WRITING MATTERS

This appears to be a super resource for teachers and students around writing.  As a teacher it appears to be not only a resource with ideas and lessons but also a platform for publishing work online.

There are a multitude of ways to put material on the web (this blog is an example) but when working with students it is nice to have an environment where teachers and students can feel comfortable with access to the published material. This seems to be one of those “comfortable spots” on the web.

When you have time explore and see if this might be a fit for your classroom.

Let me know if you found this site to be useful in your classroom.

This looks like a great companion to all the technology workshops that I attend. It is nice that this is happening in Maine and that Gov. Baldacci is trying to to bring attention to this issue.

After reading Last Child in the Woods, which from a teaching point of view the first half was of interest, I have been dealing with how to get my students and laptops out of the building and into natural settings. When looking at technology be it laptops, Smartboards, web2.0, Wii, etc. nature is not always the first thing that comes to mind or to the workshop setting.

Here in Maine a few programs that I have been involved with where nature and tech meet are Maine Lakes Conservacy Institute and the new Maine Explorer software on the MLTI laptops. We need more of this sort of opportunity as education gets pulled towards technology and needs more nature in its delivery.

I hope that this event is as well attended as some of this falls technology gatherings.

k12onlineflyer_letter

For those of us who have been wondering why we drive all over the countryside to get training on a particular topic when we seem to have the technology at our disposal to stay put and get all the information that one might need, here is a great opportunity and example of what that might look like.  There might be something for you. Take a look and see.

You are invited to be apart of this conference if you are interested. No cost just get involved during the conference and see what you can discover, learn, fall into, etc.

Here is a link to the conference home page.

http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=604#comment-25756

The post looks at the added value that one brings to their professional community by having a network and presence on the internet.

“Think about that for a minute. Is your social presence, your social network, worth something? Absolutely!”

Jeff illustrates a few ideas on the value of that network. It is something that I have been working on and thought might be interesting for others to think about. I feel that if I can get it going I can have my own Professional Learning Community on the web. By posting on a blog, reading other blogs and commenting I can get a network that can help me with my teaching. Just by being there I am getting “value” and resources that I could not get other ways. Presence is the key, at what ever level you might be comfortable with. The blog roll on the left of this blog is an example of some of the blogs that I read.

Think about it! What value might it have for you?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U]