It has been a while

It really has been a while since I have had a chance to sit down to write. Our district is currently in the process of moving towards a 1:1 program for our students. In preparing our teachers, we are holding a discussion session tomorrow to discuss what teachers are thinking about this new initiative. I will post some of their concerns and ideas after our meeting.

I have also created a wiki where I can post information that I believe will be beneficial to teachers. Check it out: candicewalsh.wikispaces.com.

Stay posted and see how things go fo us.

Web 2.0 Tool: Glogster

The kids are having a blast creating Glogs. What is a Glog you ask? Remember the days your students would bring in poster board and magazines? You would have them create a collage that showed their understanding of a concept. Glogster is the wave of the future. Students create a virtual poster board of such where they integrate images, sounds and video to show their understanding of concepts. I can't wait to post some of their examples.

Check out their Glogs....
R. Schmidt

T. King

J. Aldridge

A. Moses

M. Casarez

G. Westray

C. Averyhart

K. Owens

M. Bates

A. Lewis

A. Lee

Y. Deng

K. Sumpter

R. Johnson

E. Skrivan

B. Cosby

J. Baxter

P. Brown

The year is underway!

I feel so bad that I started this blog with great intentions to blog daily, at least weekly, and have been swamped with getting the school year started. The students started back on August 20 and they were so excited to hear about the G.I.G. class and how they would be learning language arts skills. We spent the first few days going over 21st century skills and identify the importance of having these skills in today's world. The kids really grasped the concept that it will take more than academic excellence to excel in the world today. They spent some time identifying 21st century skills that they wanted to improve on. It was interesting to hear that most of them really wanted to work on collaboration. As educators we assume that higher level students automatically like to work in groups, however this is not necessarily true. Most of them said that they would rather work by themselves but they understand the importance of being able to work with a group to get a project done. We have had some great discussions as to other 21st century skills that we all will work on. It has been a pleasure just to have these discussions with students. They get it! They understand what is needed to be successful in the world past the school walls.

One of the things that the kids really liked is that I talked to them about the kind of learner that they are. I explained that I realize that they could multi-task, find information in various ways, and use various tools to complete assignments. What they found most valuable was the fact that while I was reading a text aloud to them, I allowed them to finish another assignment. They couldn't believe that I didn't want them to stare at me while I was reading. I told them that I realize and respect the type of learner they were. Since we have had that discussion, respect has been greatly given on both parts.

I was a kid in a candy store or better yet one on Christmas morning when I got a phone call from the front office telling me I had some deliveries. I was so excited to see the boxes of goodies lined up. It took a couple of trips and help from a good friend (Drena) to get the equipment up to my room.

There is was... a cart of 20 Dell Netbooks, 20 iPod touches, 20 sets of headphones with microphones for podcasting, a color printer, 6 flip video cameras, a Smart Response System, a Smart document camera, and 6 Smart Airliners.

The kids saw me working in the room and could not wait until the next day. Of course the first day we cranked up the Netbooks, technology reared its ugly head and taught us all a lesson. It was kind of a good thing though. Some good log in and some couldn't. It was taking a while for others to hit the network. But what a great lesson on determination and patience.

The next two days we spent downloading software that we will be using and going over how the course is structured on Blackboard. Today was great, the kids came in, logged onto Blackboard and began their lesson. They were collaborating with others to get tasks done without being told to do so. They would see a classmate needing help and went right to work. What a teacher's dream?

I will be posting some of their work and posting their links to their own blogs when we start going. I have to tell myself that we can't do it all at one time and remind them of that too. They are just so excited about creating authentic work to share with others.

Continued Excitement

Recently I purchased to books that I can not wait to go through. Blogging in the Classroom

Getting a Classroom Together

It has been a few years since I had to think about arranging a classroom. Traditional desks are definitely out. I have to think about what kind of boxes to buy for materials that this new class will need. I walked into the room today that I will be using and could just see the tables with students sitting around typing on the computers, listening and creating podcasts, and constant chatter. It is such an exciting time.

Now I need to begin thinking about units of study for the students. I need to pull out my standards and dust off some books and resources I haven't used in a while. I would love to hear from anyone who has ideas for units of study for language arts while integrating technology.

New Adventure

I have been given a wonderful opportunity by Richland District Two to be a part of a new technology initiative. I will be teaching a group of 7th grade language arts students through a technology enriched classroom. The room will be designed to have students collaborate to gain and apply their knowledge. Each group will have a project manager, procurement specialists, help desk technician, researcher, and public relation specialists. These rolls have been designed to immulate common business models. The teacher is no longer the teacher but the C.I.O (chief informaiton officer) who will work in collaboration with the students in gaining content knowledge through various technology applications.

I have a passion with curriculum development as well as technology integration and this is the perfect opportunity to put all the knowledge I have learned over the past few years into practice. I will be working with some great people in our district in putting collaboration, project based learning, and individual education into practice.

I am planning on using this blog to track my progress of the development of this class along with the challenges and successes. I can't wait to see what others have to offer as suggestions to make this initiative a reality in classrooms across our district.