Thursday, October 21, 2010

Week 1-Welcome to the Learn and Earn 2 Blog for Elementary Teachers

I assume that since you are here for Learn and Earn 2, you are familiar with the routine. I'll post new content for you each week on Thursdays. At the end of each post there will be a prompt for you to respond to. You'll have until the following Thursday morning to respond to the prompt by posting a comment at the end of that week's entry. NO LATE WORK. (However, I do know that sometimes life gets in the way of even the most interesting of blog posts, so during the week of Thanksgiving and again during the winter break, I'll post an optional prompt. These two posts will not be required required for clock hours UNLESS you have "make up" work to do because you missed responding to a post (or two).)

Another thing that's new this year is the total clock hours you can earn--I shortened the class length to 10 weeks/posts (actually 12 if you count the two optional posts mentioned above) and increased the total number of clock hours of the class. Now the class is worth 5 clock hours. This change honors the fact that many of you will choose to spend more than 15 minutes a week with each "assignment," especially when you consider the time you may (hopefully) spend experimenting with and implementing some of the ideas you learn about.

Well, let's get started shall we? To begin, I'd like us to introduce ourselves. In your comment below, please include
  • your first and last name (or just first initial of last name if you want to be less "google-able"),
  • where and what you teach,
  • what you find most promising, challenging, or exciting about technology today
  • and, finally, anything you'd want me, your instructor, to consider in planning future posts (e.g. are there topics or tools you'd like to see featured?)
If you'd like a a little primer about posting comments, you can watch this video:

Posting a Comment to the Learn and Earn Blog from 10Tech on Vimeo.
Posted by Kimberly Allison at 12:31 PM

Comments (7)

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Amy Cassady's avatar - Go to profile

Amy Cassady · 754 weeks ago

My name is Amy Cassady. I teach 5th grade science for the Silver Team at Rock Creek. (And homeroom! :-) ) I guess what's most challenging and exciting about technology today is just the vast amount of it and the lack of time to keep up on it! I think that there is so much out there that I could do with my kids, but just the lack of knowledge about some things and lack of time to actually play and research is holding me up! I think I'd like to see more about how teachers use different types of technology with their students and for the parents.
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Suz · 754 weeks ago

My name is Suz Chen and I'm the School Social Worker at Shadow Lake. What I find most exciting about technology today is that we can't even imagine what will come next! Just as I start to get used to one kind of computer or cellphone, out comes another sleeker, faster, better version. It's hard to keep up! This year I'm trying to incorporate and adapt lessons to use the technology that we have available (for instance, I'm finally using the Elmo!). I look forward to learning about more tools in the coming weeks.
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Kim Schmitz · 754 weeks ago

My name is Kim Schmitz. I teach first grade at Rock Creek Elementary. The biggest technology challenge for me is truly time. By the time I get my work done that I have to do.....using the technology that I know how to use, I don't have time to explore other things (well, maybe my facebook addiction does take up most of my "me" time at night). I would like to be able to take time to explore and learn new things in the area of technology. I am looking forward to year two of this opportunity!
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Christel Winkey's avatar

Christel Winkey · 754 weeks ago

Howdy (wanted to mix it up a little)! I'm Christel Winkey, a fourth grade teacher at Lake Wilderness. Similarily, my challenge this year has been finding the time to keep up with our classroom blog. I have been out of the building so frequently due to other district requirements, I have been more focused on getting through the piles of "stuff" that is left. I have a silly addiction of taking and "playing" with pictures. You can always find me with my camera in tow on the weekends with my family. Now if I could move past the prints living solely on my computer and print them....____ I enjoyed the different sites that were included in last year's Learn and Earn and am excited about the new sites to explore this year.
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cheryl's avatar

cheryl · 754 weeks ago

Cheryl Reilly, SLP @ LWES preschool. Technology should make our jobs easier and make us better educators, or else we won't use it. I like to "do/implement/create." From the last Learn&Earn, I liked Voice Data, Wallwisher, and Virtual Field Trip. We had a specific task to create/try. It really put us out there to TRY new things and implement technology rather than just explore, reflect and forget. I really appreciate those opportunities.
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lshanin · 753 weeks ago

I'm Laurie Shanin, a K-12 teacher at Russell Ridge. I teach one computer class and many art and music classes. The challenge for me is the time to learn the new gadgets, I seem to get the basics down, but going deeper is so time consuming. I would like to know how other teachers might be using the ipod in their classrooms, if at all, and how one might connect that to the teacher station. I simply haven't asked our tech person yet.
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Tina McDaniel's avatar

Tina McDaniel · 753 weeks ago

Hi! I am Tina McDaniel and I teach at RCES (2nd Grade). First, I have to say that I made a boo boo when I posted initially. I clicked the link, read the post but not the title and posted under Learn and Earn 1--but the link for this carried me there. OOPS! :) I love technology in my classroom. I have a classroom blog-not just to be "Green" but to also have a real time look at 2nd grade. My families can share with grandparents the songs we sing or pictures of what we are doing. It also helps when I can explain things in a bit more detail versus a short blurb in a newsletter.

For me, I would like to know more about how to employ other techniques into my blog and how my students can be more active in engaging in the use of technology in the classroom.

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