Wikipedia

I was just watching one of the Saturday morning news shows and they had on an English professor from somewhere (I wasn't paying attention at first). Anyway, she said the Wikipedia is definitely not a reliable source and should not be used as a citation in an educational paper. However, as we've discussed, it can be used as a way to find more sources. Just thought I'd share..

This was a test to see if I could upload photos. Matt- I tried to upload this picture to my profile

(when my name appears) for almost an hour and it wouldn't load, but it loaded here in less than a minute. Am I doing something wrong?

Sunday

Ball games and more ball games... I watched softball and baseball on Sunday from 9:00 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. Both Cory and Kylie ended up getting second in their respective tournaments and I renewed my dislike for Wahoo fans.

Lesson Plans

Ok, every year I look for lesson plans online and every year I find some that I think will be great. I print them off and never look at them again.

So, I'm hoping that this time I'll actually use these.

The first lesson plan I will talk about I found on www.atozteacherstuff.com which is a wonderful site for lesson plans. It is a quick way to work on summary, note taking, main idea and details. You read to students aloud for 5-7 minutes and they will take notes on a large sticky note, writing down every important fact I say. After that, they narrow it down to a medium sticky note and then to a small sticky note. This forces students to only look at what is actually the most important ideas. After that we go to summary - the essence - plus only one or two details. This is just a quick overview, but I do think it will help to get the kids to narrow down to the main idea of the excerpt.

The second lesson plan is probably more of just an exercise, but I think it's a good one (and it's created by Ted Kooser :) ). To create new metaphors:
1. Students brainstorm a list of totally dissimilar things.
2. Next, they pick the two things from your list that are the most dissimilar and try to figure out if there are any relationships between them at all. Make a list of similarities.
3. Start drafting a short poem that shows the relationship between your two subjects. Make sure each detail works logically on both sides of the metaphor.
4. Ask a friend or classmate to test the logic of your metaphor. Are there places where your metaphor is weak or where you've introduced a detail on on e side that does not apply to the other?
5. Based on this feedback, revise your poem until it reads like a clear bridge between two dissimilar things.
6. Proof and polish your poem.

I don't do a lot of poetry, but we do talk about metaphors and I think this would work even if the students did not ultimately create a poem. By the way, I found this on scholastic.com.

Tuesday's Class

What was good about yesterday's class? I thought that it was good because I learned it's not all that hard to create blogs and discussion forums. I'm still not quite sure about the wiki and I'm not that excited about using something that isn't working like it's supposed to, so I'll probably hold off on that one for awhile.

Also, I thought it was good to think about how it could be used in the classroom and to talk about practical, relevant use.

At this point in time, I don't have anything to add to the syllabus - probably because I don't know what else there could be...

What's going on in my life...

Last night I went to Carter's t-ball game in the grass :-) It's fun to watch, but I have to admit that it's also a little frustrating because of the great difference in ability levels. I guess it's not that much unlike a classroom where many kids are more advanced than others and it's necessary to learn to deal with them all.

After that game, I watched two of my nephews play coach pitch and then watched Cole in the senior Legion game. If I am completely honest, I would have to say that I am enjoying watching ball games a little less than I used to simply because of the number of hours I spend at the ball field. Cole is also not playing all that well, so that may have something to do with it as well. I think maybe he's tired after his job and playing right when he gets home (or maybe I'd just like to make an excuse!). I think it's important that he work because he spends waaayy too much money, but at the same time, he hasn't really had much summer free time for the past three years. What do you think about the number of hours kids should work in the summer?

I am here because I am not using technology to a great extent in my classroom and I would like to be prepared (somewhat) for the coming school year when the students all have laptops. I want to understand what new things are available and have several lessons developed before Fall. I am hoping that this course will give me the ability to stay ahead of the students on the technology learning curve :)