Friday, August 29, 2008

Here We Go!

Well, here is my first blog of the 2008-2009 school year. This year has started out so differently than last and I look forward to reflecting on my teaching and comparing last year to this year. I'm implementing monitoring notes in my daily instruction and while it's very new, I can't imagine how I survived last year without them. I have a much better sense of where my students are academically based on these notes. No more blind leading the blind!

I find myself using my white boards less and less; which is a good thing considering I'm a Global Learner and encouraged to use the technology I've been given. I use my laptop every second; whether it's to display prompts, Mug Shots, or highlighting text to scaffold the elements in narrative writing. While I am comfortable with the laptop and projector, I am scared to death of the SmartBoard. It's not that I don't want to use it, it's the challenge of trying to figure out how it works on my own. Not that I don't have people to help me. I'm more of a do-it-yourself type of gal. My goal for next week is to play around with it and use it for my Mug Shots during my Communications classes.I'm eager to get comfortable with my SmartBoard and google docs and watch my students' comprehension and application improve.

3 comments:

Lisa Kellogg said...

Nicole,
I'm curious to hear more about monitoring notes and mug shots as I am not familiar with them.
Thanks for sharing and I look forward to hearing more reflections on the differences for you between this year and last year.
-Lisa

Joseph Miller said...

Nicole,

Cool to hear that you are trying new things and so willing to share. I bet the SmartBoard will eventually be vital for instruction on writing as you can quickly project a piece of writing and annotate.

I am also interested in hearing more about monitoring notes and mug shots. I heard your principal briefly describe what I think is monitoring notes and it sounds really interesting. Maybe a future post could describe these.

Mr. Palmer's 5th Grade said...

Very informative post. I'd like to hear more about Mug Shots and how you use them in your class with the SmartBoard.