Collaboration Without Boundaries

This morning I watched as we had a frenzie of fluffy white snow swirl around, which of course got my son all excited and abuzz! However this mini snowstorm only lasted a few minutes, and left no real visible traces on the ground. My son calmed down and life on a Saturday morning returned to normal, with a few occasional flurries continuing to swirl. This excitement and then calming made me think of the use of some of technologies in our classrooms. In the beginning, we had that excited buzz about using the smartboard, ipod and ipads. Everyone wanted to touch, use, engage with them. Now, they have become less of a buzz, and more about the tool we need in order to teach a lesson. A prime example is when I first started using a document camera in my classroom, students and I were so excited and put everything up to be looked at. A little while ago, it was out of use for a day or two. This caused me much stress, as it had become such a part of my lessons. It seemed life in the classroom was disrupted and once it was fixed, life returned to normal and our class seemed at peace again! As we move into engaging kids with our smartboards, ipod, and ipads we must remember the strategies used by colleagues prior to smartboard use so we have these “tools” in our pockets too!

What technologies are you depend on? Do you have a similar story?

Just my thoughts,
Christina

Christmas in August!

The summer is the most wonderful time to plan and imagine the possibilities.  This summer has been particularly invigorating as we start to think about what this project could look like in our classrooms.  Our hardware is starting to arrive and I can feel excitement building.

I only know what I know and this project is all about the things I don’t know.  So many questions are running through my head. How to manage devices in our classrooms?  What do I need to learn?   Is my head going to explode from all of this?  I also can’t wait to work with some amazing educators in my district as we stumble through this path together, committed to supporting each other.

We have been lucky enough to order Ipod touches, Ipad2s and Livescribe pens all to help families be more connected to what is happening in our schools.  We have committed to maintaining this blog as a way to document and share our learning with each other and the world!  Please check back as things get up and running, it will be updated regularly.

Just one little management idea:

How to keep all the cords, devices and other  organized.  First I found Tony Vincent’s post about Ipod Do’s and Don’ts and used his idea of numbered wallpaper, but this didn’t quite work for me.  I kept Tony’s numbers in the photo section of the Ipod so they could be easily identify but then  I made these little bags out of scrap material I had.   I took a picture of the bag and turned it into wallpaper on ipods and ipad2s.  Everyone then knows which bag to put things away in.

I’m off !