It's been a hectic month here in the Zurich area...after returning from a teaching conference in Paris two weeks ago, I've been working daily to figure out how to implement all the new ideas I discovered into my teaching/school. So far, so good, I'd say.
Boys basketball and playing bball on my own has also kept me busy.
Booked three different trips (Brussels in March, Copenhagen in May, and Scotland/Ireland for a golf vacation with my college buddies in October). Very exciting.
And finally, I found out this week that I could be teaching math AND humanities next year, an opportunity I'm VERY excited about. Nothing is set yet, but just to know the possibility is out there has got me "juvenated" (credit to Bill Simmons for that one).
Right now I'm getting ready to meet my family at the Zurich Flughafen before heading down to Zermatt for a week of skiing and checking out the Matterhorn. I need a break after the whirlwind last 2+weeks. Hope to post some photos after the trip.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Ning, Jing and Social Networking as a Collaborative Ed Tool
Went to the European League of Middle Level Educators (ELMLE) Conference in Paris last weekend, and my brain is overflowing with seemingly awesome new ideas. But I'm in a place right now where I'm not exactly sure how to use them all in my 6th & 7th grade math classes...so I'm just throwing all the ideas out there for the kids to play with, and hopefully some of these new ideas will stick. Here are a few...
Ning - This is a social networking site (similar to Facebook in layout) where you invite "friends" to collaborate with you in various projects. On the recommendation of Alan November (novemberlearning.com), a developmental psychologist and education professor, I created Nings for each of my 4 middle school math classes with the intent of creating and sharing content on our site. Just threw them out there to see how they react...here's hoping for some positive results over the next few weeks...
Jing - jingproject.com offers a free download of screencast software that can be used to create instant "vodcasts" of work created in classrooms. Hopefully I'll get clearance to download this app onto our school computers. I see big possibilities with this tool...
Google docs - I was familiar prior to the concert, but had only used it for personal stuff (mostly sharing football stats with friends...), but I've learned tons of possibilities for using this collaborative tool in education...again, we'll see how willing some colleagues are to implement this into our practices.
Tons more ideas, but I'm tired from staying up until 4am watching the Steelers win the Super Bowl, so I'm going to bed. More to come...
Ning - This is a social networking site (similar to Facebook in layout) where you invite "friends" to collaborate with you in various projects. On the recommendation of Alan November (novemberlearning.com), a developmental psychologist and education professor, I created Nings for each of my 4 middle school math classes with the intent of creating and sharing content on our site. Just threw them out there to see how they react...here's hoping for some positive results over the next few weeks...
Jing - jingproject.com offers a free download of screencast software that can be used to create instant "vodcasts" of work created in classrooms. Hopefully I'll get clearance to download this app onto our school computers. I see big possibilities with this tool...
Google docs - I was familiar prior to the concert, but had only used it for personal stuff (mostly sharing football stats with friends...), but I've learned tons of possibilities for using this collaborative tool in education...again, we'll see how willing some colleagues are to implement this into our practices.
Tons more ideas, but I'm tired from staying up until 4am watching the Steelers win the Super Bowl, so I'm going to bed. More to come...
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