Our teachers spent many hours researching the New Tech Network as a possibility for North Marion. However, we found that our timelines did not coincide well. For North Marion teachers wanting to be "on the ground and running" by August, this meant that we would have to try to implement many of our ideas on our own. We give much credit, however, to Jon Reinhard and the New Tech Network for the impetus they gave us to take trips together as a faculty to see New Tech Schools in action. These trips provided three things for our teachers: 1) An opportunity to bond as professionals which began the process of further developing our dream, 2) The idea that a school culture component is a desirable element to our plan, and 3) Opportunities to interact with other educators who are excited about change in their schools.
And so our project goes on as a grass roots movement rather than as a part of a more formalized, non-profit organization. We are still excited about our opportunities, but needing time to explore our options rather than committing to one certain direction.
by Joetta Schneider
Friday, July 1, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Blog details
If you want to be an author on the blog, send me your email (carpenter.amyl@gmail.com) and I'll send you an invitation so that your posts will appear under your name instead of the generic North Marion account. If you already have a blogger account, you can comment on posts under your name, but you can't write a new post. You can actually send yourself an invitation under the permissions tab when logged in as North Marion, but I'll be happy to do it for anyone who doesn't know how.
Also, when you post something new, try to put a label on it (in the area under the white space where you write your post) so that the post will be categorized in the Labels cloud on the right hand side of the blog. That way, you can easily find blogs about specific subjects instead of having to sort chronologically as we add more and more posts to the blog.
I added a Follow by Email gadget. If you want, you can have new posts sent to your email so that you don't have to check the blog as much.
Does all of that make sense?
Also, when you post something new, try to put a label on it (in the area under the white space where you write your post) so that the post will be categorized in the Labels cloud on the right hand side of the blog. That way, you can easily find blogs about specific subjects instead of having to sort chronologically as we add more and more posts to the blog.
I added a Follow by Email gadget. If you want, you can have new posts sent to your email so that you don't have to check the blog as much.
Does all of that make sense?
Saturday, June 25, 2011
PBL planning
This past week, some of the "first wave" of IZ teachers at NM started planning our PBLs for the first semester. Kristin asked if I had ever worked on lesson plans in the summer, and the answer was no--especially not as early as June!
Since I didn't go to the training in Texas, Kristin, April, and Mary Anne helped me figure out what a true PBL is compared to our traditional way of teaching. Mary Anne used an analogy that I liked. She explained that traditionally we teach a unit and do a project at the end as the "dessert." With PBL, the project is the "main course."
I really enjoyed firing ideas back and forth among the four of us, and am surprised by how excited we all are about teaching this fall. Normally, I spend all summer trying to forget about school, not planning for it.
Mary Anne and I worked on a PBL for Ancient Greece and The Odyssey. We reached out to a Greek History professor from WVU to be a resource for our PBL, and he responded very quickly and seems very excited to help! We think he might be part of our entry event to grab our students' interests.
Since I didn't go to the training in Texas, Kristin, April, and Mary Anne helped me figure out what a true PBL is compared to our traditional way of teaching. Mary Anne used an analogy that I liked. She explained that traditionally we teach a unit and do a project at the end as the "dessert." With PBL, the project is the "main course."
I really enjoyed firing ideas back and forth among the four of us, and am surprised by how excited we all are about teaching this fall. Normally, I spend all summer trying to forget about school, not planning for it.
Mary Anne and I worked on a PBL for Ancient Greece and The Odyssey. We reached out to a Greek History professor from WVU to be a resource for our PBL, and he responded very quickly and seems very excited to help! We think he might be part of our entry event to grab our students' interests.
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