Monday, August 17, 2009

Learning New Tricks

The day I turned fifty I took time out to reflect on all the lessons and tricks I have learned during the past fifty years. There are too many to write about in this blog. The day I turned 51 I took time to think about all the lessons and tricks I have yet to learn! I am always open to new learning, but I must admit not always confident. Technology is not a huge comfort area for me. It moves too fast and I find myself still thinking about and trying to learn some technology that is "so yesterday" as my own kids often remind me.

I am excited to learn new tricks in this course. I will make myself a promise to be a little more self assured to try new things. My mind is racing already with new ideas about how to incorporate meaningful SSR with my reading intervention kids. I read a interesting blog about letting kids read blogs written by kids during SSR time. I am in intrigued by a comment I read in the blog about how we are always concerned with kids creating content and how it is just as important for kids to consume content. This really challenges my SSR assumptions and forces me to think outside the box. I'm thinking I will play around with this new trick this year.

5 comments:

  1. This is definitely something that I would like to explore in my classroom this year. We have so many students that have such short attention spans, that asking them to sit and read quietly for 15 minutes is a challenge in itself. Opening our minds to new outlets for reading helps us find what works for our students.

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  2. Deb - I think reading blogs or articles online is a great idea for SSR. My son hates to read books but will spend many hours reading math and science websites. We need to do what fosters their motivation.

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  3. I know what you mean about things going too fast. I've always known that I need to hop on the tech train but the jump seems so far and dangerous. How do I know that I'm jumping in the right place at the right time. Well, you don't know and there are no assurances. You just have to try something for the first time and go from there. Gather information on techniques and adapt them to serve your needs. Don't get discouraged or overwhelmed by the speed and amount of stuff. Just take baby steps and keep moving forward.
    You'll be amazed at how many of us are right there with you. So hold on tight and here we go!!
    Buena suerte!

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  4. Keeping up is almost a full time job, Deb. I honestly know the feeling. Remember what we've said in the past and in Big6: if everyone in a school does just a bit, all our students benefit. No one has to know it all in terms of technology and teaching. If a little helps in any way, then it's worth the work - and the anxiety. As your colleagues comments remind you, we're all doing this together at the pace that's best for each of us. We tell kids that "learning can be fun," so we'd do well to live that out ourselves. Enjoy!
    spk
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  5. I think these may offer a new option for students during reading time...for those reluctant to read I think whatever captures their attention (obviously with guidelines) should be options.

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