The New Year Begins...

Wow...

The long run will begin. Everything has been set up and its time for the students to run. It is such an exciting time! I'm reinvigorated, I have some great ideas and I've been inspired by a lot of educators on the blogosphere and Twitter.

When this journey began in early December, I thought I was so far behind the others. Over the last month I have read, then read some more. It has been one of the most personally satisfying moments of my life... This is all about me and it feels great! This might seem like an odd statement, but it is so true. I have the ability to read nearly anything I want (boy is that list long!) and I have the ability ignore whatever I want.

As in all things dealing with the ego there is danger. I have the ability to surround myself with people who generally agree with me...Oh! I can see my ego grow even more... Yes, this could have some negatives and I must be careful to temper what I take in and what I choose to ignore. I must be careful to consider the benefits to my students and the curriculum before I jump on the next "cool web2.0 app"!

Hey this is sooo cool!!!

*thinks outloud* Maybe I'll do a characterization rap on Monday....Dangerous...Dangerous...

Shoutout to the blog postings that inspired me over the last week:

What Not To Build
Downes

Twitter Deep vs. Blog Deep

Dean Shareski

21st Century Clarification
Ben Grey

Read more >> Options >>

Wordle...

I used the Wordle App and I used my blogs RSS feed to supply the text. I really like the visual and I think it is something I could use in my class.

1. copy essay text into Wordle... What words stand out?
2. Introducing a new topic/unit and the vocabulary it contains
   

My Delicious Account

Excellent Thoughts

I'm only catching up to the current trends, but the theories sure makes a lot of sense to me. My passion for my career is at or greater than the moment of my graduation.

I love learning...

Leading Learning

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: learning change)

Curriculum and Teaching in the 21st Century

I have been part of an interesting dialogue with my colleague over at Banks2.0 about technology, curriculum and the future of learning. Alright, when I said interesting I might again be announcing my membership to the “propeller-head” club once again.

The talk centered on what we believed it meant to be a 21^st century teacher and what the 21^st century class would look like. A lot of this dialogue started from an article/interview that we came across on the Half an Hour Blog. It was here that Downes' shared his philosophy on where teaching and learning is or should be going. Banks and I discussed what we agreed with and what we disagreed with and how we saw our role as teachers. Banks’ questions had me looking out into some of the blogs I read and I came across Jeff Utecht’s, The Thinking Stick blog, and here he was discussing curriculum, teachers and technology.

Teaching in a technology rich class, with the inclusion of a lot of web2.0 tools, is interesting and I believe engaging. The question comes as to how I am meeting my curricular requirements using this technology. I am someone who is always trying to use tools that connect students to each other, the curriculum and engage them in a rewarding activity. I am always thinking, "That's cool, how can I use that in my class!" Often other teachers, especially those that are a little technology challenged, ask, "Why would I want to use that tool?" The answer comes from the myriad of curricular outcomes and the differentiation of assignments that can be met with a Web2.0 tool like a Wiki, Blog or a mashup like Glogster.

I can see myself helping my colleagues answer the why, and they may choose to move from the technologically challenged to 21st century.

The journey continues.....

Student Learning Networks

I consider myself a professional learner. This infectious and often overwhelming desire to know everything and have an opinion on it probably best describes me. So, I call myself a professional learner and behind closed doors I do call myself an "info junkie".

I did not even know this term was real until I did a "Google search". My wife wonders why I would even consider searching the term. This question probably puts the process I go through in context. Therefore, I spend my time near the computer doing searches and reading. Over the last summer I discovered Google Reader and suddenly a whole waft of information is now streaming my way. Much of this info was so over my head and was coming in such vast quantities it was like channel surfing a 1000 channels at the same time. Apparently I checked a whole bunch of interest boxes and voila I had 2000 things to read the 1st day! Then this last November during the Leading and Learning Conference, I attended the David Warlick presentation on RSS. Warlick used a term describing teachers as "Master Learners"! I thought, "That's me!"

The Light bulb went off... I could bring control to my information universe! I could control the info coming to me; I could shape my learning. I could learn what I wanted and I began creating my "Personal Learning Network"! I couldn't wait to get back to the classroom and start sharing what I learned. Yes, I revealed a level of geekiness to my Junior High students that I never thought possible. I stood in front of the, class and announced, "I am a propellorhead!" Well, technically I didn't, but it was pretty close; some did ask is that all you do.

As I continue to teach this year I am going to focus my energies on helping the students create their "Student Learning Networks". How can they learn more efficiently, how can they learn to love learning and how can they create their own "Personal Learning Network"!