Amber McCabe and I are colleagues at Brecknock Elementary in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. For this project, we both struggled to find tools on the internet, to help our students organize themselves. At the elementary level, the teacher's website seems to be the "organizer" of information as they are not yet independent enough to sift through the web themselves. Dr. Brunsell gave us permission to work together on this project because we both had similar thoughts about what programs we could use in the classroom. We will post independently as we will have some ideas that are different, but if you notice similarities to our projects it is because of this.
For this project, I chose the primary focus to be Diigo. I began using Diigo in the classroom last fall. I was extremely excited as I thought about where Diigo could take us, as a third grade team within the school and even as a third grade team in the district. I met with my third grade team, and then subsequently met with the district team of grade three teachers. Everyone seemed excited about the opportunity to share. We downloaded the toolbar together, and I gave them a short tutorial. I thought it seemed like a great way for us to connect and share things with each other that we had found...in essence, we were creating a mini-search engine for our curriculum. Sounds wonderful, right? Perhaps people were lurking on the site, but very few posts were made. Why? I don't know. I talked to them again at another in-service and it seemed like my colleagues were not finding things worth posting. Does this mean they were not continually scanning the web for ideas to supplement the curriculum. Yes, I think that's what it does mean. I'm not sure where to go with that.
Next school year, I will be working with a new team. I have already mentioned the idea to my new colleagues and they seem excited. But will it work? Will we follow through? Or, will we stick with "what we know" and bookmark on our computers? We shall see.
So, next year, where do I want to go with Diigo? Next year, I am hoping to use Diigo as a social bookmarking tool for my students, instead of for me as a professional. I plan to give my students an introduction to social bookmarking, what the benefits are, how to tag, how to categorize, how to annotate notes. Most importantly, as our book states, I want them to learn how to learn from each other. My hope is that this tool will help us to see the knowledge that we can gain from each person individually, and how great we are as a whole.
Next year, my students will have access to a "Libell6th" Diigo account. Here they will be able to add to the classes "Library", which they can access from anywhere. They will be part of a bigger picture, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it works in my classroom.
On this link, I simply have the new Diigo account, and three resources to start us off!
http://www.diigo.com/user/libell6th
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
PLN
This past school year (2010-2011) was the first year I dipped my foot into the world of using technology to collaborate with other educators. I have always loved technology, but there are MANY areas of technology that I have never seen.
I started my PLN by checking out some blogs of other teachers, including professional blogs and blogs about the way they ran their classrooms. Next, I found teacher's ideas posted online through different venues. In October 2010, our principal introduced a group of us to Twitter. I spent hours and hours of time, reading what people were saying on Twitter. I was blown away by the amount of information that was available. My professional reading multiplied, and my personal reading took a nose dive to zero. I have found Twitter to be useful for two main reasons. 1) To read information regarding the revolution of change in education and 2) to be able to connect with other educator's around the country and world.
I tried an RSS Feed through google, and setting up a Professional Blog through EduBlog, but I find myself to not be a blogger. I'm not a fan of blogging, and not a huge fan of following others blogs. I was encouraged by my colleagues and boss to try it, and I did. It's just "not my thing". And I think that's okay. I enjoy reading blogs on occasion, and I once in awhile I think that I have something important that I want to blog about.
Over the past year, I have found some resources in my PLN that work for me, and some that do not work for me. I have found HUGE advantages to developing a PLN and having a network of people that I know will help me to be a better teacher. At times I am overwhelmed, at times I feel like it encompasses my life :), but the value of what I have found is immeasurable. One of the most valuable assets I have gained from my PLN is connections for my students. Connections to classes who will Skype with us, who will collaborate with us on Stixy.com or TodaysMeet (or the like), and teachers and children who will comment on our blogs. Twitter has opened up the world for myself and my classroom.
I describe Twitter as, "The teacher across the hall who loves to share everything....times one thousand :)"
I started my PLN by checking out some blogs of other teachers, including professional blogs and blogs about the way they ran their classrooms. Next, I found teacher's ideas posted online through different venues. In October 2010, our principal introduced a group of us to Twitter. I spent hours and hours of time, reading what people were saying on Twitter. I was blown away by the amount of information that was available. My professional reading multiplied, and my personal reading took a nose dive to zero. I have found Twitter to be useful for two main reasons. 1) To read information regarding the revolution of change in education and 2) to be able to connect with other educator's around the country and world.
I tried an RSS Feed through google, and setting up a Professional Blog through EduBlog, but I find myself to not be a blogger. I'm not a fan of blogging, and not a huge fan of following others blogs. I was encouraged by my colleagues and boss to try it, and I did. It's just "not my thing". And I think that's okay. I enjoy reading blogs on occasion, and I once in awhile I think that I have something important that I want to blog about.
Over the past year, I have found some resources in my PLN that work for me, and some that do not work for me. I have found HUGE advantages to developing a PLN and having a network of people that I know will help me to be a better teacher. At times I am overwhelmed, at times I feel like it encompasses my life :), but the value of what I have found is immeasurable. One of the most valuable assets I have gained from my PLN is connections for my students. Connections to classes who will Skype with us, who will collaborate with us on Stixy.com or TodaysMeet (or the like), and teachers and children who will comment on our blogs. Twitter has opened up the world for myself and my classroom.
I describe Twitter as, "The teacher across the hall who loves to share everything....times one thousand :)"
Friday, June 17, 2011
First Thoughts...Class one of Master's Program
Don't want to read it? Listen to it here... http://blabberize.com/view/id/516000
My name is Beverly Libell. I have taught third grade for eight and a half years. In the 2010-2011 school year I will be teaching grade six. I have been married for eight years to my wonderful husband Matt. We love to ride motorcycle together. We have two beautiful girls, Ryleigh (age six) and Brianna (age three).
My friend and colleague Amber McCabe and I are entering this journey together. Although technology is an amazingly wonderful tool, nothing beats a little moral support from the gal across the hall. Amber and I both are excited about changing education, and under the leadership of Lyn Hilt we have a lot of administrative support to seek change in the classroom. My biggest roadblock this year was using the technology effectively, and communicating with parents the “why’s” behind what I’m doing in the classroom. I love to watch inspirational youtube videos, but can become overwhelmed with the effective application in the classroom setting and have wished on more than one occasion for a teacher’s manual.
There were so many good points in the videos posted, I’m not sure where to start. But I’m excited about expanding my newly discovered PLN and learning more about authentic uses of tech in the classroom. I am equally excited about the implementation of what I learn this summer into my new classroom in the fall.
My name is Beverly Libell. I have taught third grade for eight and a half years. In the 2010-2011 school year I will be teaching grade six. I have been married for eight years to my wonderful husband Matt. We love to ride motorcycle together. We have two beautiful girls, Ryleigh (age six) and Brianna (age three).
My friend and colleague Amber McCabe and I are entering this journey together. Although technology is an amazingly wonderful tool, nothing beats a little moral support from the gal across the hall. Amber and I both are excited about changing education, and under the leadership of Lyn Hilt we have a lot of administrative support to seek change in the classroom. My biggest roadblock this year was using the technology effectively, and communicating with parents the “why’s” behind what I’m doing in the classroom. I love to watch inspirational youtube videos, but can become overwhelmed with the effective application in the classroom setting and have wished on more than one occasion for a teacher’s manual.
There were so many good points in the videos posted, I’m not sure where to start. But I’m excited about expanding my newly discovered PLN and learning more about authentic uses of tech in the classroom. I am equally excited about the implementation of what I learn this summer into my new classroom in the fall.
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