Thing 7

I've heard the term wikis before in training but never really saw or played around with them. The first one I went to was a 5th Grade Class' called The Thousand Project. Basically it's a 5th grade from Duluth, Minnesota and they want people to log into their wiki and edit a giant list of what you plan on doing. I hope seeing more people from different parts of the world adding to their list makes them happy.

The second one I went to was the Holocaust Wiki Project. It took forever to load and at first I was getting really peeved about it. Then when I started clicking around I realized that it's like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book from my youth. You can click on 2 options, such as comply with Nazis or obtain false papers. What a great way to teach students about a subject that many don't feel is important. (I died twice but managed to get into Switzerland once)

The third wiki I went to was Go West. It's a 3rd grade wiki and looks like it. However, it DOES contain a vast amount of information and I'm sure that it's a great way to introduce kids to the Oregon Trail AND basic computer editing.

Can I use this in my classroom? To be totally honest I'm not sure. For the most part, my students do not have the internet at home. Now this in itself is not a big problem, but I DO have several students who only see the internet as a place to play games or watch videos. Now I COULD use a classroom wiki to try and show them that the "internets" are not just for fun and games, but I'll be honest, at this time I don't feel confidant enough with wikis to take the helm so to speak. Also, I have a very fluid classroom make-up. We have had to re-group our students here several times in the last 2 months for behavioral issues.

However, I DO feel that a classroom wiki would be a great way to display projects. The one aspect of the Holocaust Wiki Project is that it was VERY apparent that each group of students was entirely responsible for creating their own pages. I think that this is a step that I can move to for next year.

Why Thing 4 Part 2 Angers Me

I tried using Google's blog search beta and boy did it get my dander up. Most of what it showed me weren't "blogs" at all. They were one shot articles that would not have feeds updating them, unless you call a random comment by someone a worthy update.

Thing 3

I'm an astronomy fan plain and simple. I like looking at stars and learning about space. I even like being confused about things like red shift and dark matter. Needless to say that yesterday's astronomy events (for those of you that don't know we're off the fix the Hubble for the last time) are of interest to me.

When it comes to my students the gap between what I like and what they like is becoming greater by the second. I understand that one day I will look at my classroom and see a sea of alien beings and barely be able to understand what they are talking about; but not NOW. I mean I'm 34, I know what the "Stanky Leg" is (BTW I can't do it) but I'll take any help in keeping abreast of current teen fads. One Riot happens to be a good way to keep on top of the internet and maybe be able to not be so confused by a conversation you overhear in your classroom.

Thing 2

Before I begin on this assignment I feel the need to share a piece of tragic information about me and my family. On December 26th my eleven year old step daughter died. We learned through the GBI autopsy that she had a spleen that was 2 cm in diameter (the average spleen is about 11 cm). I know for a fact that my wife would not be a functional as she is right now if blogs did not exist. Less than one week after Anna's passing we had learned about her spleen from the medical examiner and my wife started the task of sifting through thousands of articles about spleens, septic infections, and child loss. One of the first websites she came across was a blog of a woman who had lost her 15 month old daughter to asplenia (lack of a spleen). Within a day of posting a comment on her blog my wife and her began a correspondence that has, in my mind, been monumental in helping my wife 1) learn about the condition that took our childrens' lives and 2) cope with child loss better. Blogs, quite simply, are extremely valuable.

This is the blog that my wife found.

http://sophiespleen.blogspot.com/2007/10/blog-post.html

Now onto Thing 2 in earnest.


I went to the Cyberbullying blog http://www.pbs.org/teachers/learning.now/2007/09/an_open_letter_about_cyberbull.html and can completely see both sides of the situation. At first I am tempted to scream BS when I hear the term cyberbullying. I can completely say it's not "real" to me. No one is really making fun of you or is calling you names. They are typing stuff about you in CYBERSPACE, it's not like they are saying it in the office you work in. The 'old school' part of me wants to yell, "Toughen up!". Then last year I witnessed my step-daughter's friend have her "myspace" account "broken" into. The person, whom was never brought to justice, added many photoshopped images, sent out date requests to older strangers, and then posted a bunch of drama inducing lies on everyone of her top 10 people's myspace pages. It caused her and her parents a great deal of stress (not to mention a few boxes of Kleenex). I DO think that cyberbullying can be detrimental to teen or pre-teen.

Over all I think blogging is a great thing. For the most part I have noticed that people are fairly brief in their responses to blogs. I have also noticed that many MANY people seem to be more willing to state their honest opinion. There is a great deal of pressure lifted off you if you want to disagree with someone online. There's no face to face; no worries of physical retaliation (not violence mind you but the evil eye, rolling eye, huffing, crossing arms all go out the window when you just type a statement into your computer).

Another aspect of blogging that I enjoy is the simple fact that it can be done in VERY short bursts. It's a great way to get a short answer or opinion about many different subjects or ideas extremely fast.

Thing 1 - A

Howdy folks.

My name is Joe and I teach middle school math and social studies at BCAEP. (That stands for the Barrow County Alternative Education Program) I LOVE it here. I know most people cringe at the thought of working at the alternative school but I cringe at the thought of being in a "regular" school.

I teach the following subjects here.

6th grade math
7th grade math
8th grade math
7th grade social studies
8th grade A/E (which we usually work on math skills)

This is my 7th year teaching. I started teaching at a small private school for kids with severe learning disabilities. My VERY first day in a classroom of my own I taught THREE kids with Tourette Syndrome. Most of my students were either dyslexic or disgraphic. The job was great but after 2 years I swore off education and went to work for myself but somehow ended up working for the mental health department in Athens answering calls on their crisis hotline. After doing that for 3 years the teaching bug hit me and I have been at it ever since. This is my first year here in Barrow and I am very pleased to announce that this county is wonderful compared to the last place I worked.

I'll be truthful with y'all on why I am taking this course. I KNOW I have more PLUs than I currently have showing. (did I mention that the last county I worked in was bad?!?) I don't want to point fingers but my last county definately dropped the ball and I find myself needed 8 before June and this class is 3 of them. However the programs I have worked with during the last 4 years were mostly technology based so I am always looking for ways to beef up my computer skills.