Professional Development!

We had a great discussion in the middle of all the humor at the TechPodZone this past week. It made me think about so many of our schools' mission statements and/or goals. I made a statement in the show about many teachers being hypocritical about creating life long learners. Many of these teachers are not life long learners themselves. They come to school, deliver their lessons, and go home.

I believe connecting to other educators with similar passions for their classroom can spark that original love for teaching. I have learned so much from my connections through podcasting and other online events. I do love to learn and look forward to listening to the new podcasts and checking my bloglines everyday.

One of the tools I love most are podcasts of conferences where the presenter is leading discussions. It makes you feel like you are right there. That is why I am looking forward to this year's K12 Online Conference. I hope to share this event with as many educators as possible.

Hope to see you there! I'll be the one sitting in the recliner couch with his feet up!

Got to get back into it!

It's been hard to get back into the blogs and podcasts this year. I don't know why. I guess I need to just start. I have a few tools to share with you. Of course you can hear all about these over at the TechPodzone.

If you are using a PC to display information on a screen then you need ZoomIt. It is free software that can zoom you in and around the screen. It's great for older staff! You can use it to draw with as well.

I also started to use Slide. It is another online slide show creator. I like this because it is easy to use and you can embed it in your wiki. Wikispaces has been upgraded and Slide is a choice for embedding. They make it so easy.

Check out our classroom wiki and our teacher in service wiki. I use these tools everyday now to share with our staff all of the great tools out there. Don't be shy, let me know what you think or what you use.

First Day of a New School Year!

Today we sat there just like every other year. Listening to the different school constituents pump us up for another year. At first I kept thinking about the past 26 times I sat here and how much each year seemed the same.

Then I started thinking about all of the new teachers and what it must be like for them. The sense of not knowing what to expect from this day and being nervous about tomorrow.

I was fortunate to be able to work directly with all of the new teachers last week. I spent a whole day giving them laptops, resources, and encouragement. I also took the opportunity to discuss the new web 2.0 resources and mindset with them.

I realized that I had a lot of work to do! When I asked them if they had ever heard of a wiki not a one raised their hand. We had a mixture of new and veteran teachers.

We will get them!

This year I look forward to my classroom wiki. We will be wiki centric! Check it out and follow along as my class begins another wiki year!

On stage in St' Louis!

I would have never believed it if someone said I would be performing a podcast on stage ahead of Second City. You bet, that's what I did last week at a PowerSchool University Conference.

What a week! We learned so much about PowerSchool. We also learned that people who use PowerSchool are such great people. We interviewed people, discussed PS issues, and just had a great time.

You never know what twists and turns life will make. This was all because of podcasting. Who knows where this trip will lead. Check out our podcasts at PSUCast.com.

I think we may have also introduced podcasting to a few teachers. You can see our presentation on podcasting in the classroom at http://sidneymit.wikispaces.com/Podcasting

The presentation was made with a great tool called spresent. Check it out at http://www.spresent.com/

It's my first week of summer! WooHoo! I am now just finding the time to catch up on my bloglines. It sure can fill up in a hurry!

For some people attending conferences during the summer can be exhilarating. For others, re-charging means some downtime away from it all. I would have to say that I am one who needs the downtime first, but only for a little while.

I have been following the NECC live blogs and other postings. It sounds as if it was a great conference. I tell you with all of the new technology you can really get a feel for what was happening there. In the next few days I hope to explore some more.

I need a few more days to re-charge so to speak. Maybe I will see some of you at PSU in St.Louis in 2 weeks. I will be running around with Eric interviewing and podcasting the event. Stop us and say Hi.

I will also be conducting teacher training in Pekin, Indiana in 3 weeks. Can't wait. It should be loads of fun to meet people.

Here's to summer!

A Gift!

I received the best gift a teacher can receive this week. It only takes one of these every few years to make it all worth while.

One of my Odyssey of the Mind team members wrote a book in his 6th grade class. The books were sent to a company that professionally binds them.

This student wrote a book based on a character that we used this year on the team. What was extra special was.........as I opened to page 2...... I noticed that he had dedicated it to me. I was very very surprised and moved to a tear or two.

I now keep this book on my shelf in my office. When ever the day gets rough I just look at the book and I feel better.

Even though these moments are few it only take one or two to realize why we do what we do.

It's Great to See Someone When they "Get It!"

I atended another one of Alan November's workshops last week. It was as great as ever. I attended with several colleagues. The administrators were very excited to learn what Alan November shared. My only disappoint was that I have been delivering Alan's message now for about a year throughout our district.

I guess that is why Alan November does what he does. It took him about 1 hour to explain the read write web. I think they "got it" for the first time. Let's hope so. Thanks Alan.

The lesson I learned? It's delivery of the message!