Back to Basics

This is such a gentle and thoughtful perspective on life. Enjoy!

Enjoy Life

View more presentations from Angel Castaño.

Looking Forward

I am looking forward to my next teaching gig--in a creative, supportive, and forward thinking place...I wonder where I'll end up!

Thanks for your kind words of encouragement from near and afar, they bouy me!

~Marie

Earth Day Resources

I have been scouring my Twitter universe for great sites that pertain to Earth Day. Most of them are posted here, but some of them require more than a 140 character description. Earth Day – a time to teach your class about our environment and how to preserve our planet, is such a global (pardon the pun) opportunity for education.

Going without shoes to represent the need for shoes for children around the world, social media and it's impact on the fight against malaria, recycling efforts, global warming and climate change---wow! I think we need an Earth year, or possibly an Earth life, which now as I typed it made perfect sense.

I hope your Earth Day provides you with opportunities to not only teach your students, but learn from them. This will be their Earth.

Schoolhouse Rock

Rocks!

New Boat Please, and Rock It

Image via Wikipedia

I had an interesting conversation with a fellow parent of young children last night, and when I said I was a teacher the conversation quickly turned to "What can we do? Our school just lost an art teacher and 12 classroom teachers." It got me thinking.

Teachers are typically in the profession because they are compassionate, caring people who are clearly not out for a 6 digit income. They work tirelessly to help each and every student reach their core potential. Teachers are generally peaceful bunch who are uncomfortable rocking the boat. I see how hard each and everyone of them gives selflessly, and put in so many hours for their children.

I have been out of the classroom for 7 or 8 years (working as an educational consultant for the DOE, the Florida Center for Reading Research and UCF) and am back as a long term sub for the remainder of this year. Because of budget cuts there is no money for a technology teacher for next year. Globally we are shifting to a technologically collaborative world, and we are cutting back on technology for children? I think we need to think about it. I know we are not eliminating it--it is still there, but there will be no digital leader in my school. That makes me sad, because I see how connected these children are, and how much they want more opportunities to stay "connected."

It is time to rock the boat. Not the old boat. The new boat. The one with updated GPS that will help us make, not find, the money to support our children, our future. Contact your legislators.

Skype, and a Reunion

Image via Wikipedia

So, today, it finally happened. I had been dreaming about connecting my kids and teachers with the outside world, and I did it today, in the greatest way! I had Ms. Donna Hicks Skyped in from her duty in Iraq. She is a 6th grade teacher in our little school, and she has been missed.

This is the first of many interactions I hope to share with my students and faculty. The sixth grade is discussing potential careers, and so I am setting up a series of calls where the children can ask real people in real places in real professions how it really is. If you have a cool profession, or know someone who does, please, please contact me here or here . If they don't have a video camera, that's fine, we can do an audio chat. I'd like to figure out how to get a variety of professions--and usually when I set out to figure something out, I end up somewhere new, so I'll see where this leads. I have the 6th graders at 9:00 am EST.

In the meantime, thanks to Donna Hicks for being the catalyst for new types of learning for our students and teachers. What she didn't see in the webcam were the glistening eyes of caring, from afar!

Okay, How Cool is This? World, Please Meet VoiceThread.

How Can Microsoft Help Me Teach Better? Hmmm...

I'm thinking and blogging about this because a) a trip to NECC is on the line and I am a sucker for free things that I can't even dream of affording, and b) because I am floored and thrilled that the question is posed. Being asked to provide feedback to facilitate my learning based on my needs at the school level is a masterful question, and one which I greatly appreciate.

"Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important." ~Bill Gates

There are many teachers out in the trenches with older schools and even older hardware and it

Image by Wesley Fryer via Flickr

really isn't about that anymore. Our new challenges are based on, (and I love this quote) by Ian Jukes, "headware, not hardware." The states indicated by red in the image here have embraced both the hardware and the headware.

My biggest dream is for a safe and reliable webspace where teachers who are grasping to learn new technologies can take their children and learn together by creating blogs and wikis's, and collaborating with others without fear. A consistently unblocked "go to" place where Secondlife type learning, and Skype-ing and Twitter-ing are secure. Let's teach elementary students to create their own personal learning networks.

I think Microsoft can continue to help me by doing what they already do. They ask questions of the people they serve, and develop based on needs, not a predetermined agenda. Life changes, technologies change, and faster then ever now. Training such as the NECC scholorship allows folks to continue their personal learning. As we look ahead to the next generation of terminal thinkers, the greatest teachers will be those who empower their students. Our kids are depending on us, and those who embrace these new challenges will be the new favorite teacher--and I want that for every teacher!

By the way, if this was a test, then all that stuff above is pertinent, but the bottom line is about the children---what are they without teachers who keep up with technology, and how can Microsoft afford to not make that happen?

Image via CrunchBase

If You Give a __ a __

What a wonderful activity, and so visually stimulating and thought provoking. I love it when teachers take the reins and do things just one step better than they did last time! If I remember correctly, this was the first time this teacher put a VoiceThread together. Enjoy!