We are each others best resource. When teachers make the decision to become part of a community where they share and learn with other educators they become stronger and better teachers. This is a wonderful time to be a teacher because it is so easy to find others who are eager to connect and share. During this activity you got were introduced to many resource sharing blogs and websites. It is my hope that you will visit them frequently and encourage your colleagues to do the same When we share it is the students who ultimately benefit.Now that you have had some time to reflect on the idea of sharing resources and ideas with other teachers, what do you think about it? Does the idea of sharing fit into your teaching philosophy? Had you given this topic much thought before this class? If you shared resources with other teachers before were the inside your building/district or beyond? Do you think you might be more open to sharing now if you were opposed to it prior to this class? Please share a link to one thing you learned while perusing one of the resource sharing sites that you think your colleagues in this class might benefit from seeing.
This lesson contained a wealth of different resources that I could use in the library such as Web20guru.wikispaces.com, cooktools for schools.wikispaces.com, 21stCenturyLit.org, www/eduteacher.net, instaGrok,Speakaboos, Awesome Stories. You could spend hours exploring each of the sites listed, which I plan to do a more indepth search of subject sites, so that I can share resources that might be helpful to teachers. Sharing has always been part of my teaching philosophy - it something works for you, then it might help another teacher.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that sharing is part of your philosophy. That will come in handy when we get to Twitter.
ReplyDeleteI want to strongly encourage your to share the Edutecher website with your colleagues. Adam Bellow is the founder of this fantastic site and he is a great friend of mine. I know how much time he invests in the site. Another one that is at the top of my list is freetech3teachers from Richard Byrne. He is another educator who devotes countless hours to finding resources and writing about them.
Sharing... I am on board. In the jobs I have had over the years, I find myself much happier and successful when involved with teammates that are open and willing to share ideas and materials. The video was interesting. I use others ideas from blogs and websites on a daily basis. But just like blogging hadn't considered putting my own ideas out there to share beyond my school and district. I looked at many of the websites on the Boot Camp page, I need to look for a place to share materials, especially things like center ideas and accountability records, that I know that forever to make and could be used by others. The video had a very good message, I agree that sharing is a necessity in our field but to say it is an obligation is a bit stronger than I feel.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I need to consider before sharing the things that I have made for use in my classroom, is the source of my graphics. I would hate to be sharing leading to plagiarizing. I believe that as long as no profit then most things are usable but I would want to be sure before sharing.
DeleteSarah-
DeleteI could spend the next 3 hours straight writing about why I feel so strongly about teachers sharing their ideas and resources. One of the things I feel very strongly about is that all teachers have something to share, but many don't think anyone will care. One of the blogs I linked to was Richard Byrne's Free Technology for Teaching. He started that blog 6 or 7 years ago for the teachers at the small school where he used to teach in Maine. It was easier for him to curate all of the things he found on the web that he wanted to share in a blog rather than email the links as he found them. He was really surprised people outside of his district had any interest in what he was writing about. Now with 50,000 subscribers he has one of the most popular educational blogs in the country.
I think it is wonderful for you to want to share things like your center ideas and accountability records. Do you know how many teachers would simply say that they "own" these things and have no intention of sharing them? Many teachers can be very territorial when it comes to the lessons and resources they have created. I think the point the video was trying to make is that when we have the ability to share things we have made that will directly benefit students we have a moral obligation to share them. I guess the way I look at it is I have some really good classes I have created in Moodle. I share them with other history teachers with no expectation of anything in return. I know that down the road I might use resources from other educators. It is sort of like a "pay it forward" mentality. This might make a good discussion at the boot camp!
One thing that I remember going through block is my instructor telling me not to reinvent the wheel. She told us time and time again that if it was out there (and it probably was)to use it. I agree completely. I have found many resources out there that I have either used or changed a little to use in the classroom. I personally would feel great if someone could use something that I have created. I know that there are people out there that feel that if they took the time to create it why just let other have it. I don't really understand this thought process but it happens.
ReplyDeleteI have used many different ideas that I have found from others blogs and school websites, but I guess I have never put much thought into the idea that it is my "job" to share what I do as well. I found David Wiley's idea that we as educators teach not only the students in the building but beyond. That is certainly made clear in the video from the father in Indonesia.
ReplyDeleteAs a technology team trainer and school librarian, it is kind of my job and mission to find new things for my teachers to use that will make their classrooms a better place. I have been sharing thoughts and resources for many years with the people in my district, but have never really put much thought into sharing that with the world. I guess I think that if I have learned something from someone else, then what really do I have to share because there are others who know more than me already! HA! I know that this is not the way to look at it, nor is it even true.
I can see where it is important to share with the world and I can also see the wonderful rewards that come from sharing globally, but the fact is that you make a MAJOR investment when you begin blogging and sharing with the world. It takes time to sit down and share with others. I am so very impressed with all those that do take the time out of their work and life to do so. The first person that comes to mind is Richard Byrne who many times posts more than one thing every day and travels the country doing professional development all while still in charge of a classroom. It is an amazing responsibility to share!
One of the new resource sharing sites that I stumbled across while looking through the links was http://coolappsforschools.wikispaces.com/home
Another blog that I do look at regularly from the school library world is http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/
I don't see how you can work in the education field and not be sharing resources and information or looking for others ideas on how to solve your problem.
ReplyDeleteNow in the digital age, it is so much easier to share our ides, thoughts and feelings with the world. The resources I have picked up in this class are going to be great tools to connect with other educators, as well as my students. (Although you have not sold me on Twitter just yet.)
As the only teacher in my school which is 21 miles from town, I spend a lot of time looking for resources. I liked the site,CoolTools for SchoolsWiki. It had lists of sites in various topics and explained a little about each site. I can spend less time looking for resources.
ReplyDeleteI also like the site Langwiches by Sylvia Tolisano. It was amazing to see the improvement in student's writing through blogging.
When I first started teaching, actually while still in college, I noticed that there were limited resources for business teachers. When shopping in teacher stores I could find all sorts of books with worksheets and project ideas for elementary teachers and even high school core teachers. Yes, I could find material for computers, careers and money. But those were aimed at elementary students. I thought about writing books for teachers, but who was I, I had no experience and where does one someone from a small town in Wyoming go to accomplish such a task??? Needless to say that never happened. So, fast forward a couple of decades. I still can’t find much to use in teacher stores, but I can use the Internet as a resource. I still don’t find as much as I would hope to find and what I have found I have had to tweek considerably. Now that I am armed with more information on blogging and other tools, hopefully I can find more resources. I need to be willing to share projects that I have done. I take pride in the projects I create, but I do have a hard time sharing. (Why should I put hours of work into this and you get a hold of my creation and use it with little effort???) I need to grasp a hold of the “pay it forward” idea. While I will share with teachers I am close to I need to “put it out there” for anyone.
ReplyDeletehttp://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/ This site had so much information.
It is amazing of all of the wealth of information on the web, especially from the blogs. It is awesome that teachers share their wealth of information with other colleagues. In my experience I need to share more and hopefully do a better job in this practice. Sometimes I’m like a kid in a candy store and I try to share valuable tools with teachers in my district. I just want them to experience that feeling of being in the candy store. Now since I understand the power of Twitter I plan on using this tool more often. Digicon12 was an awesome source of information in helping us understand the advantages of sharing and making connections On my blog I have posted links to other blogs that have inspired me. Good hunting
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