tweenteacher.com » digital immigrants

The Carnival in in town!

heather — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:28:57 +0000

Welcome, citizens to the Carnival of Education #197. The transition should be smooth…Enjoy.

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Post tags: carnival of education, digital immigrants, middle school, obama, world of warcraft, writing

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Obama and World of Warcraft

heather — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:49:01 +0000

Where were you when? It’s a question I asked my readers and my classes the day after the election, and you know what answer I heard the most often? Ironforge.(...)
Read the rest of Obama and World of Warcraft (312 words)

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Post tags: 2008, blog, digital immigrants, digital natives, Ed Tech, ELA, k-12, k12, middle school, technology, tween, world of warcraft, wow

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Oh, the Wells Fargo Wagon is a’comin…

heather — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 21:12:38 +0000

So, in a move reminiscent of a 12-year old girl caught up in the riot mentality of rumors, I believed the whisper I heard about not getting my Whiteboard for 2 months. But I tell you now: it was false, dear readers! Yes, not only have I heard that the boards have shipped, but the company even came after hours this week and brought me a borrowed board to use in the meantime. Props for service and courtesy.

So I write to you today as a contrite tweenteacher. Lesson learned. Don’t listen to the gossip in the teacher’s lounge.

So, in an attempt to bring this post around to some actual advice for all you educators out there, I want to reiterate that point: do not waste one minute of your time this year in a toxic teacher environment. This is different than a Toxic Teaching Environment which can be defined as anything that gets in the way of you doing your job: under-funding, lack of school wide discipline, fractured classrooms, etc…

No, I’m talking about a specific breed of pollution that is meant to choke the enthusiasm out of you: the Toxic Teacher Environment. (...)
Read the rest of Oh, the Wells Fargo Wagon is a’comin… (419 words)

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Post tags: 2008, blog, carnival of education, Character Education, collaboration, computers, credential, critical thinking, Curriculum, curriculum design, curriculum development, differentiation, digital immigrants, Ed Tech, ELA, employment, equity, game shows, interactive whiteboards, internet literacy, k-12, k12, middle school, new teachers, professional development, teaching, tenure, Title I, UCI, websites

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Hurry up & Wait – My New Interactive Whiteboard: Part II

heather — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 21:30:20 +0000

So, I had my online training. I met the Whiteboard sales guy in my classroom to discuss where the board is to be mounted. I talked with my principal to develop an interactive whiteboard presentation during our first staff development in an attempt to drum up excitement amongst the somewhat less-than-tech-enthused staff. I spent time over my summer developing my own curriculum for the first quarter: pulling out my books, pacing my units, and choosing those individual static lessons that I will expand into Interactive board lessons.

It wasn’t long, however, that I began to suspect I had wasted my time. The odor of bullshit was in the air…

(...)
Read the rest of Hurry up & Wait – My New Interactive Whiteboard: Part II (737 words)

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Post tags: 2008, blog, carnival of education, computers, critical thinking, CUE, curriculum design, curriculum development, digital immigrants, integration, interactive whiteboards, internet literacy, teaching, technology, Title I, UCI, writing

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My new Interactive Whiteboard: Part I

heather — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 03:55:36 +0000

Is the tale of the recent surge of Interactive Whiteboards a grade-B horror flick or a Cinderella story? Are they the villain or the belle of the ball? They’ve begun creeping into trendsetting classrooms, taking over precious wall space and sending those unfortunate overhead projectors of said classrooms to basement warehouses to gather dust alongside carousel slide projectors and the purpled-mimeograph machines of yesteryear. Are they an inevitable given in tomorrow’s classroom or an expensive fad?

These questions and many more are explored in today’s The Opening Bell.(...)
Read the rest of My new Interactive Whiteboard: Part I (807 words)

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Post tags: 2008, achievement gap, blog, carnival of education, critical thinking, CUE, Curriculum, curriculum design, curriculum development, differentiation, digital immigrants, digital natives, Ed Tech, ELA, k-12, k12, Language Arts, learning, middle school, Title I, UCI, writing

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Collaboration…Blocked by a Firewall Near You

heather — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:02:15 +0000

You know, sometimes I wonder if I’m not a huge pain in the ass to present for, especially if I love what’s going on. I’m one of those audience members who has to verbally digest and implement what I am learning as it’s happening. I have to barble and pop as my Eureka moments are going on, and while it’s amazingly exciting for me, it must be hugely annoying to my presenter. I was in rare form this morning at the UCI Writers Project, for Doug Fisher, co-author of such works as Language Learners in the English Classroom, was in the house.(...)
Read the rest of Collaboration…Blocked by a Firewall Near You (673 words)

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Post tags: 2008, achievement gap, assessments, blog, collaboration, computers, credential, critical thinking, CUE, Curriculum, curriculum design, curriculum development, differentiation, digital immigrants, digital natives, Ed Tech, education, education policy, ELA, equity, integration, internet literacy, jobs, k-12, k12, Language Arts, learning, matthew needleman, middle school, professional development, research, technology, test, test prep, Think Aloud, Title I, UCI, writing

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It’s the End of The Internet as we Know It (and I feel…)

heather — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 22:36:20 +0000

Check out this kinda frightening prediction from early Time Magazine sources. It seems that there is an attempt to create blocks of media packages starting as early as 2012 or earlier. That is, very much like TV cable packaging, the Internet would only be sold in blocks to purchase access much as you would your HBO Basic or Plus packages for cable.

Just imagine the even wider achievement gap that would occur if schools had to pay for their Internet packages.

If it’s true, we need to get more media attention on this attempt to stomp out the global communication that we have all come to know, love, and support.

I can’t say I know a lot about this subject, but it’s definitely worth looking into. Of course, there’s no way Google’s gonna let this happen, of course. After all, they’re a juggernaut in the business of universal information access.

Have you heard any updates on this topic that our Ed Tech community should be aware of? What steps should we take to ensure that it doesn’t happen?

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Post tags: 2008, assessments, audit, blog, CUE, data, digital immigrants, Ed Tech, education, education policy, ELA, free, fundraising, integration, internet literacy, iPods, k-12, k12, learning, middle school, online, PI, podcasting, teaching, Title I

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The New ELL? Teachers and Technology Part I

heather — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 04:35:50 +0000

Today I found myself staring red-eared-angry at a survey from my school’s Discipline Committee asking teachers what they believed to be the Top 5 crimes committed on campus and the varying degrees that they needed to be dealt with. On the list of choices were your typical offenders: vandalism, bullying, and that terrible crime against humanity…student electronic devices.

You know those teachers who seem to foam at the mouth in delight when they catch a student chewing gum? Well, they have a new cause…MP3 players and cell phones. (...)
Read the rest of The New ELL? Teachers and Technology Part I (622 words)

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Post tags: ASCD Brief, computers, digital immigrants, digital natives, education, iPods, Mark Prensky, MP3, teaching

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