Reviewing the GAME

GOAL ONE - I have yet to make any progress on the screencast other than to involve my husband in training me how to use it more proficiently. Fortunately for me, he is wonderful at describing IT type things in a simple yet thorough manner. One of the things I have learned AGAIN is that I really do need to schedule time aside to work with new technologies and preferably with a colleague or in a work situation. These are the times when I will do what I have planned to do to meet my goals. When it is left up to me to tackle a new web 2.0 tool, I get anxious to the extent that I continue to put it off until… never! This may be foreign to some but I am sure it is familiar to a few folks. I try to remember this when students are struggling with unfamiliar endeavors. The only modification I am making with this goal is to utilize my friend and colleague Pam to practice with and brainstorm ideas for creating a screencast to teach students how to make their own wiki.
GOAL TWO - I have made more progress towards meeting my second goal, which is to form a network of teachers who are at varying levels of using web 2.0 tools in the classroom, and who are willing to learn and share what they have accomplished in this arena. Each year my district offers a technology in-service called “Spice It Up” towards the end of the summer. I spoke with the director of the program during a professional development afternoon last week and asked if I could have the floor for a few minutes to solicit fellow educators who would be interested in networking and meeting a few times throughout the year. I’m happy to say that my request was well received to the extent that she offered to help in getting me going with this. I have had a few colleagues who have come forward interested in this and thanking me for suggesting it.
In an ironic turn of events, I found out only last week I along with 3 other teachers were awarded a grant for a Mimio (portable smartboard) that my district’s non-profit “Foundation for Excellence” http://www.foundation4excellence.com/mini_grants.html program provides. This education-based organization supports technology and literacy as the most direct path towards advancing students’ learning. A day later I found out that I will be switching schools and therefore NOT enjoying the Mimio! Oh well, it looks like this is my opportunity to write a grant on my own. It might sound strange but I am intrigued by the thought of doing so. With the way things are going here in Michigan, it might be the only access to new technological tools I have.