Back to the Classroom?

I often think about going back to the classroom. I don't believeI ever worked harder then when I was a teacher in the classroom, but I often think about going back. If I were to return to the classroom I would use technology...

• to engage students during the background/orientation portion of a lesson
• to organize and display student data to make patterns more visible
• web 2.0 tools to publish work creating an authenic audience and motivation to succeed
• to communicate with parents who have technology available to them
• to share lessons and ideas with my colleagues and hope that they will do the same
• to model 21st Century Skills
• to educate myself on what new technology is available to me and my students.

If I were to return to the classroom I would use technology.

I Absolutely Have a Way to Become Better as a Teacher

Site Administrators, coaches, and educators, Looking for away to start of the year? Check out the post at The Fischbowl. I Have Absolutely No Way to Become Better as a Teacher . The page was taken from Carl Glickman's Leadership for Learning: How to Help Teachers Succeed, a book I have not yet read. If a staff, team or teacher, were to break down each bullet into a positive phrase and then turn each phrase into an action plan, then teachers would absolutely have a way to become better as a teacher. For example: Take the phrase" I do not visit other schools or attend particular workshops or seminars or read professional literature on aspects of my teaching" Turn it into, "I visit other schools and attend workshops and read professional literature on aspects of my teaching." Now comes the action plan. Administrators can set up classroom observations throughout the year (even if it's somewhere in the district or even at a school site). Even if there isn't money to send teachers to workshops, coordinate with district or community leaders to have site based workshops that help teachers meet objectives or specific goals. And now... start a Book Club on campus or district-wide for teachers who are interested. You may even want to begin with this book, Leadership for Learning: How to Help Teachers Succeed.

Breaking all the Rules

While browsing the top 100 blogs at Technorati I came across an interesting Blog and apparently others agree because it is ranked 40 on their list, The blog known as The Wrong Advices, includes topics such as tech news and blogging tips and it seems lots of other stuff . One can view numerous articles and links regarding blogging. 10 Blogging Mistakes to Avoid is one of the articles linked on the site by John Chow.
Here is where I am missing the mark:

• not updating frequently (Hey it's hard I'm on the computer all day at work.)
• Not giving RSS (Am I really saying anything that worthwhile, yet?)
• Not being personal (That can be scarey)
• Not reaching out to other bloggers (Ok, I admit it I'm anti blogsocial)
• Not reading John Chow.com (ha! ha!)