My GAME plan goals are on modeling digital age work and learning and also engaging in professional growth and leadership.
Still, engaging in professional growth and leadership with fellow co-workers is non-existent during our off periods, meaning summer break. However, I have been introduced to numerous websites through classroom discussions and videos that would allow teachers to corroborate with each other, teacher/student discussion or student/student interaction. The first being Edutopia.org. Edutopia provides blogs, videos, teacher resources, all available with a few clicks. One that I’m more interesting in learning about is Ning.com. Has anyone used this? Could you further the information already given by Vicki Davis in our class video? It seems like a website where you can build your own online network, but I’d like to hear from anyone who has personally used it. It seems as though Wiggio.com might do the same thing. Please! I beg of you, give me your info! Upon first look, Wiggio looks easier to use, simpler.
I plan on joining or subscribing to a few websites and blogs to keep current and up-to-date as well as become connected with teachers around the world. I think that relying on my school or district to provide ways to improve professionally is unrealistic. I have more options and can be choosy when looking online.
Valerie Gerdes
MS-English
Edutopia. (2010). The George Lucas Educational Foundation. Retrieved July 27, 2010, from http://www.edutopia.org/
Ning. (2010). Ning, Inc. Retrieved August 3, 2010, from http://www.ning.com/
Wiggio. (2010). Retrieved August 3, 2010, from http://wiggio.com/
My friend uses NING for her reading coaches meetings and updates. She says that there are some issues, but that it does work and it works well. She mentioned that the issues were only with how the people set it up. So I am assuming that you will really need to take some time and plan out what you want it to look like and what you need to have on it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you mention that school districts cannot possibly keep up with the professional development issues....there is too much out there with little time to work with it and even less time to bring people in. It is a good thing for you that you are taking the initiative and working on developing your skills. Maybe you can then become that "in-service" development expert that your school needs. You have the knowledge base. I think that it would be a great idea. Don't be surprised if they start asking for you when they see what you are doing in your classroom!
Marilyn Goodrich
K-12 Ed. Con.
Marilyn...I heart you! Such kind comments. Thanks for also posting about NING. I'm very interested in using something like it in my class. Things like this don't occur to me, but I'm going to have to check with the higher ups to see if this is something I can even use! :) I just get a little too excited about things and don't even think about double checking. I'll keep everyone posted!
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