My mom always said she never wanted to learn how to pump gas because then people would expect her to do it. I can relate at times. As I read the software adventures of my classmates this week, I found myself feeling jealous of what they had discovered and clicking on every link to see what it was all about. Now I know. There is cool stuff out there, more than I knew. It is too late to un-know it. I want to use the program that creates and grades tests and sends kids e-mails. I want to publish my kids' books online and make presentations that I would be proud for parents to see. I want all of that, and I have a list.
Do I really have to say what I use now? I am embarrassed to admit my short list.
- I use STI, a grading/attendance program, because I have to. When I taught in Wyoming, we had a grading program created by teachers called "Making the Grade." It did. It was so much better and sophisticated and teacher-friendly...but STI is compatible with state data collection...blah blah blah. I use it--a lot.
- I also use Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, basic Internet searches, and e-mail.
- I have a staff page on our school's website, and I did create a blog with my Honors' students last year, but then the IT (the one who understood the website) left, and everything we were all learning left with him. My staff page has not changed since last year.
"When it's time to change, then it's time to change
Don't fight the tide, come along for the ride, don't you see
When it's time to change, you've got to rearrange
who you are into what you're gonna be."
Just like Peter Brady's voice, it's time for me to change.
I am already beginning to use Google Docs and the site builder. I have shown it to some of my students and to my building principal. Everyone is excited to use it, excited to learn it, and extremely excited that we can actually access on our school's server. I have already started the webpage for the Honors' project. I have also created a Google Document for the kids to practice logging in and adding to the questions I have posed to them. I was surprised that none of them knew how to use it. (And, ok, I was a little thrilled that I got to be the one to tell them!)I would also love to explore podcasts. I have so many ideas about how to add this tool to my classroom. I will most likely begin by making it a requirement for the Honors project. Working with a small group of kids on a focused project seems like a great way to ease into something new, help me find the glitches, and work them out before I take on 110 kids.
My action plan...
1) Connect my Honors kids to a Google Document before Christmas break and require that they all login and answer the questions I have posed to them, add their own questions, leave comments for each other, etc.
2)Set up a time to meet with my Honors kids after Christmas break to go through the tutorials on the Google site builder so they may begin adding to the website.
3)Learn how to do podcasts so that I can teach my Honors kids.
4)Make better friends with the broadcasting teacher in my school and have him train me and my kids on how to use some of the editing equipment available through the radio station housed in our school
5)Have our website up and running by the end of the third nine weeks.
6)Share the site and my newly acquired knowledge with my fellow staff members.
I once learned how to pump gas, and now I don't even have to think about that simple process in order to perform the task. I am sure the first time felt weird and clumsy and not like something I thought I could do well. But somehow, I am now proficient. I am hoping that I will be able to say the same one day soon about some of the new technology that I have learned about this week and now cannot un-know.
"Sha na na na, na na na na na, sha na na na na
Sha na na na, na na na na na, sha na na na na"
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