When it comes to facilitating and inspiring student creativity I have come to the conclusion that it is a lot of work. This week my students have been working on web quest and creating many different forms of writing. We have spent a lot of work in the computer lab and some of my students still are not finished. I heard complaints about the amount of work from some of my students and others loved the activity we were doing. I will never be able to please everyone. I am still working on my goal of setting up a classroom blog and wiki. I set up the blog but I have not figured out how to get the students to log on. My students do not have school email accounts so would they have to set up a personal account for this assignment? Would I get in trouble for this? Will I have to get permission from someone before all my final details are set into place? Looking back at my goals I realize that I am also working on goal number two which is to design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments even though I originally did not set this as one of my goals. Honestly I do not know what I will try differently to extend my learning. I am so overwhelmed right now. The second semester is not the time to be trying all of these new ideas. Between testing, grades and having limited holidays there is a lot on my plate. I need a break.
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6 comments:
Sadie,
I do not know the particulars for having students set up an email account if the school does not have an account for them. I think it depends on the grade and the district policy on this issue. I understand at how difficult it is to try to please everyone, no matter what happens it seams that there will be someone in the group that is a "Debbie Downer." One of the good things about becoming a good teacher is the ability to know when thing are not working and finding new approaches to make them better. I understand about the pressures of the state testing and short periods of time because of holidays there is a overwhelming sense of, "how is it possible to get this finished?" I am not sure about your school, but there are only seven weeks left in my district, and what is seven weeks in the grand scheme of things? Summer break is just around the corner and there will be time to breath. Stay focused and stay positive and you will be just fine.
Anthony
Sadie,
I know exactly how you feel in both having too much on your plate right now and also in feeling this particular project would warrant better results for both teachers and recipients, if we were able to conduct this project at the beginning of the school year, I believe our goals would really be able to root. As for your question about your students responding to your blog or wiki, I give my students my email address to use when they are responding. With this said, you could create an email address just for that particular class via gmail, hotmail, or etc. There is also another option, perhaps, if you use kidblog, your students would be able to set up their own individual student blogs for free. If you do choose to have each of your students blog, there is another site netvibes.com, which is a dash-blog and allows you (teacher) to view all of the blogs at once instead of having to access each student blog individually!
If there is anything I can help you with in blogging, please let me know. I blog with my students and plan to expand my blogging even more next year, plus I have taken several workshops in just blogging!
You are doing great! Keep up the wonderful work...we'll make it!
Kimberly
Sadie,
Thanks for your honest post. The end of the year is a tough time for me too; we just finished our state science assessment, which created a week of chaos. On top of that we have multiple opportunities for students to miss class (field trips, All-State Choir, assemblies, and so on). These issues are exacerbated by general spring fever, so fourth quarter has the potential to be pretty chaotic.
I'd recommend being careful about the blog and email address issue. What does your acceptable use policy say? I had great plans to get my language arts students blogging this year, but my district's policy prohibits it. I thought that if I got written parental permission, we could get around this issue, but my principal said no. It's frustrating to encounter such roadblocks when we know how much these tools could help our students. The Prensky article (2008) that we read a few weeks back struck home with me; why are we "turning off the lights" for our kids?
I hate to sound negative, but it's important that you find out what your limitations are before you overstep your bounds! Don't berate yourself too much; you've accomplished a great deal, and sometimes you have to give yourself some time to regroup. Good luck as you work toward your goals.
References
Prensky, M. (2008, March). Turning on the lights. Educational Leadership, 65(6), 40-45.
Anthony,
My district has only six weeks left of school and one of those weeks includes HSAP testing. I am going to have to figure out what to do about the necessary email accounts soon because it is part of the process for setting up a class blog. Thanks for the encouraging words.
Sadie
Kimberly,
Thanks for the information. I will take a look at it on Monday and if I need help you will be the first person that I come to. I guess this is the real reason for these weekly blogs. I am learning so much for you all and I do not know how I would get through this process alone. Thanks a lot.
Sadie
Kelly,
You brought up a good point. I do not know how long its been since I looked at that policy. I will need to make sure that I am within my bounds before I finish this project. I guess for now everything will have to be hypothetical.
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