2010: Where are we going

I have been brainstorming this concept for a while now... WHERE ARE WE GOING? It is 2010. We are 10 years past the mayhem of Y2K and the fear that robots were going to destroy our life and world.

Tomorrow I am going to Vegas for the 2nd part of my School Leadership Development Program. I am looking forward for this trip. It is only a one day conference, I have learned so much from our first meeting. But that doesn't help my current classroom.

Where am I going to take my class this year?

I have started blogging with my 3rd graders now. I have used Blogger in the past, but now using KidBlogs. I like it a lot better than blogger when it comes to blogging with students. Each student has their own blog, but it is connected with the class.

For right now I have them writing on some topics or responding to posts I post for them. I am hoping they will want to start writing on their own without my push for them to write about something.

I have them using Scratch to learn programming and create different projects. They are catching on pretty well. The last project I had them do was to make two characters interact with each other some how. I am learning as we go also.

The students use Spelling City to practice and take their weekly tests. This is great time saver for me. Besides grading it for me, I can use the time students are taking the test to work one-on-one with students who need more time on concepts.

I have parents and the school seeing that going "Green" is good and that posting and e-mailing newsletters is better than printing out hundred of copies and letting students throw the papers away.

But is that enough... Where else should we be going.

I know it is not about the coolness of the tool that matter, but how you use it and how engaging students become. So what should we be doing?

I would like to do more science experiments, but I am limited to little resources. If I could find some good 3rd grade experiments online, that would be great.

I would like parents to realize school is shifting and not the same as 100, 50, 25, 10, or even 5 years ago. Maybe that means doing some parent workshops on the shift into 21st century education.

It would be also nice to allow students more time in our computer lab besides 40mins once a week. But, we are limited to that because band meets in the computer lab.

Where are you going?