So, I will be starting at my fourth school in four years in just over a week.  I’ve been trying to think of more interesting ways to get to know my students, so I’ve been experimenting with Wordle.net. I typed in my name and several words that either describe me or that I enjoy.

If you aren’t familiar with Wordle, it’s really easy to use. You simply type in your text and it does the rest.  The more frequently you type a word, the larger it appears. You can select your font and color scheme and you can also have the text scattered about the page.  I think this will be a great tool for the kids to show who they are.  To answer one of Will Richardson’s questions – What did you create today? I created an image of myself in words. (I just wish colored ink wasn’t so darn expensive so I could allow then to use color for the full effect.)

I am also stealing an idea I read about in the TL in the classroom blog. This librarian was excessed from her librarian position and is now teaching 7th grade language arts (God bless her!).  She’s blogging about her experiences and she had a great idea for using Google Forms to collect contact information from parents into one place with almost no effort on her part.  And no unnecessary paper use.

I created a library survey to use with my third-sixth graders which will give me a snapshot of where they stand in terms of computer use and reading preferences. The best part is, all of the data will be compiled for me in one place that I can access from home or school.  I won’t be lugging hundreds of sheets of paper home with me and the district will save a ream of paper. I can see so many potential uses for this application! I would be remiss if I didn’t also give credit to Polly Farrington for initially teaching me about Google Forms and Spreadsheets.  She just taught us so much that day that I forgot about it until it saw it applied.

I think this is going to be one of the best years ever!

School starts in 11 days.  I wrote some lesson plans in early July when the weather was miserable, but I haven’t written any since.  I really need to get on that.  My biggest stumbling block is that I have too many ideas and I’m finding it hard to focus.  Will Richardson’t most recent blog post What did you create today? has given me a different lens through which to view my plans.  Mr. Richardson goes beyond the basic “What did you learn today?” to create a list of questions that he hopes parents will ask and children will be able to answer.  Questions that measure the depth of learning.  Questions that we as teachers should ask ourselves as we plan.  Are we giving our students tools to create meaning? To create change in the world? Are we empowering them by encouraging them to ask difficult questions and helping them find the answers?

It’s an almost overwhelming task, but these questions will help me narrow down my ideas.  Time to get to work.

A friend posted the following Helen Keller quote on Facebook yesterday and I really like it, so I wanted to post it here.

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”

Since my life has been full of transitions these past few years, I think this is a thought I need to keep in the front of my  mind.

This is not just for the big things, though.  This is also something to remember for all those little things that come up in life. When the pouring rain spoils the camping trip; when the restaurant is sold out of your favorite dish; when overtime means dinner on your own, to name a few.  How often do we look at these closed doors of happiness and miss an opportunity for unplanned/unexpected happiness?   I can think of too many instances where I have done this.

Happily, I can also think of times where I didn’t miss the open door.  A few years ago it seemed to rain every time we went camping.  We spent lots of time being disappointed, but then we got out the board gam es. We spent far more time gaming than we do on typical trips and had more fun together than we had had in a long time. Next time you face a disappointment, try not to focus on the closed door and look for the open door.  You might find something even better!

If you are reading this, I imagine you are shocked to find that I am actually adding a post.  To be honest, I’ll be surprised if anyone actually reads this.  It will take me some time to get readers back, but I’ll try to be more consistent this year.

I’m sitting in a class on web 2.0 tools with Polly Farrington and the current instruction is to set up a blog, so now is as good a time as any to get back to work on this.

This is going to be another year of change as I am changing schools again.  This time the change was voluntary, but it is uncomfortable just the same.  I can really relate to those kids who move around a lot.

My husband bought me two beautiful hanging flower baskets this year despite my tendancy to kill plants.   We spent some time at the garden center learning about how I should care for the plants.  One thing I learned is that I need to “deadhead” the flowers.  They won’t thrive as long as the dead flowers are hanging on.  I think this could be a life lesson.  We need to let go of that which no longer works for us in order to grow and thrive.  I’m working on that, but for now, we have to get back to class.  More later – I promise.