Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Where do we go now.

Reflecting on the past year I have decided to write down my experiences. Here is the what was and what will be.

My year and "life" into the new interweb started one Wednesday morning in early September when my principle handed me a division email he had printed off. It was a request for each school to send a teaching staff member to join a division committee on technology. The committee was to be a part of a laptop project with the goal of being technology support people within the school. I was excited about having a laptop to use but had NO IDEA had much I would learn.

I was always interested in technology but had very little hardware and an average amount of time using different software. In a couple months I went from ...














to here ...















How you ask?

With the help of Donna DesRoches, my In-tech group leader, and the rest of the in-tech's, I allowed my inner-geek to come out. I began as many do, sign up for everything under the sun. I also started adding these new web applications to my teaching...
  • Problem #1 - I began to add technology for the sake of having technogy.
I learned quickly that not only are the students not as interested as I thought they would be, but I presented it to them thinking they would have my same excitement. I changed many of my ideas, assignments and pedagogy after attending the k-12 online conference.

One major success that I had was taking on Konrad Glogowski's blogging assignment and using it for my ELA 10A class. I designed a full unit of blogging and allowed my students to use some of their interests to engage in writing, reading, speaking, listening, viewing and representing. Many students enjoyed their successes, as did I, and the new knowledge they were learning.

Another major success was combining with a colleague on some interdisciplinary assignments using the new technology skills we had learned.

Along with many other bumps on the road and successes along the way, I transformed my classroom into a much more engaging environment.

This is just a few thoughts from the teaching perspective. Next post will be on the changes as "the techie" on staff.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

CPT 30 Wiki - Gearing up for 08/09


I am SOOOO excited about teaching next year. I have moved from teaching physical education to my more current interest, which is technology. I am teaching one course that I am very excited about which is the Communication Production Technology 30 Course. I am planning on incorporating all that I have learned in the past year to this course. My students will blog and I am putting my entire year plan on a wiki. http://cpt-macklin-0809.wikispaces.com/

This wiki will eventually have everything from project explanation and assessment rubrics to showcasing student work.

This wiki is an obvious work in progress.

Up coming additions:
1. Digital Citizenship Introduction page.
2. Student Blog list page.
3. Project page
4. Assessment page
5. Student Work Showcase page
6. Macklin Radio Page

Monday, June 16, 2008

Photography 10 Field Trip

Today was a great day for picture taking. My five Photo 10 students and I picked up pizza and took aff at 1:00. We ate and had a photo scavenger hunt. Beautiful weather and the kids got some great shots.

Here are some of mine.





These are on my old 1.2 megapixel Sony Mavica. My 7.2 megapixel Sony Cybershot is ... well... out of commission.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

My del.icio.us Wordle


This is an example of Wordle. I see myself using this as a part of my introduction on a unit or year plans. I am sure administration would love to decifer what I am doing for the year.