Ginger Lewman's Blog (13)

So it's been well over a year that I've been on this network and my life has changed dramatically in that time. In fact, as a launching point, I should give CR2.0 the full credit it deserves.



I know that the network catches grief about how the conversations here never change, and as I come back and look again at some of them, I think I may tend to agree. But that's ok!! I've been launched into another, different world that seems to fit me, but there are more and more teachers coming… Continue

A good buddy of mine is a prodigous podcaster. He's also very involved in this network. He's also one of my favorite mentors in the W2.0 world. He's shared all sorts of ideas and fueled fires for not only my my thinking, but also for my students. Recently, he's asked me to begin a podcast. I've got a podcast going for my students to show their… Continue

Ok, so if you were in my presentation Project Based Learning: Portals into the 21st Century, you know that we barely scratched the surface in the information. Congratulations for being a member of CR2.0 and thank you SO much for finding this blog! I hope you find this network as useful as I have! It has literally changed my educational life, which I thought was pretty darn good to begin with!



There were some questions you all wanted me to answer, and I didn't really get a chance… Continue

So I'm looking over the Kansas Children's Service League site tonite perusing the photos and descriptions of kids who are needing adoption. I used to work in a boys' home, teaching day school and generally getting a TERRIFIC education about the "system."



What I'm noticing is nearly every single one of the kids cite their favorite classes as PE, Art, Computer, or some other physically active class. A scattered few say math or science.… Continue

Virtual field trips, aka "outsourcing" or hiring another class (or group of students) to take a field trip to learn about particular content, and reporting back their learning and the learning your class requested from them: this concept is heavily on my mind. Students could photo, video, blog, wiki, or otherwise archive the experience so that literally anyone from across the world could have access to that exact same field trip! Talk about an engaging and memorable experience for all involved?… Continue

I'm trying on some new ideas and if you feel like responding with constructive criticisms, I'd sure appreciate your feedback. This is raw thinking and kind of a sketch of where I'm going with my charter school. I know I need to further develop and explain some of these pieces because while it all fits the empty puzzle pieces in my brain, I know that not everyone has seen me put some of the pieces into place. I need to know from objective minds where the gaps in my logic lie. Thanks, in advance,… Continue

Let's have a roundtable discussion about how the following will impact the way we view/run education in not only our specific locales, but across the US.



(questions are based on info on a book from Eric Marx(?), a member of the World Future Society)



1. The old will outnumber the young.





2. Majorities become the minorities.





3. Standards and high stakes tests fuel a demand for personalization of learning in the educational system that's… Continue

In a recent blog, Susan has sparked my thinking about internet safety.

I talk with my students about this topic, and I see how they like to learn. Many students LOVE to learn with games, especially simulation and/or networking games.

I'm no programmer--heck, I'm lucky to even just be able to navigate this site and begin to put in html paragraphing! ;-) But I think I have a…

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Ok, I'm a whip-cracker when it comes to learning and my students. I'm a primarily green personality (http://www.truecolors.org/color_meanings.html) when it comes to the old True Colors Quiz (http://truecolorscareer.com/quiz.asp), which means that I value knowledge, data, logic, scientific fact above emotions, rules, and at times, relationships.



Example: I actually plotted out a male friend's strong points as a potential "boyfriend" and realized he was as close to the total package… Continue

I can see the benefits of blogging, of course, but as noted in other posts, I just prefer to have interactions with either creating or responding to posts. That being said, today I find myself with a need to talk out loud to any/every/no one.



We're nearing the end of the inaugural year of the face 2 face portion of our charter school. I'm in charge of the direction of this branch (we also have a virtual school--I'm actually inbetween working out and showering up to do some in-home… Continue

So I'm spending my Classroom 2.0 time trying for more meaningful interactions than speaking into space here, hoping that folks my buzz by. I'm not an anemone that sits still and waits for floaters to pass. Am I the shark, patrolling, looking for morsels? Sometimes. Sometimes, I'm just a little krill, gathering phytoplankton to survive...

So if you want to drop a line, please do so, but most of my limited time will be dedicated out in the discussions, I hope! :) See you there!

I added a discussion question/request to the main discussion forum, so if you're interested, go check it out...

Integrated Project Based Learning? http://classroom20.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=649749%3ATopic%3A7598



I also posted some thanks and ideas to Ben Davis's discussion about www.Bubbl.us, which is a pretty cool collboration tool for web graphic organizers.



Otherwise, I think I'm done for today. *yawn*



Don't forget to throw some cool tool ideas my… Continue

I was in the middle of doing some Web 2.0 studying this evening (Furl, Spurl, and Diigo) and lo and behold, I received an email from one of my partners in crime inviting me in here!



Since I'm always game to see what possibilites lie in wait--even tho my husband isn't always as patient with my studies--I thought I'd take a gander. I'm very interested in learning interesting new tools to share with students, but I'm also game for a good, thoughtful conversation about where this world… Continue