Pair Share ~ Learning Communities

Hello my friends,

The start of the school year is almost upon us. I have seen many of you in the halls over the last day or two, and I am sure that next week will be chaotic as we buckle down and get ready for students on August 17th.

Before we all get buried with everyday school activities, I wanted to put a proposition in front of everyone. Because we teach in the small school, many of us do not have the opportunity to be a part of a "team" or a school learning community. After all, it's hard to collaborate with the second grade teachers when you are the only one! Those of us in the high school have it a little easier - we may have a junior high counterpart for our subject area.

I would like to set up a time when we can meet and talk about our instructional practices - the lunch table doesn't count! I know that I have trouble reaching some of the students in my classes and some of you have great success with those same kids. I would like to spend 45 minutes in the morning before school and talk about the strategies I can use, and maybe share some of mine as well, to help those students learn.

Time is precious for all of us, but I think 30-45 minutes every two weeks might be a good place to start. I am also aware that you might be hesitant to "bare your soul" in front of the whole group, so I was hoping that we could meet in groups of two. Remember, this isn't just for me - you could decide to meet with someone else to have your discussions.

One of the classes I am taking right now covers the development of professional learning communities. It is certainly worthwhile to reach out to others in our specializations, but I think that my friends and colleagues have just as much to offer.

Most of you have my cell number or you could always drop me a line at my school email address. Even better, you could respond on the blog and we could set up a date to meet and learn from each other. Please keep in mind that this blog is open to students and we don't want to violate any privacy laws! :(

Thanks and get in touch with me soon. ~ Kelly

Classroom wikis

Does anyone know what a wiki is? How do they work?
Think about this and check out some wikis on the internet- you might trying searching classroom wikis. Once you have some information on wikis, head over to the class wiki page - CardinalCollaborations - using the link below.
How could we use a classroom wiki page to raise our level of reading and writing?

http://cardinalcollaborations.wikispaces.com/

Multitasking - is it possible?

I just read an article by Marilee Sprenger that was published in Sept. 2009 in Focusing the Digital Brain. In this article Ms. Sprenger discusses learning and teaching in the digital age. One of the items she focuses on is "multitasking." Her contention is that multitasking is virtually impossible. For the purposes of our discussion, let's say that multitasking is the ability to devote full attention to two or more tasks at the same time. I have enclosed a link to Ms. Sprenger's article.

http://sharepoint.niles-hs.k12.il.us/technology/AAL/Wiki%20Pages/Focusing%20the%20Digital%20Brain.aspx

Please read the article and then respond accordingly.

Quote of the Week 5/28/2010

Read the quote, take a few minutes to ponder, and then respond.


Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens. - Jimi Hendrix

Writer's Workshops

I am looking for some feedback regarding the writer's workshops we did this last school year. I really want to get your honest opinion of the whole process. Did you like total freedom to create your own piece or would you rather have some guidelines/prompts? What about the distance workshop groups with the students from Kit Carson - how did that go? Tell me some of the problems you encountered and how you solved them. Explain how the reflection letter helped you work through or justify your writing and numerous revisons. Finally, how do we make this process better next year? Blogging with Kit Carson is always an option. We could think about a book study. Anything else?