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Manistee County Wide PD

Lavon — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 20:29:39 +0000

Well, it’s been over 6 months since I posted in this blog. My excuse is that I managed to over commit myself in several areas. So, now my goal is to “un” commit in as many as I can so that I can focus on some priorities–like my health (ha ha). That’s my story and I am sticking to it.

To that end, blogs are time consuming and require a commitment if you wish to do them successfully. Despite my lack of consistence and to a certain extent lack of success, I am convinced that blogs can be a vital part of most classrooms. They offer conversation and idea sharing to build. They exist inside and outside the realm of the classroom. It seems like a valuable resource that I will continue to explore and hopefully one day master.

The Powerpoint from January 26th PD day. weblogging09_manistee

The Handout, too. manistee_bloghandout

Crossroads Writing Project Summer Institute

Lavon — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:53:09 +0000

I just spent four days with seventeen other people. We are all teachers, writers and women. The days were long, twelve hours minimum, but the bonding was once again amazing. I don’t know what the magic is–shared experience, writing about yourself, the type of people who choose to come or a combination of all of those. We will be spending three more weeks togehter writing, discussing, researching and demonstrating. We will learn more about teaching, writing, each other and most importantly to most ourselves. I am happy to once again be on this journey called Summer Institute. No one who has never participated can truly understand the life changing experience of this workshop. Every year it’s a little different, but every year I see countless rewards for myself and for those who come to participate for the first time.

Conversations in Technology

Lavon — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:43:28 +0000

Jenny, or someone with similar humor, has tagged our workshop, “Got Technology.” We are all discovering what technology we’ve got (want), etc. It is amazing what you can find when you begin to “surf” blogs or the web in general. We have definitely “got” technology, but now we need to know how we can best use this to teach our students. I think the possibilities are endless.

Hope you all are finding things that are new and useful.

April already!!

Lavon — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:17:19 +0000

So, I have not done a spectacular job of keeping this blog current or particularily interesting. It is amazing what a schedule that is too full will do to ones creative powers.

That is what has happened (or at least that is my excuse). I thought I had learned the word NO, but it is apparent that once again I probably said “Yes, I can do that!” a few too many times. I am doing what I said I would (all of it as far as I know), but I am not sure how well some of it is getting done.

The seniors in my high school classes are complaining about all they have to do before they graduate and I think to myself, “if you only knew.” They are also part of the reason that I don’t have enough time. With 30+ essays a week to read, planning lessons in hopes of engaging 18 year olds who already know everything of value and then keeping tabs on them when they are in the building is sapping most of my energy. We are on the last few yards of the mad dash to the finish.

Soon, I will dedicate myself to keeping this blog current and maybe even interesting or enlightenting.

After the MRA Presentation

Lavon — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:01:37 +0000

I was happy with the turnout and response from the attendees. Some requested copies of the handout and PowerPoint slideshow…however I was unable to upload at Cobo despite repeated attempts. In early April (when I am on vaction) I will attempt it again.

It worked. Blogging PowerPoint MRA It is now available.

MRA Presentation

Lavon — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:44:25 +0000

Hello, it’s been a while. I cannot believe how time flies. As always I have been so busy that I don’t even have time for the things I know are important and that feed my soul (aka writing and reading for fun). So…this blogs sits here neglected and alone.

Sonja and I are presenting at the MRA this weekend. If you were one of the people who attended our session I hope it sparked an interest in including Blogs in your classroom. The recently added feature of, what I am calling, “sub-blogs” should make classroom use even easier and more safe as well. Let me know what you thought of the information and/or pose questions by commenting on my post. If a response is not readily found, drop me an email (it’s on the packet). Thanks for coming to check out our presentation and my pitiful (so neglected) blog.

Technology Glitches and More

Lavon — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 19:23:37 +0000

Hello, if you attended the technology day at FSU on June 20th you may have been waiting for this post. After checking the site a few times over the days that followed our meeting I got discouraged and then too busy. But now I am here and the site is working. I am nearly ecstatic. I hope that despite the glitches you learned something useful and that you will consider incorporating blogs and/or wikis in your teaching practice. I appreciated our discussion and am trying to address you questions in my future inserve planning.

I realized after you all were gone that I didn’t address the classroom management question from our morning session at the end of that day as I had promised. If someone is interested in that discussion and or description, please comment and I’ll respond.

The presentation is available now. Enjoy and don’t forget to continue asking questions if you have them (and tell me about your successes )

Blogging Presentation

Lavon — Sat, 05 Aug 2006 12:59:21 +0000

It was suggested that people would like to review the PowerPoint (Blogging) that I used to present the information about blogs and blogging in education. If you have problems and/or questions. Please comment here.