Wow....webcasts and podcasts!

I'm loving podcasts and webcasts and definitely want to use them with my kids next year. One problem that will have to be overcome first though, is the fact that our filtering software keeps out places like the Library of Congress or PBS or YouTube's videos. I can understand YouTube, but the Library of Congress? Ridiculous!

I have a video camera. So does my new room partner. We must do this!

Light at the end of the tunnel?

Ah....it's Saturday! Blessed Saturday! I just got back from a 4 hour culminating class for another Learning Zone class I'm taking and yay, that one's done and that's 2 more salary points in my coffer, and more importantly, more tricks in my toolbox.....so to speak.

I liked this class that just ended, for the most part, though it's not what I'd originally thought it would be. It turns out that I did get some good ideas for projects I can use with my kids and/or class. Some I can use as teaching tools, and others I can teach the kids how to make themselves. So all told, I walk away happy.

Now, FINALLY, I can catch up on this and my other classes!

more later

Very strange!

How strange. I just now posted my last post and it shows as coming up at 2:49pm on Friday, June 1, 2007. That would be fine except for the fact that it's now midnight on Monday, just going into Tuesday, June 5, 2007. I wonder how that happened.

I'm Drowning!

I can't catch up! Just when I thought I had these classes in hand and could finally catch up on the homework, I find myself rushing to the deadline in order to get my 92 hours for the NBC teacher 7.5% raise. I picked up yet another class by surprise and that pushed me back even further. I am hell bent on catching up this week, especially since one class is finishing up this week.
That said, class is going well....I just love this group and it's a joy to spend time with them, but that time is rapidly running out and there's all that work to do of giving OCR tests, doing the fluency tests, finishing our Science unit on electricity, finishing out book about the Gold Rush, doing all the end of the year paperwork, and of course, the packing upof my classroom. That's never a fun task and thank goodness for the help I get from a former student, especially this year since I've hurt my knee. I'm really limited in mobility and strength, so every bit of help counts. My friend Patsy, who is a sign language interpreter, is coming to my school to teach my kids how to sign and about how deaf people communicate....which is a great tie-in to our current OCR unit on Communication. We also have 3 extra drama workshops this week, in addition to our regular drama time, AND I have to prepare them for the science assessment ASAP. The end of the year is so jampacked but exciting!

Ok, that's one down.....

......how many more to go? Will this grow into something I use with my class? I'd like to think so. Do I know how to do that? Nope, not a clue. I have to start looking around more online for these blogs and see how others are using them. Yeah, yeah, the whole personal learning network thing, I get it, I like it, I'm overwhelmed by it. :) School is winding down and I have lots of homework in classes I'm taking online, I'm tired, and I have a whole classroom to pack up. Let's also factor in all the days I'll be scoring BTSA portfolios so I can get NBC hours and....oy vey! I'm tired!

More later perhaps.

How to start?

That really is the question, because when put on the spot to blog, which is not what I've gravitated toward naturally, I find I have nothing to say.

Odd, that.