PEPSICO K-12 Technology Mentor Program » Blogging

The plate is too full

Dottie Black — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 00:59:13 +0000

Last week I met with two teachers about a project to save our local YMCA. They were passionate about the project and how excited their students were about participating in saving a community treasure. During the conversation I mentioned the blogs I read. They both squinched up their faces and said they didn’t have time to do that. I gently suggested that there were some excellent authors on the web that had really influenced my thinking about education. As I usually do in these situations, I backed off. I will wait for the appropriate moment to share a blog that will be meaningful to them. Then this afternoon I read Chris Lehmann’s post about not blaming the teacher for being technologically illiterate. He had some excellent points to make.

A few months ago I read this blog post by Greg Farr. I was so impressed that I sent it to a middle school teacher and asked her to pass it on to her principal. He was so impressed that he made it mandatory reading for the next faculty meeting. Chris and Greg, like all teachers, won’t ever know how many teachers and students they have positively influenced. I’m just glad they blog and that I can share it when they do.

A New School Year and a New Look

Dottie Black — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:41:03 +0000

Welcome to the new face of the Pepsico K-12 Technology Mentor Program. I decided to move my previous website into a Wordpress blog to make it more flexible and accessible to the teachers I am working with. I hope you like the new design. As always, feedback is welcome and appreciated.

Last fall I attended the NCETC in Greensboro. The keynote speaker was Will Richardson. In his presentation, he showed the list of blogs that he reads on a regular basis. He refered to the list as his textbook and the authors as his teachers. Over the past year I have come to understand what he was referring to. I have learned so much from Will and David Warlick and several other leaders in the K-12 technology field whose blogs I read regularly. I hope I have a chance to teach my new audience some of the great things I’ve learned from my new teachers and from being a part of the Duke Center for Instructional Technology. I am looking forward to a very productive year.

Kelly Stevens’ Blog Projects

Dottie Black — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 02:12:36 +0000

Seventh Grade social studies teacher Kelly Stevens is the Rogers-Herr Year-Round Middle School Technology Mentor. Kelly and her team have been incredibly prolific this year. Here are some of the projects they have done.

Blogging

Kelly introduced Blogging to her team and students last fall. The blogging tool they have been using was developed by David Warlick. You can create your own classroom blogs by going to classblogmeister.com

Homeless Bird Blog

The seventh graders read Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan. The teacher posed questions to the students to answer using the blog. Read some of the entries here.

Ms. Stevens encouraged her students to comment on other student’s blog entries about Homeless Bird. She called this assignment “Everyone’s a critic“.

Red Scarf Girl

The seventh graders also used a blog as part of a webquest called Red Scarf Girl. Read some of the entries here.

Utopia

Can Utopia really exist? This blog is part of Ms. Beth Spataro’s webquest.