Kelley Irish's Posts - Classroom 2.02024-03-29T11:54:27ZKelley Irishhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/kirish43https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1949933098?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://www.classroom20.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=kirish43&xn_auth=noVirtual World Blogtag:www.classroom20.com,2010-04-04:649749:BlogPost:4582282010-04-04T18:30:00.000ZKelley Irishhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/kirish43
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<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left">My Sim called</p>
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<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left">on ReactionGrid</p>
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<p>Yesterday I was home sick. It happens to all of us sooner or later, and usually at the worst possible time. Staying home yesterday for a doctor's appointment in the morning (Where they so do not get that you…</p>
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<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left">My Sim called</p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left">MyMichigan</p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left">on ReactionGrid</p>
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<p>Yesterday I was home sick. It happens to all of us sooner or later, and usually at the worst possible time. Staying home yesterday for a doctor's appointment in the morning (Where they so do not get that you can't use the restroom at will) I was able to kinda/sort able to be with my kids at home.</p>
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<p>My 7th graders have building projects going on in ReactionGrid, a PG rate virtual Environment for education and training. I have 3 sections of them in the afternoon and I was not comfortable in justing "trusting" the sub to monitor them. So from my counch at home I logged on the the Reactiongrid with my avatar. The kids were amazed I could be there with them in the virtual world while I was at home.</p>
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<p>They followed my directions well . They had to read them in the chat window instead of hearing my voice in the classroom. One of the groups actually got to have a lesson in world by a Kyle who owns the ReactionGrid. He knows his aerspace stuff. I couldn't miss the chance to learn from him myslef. He build an entire assembly to show how signals travel, He had a mic on and I can tell you those kiddos were paying attention. One actually wrote in chat he learned more in 20 minutes then he did all year. High praise indeed from middle schoolers.</p>
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<p>Upon returning to school this morning they were all still "geeked" by having a lesson from a "real scienctist" and from a their teacher at home, The sub had truoble getting the projector to work but the kids didn't care as they followalong on their own work stations.</p>
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<p>I have to admit I am not a great fan of online classes. They seem to be <strong>A..) Watch the video lecture, B.) read the online text, and C) take a quiz.</strong> If you are an adult and have some background in the subject matter already-this works ok. I have also read about some success in students retaking a classes this way. But I have never felt it was a great way to learn new information-just not interactive enough ,in my humble opinion.</p>
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<p>Using VR seemed a bit different. The avatars were moving around asking questions and there was a real live human behind the those avatars. It was not a static lecture-but rather an interactive conversation. So perhaps I need to rethink how online course can and should be done.</p>
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<p>Next week the kids avatars get to put together a rocket assemble by components that are representations of the actual components used by Nasa. Kyle will be there <br/>"In World" with them to explain and demonstrate. The kids were definitely engaged learners!</p>
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<p>As this new medium comes on line for education all I can say is:</p>
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<p><strong>WAY COOL</strong></p>Open Letter to Secretary of Education Mr. Duncantag:www.classroom20.com,2009-04-15:649749:BlogPost:3275172009-04-15T21:00:00.000ZKelley Irishhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/kirish43
First I have to confess I did vote for Obama, so my dissappointment in the statements of the New Education Secretary is leaving a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.<br />
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"Secretary Duncan also noted that the budget overview includes a $500 million grant program for a new federal-state-local partnership to improve retention and graduation rates, particularly for low-income college students. Funds would support research into what works to help increase college completion." Wow, didn't that sound…
First I have to confess I did vote for Obama, so my dissappointment in the statements of the New Education Secretary is leaving a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.<br />
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"Secretary Duncan also noted that the budget overview includes a $500 million grant program for a new federal-state-local partnership to improve retention and graduation rates, particularly for low-income college students. Funds would support research into what works to help increase college completion." Wow, didn't that sound good?<br />
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Unfortunately, the stimulus money is earmarked for professional development and equipment. This is happening at the same time that districts are forced to increase class size, pull computer/media specialist out of the Literacy Hub of the school, and place just one more hoop out there for classroom teachers to jump through.<br />
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My school district recieved a bond issue and grant to improve the schools and many of our buildings have wonderful state of the art computer labs. The only problem is-no one uses them. When teachers try to use them they are so locked down that they are not even able to run updates for Flash, Adobe, or Real Player. So the teacher prepares a lesson at home checks the links, and then after logging all the students on with the individual passwords the districts mandates, finds out the the sites won't run at school because install updates requires "administrative rights" that the teacher doesn't have. Add to this the fact that she had checked the site at school the week before and you can see how easy it is to discourage teachers from incorporating technology.<br />
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Unfortunately most of the teacher on the elementary level (in my district) are using technology skills to grade their report cards- (with a lag time that is frustrating and no rights to go back in and correct typing errors) ,and use programs such as Exam Review and other programs to do data analysis. If all you ever are taught to do with the computer are record keeping and data warehousing activities, you can see how technology is simply not getting to the kids.<br />
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I was at a meeting yesterday with a group of college professors who are concerned that the amount of students seeking a Computer Science degree <b>has dropped 45 % in the last five years</b>. According to this group,the students that the colleges are getting are ill prepared for advanced computer skills, and often cannot test out of very basic office functions. So much teacher time is now spend on testing, assessment, and data research to meet AYP and MEAP that we somehow managed to suck the creativity right out of the teaching process. All of this paper work and additional testing has done nothing to raise scores-<b>it has</b> stressed out teachers and students, with discipline and hands on learning have suffering as a result.<br />
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"U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Tuesday that $100 billion in federal stimulus money for schools will save thousands of teaching jobs and promote education reforms. " Except that with curent budget cuts my district is telling us it will simply reduce the number of cuts necessary and to expect a class size increases. After working 3 years without a contract and no cost of living increases, the district now wants to take away our PPO health care. I am not sure how this plays into Secretary Duncans vision of recruiting more and better teachers.<br />
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Recently Duncan told the students: "I fundamentally think that our school day is too short, our school week is too short and our school year is too short. You're competing for jobs with kids from India and China. I think schools should be open six, seven days a week; eleven, twelve months a year."Duncan reportedly expected the students to react to his comments in a negative manner, but AP writes that the teens simply gave him "bored stares."<br />
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You have to love the honesty of teenagers. Does he actually think that more of the same thing is going to change education? <b>And here's my big question....Why doesn't anyone ever ASK the teachers what they think needs to be done to improve education?</b> <b>You would think that these share holders might have something to add to the conversation!</b> I have to agree with David Warlick on this one: "The two statements, attributed to the education leader, not only make my blood boil — but they are simply “Dead Wrong!”<br />
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According to David,"Arnie Duncan was nominated to the Secretary of Education post by President Barack Obama in mid-December last year, and smarter men than me immediately called foul (See Gary Stager’s “What Do Arne Duncan & Paul Bremer Have in Common?). I wanted to give Duncan the benefit of the doubt, but all doubt’s gone now. We’ve gotten no where and we’re going nowwhere, especially if we are going to extend the sentencing of our children." You can read his entire blog <a href="http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/">here</a>.<br />
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Just in case he is actually interested here are the issues as I see them. I know ..I know -who am I ?? Just a 20 year veteran educator who believes in education and wants to see REAL change occur.!<br />
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1. <b>Discipline</b>-allowing students to get away with almost anything in order to stem dropout rates is a receipe for disaster. A respectful attitude is required in the work place and should be demanded at school as well. Classrooms cannot solve the issues of poverty and crime. We should provide programs that address the needs of students without making an entire classroom a place where teachers can't teach because they have to spend there entire time on discipline.<br />
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2. <b>If you are going to compare-be fair</b>- Inner City students that have attended 3 schools in one year are simply not going to do as well as any other student that has been able to spend an entire year in one building. Teachers have no control over housing and evictions, parents remarrying, and poverty that force children and families from their homes. Yet everyone loves to compare the test scores of these children who are just happy to have a home, with the priveldged kids in the burbs. Secretary Duncan also compares us to China where frankly they track kids. Here in America we strive to educate everyone-that is a good thing. However comparing our system which leaves no child behind, to a system that tracks children and only reports scores of the "Choosen" students is just plain unfair and misleading.<br />
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<b>3.Testing Time deceases teaching time</b> all those paper and pencil bubble in tests take time away from Project Based differentiated learning which all the experts and data support as the road map to long turn learning and retention of essential skills. Can you think of any job where you are tested 5-6 times each week? Neither can I . I do know that most peiople work in teams, on projects to get things done.<br />
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<b>4. Seperate is Not Equal</b> Creating another system of Charter schools seeks to do what busing sought to undo-segregation. Charter Schools that are often run by for profit companies, can expel students they do not wish to have and they are sent back to regular public school. Charter schools also do not have to provide special education services nor busing. How is this EQUAL?<br />
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I know my comments are likely to get lots of feedback- but here they are<br />
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4.Fair Use and Copyright- My Thoughtstag:www.classroom20.com,2008-09-28:649749:BlogPost:1938532008-09-28T14:00:00.000ZKelley Irishhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/kirish43
If there is a area in education that is more murky I am unaware of any. There is so much conflicting information on what educators may and may not use for classroom instruction ,that most of us end up hopelessly lost reading the small print. So after reading everything I could find on the subject I am going to take a stab at figuring it out. Since I am not a lawyer ,just a humble educator , I always hope that the effort I put into citing sources counts. So here is my best…
If there is a area in education that is more murky I am unaware of any. There is so much conflicting information on what educators may and may not use for classroom instruction ,that most of us end up hopelessly lost reading the small print. So after reading everything I could find on the subject I am going to take a stab at figuring it out. Since I am not a lawyer ,just a humble educator , I always hope that the effort I put into citing sources counts. So here is my best understanding.<br />
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Copyright is the right attached to an original work of art or literature. That means whoever wrote or drew owns it and only the person /organization the author has extended the rights too, can use it. If you take someone else’s work and claim it as yours, they can seek to recover compensation (in a court of law) That’s the part that always scares us! HOWEVER there are the list of exceptions-otherwise know as wiggle room.<br />
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1. Copyright does not apply to opinions nor facts. So you cannot copy an entire sections of a work without citing the source-but you can rewrite the facts in your own style and you have not violated copyright.<br />
2. Government works are not protected (The ones they protect are top secret and we never get to see)<br />
3. Things published over 75 years ago-the thought is the author who owned the work has passed away.<br />
4. The author gives permission and places them in the public domain. ( So if someone put something on the internet without reserving the rights it might be assumed they have put it in the public domain, but copyright may be implied)so cite the source.<br />
5. Fair use- “Through the fair use provision, teachers have access to works far beyond classrooms or textbooks and thereby may expand and enrich learning opportunities for student learning.”<br />
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Fair Use<br />
An educator’s best friend is the Fair Use Policy. They are many different definitions of Fair Use –and Fair Use DOES NOT Mean we get to use as much of everything that we feel we need to.<br />
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1. Copying- Is okay if done spontaneous, for temporary use. ( If you copy it do not use it year after year)<br />
2. Copying a paragraph or section of a web page is okay-but copying the entire chapter is not. ( A good rule of thumb is to place the original authors name in parenthesis and/or the URL-giving credit where credit is due.)<br />
3. Anything you copy in part, cannot be sold under your name without the author’s permission. No making money off from someone else’s work.<br />
4. Music- general agreement seems to be 1/3 of a total song but not more that 30 seconds. There are many artists and sites that offer free music. I encourage the use of those.<br />
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On Wiki pages…<br />
It is permissible to copy a paragraph to refresh your students recollection. Just give the source a credit.<br />
If you use a screen shot and links to other sites-mention where the original content came from.<br />
If you use 30 second clips from popular artists in a multimedia presentation for students, give the artist a credit at the end.<br />
The main thing is do not sell the work.<br />
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The real issue behind all of this for teachers is a question of Morals and Ethic’s. As role models for students, teachers have a mandate to practice integrity and trustworthiness. While funds are always tight, we cannot be tempted to take what is not ours-it is in fact stealing. My district has not given any of us a raise in 3 years and with the cost of living going up I do understand how tight money is. The good news about Web 2.0 is that there is now so many wondeful resources that are available the public domain.<br />
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The best way I can describe fair use is this- you may uses pieces and parts-not the whole -and always give credit where credit is due.<br />
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Here are web sites that do a far job than I desscribing these issues:<br />
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Has a great chart you can print-so you know how much you can use<br />
http://home.earthlink.net/~cnew/research.htm#Fair%20Use%20Matrix%20for%20Teachers<br />
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Standards for stermination if something meets fair use criteria<br />
http://home.earthlink.net/~cnew/research.htm#Teachers%20and%20Fair%20Use<br />
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Fairuse Guidelines for Multimedia projects<br />
http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr280d.shtml<br />
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A quizz covering many situations we all deal with-seee how you did?<br />
http://www.techlearning.com/db_area/archives/TL/2002/10/copyright_quiz.phpAvatar-based Searchtag:www.classroom20.com,2008-04-27:649749:BlogPost:1353932008-04-27T20:00:00.000ZKelley Irishhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/kirish43
I just spotted 3B Village and got excited about the possibilities. With so many schools locking down technology-maybe we could use this to do selective searches and allow the students the same interactivity they are looking for.<br />
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<b>First what is 3B Village?</b><br />
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3B Village is an amazing web browser it also has some chat features possible for collaboration. It is basically a free 3D browser. It allows you to create your own 3D rooms which have walls lined with webpages that you selected . You…
I just spotted 3B Village and got excited about the possibilities. With so many schools locking down technology-maybe we could use this to do selective searches and allow the students the same interactivity they are looking for.<br />
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<b>First what is 3B Village?</b><br />
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3B Village is an amazing web browser it also has some chat features possible for collaboration. It is basically a free 3D browser. It allows you to create your own 3D rooms which have walls lined with webpages that you selected . You use an avatar to wander the rooms visiting various websites and can even chat with other virtual visitors.<br />
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I can see how it could be especially useful for creating topic based research/ treasure hunts and other collaborative tasks for groups of students working virtually. At first glance it seems a much ‘safer’ environment to take students into and navigate rather than second life. Plus you are creating the rooms with an educational purpose behind your selections.<br />
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It is very easy to create your own rooms for your class and then just invite them along. You can generate a ‘quick room’ using a range of other sources, like Flickr , Google, and you can even generate rooms full of TeacherTube videos.<br />
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<embed src="http://static.ning.com/classroom20/widgets/video/flvplayer/flvplayer.swf?v=3.1.2%3A4415" flashvars="config_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.classroom20.com%2Fvideo%2Fvideo%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fid%3D649749%253AVideo%253A135398%26x%3D1gAWdYz3VZRMH7YYXunfMedQNWoD70ki&video_smoothing=on&autoplay=off&layout=external_site" width="448" height="364" scale="noscale" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="never" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
<br/><small><a href="http://www.classroom20.com/video/video">Find more videos like this on <em>Classroom 2.0</em></a></small><br/>
Here are some ideas I read from another blog-I would site it but I forget to copy the URL-<br />
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• Create theme based rooms and store the resources in a special 3B room(s) so that groups of students can work together virtually searching for and sharing information<br />
• Create film shows from Teachertube/Youtube that students can watch together. They can then do their viewing tasks together and discuss them as they watch.<br />
• Students to create their own collection of study bookmarks as a project to share with other students<br />
• Create rooms based on materials from Flickr or other photobooks.<br />
• Students can work together to create a 3B room or village which represents their town.<br />
• Students can visit a 3B city and write a report on it, plan a visit to that place based on the resources they access there.<br />
What I like about it<br />
• A nice collection of rooms already created including some for kids<br />
• You can either create rooms quickly using searches through various online content such as Flickr, YouTube, or Google, or you can hand pick websites to create a customised room specifically for your students<br />
• It’s simple to use<br />
• It’s free<br />
• At 14Mb it’s not too huge a download<br />
• Love wandering round the YouTube video type rooms and this may well be a way around institution that block YouTube!!?<br />
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The site is http://3b.net/browser/demo.html<br />
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Check out the video I uploaded to see how it works on the video pageLet's Marry Project Based Learning and Technologytag:www.classroom20.com,2008-04-26:649749:BlogPost:1350722008-04-26T21:30:00.000ZKelley Irishhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/kirish43
I have copied my blog from another site and posted here as well<br />
Model Car Races?Posted by Kelley Irish on April 25, 2008 at 10:34pm on Macul Space<br />
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As a self described long term geek ,many of my fellow teachers were surprised to see kids from my class racing their model cars down the halway. What do racing cars have to do with technology any way? The answer requires a true shift in thinking-and seeing my classroom as not simply a computer lab but instead as a technology center. I do not use…
I have copied my blog from another site and posted here as well<br />
Model Car Races?Posted by Kelley Irish on April 25, 2008 at 10:34pm on Macul Space<br />
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As a self described long term geek ,many of my fellow teachers were surprised to see kids from my class racing their model cars down the halway. What do racing cars have to do with technology any way? The answer requires a true shift in thinking-and seeing my classroom as not simply a computer lab but instead as a technology center. I do not use Tech just for the sake of using Yech. Instead Technology is a part of the overall lesson. We used the computer to reasearch cars from design process to finished model. Students used a CAD program to draw their car and then created a model of their design. The final step was to create a model-and then test it-just like the GM engineering and design team do. Student then reported their result in a podcasts.<br />
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In my classroom you might see filming for a pod cast, clay figures being constructed to animated a historical event, bridges being constructed with gumdrops and tooth picks, dollhouses painted to replicate a design, and you may even have to dodge a robot called roamer. M & M's may sit next to keyboards as graphs are created and students may be creating a wild rumpus while Maurice Sendaks Where the Wild Things are plays on the projector.<br />
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Technology is a critical part of the lessons I teach , but not the entire lesson. Incorporating technology does not mean giving up hands on activities at all. Instead technology offers us an additional tool, a different way of doing things to engage and extend our students thinking.<br />
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We lnow that the utilization of technology in the classroom leads to improved interactivity and creates more student-centered environments.<br />
Recent research indicates that the adoption of technology in the classroom leads to qualitative and quantitative improvements<br />
in teacher-student interaction and student-student interaction. Positive effects from educational technology have been<br />
demonstrated in preschool through higher education for both regular education and special needs students. When using computer-<br />
based instruction, students feel more successful in school, are more motivated to learn, and have increased selfconfidence<br />
and self esteem. We also know that project based differentiated learning creates positive self esteem and motivated learners. Marrying the two ideas just seems natural in our digital age!<br />
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As we all work to create classrooms for the 21st century-let's not throw out the glue, pipe cleaners and books. Instead let's use every single asset we have to engage our students.Internet All gonetag:www.classroom20.com,2007-11-27:649749:BlogPost:814912007-11-27T22:38:25.000ZKelley Irishhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/kirish43
Okay I will admit it. I have become internet dpendant. Comcast is playing games with our schools connection and I cannot get more than one or tw students on the net. Frustrating, maddening, and so counterproductive to everything I have been working so hard to built in my school this year. 4 weeks with limited access- it feels like months. I wnat--need my internt back!
Okay I will admit it. I have become internet dpendant. Comcast is playing games with our schools connection and I cannot get more than one or tw students on the net. Frustrating, maddening, and so counterproductive to everything I have been working so hard to built in my school this year. 4 weeks with limited access- it feels like months. I wnat--need my internt back!