Now presenting.....SMART technology

I have an announcement....I have a SMARTboard in my classroom!!! It has been coming for a while but it was finally put up and my projector finally mounted! I am very excited to begin using it and am ready for ideas. Anyone have good ones for senior ELA or History, Career Ed., or Psychology? I have been on the  SMARTexchange website and have gotten a few good ones from there. I know I will be creating some of my own as well, but since exam week is quickly approaching I was wondering if anyone had some ready-made 'gooders'.

My technology-enabled classroom is really coming together and I am looking forward to my future of infusion. My curriculum can be enhanced so much more with this technology. It may not be used EVERY class, but there is definitely ways that it will be used DAILY. My students will be able to get out of their seats and interact finally, allowing them to engage in their learning. I have already used it for reviews and for videos, but I am hoping within the next few weeks (when semester two beings), that I will have more time to develop more engaging lessons. My other goal is to get our staffs' less-technology friendly individuals, more excited about the SMARTboard and comfortable seeing how it can be incorporated into daily life in the classroom.

I will let you know how it goes, and hopefully post some lessons once I have made them.

The "Ah-Ha" Moment

I love the "Ah-Ha" moments in life. I love them because they can be rare, but also because they feel good. You can be sitting, staring at something for minutes, hours, days even (if you walk away and come back haha), and all you become is frustrated why you can't seem to "get it"! I don't think it means that you are incompetent, or even not very smart (although that is definitely how you feel when you are not quite understanding), I think it means that you need more time to process what you're looking at, or what you are trying to figure out. Not all the time will we catch on and have the light bulb above our head shine bright.

Those moments when we "don't get it", are moments when we are at our greatest. I am sure that sounds completely odd to some people reading this post but I truly believe that once we are faced with a difficult/confusing/frustrating/complex situation or problem, that is when we show our real self. How do you know what you are made of if you don't let yourself feel weak? And when you are faced with a tough situation, a feeling of weakness is exactly what occurs. When faced with that tough situation, maybe you get stressed out, maybe you pull your hair, chew your nails, breathe heavy, grit your teeth, hit the desk or push your chair out and walk away to cool down. These things are not wrong necessarily, but it is what you do in the end that defines you. You need to step up and face the problem head-on; look it straight in the eye and tell it "you're not going to win". Ok, maybe not out loud but in your head haha. Our strength comes from what we do when we are stressed or confused - we need to just take 10 deep breaths (5 breaths for those of you that are not so hot-headed), sit back down and face it again. I always find that walking away for a few minutes helps - it clears the head and allows you to gain back a more clear perspective on the issue.

But when you come back and are ready to face the problem (whether it be a student's work you are correcting and he/she is just being lazy or missed a step you told them about 3 times already, or if your dog piddled on the floor because they were excited to see you and now you have to clean it up, or your child spilled their glass of juice on your new carpet), you need to step out, take a breath, come back and FACE IT! Every situation is different and unique but the approach needs to remain the same. It is all in your head. You can figure it out. When you're trying to put together that new coffee table from IKEA and it has about 1000 little screws and plugs and you can't understand where they could possible all go......just breath. Adversity comes in many forms. Rising up above the problem and solving it can make you feel so good. Concentrate on that good feeling you will have once this is over, step back into the situation and get it done. It is amazing how the moment of clarity (aka. the solution) that you have been searching for, for minutes, hours, days, will just pop up in front of you, making you so elated and excited that you can hardly wait to finish the task.

It is amazing how our attitudes change as soon as our "Ah-Ha" moment arrives. All of the sudden we aren't the bear that we were a minute ago when we were frustrated with the situation; all of the sudden we are beaming and grinning because our "Ah-Ha" bulb is here! We almost can't wait to tell someone - usually we do! All humans are the same and we face a lot of the same struggles so take your "chill pill" and get back at it - you will have your moment....you just have to be patient - that moment will be yours. In the words of Wayne Campbell on Wayne's World - "Oh yes, it will be mine". 

What's it all coming to? Craziness....

I read a blog post by Jim Gates today about a conference he attended. He talked to a bunch of teachers and educational coaches and they were talking about blogging, using GoogleDocs and Wikis. They loved the ideas presented, but many said that they were blocked in their schools.
I am sure from all of my previous posts you remember my stance on this. HOW CAN THIS BE??? This is terrible. Why are we stuck in the past? How can kids learn from this? UGH!!!

Here a quote from his post:

"One coach even told me that she was asked by one of her board members who was concerned about their budget, "Why do you need the WHOLE Internet anyway?" Seriously! You can't make this stuff up! How do you respond to that? How confident can you possibly be in the sense that your school board is making intelligent decisions for the education of all the children in the district? How empowered does that make you feel?"

I think someone saying that is completely ludicrous! How can someone who is supposed to be involved in the decision making in schools, be so far off base from what our reality is today? If they are removed from a classroom for more than 5 years, then they are not very relevant. If they are not visiting schools often enough, or are not wanting to move forward, then why are we allowing these people to make the decisions? The problem lies in the old-school way of thinking. Allowing individuals who are uncomfortable themselves with technology to be in charge is a mistake. A forward thinking, technology-friendly individual is what is needed. We need to be using these tools in the classroom. They only enhance learning and engagement - no big deal huh? That is kind of the key to being a good educator - to use innovative ways to teach students the curriculum so they understand it and are engaged in their learning process.

In order to teach children to be digital citizens (because that is the age we live in), we need to allow them opportunities to develop the proper skills to be on the WHOLE web, and use the tools properly, not just block them and have them run-amok at home and possibly get themselves into trouble. If we aren’t teaching them how to navigate safely and appropriately then who will? Education is all-encompassing profession in today's world and everyone in the system needs to be on board with that – especially about technology. I’ve already sent out the email and posted it on my blog…haven’t they gotten the message yet?

"Why do you need the WHOLE Internet anyway?" For real? Phft. Silly talk.

Boom-De-Yada

Here we are again....our school under the review for closure processs. I can not really state how I feel about this, as it would be seen as a conflict of interest and a bit unprofessional. Of course I don't think we should be closed, and neither do our students. And so, we are using our technology talent to create some videos to promote our school and what it is we love about it.

Enter the "Boom-De-Yada" video concept.

Based on the Discovery Channel commerical from 2008 and 2009 (see below), aka. "I Love The Whole World"- we are creating a video called "I Love Nokomis School". Using the concept of this commercial and using video and pictures to present what the student body thinks and how they feel about our school, my students interviewed teachers, support staff, and the other students to develop a picture of what they love about our school. These items are being put into the video in various ways, using the song "I Love the Whole World" song as the background for flow. I am really excited to see how these turn out - and we have had a very good response from everyone who has participated and I know all us teachers are excited about it!

We will be giving 3 finished video versions of this project to the review committee for a voice from the students. Hopefully it will show what good things we have going on in this school, and all we are capable of - leading to a favorable decision. Cross your fingers.

Discovery Channel 2008


Discovery Channel 2009

Macro Theatre - Round Two

Here are the Macro Theatre projects that my CPT 20 students did this year. If you remember earlier I posted about this project, and that this is the 2nd time I have done this project with my students. I think this year's projects turned out pretty good. Check a few out...