Blogging Only Days Before ECOO...

With only a few days before ECOO I find myself laughing... at myself. I am laughing because I will be speaking for some time in my presentation about the wonderful tool of blogging and how it is promoting literacy in my classroom. Why am I laughing? Because I myself have not blogged in so long. With the craziness of September and three new class preps I have busied myself with lesson plans and marking (allowing no time for posting).

So what?

Well, I realize that whether we are students or teachers, we need to make time for ourselves. We need to use the very tools that we offer our students. I use blogs because they are a great way for students to journal and connect with others that have similar interests. Yet, I have not allowed myself the opportunity to do the same. I watch in amazement as I see the wonderful and thoughtful work that my students produce in their own blogs. I am thrilled that they are making connections to other texts, other web content, and other people. I love the community that it has created and creativity that students pour into their blogs.

So...what?

So, it's time that I, as a teacher and a life-long learner blog on a regular basis so that I, too, may benefit. Blogging can be a great outlet. So how can I promote using blogs if I, myself, am not a user?

Let the blogging continue...with less time gaps in between...

Till next time.

Spring has Sprung: fresh ideas forming from under a frozen mindset

So...it's been a while...a long and embarrassing while. I have not posted a blog in two - not days, weeks or months - years! I can't say I ever really started. I could come up with a list of excuses. I am a blogophobe. I don't know what to write. I don't think it would matter if I did write. Who's going to read it anyway? The list goes on and on. But after reading so many inspirational blogs about people's passion for education (I have @danikabarker to thank, for one) I stopped making excuses.

A pedagogical popsicle

As Spring has started to show itself (and only begun as it has gone from raining on Sunday to -14 as I write this), I am inspired to 'turn over a new leaf' in my pursuit of personal growth. After attending yet another phenomenal OTF conference this February I felt it was time to get off the proverbial couch of excuses and start making headway in my quest to build my PLN and really expand myself so I could in turn help my students expand their horizons. I've met so many amazing people through these PD sessions and I will be forever grateful to them for the constant support I receive in 140 characters or less :) via Twitter.

Spring thaw...

While I have used wikis for three years now I feel like a phony. I wanted to incorporate technology in the classroom so I began wiki pages for my classes. They were little more than a homework board with an occasional link to some web articles or videos. I realized how limited my use of technology was if I was just using my class site for homework. Now, I look to my Twitter network for ideas and inspiration. I go to conferences and read as much as I can handle while balancing marking and lesson plans. I started a page on the wiki last year strictly dedicated to Web 2.0 tools that I thought my high school English students would find useful. In my own development, I try out at least one new thing a week and hope to add to my teaching toolbox so that I can help my students in some way to better move through this ever changing world that is in front of them. I don't know what their future will look like but I can certainly try to help them navigate it by exposing them to critical thinking tools and the wealth of information that exists at their fingertips.

Is that a hint of green under the snow?

My mind is a buzz! New ideas overwhelm me as I read tweet after tweet, blog after blog, and try to absorb all the fabulous musings I heard from Will Richardson and Garfield Gini-Newman. Does it mean using everything I've learned about technology or every tool that's tweeted my way? No. But it means taking risks. And if I don't take risks in my own learning then I certainly can't expect them to take any great leaps. If a lesson flops at least I'll know what works and what doesn't. What matters is I'm not afraid to try anymore and I'm not limiting myself to the tools that exist in the walls of the classroom. No more excuses. No more running from the blog. It's time for me to put myself out there and take a risk. I am already feeling the benefit as I sit and write this. I have let the thoughts move from head space to cyberspace. Well, here goes 'something'.

Here's to spring: a chance for (my) new growth.

On an island after the techonology P.D.

After an amazing weekend at the OTF conference I left feeling uplifted, excited and ready to bring so much to my classroom. That was until I checked my voicemail and was reminded by a staff voice message that cellphones and iPods were absolutely not permitted in the class. That's when my heart hurt; this is a board policy. I know that the road ahead will not be easy. I will have to take small and carefully planned steps but it just feels so intimidating. Does anyone share the feeling of intimidation? Words of wisdom perhaps?

Technology on the dance stage? It works...

As an English and Dance teacher at the high school level I am always trying to bring technology into the classroom. But in all the years that I've been dancing I never could have dreamed that a computer could have a place in choreography: technology has found an exciting and valid place alongside the dancers of the Voci Dance group. The group pays homage to technology in some of their choreography as a way to signal the need to be connected in order to thrive in this ever changing wireless world. Check out Pam Payano's blog for more or Voci's web page:http://www.vocidance.org . I myself am now following their tweets: http://twitter.com/VociDance

Finding the will to compete

In 2007 I decided to compete in my first fitness competition. I never thought I would have found the will to do 5 more shows after that. Getting up at 5 in the morning to run on a treadmill doesn't sound appealing but if I wanted to be ready, I needed to be running. And so I did: I ran off 30 pounds and ended up on stage 3 months later with a first place win. What a rush. There's nothing like it. http://www.totrainer.com/s_29.asp