Last week I had my first meeting/training session for the E2T2 technology grant I'm partaking in. Our first session was long, but informative and interesting. I was introduced to several new products or tools that I can use in my classrooms. I haven't decided yet which resource or resources I want to use, or even which classes I want to implement them in, but I am getting excited about what's out there on the world wide web! The sites I'm most interested in are GoAnimate.com and Glogster. GoAnimate is a site that lets you design your own characters and cartoons and Glogster is like an online poster site. Both of these sites I could work into my art classes pretty easily, but the Glogster might be a nice tool for science as well.
Overall, I'm just excited to be a part of the E2T2 grant. It's going to make me a more educated and well-rounded teacher and it's giving me the opportunity to connect to the next generation on their playing field-the internet. It's going to take extra time, effort and energy to get all parts of this grant done, but I wouldn't do it if I didn't believe it was well worth it. And the newbie bringing technology to the dragons? It's about time I teach my students some new ways to operate in cyberspace.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
First big observation
Happy New Year!! I can't believe we're about half way through January already! Time flies when you're busy...
Well, I had my first observation last week that counts towards my salary. It was a little nerve racking, but that was just because I knew it was coming and wanted to get it over with. I'm comfortable with my mentor teacher, who did the observing, and I felt really good about the lesson afterwards. The kids were well behaved and engaged for the majority of the lesson, (which can be a trick since our lessons are 100 minutes long). The class also seemed to go by quickly.
I met with my mentor today and discussed my progress and evaluation. It seems my self evaluation and his evaluation were pretty much on the same page. This, of course, is a good sign because it means that I'm fairly self aware of my strengths and weaknesses. It was also good to hear that I'm making a lot of progress! Seems teaching and me work well together!
Anyway, I'm just relieved to have one of the BIG ones over with...
Well, I had my first observation last week that counts towards my salary. It was a little nerve racking, but that was just because I knew it was coming and wanted to get it over with. I'm comfortable with my mentor teacher, who did the observing, and I felt really good about the lesson afterwards. The kids were well behaved and engaged for the majority of the lesson, (which can be a trick since our lessons are 100 minutes long). The class also seemed to go by quickly.
I met with my mentor today and discussed my progress and evaluation. It seems my self evaluation and his evaluation were pretty much on the same page. This, of course, is a good sign because it means that I'm fairly self aware of my strengths and weaknesses. It was also good to hear that I'm making a lot of progress! Seems teaching and me work well together!
Anyway, I'm just relieved to have one of the BIG ones over with...
Thursday, January 7, 2010
New Teacher Orientation & Back to School
Alright, new year, new start-right? This week has definitely been a shot-gun start to long distance race; I'm off and running. By the time I'm done with this week, I will have taught all of my regular classes, attended 4 meetings, started doing work on the technology grant and got my first "for pay" evaluation. You can say that I've hit the ground running!
Our new teacher orientation meeting last night (one of the 4 meetings I mentioned) went really well. They tend to go by rather quickly and this one was no exception. What was kind of nice was that the first part was review for me. The teachers installed a program on their laptops that I've been using diligently since September. That made me feel pretty good because I am usually not one step ahead of the game when it comes to technology. I even showed one of my fellow new teachers one of the lessons I've done on Active Inspire. It was refreshing to be able to help another teacher. It only goes to prove that we can all provide useful tips, regardless of our levels of experience.
The other part of our meeting was about assessments vs. grading. We went over the difference between the two and how they are often mistakingly interchanged. I think I'm going to try and focus more on the learning aspect of my students' progress vs. the achievement aspect. This is tricky to do, for numerous reasons, but is attainable. I think I can work towards doing this by comparing their work on their daily reflections throughout the trimester. I can also see their progress through their assignments, although those may be a little harder to compare. In addition, I need to just keep it in the back of my head that what we as teachers truly care about is improvement and learning. Grades should reflect learning, not the student's ability to fill out a paper correctly or regurgitate information.
Anyway, back in the saddle-cheers!
Our new teacher orientation meeting last night (one of the 4 meetings I mentioned) went really well. They tend to go by rather quickly and this one was no exception. What was kind of nice was that the first part was review for me. The teachers installed a program on their laptops that I've been using diligently since September. That made me feel pretty good because I am usually not one step ahead of the game when it comes to technology. I even showed one of my fellow new teachers one of the lessons I've done on Active Inspire. It was refreshing to be able to help another teacher. It only goes to prove that we can all provide useful tips, regardless of our levels of experience.
The other part of our meeting was about assessments vs. grading. We went over the difference between the two and how they are often mistakingly interchanged. I think I'm going to try and focus more on the learning aspect of my students' progress vs. the achievement aspect. This is tricky to do, for numerous reasons, but is attainable. I think I can work towards doing this by comparing their work on their daily reflections throughout the trimester. I can also see their progress through their assignments, although those may be a little harder to compare. In addition, I need to just keep it in the back of my head that what we as teachers truly care about is improvement and learning. Grades should reflect learning, not the student's ability to fill out a paper correctly or regurgitate information.
Anyway, back in the saddle-cheers!
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