Reading Apprenticeship

I have just completed day four of the RAISE training. Pennsylvania is one of five states participating in a research project around the Reading Apprenticeship Program. I am very excited about the very real potential this program has to improve literacy at Blue Ridge across different subject areas. Time to plan the first week! Get ready to apprenticed!

No Power, But No Whining!

Well it is another day without power! I am discovering how dependent we all are and how awesome the wifi in Panera and McDonalds is! It has also provided me with an opportunity to appreciate friends who have offered assistance and the time I have spent with my son without us engaged in our respective gadgetry! We actually played Battleship yesterday - bear in mind he is a 21 year old college senior!

WordSmyth

I just found a new and useful tool to help students build their vocabulary. Wordsmyth has a lot of unique features; it is not just another online dictionary. You can build your own glossary (up to fifteen words) and their entries include all kinds of neat stuff like similar words and words with similar spelling.
Teachers can create quizzes on wordsmyth to print or have students take online. I see lots of uses for this tool in the classroom.

iBrainstorm - How a Bill Becomes a Law

I just found a new app that provides the perfect way for me, lover of post-it notes, to present material visually. Besides my enthusiasm for post-its, I am loving my Ipad and only regret being such a late adopter! Anyway, the app is iBrainstorm. Very easy to use -- basically you can use different colors and easily arrange the virtual post-its. I plan on uploading the image to my edmodo page to give students a nice outline the inevitable essay, "How does a bill become a law?" Not all details on the map but I will also use it to guide instruction by projecting it up on my Promethean Board. Here is my first creation:

Here I am trying to revive what I thought was a great idea back in 2009. However, like most bloggers, I failed miserably in the maintenance department. Now that I am using Google tools so frequently, it seems like a good time to breath some life into this old blog.

I have a lot going on this summer and this year in terms of my personal and professional life. Blogging must just help me hang on to sanity!

Let me share a few things tonight. In about 30 minutes from now, I will attend an online meeting for blendedschools.net. I am heading a project this year involving novel units. My team consists of ten teachers who will develop the units in my favorite software of all time, softchalk!

I am also attempting, for the first time, to launch an AP Government class at my full-time job at Blue Ridge High School. We are also going to pilot a Bring Your Own Device program by beefing up the wireless in my room and allowing students to access online content and resources on their own laptops, tablets, or smartphones. Blended learning is here! Some examples of softchalk lessons for my Sociology/Law class are linked to below:
U1L1 Law
U1L1 Sociology


On top of all this excitement, I decided to finish up my Masters degree by taking two online courses at Wilkes University. As long as all goes well, I should graduate in September. That is all for now - time to do class work, development work, and then fall into bed and do it all over again tomorrow!

NPR Story

Click on the link below and listen to an NPR story that aired on Friday, February 20, 2009.
After listening to the story, respond to it by posting here and let's get a discussion going! In your response, you can include any questions you may have regarding some of the economic indicators mentioned. You can discuss the impact of bad news this week for some of the big players in the market. What is meant by the statement, "Wall Street hates a mystery."? How does this story make you feel about the future? Are you hopeful? Why or why not?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100919571