There is no doubt that the COETAIL classes have introduced me to a Web 2.0 way of doing things in my classroom that I wouldn't have used otherwise. The two best examples are a blog to communicate with parents and the use of Creative Commons Search for images that I use with permission.
When more developed, the blog will serve as a site for parents to receive news, download files and see pictures of their children and children's work. I even envision posting pictures and videos from JV volleyball practices for students to see their form and ability in various skills.
The Creative Commons Search pages that I've used so far actually provide more attractive images than my previous Google Searches which seemed to rarely pull up images from amateur photographers. For example, a search for Milkweek Bugs (Grade 7 EAP Math/Science) on Google pulls up images of a more scientific nature whereas a Creative Commons Flickr Search pulls up more artistic (vs. scientific) images. When practicing scientific description language with pictures of milkweek bugs, I showed the students various images and let them choose one as a class for drawing and describing. The students nearly unanimously chose the most stunning photo of a milkweed bug which came from CC Flickr Search.
Otherwise, the embedding of technology into my teaching has been painfully lacking. With the adoption of a FOSS Science Kit and the CMP (Math) Curriculum--both of which come with cookbook-like instructions--I've found myself spending so much time reading, understanding, and following the directions, that I stop thinking about technology.
One idea I've had after seeing some blogs of Robin Bulsza's 5th grade students, has been to ask students to write math reflections on their blogs rather than notebooks, even though I still don't know how they could easily and quickly incorporate drawings/models into their blog posts.
Even without continuing to take COETAIL classes, my challenge this year will be to keep technology on my mind while juggling the instructions of Science Kits and the New Math Curriculum.
I would love to work with you on how to incorporate technology into your new curriculum whenever you're ready. I love the idea of keeping math notebooks in their blogs - would it be possible to just scan or take a photo of their drawings? Even though that would take more time than just drawing them in a book and keeping the reflections there, you would have the added benefit of having all students able to see and discuss each other's reflections, plus being able to quickly and easily see their growth of the year, and of course, being able to make connections with other students learning about the same concepts in other classes or schools around the world. What do you think?
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