From PC's to Macs

I am becoming a Mac user. I haven't used an Apple since I was a small child and my school and my parents introduced me to computers on an ApplleIIE. I was about in the 4th grade or so and I remember learning Logo. My mother was a teacher so she saw the value in having technology at home so she and my dad purchased one for our home. Remember the floppy disks that were really floppy? I am having to get use to several things--maximize/minimize/close buttons are on the left not the right, but I can't wait to learn how to use it to edit pictures, make music, make movies.

Besides, the commercials are pretty cool: http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/ (Okay, I have to learn to hyperlink things too, but I am trying.)

Breaking Down Barriers

I have been subbing in the same classroom for two weeks now while looking for a full time job. During the first 8 days, the students and I interacted pretty much only on the "business" we were about--lanugage arts, teacher to student, student to teacher. I'd ask questions about their football games, band practices, etc, and would get short answers with a very clear indication that they didn't want to be bothered. Then on Friday, I became very cool all of the sudden thanks to my new iPhone. In the middle of 6th period, one of the kids noticed my phone and asked me about it. A quiet buzz began going through the room and we all began talking about phones, computers, and learning with them. The kids entering the room for 7th period came in asking about my phone too. Although I would prefer to have kids leaving the room talking about the amazing things they learned about English, this time, I was okay with them leaving talking about anything. Now, how do I get them that excited about reading, writing, and grammar? Maybe technology should play some kind of role. This is going to be a fun challenge for the next 8 weeks.

Change from Mr. Sherman's Blog

I am still learning blogging etiquette so I am breaking it by copying and pasting this in my blog, please let me know. I take time to read several blogs and read Mr. Sherman's Blog fairly regulary http://blog109.org/communities/dsherman/default.aspx. When I pulled it up this morning, I loved what I read...

Change Is Hard...
Change was hard … for my parents, who grew up with a big, floor-standing radio as the only electronic entertainment in their lives. They still reminisce about the “good old days” when they would stare at the radio and listen to shows like “The Shadow,” “The Lone Ranger,” and “The Jack Benny Program.”
Change was hard… when they finally bought their first television set, and they complained that “you no longer needed to use your imagination” when you watched TV.
Change was hard… for my dad to finally succumb to years of constant pressure from me and my sisters to buy a color TV set when the black and white set worked perfectly well. “What do you need color for when you are watching on a little screen?"
Change was hard… for me when my friend, Steve, who worked in a record store, first told me that the music publishers would stop making vinyl records in the next few months. I was in shock and disbelief. I knew that CD technology was the new fad, but records would always be the best way to listen to music, right? There was a special feeling when you physically placed the needle down on the record and hit the blank spot between songs on the very first try. I remember spending hours reading the album covers and liner notes as I wore out my old records.
Change was hard… when I finally purchased my first CD player (an old Denon machine) and my first CD (Talking Heads, “Naked” 1988 release). I was blown away by the clarity of the sound and the ease in which I could call up a song. “You mean you can actually shuffle the songs and listen to them in a different order than they were burned onto the disc? Cool.” But, I had such a hard time reading the little print on the 5 X 5 inch sheet of paper that came inside the case. And placing the disc on the little tray that slid out of the machine was fun at first, but it was just not the same as carefully placing the phonograph needle down on the record.
Change WILL be hard… for me when the next wave of innovations takes over. I experienced a brief flash-forward into the future as I was driving to work the other day. I heard the morning DJ (Lin Brehmer) on my favorite radio station (WXRT in Chicago) talking about the future of the entertainment industry. He predicted that within the next five to ten years, all of our music, movies, videos, even books, newspapers, and magazines will be available via internet downloads. I know we already are able to access these media from the internet. What Lin Brehmer was referring to was that the internet will be the ONLY way to purchase our favorite media. No more CDs, DVDs, books, magazines, or newspapers for sale. No more opening that shrink wrap (does anyone else have trouble opening a new CD package besides me?) to get to the new disc and liner notes (small as they may be). No more ink on my fingers from the sports section of the Chicago Tribune.
Well, this digital immigrant is having a hard time wrapping his brain around this change. My kids, on the other hand, have stopped asking for music on CDs as birthday and holiday gifts. Instead, they ask for iTunes gift cards. For them, this is not change; this is the way it is supposed to be. They truly are digital natives. They want the music on their iPods fast and easy. No need to get a ride to the store to spend hours looking through the stacks to find the best new music or an old greatest hits compilation that you did not know existed. Does that bring back memories?
Change will be hard… but I will adjust."

I wonder, how are schools going to keep up with these changes? We can't keep doing things the way we have always done them!

Wikis--Collaboration in 2007

We are developing a resource wiki based on the middle school curriculum in the state of Alambama. http://middleschoolresourceroom.pbwiki.com/ Our goal is to have a place where teachers can visit to get ideas, find resources, and post lessons so that teachers can work collaboratively.

This idea came about at our recent technology conference. Our system has only one school at each level--primary (K-2), intermediate(3-5), middle (6-8), and high (9-12). Since we are easily able to let all teachers in one grade level or in one department in a school work together, I felt there was a key piece of collaboration missing--more eyes looking at lessons, more brains working on lessons. After talking with our technology integration specialist, the assistant principal at our school decided this was a project he wanted to set up. It has only been up and running for about 3 weeks, so we still have a lot of areas to fill in.

As we shared the wiki with our staff, we have gotten a variety of responses. Some are very excited and immediately started sharing ideas. Others have been surprisingly territorial of their work. Questions like, "Why should we post things for others to use?" or "What if something I have done gets changed?" We patiently try to answer these questions, but we are still moving forward with our project.

Our newspaper teacher has also started using a wiki with her newspaper staff. Instead of creating a tradional paper, she has set-up a wiki. http://huskypawper.wetpaint.com/. I think she has it protected so you probably can't reply on it, but you certainly can check it out.

So Much Out There

I woke early and reached over for my laptop and began to just read. Man, there is so much out there for us to learn from. I know there is a lot of talk about helping students know how to search for quality material, but I have to say that I was a little overwhelmed looking at all there is. Internet sites, blogs, wikis, videos, podcasts--and I am sure that people are already working on something new. I wonder-are we as educators preparing our students to live, to learn, and to work in a world where these exists? I work in a very progessive district, but we still have a long way to go. I keep reminding teachers in my school that this is a marathon and not a sprint to the finish. We are all in this for the long haul. Just think how different things were even 14 years ago when I graduated high school. What is it going to be like for the kids we are currently teaching?