End of Summer

Summer, and my first two grad classes, are coming to an end. I have learned so much, too much maybe, and can't wait to learn more. I am excited to take another class, but am nervous becuase it really takes up a lot of time. Here I am, scrambling to finish all my work early so I can go on one last vacation before school starts. It would be nice if my school credited me the actual amount of hours I spend on my classes towards professional development, or at least the number of credit hours that I take!! It is frustrating that they want highly qualified, knowledgable teachers, yet not credit all of the hours teachers spend trying to better themselves. I know I'll get paid more eventually, but to do grad classes and then be expected to do 14 (minimum) additional hours of development is a lot! But, oh well. What makes me suffer only benefits my students!

The best part...

of taking the grad classes that I am is that I feel more prepared (and excited) to start teaching again in September. I've learned of so many new aspects of technology that I can share with my students. The last project that I completed, creating a digital story, might just be the best one yet. It is a project that I plan to implement at the beginning of the school year, provided I can find the time to teach them the technology I've learned! My school is switching to block scheduling and I'm a bit nervous! It will also be fun to share what I've learned with some of the teachers in my school that I know would enjoy the projects.

Finding stuff on the Web

While taking these classes, I am spending a terrific amount of time searching the Web for valuable and reliable information. I am also having a bit of a hard time doing it! It's not like I've never searched for something on the Internet before, but when you are looking for something educationally related, it is harder. I've found so many sites that are under a search that includes the word 'education' that are complete garbage! And it is very frustrating when sites are no longer being updated that you want to use! I've never bookmarked so many sites as I am doing this summer. Come September, I am sure I will have a great list of trustworthy websites to use!