Introductions

Please introduce yourself, let us know a little bit about you, and where you are from.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Anne Pemberton on January 1, 2008 at 10:01am

Louise,

I live in the rual end of Dinwiddie County, and taught at Nottway High School, Greensville County High School, Southside Elementary in Dinwiddie, and other schools in Dinwiddie as I was winding down my career. We don't go to Virginia Beach very much, since hubby's family has beachfront property in Mathews county, right on the Bay.

My cousin's daughter (whose name eludes right now), teaches science in a high school. She started out as a PE/Health teacher, and now teaches the sciences including anatomy. She teaches at Conrad Weiser High School somewhere in Berks County.

I am hoping to find historians, college level, and history buffs, to discuss some of my readings with to create more stories under My Own Books.: http://www.educationalsynthesis.org/books ... I've been doing some reading about the middle colonies, PA & NY, especially regarding relations with Native Americans. As I wrote some of my first books, there were a number on Virginians, and I was able to get "free" editing and details from the Virginia historians. I would like to be able to do the same with PA.

I would enjoy discussing PA History with a class or two of students. We can learn from each other, and they may have some excellent suggestions on new stories that I can develop.

BTW, if you are at the other end of the state, I have a sister living in a small town outside Pittsburgh who just earned her masters. She is working as a teacher for the Department of Corrections preparing inmates to return to society as their sentences are ending.

Anne

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Permalink Reply by Anne Pemberton on January 2, 2008 at 4:51pm

Hey, Nancy,

Do not get into a mode of thinking that when you retire you have to close the door behind you. Just think of the ways in which you can continue to be an educator in retirement. I've been retired for 3 years now, and I've got a pretty good website to show for my efforts.

Anne

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Permalink Reply by Anne Pemberton on January 2, 2008 at 5:11pm

Derek,

I just started a new forum called "Future Schooling" under pedegogy and philosophy. We can collaborate on that forum for the time being, and move when we get too big.

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Permalink Reply by Derek Brandow on January 2, 2008 at 5:16pm

See you there. Thanks!!

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Permalink Reply by Anne Pemberton on January 2, 2008 at 5:35pm

Jason,

You are right that it is silly to expect technologically savvy children to have to learn how to draw letters before they can learn to write and spell. Just before I retired, I came in contact with a "new" study on learning to read, that insisted that children cannot learn to read untili they can print letters in handwriting. Arrrrrggggghhhhh! What about kidcs with little or no use of their hands? Does this mean that those who did this research think such children are incapable of leaning too read? Ba, Humbug. I would like to see a reading program developed (or learn of one that exists, perferably online and free), that begins introducing the alphabet via the keyboard. While learning to identify the letters, they can be pressing the key and putting the letter on the screen, upper and lower case. By combining letters, they can make "pretend" words, and create a story. Children have done this with handwriting in the past, and I think it would be a good way to introduce reading to children - on a screen rather than in a book/on paper.

It is time to think outside the box ---- take all of our assumption about how to educate children, and re-examine them one by one, discarding those that are out-moded.

Please join Derek and others interested in the subject, in my new forum on here called "Future Schooling", and let's see if we can get something to out-twinkle the stars!

Anne

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Permalink Reply by Christine Sklareski on January 7, 2008 at 8:03pm

Hi! I am a newly hired technology trainer. I'm trying to quickly get up to speed on Web 2.0 so I can share it with the teachers in our district and, wow, is it overwhelming. Where to begin? I'm so glad I found this site to help me with it!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hargadon on January 7, 2008 at 9:34pm

Be sure to check out our wiki at www.classroom20wiki.com. Good overview of Web 2.0 tools in education. Welcome!

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Permalink Reply by Mari Hobkirk on January 7, 2008 at 8:25pm

Hi Everyone, Mari Hobkirk, here. Denver, CO, USA, although I did a year in Melbourne, Australia on exchange in 2006. I teach Computer Science and Web Design.

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Permalink Reply by Sue Palmer on January 7, 2008 at 8:30pm

Welcome!

Sue P aka The Maze

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Permalink Reply by Jeff on January 12, 2008 at 1:31pm

I am in Denver as well, and a teacher in my team just went to Melborne. I teach in Commerce City, check out our blog.

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Permalink Reply by Mari Hobkirk on January 14, 2008 at 12:24pm

Jeff - I think I'm the CITEL buddy for the Aussie who's at your school...SMALL WORLD! I will check out the blog. I wish I'd have started a blog when I returned from my exchange. I had so many thoughts rattling around in my head after teaching a year overseas....a little reflection would have gone a long way!