| Inspiration: stimulation or arousal of the mind, feelings, etc, to special or unusual activity or creativity. I love it! The word suggests such beautiful possibilities. I find myself continually inspired by the smallest and most unlikely things all the time (my son's Beyblades, pots of dye, worms in the garden...) more so now than ever before. I'm wondering why it is that today, when available time seems scarce, that there are so many things I want to do and try (both in my personal life and in my classroom)? I was reminded of this when sitting in a fantastic workshop this past Monday night listening to Adrienne Gear speaking about her Writing Power book and how she teaches writing in her classroom. I was thinking of ways to improve my teaching the students to become better writers (triple scoop words, similes, personification...). I also came away with a list of great new children's lit titles, I have a weakness for great books! All in all, a great and practical workshop and I am inspired to write more myself and help my students write more. Through the rest of the week though, I kept coming back to my problem with time. There is such a short period of time to do so many things, something I know we all battle with. Lately, I have been working on incorporating technology in the classroom and starting my students on their individual blogs. What I have decided for me right now is to continue with what I am already doing in the classroom and use Adriennne's suggestions as my "mini lessons" that precede my student's writing time. I know, earth shattering, right? I mean, when I'm inspired with great ideas, I'm tempted to throw out the old and in with the new, but I need a little more continuity being there is already many things we are trying with the new technology this year. So, hopefully we will see improvement in student writing on their blogs.... In the meantime here is what is inspiring me.... |
Allowing students to direct and test their own inquiry. I need to do more of this. The learning involved is fantastic.
Watching my son and wondering....
I love your use of Skitch in this blog. You are inspiring me to become a better teacher! I am so glad that we get to continue to work together and learn from each other.
ReplyDeleteThanks Niki,
ReplyDeleteYes, it is great to work together! Thanks for helping me with following through with ideas and actually making them come to life in the classroom!
Lora, I also love that you used Skitch in your blog post. But more importantly I love your excitement for learning and integrating technology. I can't tell you how thankful I am to know that there are others like me in our district. Keep learning and sharing. It's so powerful and so contagious.
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