Bringing the outside in with the visual

I really liked the idea behind this. From visual arguments to writing prompts, I could see the use of these images as being instrumental in the classroom.

Burke’s Ning

Well, since I’m on break, I’ve been able to check out some of the blogs I like to skim through. (Ah, break. It’s such a wonderful thing!)

Anyway, here is a post about none other than Jim Burke himself! If this name doesn’t ring a bell, look him up. Some of you may recognize his name from some of my other posts. (His book is one that I read throughout the semester.)

The ning is becoming an increasingly popular avenue for attracting people into a social networking realm based specifically on what the admin person assigns it to focus on. (Think: facebook for teachers only — well, kind of, but not really.) Burke’s ning can be found here. I haven’t joined yet (though that is on the top of my break to-do list), but definitely think English teachers at any level should check it out. And, I particularly like the focus for “new teachers,” which is mentioned in Burke’s commentary on the EdWeek blog post.

Another reason I find this ning beneficial is because I think as educators, we need to join together and strengthen not only our own pedagogical strategies, but help others see all of the neat things we are doing in our classrooms, too!

So break or no break, check out the ning…

I survived!

That’s right — I survived! Survived what you ask? Well, here’s what I survived:

• 19 GRADUATE credit hours
• MIDDLE school
• teaching engineers

Before I decided to double degree (or whatever you call it), there were many who doubted and questioned my decision. “There’s no way you can do all of that,” and “Are you really sure this is what you want to do?” Well, those were just a few of the comments. Until the start of the semester, I kept quiet. Colleagues asked how I was managing and my response was always the same, “We will know soon enough!” But now that the semester is over, I’m not holding it in — I DID IT!!!

But enough of all that (though it still feels GREAT to hear myself say that I’m done, haha!:-) )…on to my semester reflection!