Tech Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself (If you don't know this song reference, then you're not old enough to understand my problems)

This is essentially my To-Do List:

1. Seek professional help from other educators: sign up for the webinar, seek out PD, research and bookmark online sources.
2. Try and apply at least 10 different Google apps in my classroom.
3.    Use technology more (beyond email, Moodle, and Remind): share lessons on Planbook, use my iPad for reasons other than attendance/email, try out fun online apps for English
4. Create a plan to go paperless in the English classroom.
5.  Figure out how to teach my curriculum online: online texts, discussions, writing feedback, etc.
6. Find a mentor to help/collaborate with me in the English classroom
7.   Try not to go insane and quit. Yeah, that should be #1.

21st Century, Here I Come!

Hey, My People!

So, I changed my project. At first I thought I was going to go all green and crunchy and save the planet and change the world and all that, but I just couldn’t get started. I had five snow days; you would think that I could have at least gotten started! But no. The only thing I did was check out some books and then not read them.

It’s not that I don’t want to help the environment. I WANT my kids to live in a clean world. I WANT to do my part to give back to my “home” outside. I WANT to learn how to compost and revise my living to make change…BUT this is a long term goal, not a short term project, and I have to work on a more pressing issue at the moment.

The Pressing Issue? Chromebooks.

Yes, pretty soon my teaching life is going to get rocked by 1 on 1 technology.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not a techno-hater. I don’t sit at home diligently typing with one finger on my cellphone trying to figure out how to text. I know how to buy apps and share videos and download music. I’m hip. I’m on Facebook regularly. I have a Twitter account (don’t ask me how to use it), and I DO attempt to us my iPad in the classroom (cough, cough, yeah right, cough). So I feel that I’ve blossomed in the 21^st Century, right?

Wrong. I’m that teacher I was annoyed by as a student. The one who didn’t know how to use the overhead projector, work a CD player, or turn on a cellphone. You might was well label me in the “Atari” era of technology compared to what students know and need now.

So, here’s my plan: Learn stuff.

Next year, I want to be ready for this change. I don’t want to be one step behind my students. I want to be able to use technology to enhance what I already do well in my classroom.

To start I’m going to sign up for an online class with a colleague. In this free professional development webinar (oh yeah, I’m doing a webinar for the first time), we are going to learn about Google apps and processes in education.

I’m also going to research and bookmark as many helpful and reliable sites, created by fellow educators, to help me learn. My hope is to “test out” these practices in my classroom before the end of this year, so I can modify and learn from my experience.

Wish me luck. I’m going to need it.