Huggins Happenings

Well, I guess I didn’t think far enough into this class to realize that students were being taught the same class that we were.  After reading the feed http://students2oh.org/2008/10/07/where-have-all-the-students-20-gone/#comment-1364, I felt a little sad that these students are basically learning these skills, then moving on.  All the while, we are still playing “catch up” by trying to integrate these new technologies into our classrooms in order to engage these very students who are already on to the next latest, greatest thing.  I do, however, feel that blogging is an important tool.  It helps us connect, sympathize and even empathize with others across continents, but at the rate the number of blogs is growing, I’m not sure how relavent it will be in the future.  If the blogging world gets too big, it will be impossible to manage – kind of like government!

I enjoyed this chance to read others blogs.  To tell you the truth, I had absolutely NO idea what a blog was until I started this class.  I had heard about blogs, but just imagined it as this overwhelming new technology that I would never understand.  When I read the blog by Patrick, http://itc.blogs.com/patrick/2005/02/5th_grade.html, the fifth grader, who was struggling just to stay in school, it made me realize how smart kids really are these days.  Even those who are struggling are able to keep up with the pace of technology.  In order to reach these types of students, it’s important that I learn these things in order to connect with them.  It was so encouraging how others used Patrick’s blog to write encouraging comments to him.  I wonder how he feels after reading these comments? 

The other blog I enjoyed was written by Joyce Valenza  http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1340000334/post/130020413.html.  She talked about how she got her students to create more interesting powerpoint presentations.  I enjoyed this because I was able to relate to her comments on her 10 year rut in teaching.  When making my smartboard presentations for my class, I tend to fall back on the same old thing, simply because it’s comfortable.  Learning to change my thinking to engage my students is a challenge, but one I’m excited about.