Learning from others . . .
One requirement of the Summer Institute was to have teachers demonstrate writing lessons that they have used, or may use, with their students. By watching others model lessons based on research, I have been able to add some interesting, engaging, and innovative ideas into my repertoire of lessons. The power of observation is awesome. However, the writing I produced in response to these observations taught me the most valuable lesson: I AM, indeed, A WRITER! I have been inspired, and my thinking has changed. Thank you, RCWP friends!
Writing Inquiry Project . . .
There are so many things I want to learn about writing, but I have to start somewhere. So next year, I will be focusing on polling students on their feelings about various forms of publishing. From paper and pen to contributing to a blog or creating a multimedia presentation, I wonder if students' opinions of writing will change if they are more engaged and motivated to publish with various forms of technology software and tools. The springboard for my idea can be found on a collaborative Wiki used by my colleagues in the RCWP. It is a working document and will, therefore, change when I have more information. Stay tuned!
Mobile Technology Inquiry Project . . .
Since I am part of the MAET program at MSU, I wanted to make this experience relevant for both my "writer" self and my "techie" self. It was just my luck when I found out that we would be doing a group Inquiry Project on mobile technologies. I feel very comfortable with many areas of using technology, but I have always wanted to get started with Social Bookmarking, so I decided to challenge myself.
Before my inquiry, I used Google Bookmarks. Though this platform worked well whenever I was signed in to my Gmail account, I was just contributing to myself rather than sharing the wealth with others. Putting on my Teacher Leader hat has made me want to share. So, this was the perfect opportunity for me to research a few programs in depth, try them out, and implement them into my daily life and teaching life. My findings, and my colleagues' findings in their respective categories, can be found on the RCWP iPad Inquiry Project Wiki.
Before my inquiry, I used Google Bookmarks. Though this platform worked well whenever I was signed in to my Gmail account, I was just contributing to myself rather than sharing the wealth with others. Putting on my Teacher Leader hat has made me want to share. So, this was the perfect opportunity for me to research a few programs in depth, try them out, and implement them into my daily life and teaching life. My findings, and my colleagues' findings in their respective categories, can be found on the RCWP iPad Inquiry Project Wiki.