Well, I am actually writing this on August 30. I have just slowed down enough to finish this now. Our first day was incredibly exciting and overwhelming. The campus was a whirlwind to say the least. That atmosphere continued all week.
Even weeks after the first day, those experiences are still happening. On Monday, we had several new staff join us and so it was like the first day all over again. For some teachers, there were all new students. For everyone, there was a new schedule and new duties. Today we finally got our copier! Things are really coming together quite nicely. I’m so glad that our Bethune family works together so well and are ready to take on any challenges that come our way.

Well, I was reading Mr. Vega’s new blog entry today, I blog, Students blog and More, which pointed to Marc Alhness’s blog entry, Pros and Cons of Educational Blogging… . Marc Alhness is also a third grade teacher in Washington. He used blogging with his class last year (and they’re still blogging in the summer even though they don’t have to! Imagine that students practicing literacy skills on their own.) Anyway, so while I was reading the pros and cons, I came across another entry of Marc’s that discusses Class Blogmeister. This is the blogging tool created by David Warlick I hope to use this site this year with my class. It is a free webspace that allows a teacher and students to each have blogs. Teachers are able to monitor and approve all comments and submissions, so it is very safe. I can only begin to imagine how literacy skills will increase through this new reading and writing opportunity. I can’t wait to get started!

Now all that said, this is the beauty of blogging. It is a great opportunity for all of us, teachers and students, to learn and share what we have learned. Because of Mr. Vega’s blog, I read Marc’s blog. Once there I read his glowing endorsement of Classblogmeister, which I already knew about, but now I am convinced this is the way to go. And now you are reading my blog, and hopefully will visit Mr. Vega’s, Mr. Warlick’s, and Mr. Alhness’s blogs and share what you have learned with someone else.

Monday and Tuesday, teachers and coaches attended the first Reading First training. There was a ton of information provided to us to get us started. Reading First is a statewide program that focuses on SBRR(Scientifically Based Reading Research) and SBRI(Scientifically Based Reading Instruction). We must focus on direct, elicit reading instruction. Fortunately most of us have already used Harcourt for a couple of years, so we will probably be ahead of the pack this year.

Well, the end has come for our camp. Most of Thursday was spent working on our movies. Thursday morning Tony Vincent presented on podcasting with the students he worked with as young as first grade. I was a little apprehensive about podcasting from what I already knew about it. But from the way Tony described at his school, podcasting seems really manageable. We’ll see how it goes. I’ll have to try it at least once.

Friday was a short day for us. We had a presentation on the Blue Zone by Dan Buettner. Check out this new adventure students and teachers can join him on.
The Blue Zone

It was very sad that this camp had to come to an end. I enjoyed meeting other educators from Arizona and learning new things every day. I am especially excited about using these new technologies with my students. I can tell you now at the end of the week, I have come to appreciate Macs. (Especially GarageBand!)

Well, it has been a busy two days. The second day of camp brought us to blogging from Tony Vincent. Tony is an educator from Nebraska who started his fifth graders blogging back in 2001. He has a different opinion about the role of blogging and all it can be. Check out his blog.
Tony’s blog
Blogging is more than just an electronic journal. Basically you can do with a blog just the same things you can do with a web page with much less work.

Day two also delivered our handheld computers. I can’t describe how excited everyone was. In just a couple of hours everyone was beaming each other their business cards. It was great! In the evening sessions, I attended Tony’s session on blogging and one on a school district who is using handheld computers in their classrooms. The possibilities of handhelds in classrooms is just as exciting as the possibilities of blogging.

Day three was field trip day. My group got to travel to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. It was a little drive to get there, but it was worth it. I lived in Tucson for years before, but I had never been there before.

The first day of camp was extremely exciting until I sat down in front of a Mac. After the keynote speech by Dan McCormick I was sold on a Mac. Garage Band has great features that cannot be duplicated on a pc from what I hear so far. But let me tell. Our first hour project was to complete a personal flyer. I was ready to throw that thing across the room. I had to walk out and take a little break, that’s how upset I was. I knew how to do this, but I didn’t know where anything was on the Mac. The mousepad doesn’t click the same way. And I couldn’t do the basic things the speakers were talking about. I didn’t understand what they were trying to tell me.

Upon later reflection, I thought about our ELL students. They see what we are doing and think, “Yeah, I can do that! But what is she talking about! Where do I find that word? I don’t know that in English. How do I do that? Wait, slow down.” That’s exactly how I felt, and as an adult I was beside myself. I have never been so frustrated in my life.

Now, I did complete my flyer. And I’m not so frustrated with a Mac now, but I’m not completely sold either. I know that we will never get Macs, so part of me wants to let it go, but I know that educational potential is probably superior to what can be produced on a pc.

Off to another exciting day today.

You know it is something great when you get excited about the possibility of what your job can be. That’s about where I am now. I marvel about the possibilities of blogging with young people. I thought that my third graders would be too young to grasp/manage what blogging is about. Then I found out about a first grade classroom teacher who has her 1st grade students blogging. And it is too cute! Check it out.

http://ideasandthoughts.org/2006/05/15/telling-the-new-story-part-2-podcast-17/

It is a podcast by the way so I guess I should say, “Listen to this!” It is from Dean Shareski’s podcast series. ( Thanks Dean!) I found out about this from David Warlick’s 2cents worth blog.

Hello all!