TRT

I am so excited to announce that I have been chosen as the new Technology Resource Teacher at Little River Elementary School in South Riding, VA.I am proud to join the team at Little River and look forward to working with my new Principal, Mrs. Joyce Hardcastle and my Technology Assistant, Cindy Tan.

Little River Elementary School Home Page

I am excited, nervous, and filled with anticipation.


Let's go Eagles!!!

Podcasting

I have used Podcasts for my students for 2 years. Our TRT at Hamilton is amazing with technology. She keeps our school on the cutting edge of technology. We have regular podcasts, vodcasts, and News casts for our Morning show.

You would be amazed by our school's technology integration.

Check out our site. Hamilton Elementary School.

I think the students thoroughly enjoy sharing news and information through any venue.

I would appreciate any good ideas for using more Podcasts for instruction.

How do you use Podcasts?

This is the Public Service Announcement my group and I created for our Advocacy on lowering the amount of students in classrooms.

Digital Video

I am writing about the newest experience I have had with digital video. I am new to working with Microsoft Movie Maker, and find it a little daunting.

I enjoyed creating a video for our Advocacy project, "Size Matters".

I can see a great interest from parents when given the option of watching their children experience a new project. I, as a parent, would love to see my children as they explore new worlds.

Technology continues to present more and more venues for teachers to enhance their presentations of curriculum. I believe that digital videos are a way to create a living demonstration of teachers' work that is professional looking, immediate, and accessible to anyone who has an interest in multiple modes of expression.

Data disaggregation

I have been teaching in and out of classrooms for 25 years. I thoroughly enjoy each day with my students. I know that sounds trite, but I do. Everyone who meets me knows, within minutes, that I am OCD. I know it, I embrace it, I try to control it.

I love MATH. I love to "Crunch" numbers, do mental math, play Sudoku when I am supposed to be sleeping. I teach my third graders to embrace the Math in their everyday lives; shopping, allowances, baking, telling time, going for walks and knowing the distance, telling temperature, and many other real world applications of math.

I do not have any difficulties with keeping records of my students' achievements. I keep databases of their scores in Math facts, DRA records of their Reading, Excel Spreadsheets of their stages of Word Study, grades in my grade book of their curriculum assessments, write rubrics for assignments, and keep many other records; too many to list.

I do find that I am spending more time than I would like on records. We teachers are now Statisticians. We spend time disaggregating more and more data. WHY? Because we have to validate EVERY decision we make, EVERY grade that we post, EVERY detail of a classroom project.

I miss the days when I could spend a month on my plants unit. We used to go for "Seed" walks, create murals of Rain Forests, plant gardens around the school, any other exciting projects. NOW, there are SOL's to be covered, data to be disaggregated, and records to be posted.

I still love what I do; that's why I am still doing it. I wish I could spend less time with data and MORE time with my students.

What are your thoughts?

Wikis

Wikis are interesting. I like the fact that people can only view your wiki by invitation. I reviewed a blog comment and felt weird because I don't understand the context of the comment.

We are working on our Advocacy wiki. My advocacy group is declaring that smaller class size would enhance the performance of students in all grade levels. JJ, Christy, and I are adamant about the success of our students. We feel empowered by the research and want others to join our cause.

How many students are in your class? What is the area of the room where you teach? How do you feel about the issue of student/teacher ratio and its impact on student achievement?

Let me know your thoughts.

Leadership

Leadership.....

Mother Theresa, Ghandi, John F. Kennedy, Sr., my mother, Marina, Katie, Tim; all leaders to me. What do they have in common, you ask?

Commitment, inspiration, perseverence, team players, balance of work and life, continuous improvement, willing to take risks, reflection, appreciation of the total person.

Hopefully, I will emulate their attitude and ethics.

Who are your inspirations for leadership?

Writing blogs

Well, here it is; my first blog. I have posted comments to blogs before, but never authored one. I am unsure of the process, the responses, the necessity.

What are your thoughts about the need for posting our thoughts to the World Wide Web? When should we speak out? When should our thoughts remain private?