:03:00.011-05:00

First let me say that Educon 2.1 was amazing. The conversation was deep from the time I left Rochester on Friday to the time I dropped Brian Smith in his driveway. My philosophy and values of education were pushed and challenged. Big time.

One interesting conversation took place in Bud Hunt's session about writing. On top of his statement that "Hyperlinks are adjectives (and the subsequent blog post) and some individual time to reflect on writing came a debate about audience. It seems that I am not the only one who is wrestling with who I'm blogging for. There were some in the crowd that were writing for themselves, some who were vaguely aware of who they are writing for, and some who knew exactly who they were writing for.

It may be a generalization, but it seemed that it might have been the newer bloggers that were most unsure of who they were writing for (or simply writing for themselves). I feel that I am in this group. First off, it seems that next to no one is reading my posts, so in that sense I am writing for myself. So you may say, "Why not just get out your journal ?" My response: good question. Maybe it's that I hope someone stumbles onto my blog and connects with something I am saying. Maybe it's just that the blog is an easy place for me to write. I am not quite sure. It's not that I want to keep my writing private as much as it's a lack of readers I suppose.

I think knowing your audience matters. The problem is when I sit down to post, the cage match usually begins (thus leading to many unfinished drafts). If you could take a look into my head you'd see many of the people in my reader in the red corner and in the blue corner you'd see the teachers in my building and district. Herein lies the problem: Who do I want to write for? Am I looking to share with the big picture crew (like many of the exceptional people I met at Educon) or the teachers I work with who could care less about big picture ideas, but would like to know what to do on a wiki?

Is it selfish of me to simply write for myself, sometimes taking on heady issues and sometimes sharing more concrete ideas and say "take from it what you can," to my reader? Or is it more important that I 'pick' my audience and consistently write with them in mind? I'm thinking that it may be more of the former than the latter.

NYSCATE Day 1

2008-11-23T22:11:00.004-05:00

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

2008-11-23T09:28:00.003-05:00

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...

Uuuuuggggghhhhhh

2008-11-13T23:06:00.009-05:00

I love technology. I love the tools. I love gadgets.

Until they do not work. Always at the most inopportune time. Nothing like having everything planned out for a sub, the whole day revolving around a SMART Board and the projector bulb dies at 2:45 the day before.

Did I say I love technology?

Sweet Tool

2008-11-13T21:58:00.006-05:00

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

2008-11-13T21:41:00.014-05:00

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 classblogmeiste r. 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?

2008-06-20T21:20:00.009-04:00

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

2008-06-15T22:04:00.007-04:00

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!

2008-06-14T00:41:00.006-04:00

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

2008-06-14T00:25:00.007-04:00

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

2008-06-13T23:54:00.005-04:00

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.