Mini DVD's and Quomo Tablets

Last Wednesday I attended a ministry conference on "Evaluation of Learning vs. Evaluation for Learning." Although the meeting itself was very informative and I came away with a mountain of Graphic Organizers for my kids - Now I face the task of IMPLEMENTATION... Which is always the issue with getting new ideas, how to integrate them into your already established routine? Here are some of the ideas I'm wrestling with:

Matthew's Mini DVD recorder - One of my colleagues from the South Shore was telling us about using a Mini DVD camcorder to record his student's reflections. Each students gets their own mini DVD at the beginning of the year and then takes 1-2 minutes out of their lab time to record their thoughts and feelings. As I have been trying to find new ways of getting my students to present their work, this idea shows much promise.

Quomo Wireless Tablets - QIT30 - This is an interesting idea I read about on the EdTechTalk website, where Chris was discussing the use of these wireless tablets and their impact on teaching Math in the classroom. One tablet can connect to 30 different computers, it also records video, you can stop and write onto videos, and all of the problems you are working through can be uploaded later into a website for students who are absent. Although this may get better use at a higher level, 4it also sounds like an interesting new toy - perhaps an alternative to the Active/Smart Board technology that everyone is going crazy for?

Back to the skiing conditions! The laurentians are still the best place to find real snow these days, however, as it's early in the season we keep flipping between snow and rain. Hopefully, once the break has some and gone the temperatures will settle down. And one more question: Should I move my telemark bindings onto my twin tips? Tough decisions...

Getting Out There

The skiing season has begun once again, and as such, I find myself more and more distracted. However, I have been amusing myself greatly through my discovery of Google and all of it's educational functions. The greatest of which was the use of Google Reader. Now I'm tracking a handful of Blogs across North America and Europe, and every day I'm coming across new and exciting sites...Xtranormal for example came from Martin Weller in the UK. Or Jean Tower's blog K12EduBuzz - calling us out on the challenge of integrating a new technology into our classrooms.

In short, I'm enjoying myself! The only problem now is keeping up with the massive amounts of information and ideas that are flowing steadily into my classroom.

Sink or swim.

Today's pic is an old favorite, I had it set as my background for quite some time. Naturally, all of the kids would ask me: "Sir! Is that you?" To which I would invariably answer: "Yes."