Week 3, Thing 7, Technology Post

This poems sums up how we are currently feeling, as we sit here after school trying to catch up. The work is a lot of fun & very exciting, but these computers ....well they aren't always the best.


A DRAGON IS IN MY COMPUTER

A dragon is in my computer,
It's there when I turn on the screen,
It stares at me, fierce and unfriendly,
Through eyes of maleovolent green.
It hisses and spits little fires,
It flicks its preposterous tail,
I've tried every trick to erase it,
But all of my stratagems fail.

It's there when I'm doing my homework,
It's there when I'm playing a game,
My mouse does it's best to erase it,
That dragon remains all the same.
It may disappear for a minute,
But always comes slithering back,
Appearing on top of my program,
Resuming its nasty attack.

I have no idea where it came from,
Or why it keeps picking on me,
Examining me like a morsel
It's thinking it might fricassee.
I wish I could douse it with water
And bop it on the snout,
A dragon is in my computer -
I hope that it never gets out.

Source

Prelutsky, Jack. The Dragons Are Singing Tonight. Greenwillow Books, New York: 1993. p33.

Week 3, Thing 6, Mashup

I found navigating the sites very easy, except when it came time to actually creating my very own magazine cover. I think the school's internet was blocking me. The actual exploring of the sites was a lot of fun, and I could think of numerous ways to use them in countless lessons. I hope to post my magazine cover from home later.

Ice - Week 3, Thing 5, Flickr

Ice, originally uploaded by Katka S..

Ice is nice
Ice is cool
We wrote this poem after school

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Week 2, Thing 4, Registering Blog

Successfully registered!!!

Week 2, Thing 3, Creating a blog

This was the most fun I have had online in a very long time!! I stayed after school with several teachers to work on creating our blogs, and not only did I get to colaborate on how to go through the process but I was able to meet several new teachers at the same time.
Creating the avatars was hysterical! I had no idea that you could actually create something to look so realistic. There were so many options that I spent over two hours just looking at them all.

Week 1, Thing 2, 7 and 1/2 Habits of Successful Lifelong Learning

I really enjoyed learning about the 7 and 1/2 habits of successful lifelong learning. Many of the habits I was familiar with, but watching the video reminded me of how little I actually do them and how much more I could encorporate them into my teaching. The step that really described how I learn was step 7, teach/mentor others because it is the best way to learn. I have always found that when taking a course I do not fully understand the material until I have to explain it to someone else, yet when I am teaching a class or in a class assisting the teacher I find that mostly the teacher is teaching. I would love to find more ways to get the students teaching eachother.

I fully agree with step 7 and 1/2! It is so true that if I am not having fun learning something I am not motivated to do it, and typically only do what I have to do to complete the course rather than taking the time to learn the material. In fact one of the reason that I took this course is because the teachers I work with are, and we planned to all work on it together after school. So, instead of it being something I dread going home to, I am enjoying staying after school and being with coworkers learning new things. This is also very true of the students I work with. I am team teaching math to a very chatty 5th grade class, and all year it has been a struggle to keep them at a dull roar. Well, the other day we did a lesson where they had to draw and for the first time the entire class was quiet for not a few seconds, but the entire period. Not only were they enjoying what they were doing but they were learning!

I will definately be sharing the 7 and 1/2 steps with other educators!

Week 1, Thing 1, About

I enjoyed reading through the frequently asked questions, because it answered many of my own questions.