Kara Norris's Blog – January 2009 Archive (4)

I teach in a small, rural school. At times, many times, we have to be creative due to our lack of resources, whether that be financial or physical. Needless to say, I do not have, what I would call, a usable curriculum map or pacing guide. I smell a new project! Normally, I merely "borrow" whatever I can from seasoned teachers, internet sites, etc. My situation is a little different because we are a Catholic school. I have to follow their content standards which means I can't just copy from… Continue

I was watching Fox and Friends this morning and a story about a school that was asked to forfeit their raise in order for everyone to keep their jobs. It was reported that if everyone, in this particular school system, agreed to give up their raise, then none of the teachers would be laid off. Talk about being put in a tough situation. On one hand, you want to be a humanitarian but, on the other hand you need to take care of your own family. There is also the issue of those teachers close to… Continue

I was poking around on You Tube and find a post by Johnny Chung Lee from Carnegie Mellon University. He is working on different projects that incorporate the Wii remote. In the video he details how to use a Wiimote, a homemade LED pen, and a plain surface to create an interactive whiteboard. The other fascinating idea was that he projected the image onto a table manipulated the computer programs from there. My mind started spinning with… Continue

So, now that the holidays are over, it's time to get "back to reality". I will be finishing up my first Science Fair in the next month. This has been an experience I have enjoyed however, it has become rather bothersom at the same time. It is at times difficult to motivate the students. In my class (7th and 8th graders) we have been working on Science Fair since before Thanksgiving. They have had ample opportunity to complete all of their research, type all of their papers, etc. in class. I… Continue