Upcoming Projects

Students return in one week so I want to be sure to complete the prep work on several web-based projects. The availability of so many free sites makes it easy to experiment, but I want to be sure the project pays real educational dividends, rather than simply being technological fluff.

For each of my Language Arts classes, we will be maintaining a literacy blog. Each week, two students will be assigned to post to the blog on a topic relating to literacy and our work in class. Each poster will be assigned two peer editors who will have to check their work before posting. This will tap into authentic writing and editing/proofreading skills, as well as provide an opportunity for students to publicly express their ideas, create a working portfolio of the group's growth, and provide parents the opportunity to have perspective on our work.

In Social Studies, I have created a wiki for each class. New pages will be created for each unit of study and students will use them to strengthen understanding and create their own study guides. Some of the posting to the site will be done in class (thank you, SmartBoard) but the majority will be done by the students on their own time. I am curious to see if they embrace the opportunity to develop their own study aids.

As these projects take root, I will provide updates and links. To protect their privacy, all students will be required to create an alias before contributing.

Back on Board

Yes, it’s been a while.

The Twitter version of an update: I’ll be exploring literacy, life and learning through the eyes of a middle school language arts and social studies teacher.

Being back in the classroom full-time affords the opportunity to test-drive ideas and receive ready feedback. In the five or so years since I have regularly taught middle school, there is an entire generation of new tools to use. As always, understanding is the primary destination, but I’m eager to play with some of the new toys along the way.