Teaching Two-Point-Oh

Start small.... With every difficult step, change or avenue in life, we're told to start small. With teaching, its basically the same thing, but sometimes starting small sounds like moving backwards. As was the case with planning lessons in a Web 1.0 environment. There are so many tools available, being limited to a few is almost distressing. If I were to recreate my WebQuest lesson I would definitely change some of the components to utilize the vast array of tools available. In the WebQuest, students are asked to research an animal, create a poster and a PSA about the animal but I did not specify how. In a faster paced web 2.0 world, I would definitely change the PSA to a podcast. This would allow for sending/publishing the podcast to the web without infringing upon the issue of putting students faces/images out for all to see. This should allow for parents to listen to a be a part of the students' products. Talk about making learning real. Parents are always asking students what they "did at school today." After students have returned home, had a snack, done homework and played some video games- the school days seems as far as eons ago. Forget about "talking" what about "showing" their parents what they accomplished. It would surely change the fodder for dinner table discussion tremendously... if students still have family dinners, that is...

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Students who take an extended absence from school due to illness or recovery from a medical procedure are usually unable to make up all work missed. It's a fact- though we try our best, sometimes that last paper doesn't get done. It results in an incomplete or low grade. Or, students miss the introduction and bulk of instruction: we're giving a test and Student A is just returning... What if- the teacher created a podcast to explain different portions of a lesson for those students who are out, or those who are struggling? The flu is a nasty thing- I'd much rather my student listen to my voice from the comfort of their quarantined home than come in and cause me to have a quarantined classroom. Parents are always asking what they can do to help those students who are struggling- maybe create a podcast (by grade level) of tips and strategies for parents to listen to based upon their students needs (ie. fluency, decoding, etc). There are many options- we just need to find the time (and energy) to do them. In a perfect world, I'd: have a full time blog, teach my class using the most up-to-date forms of instruction, they'd all be reading on grade level... and I'd be a size two... But, alas, I must start small... here's to one step at a time.