I just attended the annual CUE (Computer Using Educators)
Conference in Palm Springs for the first time in my life.Now, I’m no stranger to conferences,
but this one was definitely one of the best EVER.Not only did I learn a ton, I got to meet in-person lots of
people just like me, many of whom I’d already been communicating with via
Twitter.
My fourth graders have been working on a really cool project
lately.And I don’t just say it’s
really cool because I came up with the idea.At the beginning of last school year, the fourth grade
teachers and I discussed the projects their students complete in my technology
class, and this topic came up: at the end of each year, during a cumulative
math evaluation, their students always struggle with the problems in which they
have to solve for the perimeter and area of irregular shapes.I suggested we have the students create
a PowerPoint in which each student explains how to solve a different problem of
this type.
I don’t know what made me think about it today, but as I was
heading out to my car with my son after school, I realized in a sudden flash of
. . . I don’t know? realization? . . . that when I have my iPhone in my pocket
(like ALWAYS) and my backpack over my shoulder (like ALMOST ALWAYS), I have
FIVE. DIFFERENT. CAMERAS. on my person.Really.That is a lot of
photographic equipment.
The other day, I decided to look into how I could get my son
an opportunity to look through a telescope. He’s been really into space and planets lately, and he knows
that Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton
(overlooking our city) has a massive telescope. But it’s not open to the public after 5:00 P.M., so regular
people like us don’t have any way to look through that one. Instead of digging around online
myself, I recalled how a number of my local geocacher friends also enjoy
astronomy, so I decided to appeal to Twitter:
This past weekend, I had to work. Well, no, I chose to work. In fact, I had three days in a row in which I gave away some of my time; and the payoff I got out of it was much more than anything I gave away. I say this not for recognition. I share these seventy-two hours with you because of what I came away with.
On Saturday, I presented at a local conference for a CUE affiliate, EBCUE. I attended a session on “Teaching 2.0” given by a Twitter colleague, Karen McMillan, and then I presented my own session on PBworks and Google Earth in the afternoon. A lot of what Karen shared about growing one’s own personal network and learning about various Web 2.0 tools was not new to me, but I was reinvigorated by the energy of the teachers for whom these WERE new discoveries. In my own session, attendees had a range of reactions to what I was demonstrating and having them try, and some of them had questions about how I do things at my school. As I talked about how little is actually blocked for us and how my students get their school e-mail addresses in third grade, it reminded me of how good I have it, especially with being able (encouraged, even) to try new things. I am truly blessed to work in a school where teachers get to choose how to meet the standards and get their students to learn the content.
My fourth graders have been working on a really cool project
lately.
I don’t know what made me think about it today, but as I was
heading out to my car with my son after school, I realized in a sudden flash of
. . . I don’t know? realization? . . . that when I have my iPhone in my pocket
(like ALWAYS) and my backpack over my shoulder (like ALMOST ALWAYS), I have
FIVE. DIFFERENT. CAMERAS. on my person.
This past weekend, I had to work. Well, no, I chose to work. In fact, I had three days in a row in which I gave away some of my time; and the payoff I got out of it was much more than anything I gave away. I say this not for recognition. I share these seventy-two hours with you because of what I came away with.
