End of march!

Hey TEPsters,

April is almost here! Woohoo!

I never realized how political teaching is. Teachers in my building don't talk to each other very much. I find myself biting my tongue a lot or just tuning out so that I don't have to make political allegiances. Do teachers work together in your buildings?

The blog looks empty lately sooo....I just wanted to spice things up a little bit.

Peace,
Julie

Blogging in the Classroom (Or other forms of W2M)

Well, I am taking this really cool class with some other people from TEP called Authorship in the Digital Age with Marielle Palombo. I thought it would be a real shame if everyone didn't know how awesome she is and how amazing the stuff we talk about in class is. The class focuses on using Web 2.0 Media (W2M - abbreviation thanks to Jacob) in the classroom (For those as technologically behind as I am, it means using the web for communication, rather than to simply present information - correct me if I am mistaken, fellow web authors).

We basically talk about using this media (blogs, discussion forums, wikis, even AIM) to, not only engage our students, but to assist them in the process of authorship (which extends beyond writing). I wanted to throw the idea out to all of you to see if you have had any experience with using this type of media in your classrooms, or to simply hear what you think about this whole move toward technology in the classroom???

I started my first ever blog today. My mentor teacher and I are going to use it for extra credit. I think, for now, I am going to allow students to type and post the active reading notes that they do nightly to share with the class as well as post blogs of my own, where students can comment on questions I pose to create an online discussion of sorts.

Anyway, what better place than a teaching blog to start a conversation about this sort of thing... Any ideas?