Good things

Things are good in the tech world, more or less. Many of my students are enjoying the idea of the blog, while others simply copy another post's thoughts. It's interesting to see how some think. This should develop into something much more useful soon. The wiki is still not available in school. Week 15 is well underway and no progress there. It is getting hit pretty hard though. I'm getting good comments from the students that are actually using it. These are two really good tools that will grow and develop throughout the school year. I'll have to wait and see what happens, but at least the blog is working through the filter. Who knows what will come next.

Quick Update

Things are going pretty well on the tech front. The class blog is gaining momentum, even though it's not what I'd envisioned just yet, and some have been vocal about their dislike for the idea. It is however getting some of the more subdued students involved and active. I'll keep working on it and working toward its improvement. Today I changed the appearance, in favor a a simpler, easier to use template. It's been noticed by a student already...so at least one student checked it out on the weekend!
I'm still waiting for the wiki to be officially approved in school. I haven't been told to shut it down, but the tech department has yet to give the students access on school computers. That has kept the wiki use to a minimum. It's tough to use it for required things when not all students have internet at home and the school doesn't allow them to see it. Those that are using it seem to be positive and are taking advantage of the availability of class information. One actually consulted it during an absence and had the work done before returning to school! Some things make me smile...that's one thing.
Overall school's been interesting. This new stuff I'm trying, thanks to UFL, really has some great potential. I hope to continue improving and making the best learning environment I can. I should also be back in classes soon. I'll see what happens.

Still Plugging Along

I'm still working toward more tech in the classroom. The wiki works great!...as long as the students don't try to access it from school. It's the 10th week of school next week, and I'm still not getting access for the kids yet. Maybe soon?
The blog has started. Some students love the assignments, while others have yet to visit it. The comments I've received have been positive and some have really made me laugh. I have a really great bunch this year. Hopefully this blog will evolve into something more in the near future.
I started SAP training. Student Assistance Program training has a BAD reputation around here. The first presenter gave us handouts which she read point by point from her PowerPoint. That was painful! I think we can all read. One part where she did stray from the written part is when a question was asked about whether this SAP is required in schools. She stated that it wasn't mandated, but that they'd "take your buses away" if schools don't adopt the program. So, it's not mandated, but funding will be lost if it's not implemented. Confused? Me too.
So far, I've been to two FULL days of training. Those are two days of my life I'll never get back! I'll wait and see if any lawsuits come from the last session, where religion was really pushed...at a school training...hmmm. Then there was the "you're pregnant, right" comment from the presenter, which lead to unexpected pregnancy versus intended pregnancy in wedlock, followed quickly by comments about how most troubled youths are from families without tight ties to church, and then about how churches are free etc. Ya, it was a really iffy day on the legal scale. Something about the separation of church and state? On top of that, I lose interest pretty quickly when a "professional" removes her shoes and starts into too many stories that are off topic and about how great her family/kids are.
We did have one presenter, that knew her presentation, added enough of a personal touch and didn't merely read her information to us. That was a nice change, just too bad it was about 2 1/2 hours out of the 16 so far. Oh well, just two more days left next week and I'll be a SAP.

PowerTeacher Changed Views...?

I know that I was pretty harsh on the PowerTeacher set up. After a bit (OK much) playing around with it, there are some really nice aspects. I guess that this shows that, just as in everyday life, letting your thoughts out in the open when you're frustrated is a bad idea.
The feature of exporting to and excel-like document (which is working now) is nice and so is having access to the grades my students have in other classes. I see that there are some gains, as it's on 1.0.3.1...or something like that.
While I do feel bad about blasting the program, I'll leave that post instead of trying to erase my mistake. I will, however, not be so harsh on the program. I'm still waiting for any response from a rep, but understand that I sent 2+ pages of thoughts/complaints/wishes. Maybe a month isn't long enough to figure out what I mean, or it's just not something that's top priority. Either way, I'm making headway in my uses of this product and have a crew of 4 people that are to be helping to facilitate its use. I'm hoping to hear something soon, especially in relation to lengthy and paper intense process of creating reports for missing work, student grades by assignment and a couple of other things, but I've resigned myself to the fact that my thoughts are just not that important. I am but a peon, not to be acknowledged or heard. That's life in public education. If you think about it, from the top down, things are dictated, things must be done. Just look at NCLB....how long can you show progress before you hit the 100% mark? Then think about the 4-5% of the population that has no interest/desire to do anything other than cash a monthly check from the government...well anyway, that's the point. We are to do what we're told, right or wrong.

Still Moving Forward

This past week, things went pretty well. The blog and wiki are still growing...I have my first student-made change! A few others are signed on, but this is the first addition to the page so far. This should really become more useful when the wiki is available on all school computers. When that happens, I see the uses and edits expanding quickly.
The blog is growing as well, with many positive comments and some students running with this new type of assignment. Others contribute little/nothing, but that's no different than any other assignment :)
On that line of thought, I thought that I might want to start a delicious (or some other online bookmark system) for my students. The first research project showed that having some mechanism for sharing worthwhile pages would be useful. I'll talk to the tech department and see if this is possible from school, or not.
Things are moving forward, and all is well on the teaching front. I'm just waiting for my level II cert to arrive. I've been told that it was approved on the 16th, but the actual document is in transit somewhere. Nothing big there, just wait and see.

Blogs and Wikis

Lately I've been using the edublogs.org pages for a new team blog. It gets through the filter and the students are starting to use it!! I have a few comments so far, with the current topic being the 50 year anniversary of Sputnik and how it still affects our lives today. The uses may change, but right now it's just another tool to interact with the kids and to get some extra science in that doesn't EXACTLY match the curriculum map that I've been given. If something happens, it will be discussed on the blog and linked to a page for the students to read.
As an added bonus, by getting myself an edublog (thanks to another teacher in the social studies department!), I get a free wiki!!! My add-free wiki is now free for me!!! NICE!!!! That saves me the 50 bucks I thought I had to spend to keep it!! I can keep it for free, even though my students still can't really access it at school. Even so, the hits are continuing. Today, after I assigned a small assignment on completing some graphic organizer style of notes, I heard a girl say to her neighbor who was complaining, "It's easy. I saw it on the wiki last night, just go there and there's your homework". While this wasn't the idea, at least a few are looking ahead and/or exploring it. I'm happy that this is working in some way.
On top of that, the learning support classes that I used to co-teach with a LS teacher have ended and a teacher that hasn't taught this stuff in YEARS is now teaching 8th grade science to the LS kids on her own. In talking with this person, I've determined that she could use help and I've been helping as much as possible. This week I directed her toward the wiki and invited her to let her kids have the address, or for her to take the WS and SG off the wiki to use for her classroom. I haven't talked to her since then, but am hoping that this little tool will help her too. I don't care if my stuff is used, just throw a little credit my way once in while and I'll be happy! Yet another way that this semi-banned tool is useful in context of teaching.
Get a blog at Edublogs and then get a free wiki with 2gigs of space and 20meg file limit and NO ADS!! So far, the wiki is the most useful, intuitive way to get a web presence. It requires no software and no special computer skills. Uploads and links are easy, and most importantly, only those you give privileges to change things can....Oh and by the way, you can save your wiki and restore it just in case some yoyo deletes or changes things. Right now I LOVE MY WIKI!!!
On Monday, I'll go to a meeting with the committee in charge of blogs and wikis and see what happens. I'm hopeful that I can get students full access to the wiki during school and hope that I can demonstrate the uses and the safeguards in place. So far parents seem to approve and encourage this tool's use. If I can get this across, I'll be OK.

New Contact and New Things

Well, in this connected world in which we currently occupy space, I'm amazed that others are interested in this little blog. My rants about the PowerTeacher program have received notice. I'll post more as I know more. At least I feel better knowing that I'm being heard right now and may be working toward some solutions. I know that perfection to me will most likely not be perfection to others, so I'm not looking for a completely personalized program. Progress makes me happy though!

Other than that, school is progressing nicely. I have a really good group of students this year, with only a few that are in the failing range and in need of a little extra persuasion. I also have several that are signed in to edit the wiki and a few others that are willing and excited to remake my rock collecting video. I've given them the scripts and access to the original video too. They are also aware that they are expected to make this video their own and to let their humor show. They are a very funny group of students! If permissions allow, I'll post that when it's done too. It should be interesting to say the least.
All in all, the first mid-term brings with it a change of weather and a change in mindset. Hopefully, the remainder of the year will go smoothly and show improvement across the board.
My wiki got hit pretty hard during the last project, so I think that students are starting to see some of the uses. My list of students that are permitted to make changes is growing, and I'm introducing the blogging to my students this week. Forward motion is most always met with happiness! I hope that progress continues.
More posts will follow on the experiences with all the above...for better or worse.
Thanks for reading!