Teaching English to middle school students is a challenge, a trial, and an exciting opportunity. On the one hand, students strive to show their knowledge, sophistication, and maturity. On the other hand, they like to play, dream, and act silly. The adolescent learner wants so much to be grown up, respected, and cherished. Being around middle school students makes a teacher feel old and incredibly young. Bringing technology to my classroom and my students may help to combine the old and the new. If I'm interested in the newest technology, I imagine my students are too.
Donna
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Hi Donna,
ReplyDeleteYour blog looks great! This is a first for me, too...so far, so good!
Hang in there Donna!
ReplyDeleteLookin' good so far! It's kinda fun - isn't it?
'See' you out there!
-Tara :)
Hi Donna,
ReplyDeleteYou jumped and you surfaced! Now is the time to start swimming in the fashion that is most comfortable to you. I feel your pain and know with time and practice, the pain will subside, and you will reach your destination. Isn't it nice to have family members there to help you navigate the unchartered waters of your journey? They can provide support and direction as you discover how this will impact your life and career.
Wishing you smooth travels and look forward to learning from you.
Nathan
Hey Donna -
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain! I was up late one night in the beginning of the week worrying about the tech that I was going to have to learn in this class. I even visited our tech teacher to check and make sure if I was struggling, he would be there to help! It turned out I was able to do the blog on my own - much to my total surprise! It's definitely material I need to learn in order to catch up with my students! I guess it's now or never!
Goodluck, and just know that we're all with you!
Lori
Hi, thanks for the encouraging words. Setting up the blog was easy, but now I have more questions. I see your comments on my blog, to reply to you, I'm not sure what to do. If I click on the orange icon this post a comment comes up. Does it only go to that person or does my comment go to all of my fabulous followers? If I make a comment as Donna is it on my blog or does it go to you too?
ReplyDeleteDonna
Hi msg_music! Your blog looks good. I see your profile when I click on your name next to the orange icon but don't know if this goes to you or not.
ReplyDeleteHi all,
ReplyDeleteI changed my original comment...I didn't get that this was supposed to educational! I believe I successfully created an RSS feed with all of your blogs on it...so proud! What's next? Donna
First Post:
ReplyDeleteSo far, creating a blog has been an interesting and somewhat painful adventure. Thank goodness my tech savey nephew is here to help! Eventually, I imagine I will stop over-thinking the questions and just jump in. At the moment, I feel rather proud of myself. I'm looking forward to this class...I'm already doing something I felt sure I would never do...BLOG!
Note to self: I copied the first comment here for posterity.
Like you, I teach middle school students. My subject areas are language arts and social studies. :0) We have some things in common. I agree with you that middle school students can make a teacher feel young and old. They have so much energy and much to say, even if they don;t say it, they are thinking, thinking..and they enjoy communicating in the technological world, using Facebook or MySpace. A blog would be an excellent way to get them to respond to literature or other studies. I have concerns as to whether or not the blog can be kept in the classroom, in order to protect the students.
ReplyDeleteAs a middle school english teacher, I understand your concerns. I do think, however, that reading posts would be much better than reading a hundred papers every night. Technology tends to be motivational for that age group, so you may get more creative thought than you would otherwise. Also, they love typing as opposed to paper/pencil. Given the opportunity, my students would choose using a computer over pen/paper 100% of the time. You may be on to something!
ReplyDeleteIn his book Pods, Wikis, Podcasts, and other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, Richardson alludes to private blogging sites that may be available. Some have a charge, but some are also free to K-12 teachers. You may look into that as well as the permission slip he includes in the book for parents to sign.
Goodluck!
Alisha,
ReplyDeleteI know I will only be able to use a blog if it is open to the kids in a particular class and me...if that is possible, I might be able to get the permission to do it. Next week's topic, Wikis, might be more doable in my district. We'll see!