Sometimes it’s ok to put it down.

So, I’ve been thinking about how I spent my summer. More specifically, I have been thinking about what I did not do in terms of school. Here’s what I did do officially: I participated in 2 FULL days of training for our new Mac laptops. 1 full and 1 partial day of PD/training about a [...]

Trying out something I learned over the summer

So, I’ve been thinking about the strategies that I learned in my 2 days of reading PD at the end of the school year last year. One of the strategies that our facilitator shared with us was having students take mind map type notes as they read in social studies. Although our facilitator talked about [...]

What Makes a Good Conference Session?

So, I’ve been thinking about EduCon again and sessions in general. What makes a workshop, session, speaker good? I recall reading a description of one reviewer’s process of reviewing cookbooks. This reviewer and cook was going to be on a panel discussion about several cookbooks. He described a conversation he had with another panelist in [...]

EduCon, the morning after

So, I’ve been thinking about Educon, or trying to think about it anyway. I saw this tweet on Monday morning: kjarrett (@kjarrett) 1/31/11 10:59 AM Back at school. Doing everything the way I always have. Dealing with massive guilt as a result. #educonshame When I saw it, it was already a retweet, and I retweeted [...]

Is a Choir Necessary?

So, I’ve been thinking about peers, specifically teaching peers. How necessary is it to have others in my building who are thinking about or working on or passionate about the same part of teaching and learning that I am? Do I need to be part of a choir or am I ok with being a [...]

Conference Round-up

So, I’ve been thinking about all the (un)conferences I attended in person or virtually this last year (school year). I of course wanted to write complete, thoughtful reflections on all of them, but as my 5th graders like to say, that is SO not going to happen. Instead I offer a brief round-up of sorts. [...]

Who Has Changed?

So, I’ve been thinking about my ideas about education and technology use in education. I have been participating in professional development through PLP with my school for several years. For the first two years I was part of a school team and now this year I am working alongside another new team from my school [...]