Introductions

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

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Peggy Harwood on May 9, 2010 at 5:01pm

Hello. My name is Peggy Harwood and I will be teaching 2nd grade next fall. It will be quite a transition from high school algebra and geometry, but I have now come full circle to where I started teaching 32 years ago. I am hoping to learn to use all kinds of technology with second grade students. My first small goals will be to have students use a SMARTboard for attendance and lunch count and to make podcasts for communicating with our community.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Doerr on May 10, 2010 at 11:38am

My name is Rick Doerr. I teach the Computer Networking course at a career tech high school in central Ohio. I'm always on the lookout for new technologies I can use to teach my class. Recently we're gotten into projects with VOIP and VMware. I piloted a Moodle server at my school. Now that we have a fully functional server up and running I'm working with the staff to get classes up and running with it. I've already picked up some ideas just from a quick glance through the forums. I'll be checking out Mouse Mischief and Google Wave as soon as I have a chance.

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Permalink Reply by Len Rosen on May 10, 2010 at 12:29pm

Hi Rick,
You should also consider Google Apps as a powerful collaborative tool for students working cooperatively on projects. Apps feature a suite of tools similar to those in Microsoft Office and OpenOffice. The difference is the suite is hosted remotely by Google and cooperative editing of a document is in real time. It's great for brainstorming and you cannot beat the price. All you need is to be a Gmail account user to create share capability with Google Apps. Share can be restricted to view or all invited users can have editing rights to a single document, or a directory of documents. The setup is pretty easy.

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Permalink Reply by Len Rosen on May 17, 2010 at 7:12am

Hi Katy, I invite you to checkout Recess at www.meetatrecess.com. It's $49 per year for a class and gives you a private social network with multimedia support, blog, microblog, a class calendar, profiles, news, quiz module, polls, document sharing (Documentarium), and comes with word filtering to screen out inappropriate content. You can try it for 30 days. We have put it into elementary, middle and high schools and had very positive feedback.

Len Rosen

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Permalink Reply by John on May 17, 2010 at 1:21am

Hello everyone,

My name is John, I'm a systems designer/developer in the Netherlands. I have an idea which should help educators get material like books/tests/presentations/etc. I'm looking for input, but I'll post about this project in the forums later as soon as I can describe it in a few lines. Main aim is to get more Open Source(d) teaching material into 3rd world countries.

I will scan this site to look for information in that sense, but if you have information (other sites) that might help I would be grateful.

John

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Permalink Reply by Harry Wood on May 18, 2010 at 9:09am

Hi, my name is Harry. I teach high school science to deaf students in Virginia. I am gathering steam learning about technology integration, Web 2.0, and the like. The school I work at is revamping its filtering and IT systems. Its kind of a mess right now, but it is hoped by fall, things will be much more tech-friendly. I hope to develop a PLN with many teachers, especially in the areas of science and teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing.

Glad to be here!

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Permalink Reply by Harry Wood on May 22, 2010 at 6:30am

Wanted to add here....

If any of you teach science (middle to high school) or teach deaf & hard of hearing students, I would love to connect with you. My Twitter account is VSDBSciTeach. Please follow me so I can follow you. I would love to work together to build a PLN.

Thanks to Elizabeth Bonsignore for recommending I add my Twitter account here....

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Permalink Reply by Laura Heller on May 18, 2010 at 3:26pm

Hello everyone. My name is Laura Heller and I currently teach Biology, Human Anatomy & Physiology and AP Biology at Canton High Area School, Canton PA. I graduated from Millersville University in 2003 and headed back home looking for a teaching job. I live in Cogan Station but no one really knows where Cogan Station is so I normally tell people I am from Williamsport which is famous for being the home of Little League Baseball. Cogan Station is just 5 miles north of Williamsport.

The 2010-11 school year is going to be an experiment for me in some ways as I was able to get both my AP and Anatomy classes accredited through Keystone College as dual enrollment classes. My district has purchased Moodle and I will be integrating a lot of the course work for these classes into an online format. I'm afraid I'm going to have a lot of summer "homework" but I think it will make my life and my students life easier once the school year starts.

When I'm not busy teaching or taking classes, I enjoy spending time with my husband, horses and our yellow lab, Wilson. I also give riding lessons to a handful of kids and I'm involved in several local horse clubs. My big project every summer is organizing a series of 3 children's shows which have grown tremendously over the past four years and average 90-100 kids competing at each show. When not playing with horses, my husband and I enjoy snowmobiling, fishing and hiking and just about anything else that can be done outdoors.

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Permalink Reply by Monique Bredbenner on May 18, 2010 at 6:41pm

Hi Everyone! My name is Monique Bredbenner and I am from Northeastern Pennsylvania. Currently I teach 6th grade science and social studies in a small public school located in Northampton County. I am looking to create an educational network of colleagues for both science and social studies.

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Permalink Reply by Stacey Hostetler on May 18, 2010 at 7:48pm

Hi, I'm Stacey. I was born and raised and currently live in central Pennsylvania. Some people often refer to my location as being in the country while others just say I live in the middle of nowhere. I attended Penn State University for my undergraduate degree in Elementary Education. I'm currently attending Wilkes University pursuing a Master's in Instructional Media. I previously taught first grade in Harrisburg, PA and this is my first year teaching second grade in a very rural school which is part of the Midd-West School District. I really love teaching and I also have a love for photography. I worked for a photographer for a while when I was in high school and college. Now I take wedding pictures for friends and have fun taking senior pictures for those who don't want to go all out but want more of a professional touch compared to mom or dad. I'm married and have a two year old son who keeps me very busy. Life is good!

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Permalink Reply by Brad Steigerwalt on May 18, 2010 at 8:47pm

Hello!

My name is Brad Steigerwalt and I teach music at Northampton Area School District. My school is located outside of Allentown, PA. I teach most of the seventh and eighth grade general music classes, direct the Northampton Middle School Chorus and direct the Northampton Middle School Show Choir. I am a bit of a computer nerd, having grown up in the 80s. Our school does not have a MIDI lab, but I am hopeful that we will be able to invest in one in the future.

I look forward to working with you all, and hope that I can be a positive contributor to your Ning!