Members

Here is where we can share information about ourselves, our work and our challenges.
Sharon Wiggins... As an English teacher, I often have felt that I have to compete with "cool toys" to get kids to make reading a part of their lives. This was the impetus for pioneering the Smartboard in my classroom several years ago and more recently for attempting to film "Catcher in the Rye" with my English class. It is not just that I want to make English look cool though; I am also trying to help kids to understand how literature and language skills are woven into the very fabric of their lives. As a Special Education teacher, my goals are very much the same: uncovering new ways to analyze a problem or approach the solution(s), helping students to find ownership in their learning, and providing the tools/support to assist students in becoming successful learners.

Deb Hendrie- Currently I am teaching Algebra, Geometry and A2/Trigonometry. I love what I teach and I am always trying to incorporate real-life connections with what we are asking our students to learn in a way that is meaningful to them.

Recently, I saw a news piece which stated that studies are now showing that kids today spend more time today watching TV, texting, playing videos etc. (are digitially connected) than they do sleeping. So, like Linda below, I’ve been contemplating the same questions: "How can I capitalize on the fact that kids are investing significant amounts of time learning technology on their own? How I can cross the divide of students’ in-school and out-of-school lives? How can I make learning more personal and more relevant?"

I think we need to continue to find a balance of introducing relevant technology into our classrooms which will help draw in our students and help them make the connections of the content materials we want them to learn to their real-life experiences.

Brenda O'Shea and I have been researching the use of Smart Board blue tooth tablets to allow more mobility in the classroom, and I would love to incorporate a Senteo sytem into my classroom. A Senteo could allow more enhanced student review and learning & review more specific to studnet needs.

Finally, I think literacy is a key role to student success. Literacy is a huge part of math on an everyday basis now. Kids can't just be able to compute a problem, they must be able to read and decipher the problem first, before tey can begin to apply the required concepts. For many this is a struggle. I think many of the 21st C. toolds at our disposal now have great potential to aid us in improvign our student Math literacy---wkis, blogs, student journals etc., and who knows what else.....


 * Cathy Gelman -** As a library media specialist, I realize that teaching information literacy skills is more important than ever. This really hits home to me as I watch kids doing Google searches in the library (this is the first year we've allowed it). I realize that they sometimes don't have a strategy and are just hoping for the best. I don't think they have the big picture...where does Google fit in the big wide world of information? I think they could use more practice with finding their own resources using a more thoughtful approach. I appreciate that I get to work with all the students and therefore have the opportunity to reinforce certain concepts in each grade. One project that I particularly love has 7th graders researching genetically engineered food, where we have them evaluate web sites and rate them on how biased they are. This is good practice for a generation who tends to believe that if it's on the web, it must be true!

I just finished watching Alan November's video and I was reminded of feelings I often have that kids don't reflect enough or drive their own learning. Valerie Lamb, a HS Library Media Specialist, allows her students to plan their own lunch time happenings that take place in the library. I decided to try that this year with our 6th graders. Ten 6th graders volunteered to be on an Advisory Committee of students that plan a "Lunch Alive" once a month. They can plan anything they want to happen in the library during lunch, the last Friday of every month. The Advisory group meets once a week and in between, we have discussions on our wiki. It's interesting to see the dynamic among students who aren't used to moving forward without the direction of a teacher. They must think through the logistics, materials, cost etc. I'll let you know how it develops. The Lunch Alive in January was table games. For February, they want to have "Fun at the Beach" where they eat lunch on beach towels and listen to Beach Boys music. I'll keep you posted.


 * Carolyn Shilinski -** I teach reading in the middle school (8th grade) and have seen tremendous changes in the past 6 and 1/2 years I have been in Somers. Changes in the kids, changes in available technology, changes in me and my understanding of that technology. Reading used to be books and articles...now it is film, images, websites, blogs, and so much more. My reading class (and many in the middle school) has evolved into a completely different experience for the students I have this year and I imagine will be entirely different in another 6 years. THis is a little scary to me but excites me more. All of the changes I have seen have been positive. Aside from glitches in technology, kids are more engaged than ever before in reading becasue we embrace so many different texts.

Challenges I see, include keeping up with the newest and latest and **time**. Thankfully I often 'keep up' in my personal life so it easily translates to school. But I know there is so much I don't know and I worry about finiding time to learn it. I doubt I have named anything new to any teacher here! Though I am hoping that this group is one way to address that!


 * Chris White -** Director of Technology - For me it isn't all about the plugs and wires. While they are important...the physical...the technical...all hardware is a means to an end. The end being helping our kids make sense of and excel in their world. Today the plugs and wires of the Internet have evolved into a culture with a gravity of its own. Long standing institutions, practices, beliefs are not immune from this gravity. Change can be seen everywhere. Innovation and opportunities abound. I have a quote hanging in my office from Alan Key (credited as being the inventor of the laptop) "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." Innovation is the key to students' future success. Innovative tools, practice, curriculum and leadership are on that path to success.

**Linda Chapman – Library Media Specialist/Reach Teacher** I don’t know where to begin. Teaching and learning with technology has been part of me since my early days as a social studies teacher (back when “technology” meant filmstrips, overhead projectors, and cassette players).

I used to think that technology was (just) a ‘tool’ for teaching, but now I think that it has to be more than a tool. I look at my fifth grade (and some 4th grade) Reach students and see how technology is just part of their daily lives outside of school. Google is what 5th graders use at home, but we just made it legal for 8th graders last year. Hmmm. Working with 8th graders in two new Health units (one – on Social Networking safety) has made me realize that I need to live where our kids are living, and in some cases I need to catch up. When I asked two 7th graders recently how they designed their web site their response was that they read a book on html, taught it to themselves, and that it’s taken hundreds of hours. Hmmm.

So lately I’ve been mulling over several related questions: How can I capitalize on the fact that kids are investing significant amounts of time learning technology on their own? How I can cross the divide of students’ in-school and out-of-school lives? How can I make learning more personal and more relevant?

To make a long story short, I think I’ve found a framework (if not a specific vehicle yet) that at least addresses these questions, and I’m currently working with a colleague on a pilot project that touches on these questions. We’re structuring it as an action research/pilot project involving ten percent of her students. A related project with another colleague is in the talking stage.