Just When I Thought. . . .

Wow! What a night! Just when I thought things were under control, it was a whirlwind of a class. Despite the frustration with Wimba, I think I have it now. I was already comfortable with the library, but learned a few things. I really enjoyed the Google Sites. I found creating the site fun and easy to learn. I just wish we had more time to play around with it. The Wimba difficulties cut into some of the time. Google Sites was much simpler than the Bb portfolio. I am going to keep working on it and think it will be useful. Thanks to all who presented information to us. Hard to believe that we could be having class with someone in Aruba.  Hard to believe that anyone in Aruba would want to have class with us!

 I had a little of the panicky feeling last night, but it has subsided quickly. Now it is time to get back to work and get everything done. Thanks, again, to Amy for the Chinese food. See everyone next week.

Ready, Set, Here We Go!

Another first class has come and gone. I always find myself comparing them. With each new class, I seem to lose a little anxiety and gain a little more confidence. Gone are the days of not knowing what on Earth Darrell was even talking about. Web 2.0 tools? Who knew! I went home thinking, "What did I get myself into?" I looked around and it didn't look like other people knew either. And now, our first class of 2012, and I actually understood most of what was going on. Yes, there are theories I cannot define, but the terms no longer sound like a foreign language. My mind is no longer a swirling sea of nonsense, but rather a swirling sea of ideas. Now I'm sure the anxiety and confusion will inevitably creep back in at some point, but I am confident that I can do it--confident that WE can do it together. We are going to learn the theories and I hope learn something about how we learn and how our students learn, too. After talking with Coleen, Sue, Scott and Andy about how we learned as kids, I realized that maybe our kids don't really learn in different ways than we did. Maybe they are just trying to tell us, "Teach us the way we learn.". As i read in Sue's blog about the various lessons that stood out from her childhood, I was reminded of my own, including my kindergarten teacher who taught us French, my sixth grade teacher who allowed me to go up to the board and explore new ways to find answers to math problems, and a high school English teacher who allowed me to choose to compare and contrast two books instead of the usual term paper. I am excited to learn the theories and see how I can use them in my classroom.

It's already 2012.  For some reason when I think about time, I always think about reading 1984 in high school and thinking how far away in the future that was.  Now I think about how long ago that really  is. Time--a reality or man's creation?  Either way, it's hard to believe that it is another year starting and we are getting ready for another class.  I'm glad the blog is starting up again, I missed it.  I enjoyed the break, but now it's time to get back to work.  All right MAITs, the fun begins!