Category Archives: Blog

Photo Credit: ToGa Wanderings via Compfight cc

For the past month, I participated in a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on digital citizenship.  What is a MOOC you ask? A MOOC is an online course that allows unlimited participation and open access via the internet. MOOCs use traditional course materials such as videos, readings, and problem sets as well as creates a community for many people from many different places to collaborate and learn.  In this MOOC, participants had access to a focused weekly webinar focused on digital citizenship with other webinars available that focused on ways that educators could build an online presence and make connections.

What did I learn from this MOOC?  I learned that I have a whole lot to learn! 🙂 I will use our Week 5 questions to share my final thoughts and next steps.

What is one big take-away for you from #DCMOOC, and what will you do with that information?

One big take-away revolves around making sure that as a teacher I continuously stress digital citizenship with my students.  Digital Citizenship is not just a course and/or curriculum that is taken and forgotten about it, but a mindset that should pervade every part of a person’s life.

Going forward, what else do you feel you need to know about digital citizenship, and what will you do to learn about it?

As I look at my students and the community I work in, I think that finding inventive ways to educate households about digital citizenship will be a huge undertaking.  I plan to continue to connect with the people I’ve met through the MOOC to share ideas and brainstorm ways to assist with this.  I also need to work with my students on copyrighted information.  I’ve found various ways to find and access pictures in the correct way and I plan to work with them on showing them the process.

Will you continue to stay connected and engaged with the #DCMOOC community, and, if so, how do you plan to do so? What are your suggestions for continuing to learn about and discuss digital citizenship together after the course ends?

I definitely plan to stay connected with the #DCMOOC community through Twitter and Google+.  I use TweetDeck as my Twitter platform so I have tabs for DCMOOC hashtag (#dcmchat) and the DCMOOC Twitter list.  I also have a tab for the Digital Citizenship hashtag (#digcit).  The resources that are available just through Twitter are a great help, but I also continuously search for other resources and Common Source Media is a definitely an amazingly comprehensive resource.

Big shout out to my colleague, @TechRhett, who shared this MOOC with me.  It was my first, but it definitely won’t be my last!

Until the next time,

I can’t believe that the school year is almost over!  In an earlier post I talked about making sure the kids had work to do as we wind up the school year.  And our team makes SURE of that!  Although the kids look at us like we’re crazy, I think they crave the structure and discipline that we provide as we wind down the school year.  Another favorite way to keep kids occupied and engaged is to do a “Book In A Day”.

With the Book In A Day, we read one book all day long.  Each period covers different sections of the book. We do activities with each section and then the students compare and contrast the movie.  The kids love it!  During Christmas time, we read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and this year for the end of the year we read How to Eat Fried Worms!

My The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Book In a Day unit is already in my TpT store now.  I’m finishing up my How to Eat Fried Worms unit and would love some feedback.  If you’re interested, please leave me a comment below with your email address and I will send it to you.  I’d really appreciate it!

Until the next time,

I attended a beautiful home going service today. It was for my 6th and 8th grade Math teacher, who in later years became my sorority sister and coworker.  I hate Math….can barely count to ten is what I tell my kiddos, but I loved her as a teacher.  At the service I saw my favorite teacher of all time, Mrs. Dupree.  I love her and she loves me.  I still stop by her house to talk when I go home and I bring my precocious baby girl with me when I go – because Mrs. Dupree insists.

On the ride home, I began thinking about these two amazing women (as well as a few others!) and why they stand out significantly when I think about my childhood years.  I began to ask myself, “What did they do that made them such excellent teachers?”   Here are my thoughts:

1.  They loved what they did.

Now, anyone who knows me – knows about my love/hate relationship with Math.  I loved Algebra, hated Geometry, and only took Pre-Cal because I was forced to.  Senior year I took NO math, because I’d met my requirement and Physics was close enough.  I didn’t particular like 6th or 8th grade math either, but I loved Mrs. Footman.  She loved math and I reckon she had enough enthusiasm for the both of us.  Her face lit up as she demonstrated the math problems on the chalk board…..and when we got it!  She kept us after class, during lunch, or after school to help us if we didn’t.  I even remember my mom calling her at home for help- and she never hesitated.

As for Mrs. Dupree, she was my English IV and AP English teacher.  She loved the classics and made us love them too!  I mean who wouldn’t get excited when your teacher recited Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy?  Hmmmm?  She made me fall in love with old troublesome Healthcliffe and scrappy Pip.  She made our discussions lively and fun and you could see the joy on her face.

2.  They were firm but fair.

Sometimes I sit in amazement at how much education has changed in the last 20+ years….how much children have changed in the last 20+ years.  Growing up, there was always one student who got regularly paddled – for me that Mener (and yes, his name was Mener).  Now, there are anywhere from 3-5.  But the potential for children to be….well, children…. is always there.  They were not afraid to reprimand a student who was misbehaving, and you knew that it would happen whether they cared for you or not.  In fact, it was in their caring that forced them to acknowledge and redirect inappropriate behavior.  I was a good student….a great student….for the most part, but I was still occasionally subjected to a stern glance or a voice of reprimand.  I can’t think of anyone who felt inappropriately slighted.

3.  They just were.

There’s no way I can explain it or adequately describe it..  They just were.

• They were kind.
• They were knowledgeable.
• They were intelligent.
• They were passionate.
• They were thoughtful.
• They were available.

And it is my hope that once my time on this earth is done, that my students will reflect fondly on me and say that I was too.

Until the next time,