Thursday, July 29, 2004

Freedom to Learn... Freedom to Learn... my mind is spinning again. After being at the ISD Tuesday, working on Discourse & ClassServer I feel panicky!! I am neither confident nor competent here, and I am going to TRAIN other teachers?? YIKES!!

The possibilites continue to amaze me - I sat here yesterday working on a lesson plan for a 7th grade social studies standard on advertising. I need a lesson to share at the upcoming training. But... now I have another idea - I want to focus on mean, mode, median, something we hit fairly heavily in 7th grade math, even though it is now not one of our standards according to the new grade level expectations... but I think I will use this topic instead - so back to the drawing board!! I want the students to use Excel to find their means, use a PowerPoint to show their understanding,  and I want to use Discourse during the lesson, and maybe a review lesson from ConnectedTech.. ambitious?? Maybe but I am pumped again...

What a great opportunity for professional development and networking this is going to be... I feel rejuvenated seeing folks from across the state who feel a commitment to quality education. I just need to make sure I can convey this enthusiam to my colleagues and get our district on board and make this integration of technology a reality. I know I am opening myself up for a huge time commitment but somehow that does not scare me. I want to do this - I feel it is worthwhile and necessary...