Introductions

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

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Doug Davis on April 16, 2007 at 6:32pm

Hello, my name is Doug Davis, 6th grade social studies guru. This is my 9th year teaching at Wilson Elementary School in Anderson Township (Cincinnati), Ohio. For the past 9 years I’ve been fortunate to serve the Wilson Community as the 6th grade social studies teacher and to coach in the Greater Cincinnati area. It is my honor to serve as an educator in one of the finest districts in Ohio, the Forest Hills Local School District. Thanks for the opportunity to share in this collaborative venue. I'm looking forward to learning and sharing some great new ideas. -D2J

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Permalink Reply by Debbie Harris on April 16, 2007 at 7:22pm

Hi. I'm Debbie Harris and I'm a tech coordinator in a middle school in Illinois, USA. This year we're working on podcasting, blogging and wikis. Glad to be here.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin H. on April 17, 2007 at 5:22am

hi Debbie
What kind of podcasting are you doing?
Kevin

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Permalink Reply by Scott Fife on April 16, 2007 at 9:41pm

Hello World,

I am the Director of Information Technology for a K-12 public school district near Dayton, Ohio USA (the birthplace of aviation!). A middle school social studies teacher for 15 years, I have been working at the district level doing "all things technology" for an equal amount of time. I'm a fairly avid proponent of Free / Open Source Software in schools. Our district embraced Moodle five years ago and Web 2.0 is pretty clearly the next evolutionary step. I'm intrigued by this opportunity to participate in social networking.

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Permalink Reply by Richard on April 17, 2007 at 3:16pm

I've had a website for many years, but have just gotten interested in blogging and wikis. I'd like to convert the web version of my weekly parent newsletter to a blog and assign kids to comment on some of the articles. I have a few other ideas for incorporating newer technologies into my website and for use in the classroom too. Problems? My kids are in fourth grade and have not done a lot of keyboarding, we have a computer lab, but it is booked up most of t he week. Still, I'm looking forward to learning something new that will good for my students.

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Permalink Reply by Glenn Moses on April 17, 2007 at 3:35pm

Hi All. I've been part of the group for a day now and I wanted to thank everyone for their warm welcome. I'm an secondary teacher (social studies) working in the online world and an online curriculum specialist (I take content from traditional classroom teachers and turn it into something that students use in a distance education setting through their computer). I'm excited to be connected with this group.

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Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Fox on April 17, 2007 at 5:57pm

I'm Beth Fox. I'm in North Carolina, and I teach Career and Technical Education to 6-8th graders. I'm glad to be here, and I'm looking forward to learning from all of you!

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Permalink Reply by Jill Wood on April 18, 2007 at 8:45am

Hello, my name is Jill Wood, and I currently teach 7-12 At-Risk classes in the Ellis, KS schools. I also am the staff development facilitator for the district, so I am constantly trying to keep up with all the new ideas that are out there for teachers. My current mission is to explore social networks and YouTube to see how we can utilize these highly engaging technologies within an educational setting.

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Permalink Reply by Carla Arena on April 18, 2007 at 11:28am

Hi, everybody.

Great to see some new faces around and old friends! Well, I'm Carla Arena, a proud Brazilian EFL teacher, born in Brasilia. I'm temporarily living in Key West due to my husband's professional commitments, so I'm on a leave from the Binational Center I work at, Casa Thomas Jefferson. I'm a teacher who loves to explore the wonders of online tools to help my students go way beyond the classroom walls. That's why I'm testing new applications of web tools to use with my students, but just when I feel it will really make a difference for their learning experience and outcomes. This is also the reason for being here.

I'm also a teacher trainer, for I truly believe there's no power in technology if the teacher is not leading the way and supporting the whole process. First, teachers need to be empowered and learn how these tools can really be beneficial for their teaching setting. And, I tell you, this a Herculean job, but I, together with a dear friend Erika Cruvinel, don't give up, and we're always optimistic about having more teachers try what's out there. In our school, we give workshops and all kinds of support to facilitate teachers' and students' access to technology to enhance language learning, English, in this case.

In my free time, I love to be with my two boys and husband, take photos, explore Key West and surroundings, read, listen to Brazilian music, cook, be with friends, and blog about my experiences here!

It's a great pleasure to be with you!

Carla Arena

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Permalink Reply by Richard on April 19, 2007 at 12:29pm

Hi folks,
I'm Richard Brown. I teach 4th grade in Lecompton, Kansas and live in the country near Tonganoxie, Kansas. I've always been the early adoptor in my school and 2.O is no different. I'm just begining to see how wonderful it could be for communicating with parents and for children. I'm looking forward to learning a lot here. Seems like a wonderful site. Thanks for being here!

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Permalink Reply by Cheryl Todd on April 19, 2007 at 2:56pm

Hi everyone---

My name is Cheryl Todd and I serve as an Academic Technology Specialist at Meredith College in North Carolina. (US)

Looking forward to conversations on Web 2.0. I am also looking for suggestions and advice on how to get our faculty to "buy in" to engaging the digital generation with social networking and collaboration tools.

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Permalink Reply by Tammy Moore on April 19, 2007 at 4:13pm

Hello all, I am a born-geeky, big city gal transplanted to the rural woods and farmlands of SW Arkansas. I couldn't convince my folks to move to the city, so here I am so the kids can grow up near them and I can be ready as they age.

I am an odd duck in the group in that I come from the homeschooling community. I started looking into ways to put the net to use many years ago to meet the needs of homeschoolers scattered far and wide in this rural area. Getting together for homeschool co-op classes and social events can be very problematic when there's sometimes a 120 mile drive involved. Now the vision has expanded to where I am involved in spearheading the development of a free, international Virtual Homeschool Group course site using Moodle, Elluminate, and Cmapping.