Introductions

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

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Pamela Wilson McCormick on October 15, 2009 at 11:55am

I am a teacher for the Grand Erie District School Board in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. I am currently in my 21st year of teaching. During my career, I have taught English (mostly), learning strategies (a special education course) and history; at my current school I am a full-time teacher-librarian. I am disturbed by the standardization of education; I believe that creativity in both teachers and students, in assignments and tests -- so long as they are teaching skills as well as content -- should be encouraged, not squelched. I guess I'm curious to discover innovative techniques people are using to teach students who are more used to consuming media than thinking about or creating it.

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Permalink Reply by Michelle Ruggio on October 15, 2009 at 8:18pm

Hi Pamela: I'm a homeschool mom of a 7th grade son who is considering a move (next year) to Ontario. I was hoping that Canadian schools were run differently than U.S. (public) schools?!! Please don't tell me that Canada is also 'teaching to test'?!! I really want my son to go to a high school instead of homeschooling him until college! I don't test or grade. I don't believe in it. I DO prepare him for the Standardized test every year because it's a mandatory test for homeschoolers. I go over test taking techniques and practice tests for about a month before the Standardized test and he usually does pretty well. Last year he got 'high school level' reading and he was 'at level' in math...but that was because he's a 'natural' at math and had previously had problems with reading, so I concentrated heavily on having him read aloud, to himself, various reading levels, etc. Mostly, I taught him to read for pleasure and it seemed to have worked...as long as HE chose the material! LOL! (He read some College level books that he chose.) Please don't tell me that Canada is 'modeling' itself to be more like America? I was hoping for more creativity and critical thinking in Canadian classrooms...after all, you don't have The NCLB Act to push you into 'teaching to test'. As far as innovative techniques go, I think you have to 'know' your students to understand how to motivate them. What are their favorite subjects, movies, music, etc. and incorporate it into the educational process using examples. I remember growing up in Chicago, I had a science teacher use 'gangs' as a model for teaching about protons, neutrons, and electrons! LOL! The info was relative to teenage life and we were able to remember who was positive, negative and neutral! It sounds crazy, but it does work. I've had my son make an art poster using only a list of geometric shapes and he loved it. Once kids enjoy learning, they can fall in love with learning; once they fall in love with learning, they're unstoppable! (I guess it helps to remind them to turn off the tv at home and use the computer for fun AFTER they do their research...) I hope my suggestions helped?!! :)

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Permalink Reply by Kathy Russo on October 16, 2009 at 10:08am

Hi, I'm Kathy R. I am a part-time technology/media/library aide at a small K-8 school in the foothills of northern California. I need to get information about what kids should know by each grade level, and would really appreciate a scope and sequence!

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Permalink Reply by Charlie Herbert on October 16, 2009 at 10:53am

Hi All,

Charlie Herbert chiming in from Holyoke, Massachusetts.

I'm one of the tech trainers in MA's PD system for Adult Basic Education and ESOL staff. (more at www.sabes.org). Anybody else out there in adult literacy?

A lot of our learners missed the first, second waves of technology but are being pulled into it by their children. Many ABE teachers are in the same boat. Though now, there's a trend for the ABE demographic to be shifting younger and this new population is comfortable with cell phones.

I'm interested in how ning may be used in combination with a more static website to foster a pd learning community among ABE professionals.

Charlie

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Permalink Reply by Dan Williams on October 16, 2009 at 11:13am

Hello All!

My name is Dan Williams, and I work with a video streaming website. I joined the network to get a sense of what people think about video streaming in the classroom and what kind of roll is technology playing in classrooms.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Perry on October 16, 2009 at 3:10pm

Hello all. My name is Chris Perry, and I am a Biology instructor at the College of the Albemarle in Manteo, NC. I would love to know how many of you are also community college instructors.

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Permalink Reply by Shawn Storm on October 17, 2009 at 6:55am

Shawn Storm here...6th Grade reading teacher - Quakertown, PA

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Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Storer on October 17, 2009 at 7:19am

Hi everyone! I'm Liz Storer, St. Marys, Pennsylvania. I'm a first grade teacher, and am looking for some great collaboration with other educators.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Kadin on October 17, 2009 at 7:33am

Name's Mike Kadin, Mr. Kadin to the kids, I'm a 11-12th grade physics and calculus teacher in the Boston area (cambridge to be specific). I use technology all the time in my classroom and I teacher exclusively with power point. I'm very interested in hearing from other folks about how they've been integrating technology into their classrooms and I'd love to share some of the stuff I've been doing!

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Permalink Reply by Cassandra Surles on October 17, 2009 at 9:20am

Hello Classroom 2.0,

My name is Cassandra. I am a student pursuing my undergraduate degree in Elementary Education. I am new to social networking. My goal is to learn as much as I can about the educational uses of Ning.

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Permalink Reply by Joseph M. De Julius on October 17, 2009 at 3:03pm

Hi! My name is Joseph De Julius and I am the technology teacher at Eastampton Community School in Eastampton (Burlington County), New Jersey. Our school is a K-8 campus, but I only teach grades 6-8. We started a Ning this year, which we are using as our online professional learning community. Being the only technology teacher in my building, I am looing to network with other technology teachers to share ideas. I look forward to joining your discussions.

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Permalink Reply by Cory Sheldahl on October 17, 2009 at 9:26pm

Hello and Good evening! I was looking for my own introduction (for proof that I participate in blogs), when I saw a gap in the timeline, and realized I may not have done it yet! I'm from Bricelyn, MN and teach at United South Central District in Wells as a part time high school teacher. I found Ning over the summer as part of an assignment, and love it! I've taught collectively for over 6 years, and diverse experiences from private to public, and mainstream to ALC. I hope to graduate with a masters degree in Education Technology by next year, and would love to teach from home online, or to help the district incorporate a big technology plan. Glad to network!