How are you getting started?
Three weeks left then internship, grade 5/6. I am pumped. But also a tad nervous… So many questions. I am starting out with Phys ed and hopefully by the end of the first week I will be using lab times to get started on student blogging and introducing various tools. But I don’t really know how I am going to begin and I am looking for advice. I know that my implementation of technology will snowball and develop over time but I want to be prepared so I can guide successful usage. 
This idea came to me from David Jakes via twitter, he asked the question of which video to show on the first days of school - the answers came in as Did you know? Pay Attention and Sir Ken Robinson. or maybe The machine is us/ing us But what else do we need to do to start.
I believe I need to begin with a strong focus on digital citizenship. So I will probably also show Think BeforeYou Post and introduce why how real life and digital life is one in the same.
But how else can we prepare our students over the first couple weeks. What are the best choices for setting up student blogs? Do I get them google accounts right off the bat? That way we can use google docs, blogger, reader. How about use RSS? What particular routines or rules will be useful for class management?
I am looking for answers from all you teachers out there. Please help.
I wish I had some great and inspiring advice for you but I am thinking my turn is coming pretty soon and it is a little scary. I wish you all the best Kyle… you will be great I’m sure!!
Kyle,
I read your post, and wish i too had some inspiring advice for you, but unfortunately I am in the same situation as you are. What kind of things are you getting the students to blog about? that is my biggest concern! I thought that because I have a grade four class they would not be able to handle having a google account and keeping up with blogs. I noticed you said you have a grade 5/6 class, so that really isn’t much of a difference.
Do you think this would be realistic for a grade four class–here’s my idea: I would have them first set up a google account and I would teach them about google reader as well. I also want to set up a blog, where they write about their feeds on a weekly bases. This way, i figure, they are writing about things they are interested in.
So I guess I ended up answering your question with another question. sorry about that. I think tomorrow will be a good opportunity for us all to ask these kind of questions to the there guests.
Take care and good luck with your internship! keep in touch,
Nicole
I teach grade one/two and used a class blog with my students last year. I used http://www.classblogmeister.com and loved it. I was able to monitor what my students were writing (and their comments) because I had to approve everything before it was posted. It worked really well with six year olds because they didn’t need to register for their own email or their own account. They were able to access everything from my homepage.
As for blog content… usually I would let the students write about what they were interested in. I would often post photographs and ask the students questions on the “homepage” of our blog. Some students needed these prompts to get them started.
Good luck with internship. You’ll have a lot of fun!
Kyle while reading your post my stomach just fell below my knees. I have a whole year before my internship so I guess i’ll be learning alot more specifics in the upcoming year. But yes I will be nervous also. Where do you start? I’m a big believer in Technology of course just by taking this class, but I also believe that physical activity has to be a part of a daily routine. And then theres my love for music which is getting lost in schools or becoming a extra-curricular activity. And then drama or theater and we can’t forget about math, english, history etc. I think you used the word balance in one of your posts and that’s it you have to balanced and connect all of subjects into your school day. Yeah I’ll be nervous 12 months from now too. But from reading your posts and even seeing your video of you and your Kids?? I’m sure you’ll do fine. Excellent blog. Brian Nenson
Kyle –
Thanks for swinging by the “stuff nobody told us” blog. Wishing you a tremendous wrap-up to your internship, and a great transition into a full-time position in the future.
When you get a second, you might want to check out the following link where you might recognize a few elements (he smiles):
http://thinklab.typepad.com/stuff_nobody_told_us/2007/08/introducing-the.html
Cheers,
Christian