The First Day of School

All over again! AHH! I am calling this the first day of school because I went in to a professional development workshop today, so I stopped in to see my room. I was allowed in the room I was told to move everything into, but I couldn't find any of my supplies. I looked all over for my boxes and mini fridge and found it across the hall. I told her I'd move it out the next day. That's when I talked to my assistant principal. Turns out we had made a whole new switch.

Goodbye, marker boards. Hello, chalk. Goodbye, wall of tiny windows. Hello, walls with no windows. I wish I hadn't moved at all, but I will get over it.

The workshop was about co-teaching. I learned a lot today, in fact:

- There are more than six methods of coteaching with another licensed teacher.
- If one person does all the teaching, and the other watches, something is wrong.
- Co-teachers must both be licensed teachers. Usually one has expertise in content and the other has expertise in special education strategies.
- Many teachers at my school have tried to coteach but weren't satisfied with their partner teacher's work.
- My school district will do anything researchers tell them to do in the interest of raising kids' performance on assessments.


and here's my daily lessons about being a new teacher:
- Never assume that plans you make will go unchanged.
- Never get upset over these fluctuations, because it ain't worth it.
- Say hi to the new people you don't know. This makes it easier to ask for favors later.
- Sometimes you have to say the wrong thing like four times before someone corrects you. That's when you thank them.

I brought home a copy of both textbooks and I have my scope and sequence handy. Time to sketch out some idea of where I want to take these kids this year! I am getting excited. My second year feels the way I wish my first had: I'm excited. I feel confident. I have great ideas. And most of all, I feel like I can handle this stress and momentary uncertainty. I actually have time to plan ahead, unlike last year. I know whom I can turn to for help, and whom I should avoid. There is no fanfare rally this year to welcome the teachers back, but I am going to make some noise for the sixth graders.

Already Switching CMS

I have been trying out ATutor for a couple of days. Changing the course tools is difficult. Going to try Moodle instead, but first I have to find a web space provider with more room for MYSQL. May just customize a Drupal instead.

I usually just make plain HTML pages or wikis. Google sites. Simple coding. But this is like a customizable machine!

Techie Teacher

Mid July. Time is ticking until back-to-school, and I have a lot of things to organize. I've used a lot of my vacation time to cultivate a garden and build up the homestead. Had time to check back in with my health, my family, and my social life.

Now, it's time to get back to work, and I am exploring different available technology to help me deliver the best lessons for my students. My learners need more than just a web site with daily assignments posted on it. What I am trying to create is an interactive media zone for my students to share and learn in. A database and forum system. Web links. Access to grades and tools.

Check back frequently: I will post my progress with different web-based media, all of it free and available to the public.

This is a bit of an adventure for a me, and I feel excited to try out things I dreamed of using during my first year teaching but never had time for. I'm going to keep track of a few things on this blog as I learn about working with technology designed to assist learners in the classroom.* Here are some of the free resources I'll be using.

000webhost.com - Free database and MYSQL hosting, perfect for starting a high-tech drupal or moodle.

ATutor - currently, the best content management system for teachers looking to customize their learner's online experience. Also called a LMS or Learning Management System. With this I can invite other colleagues of mine, or even students themselves, to host a course, a portion of my site, or just a forum discussion. I plan to also use this as a transitional tool to start my own distance education venture.

DrupalEd - another content management system for educators

Pearson Power School - This one is not free. My school has adopted PowerSchool, so I will be taking notes as I learn how to make my class accessible to my students and their parents. So far I've only calculated grades using the Power Teacher Grade Book. I would like to use live links to my own website to completely integrate my class and my records.

FileZilla - an indispensable FTP for uploading CMS and other files.

This blog on Blogger.com - free blogs for everyone!
*This Blogger is linked to my personal Gmail account, therefore I would like to keep all information about my school and my classes private. I might upload some sample lesson plans or sample info, but this is a decision I feel I need to make on behalf of professionalism and concern for student anonymity. I will probably share a different blog with my students; Journey to Dictionopolis is about my personal experiences in education.

More great free resources and reviews/tips/frustrations as they arise!