This has been and in all truth is still a crazy week. I helped organize a guest speaker at our school to help raise funds and awareness for our Global Issues Club; I have been finishing up two major projects- one on Rome and another connecting growing plants and literacy, I am still trying to find time for the write-ups for both; I am waiting for permissions slips from parents to allow me to share the eight-minute video we made about the former. I am also helping my video journalism class finish up their latest news reports. Not an easy task when dealing with 22 seventh and eighth graders who are do not have enough resources to do their work.

All-in-all life at school has been, is, (I can’t pick a tense, I am so busy) as it should be- very busy and very rewarding. I am extremely happy with and proud of the work my students are doing. And if I do say so myself, I feel I am creating a very student based atmosphere, which allows them to find their own interests and learn. This will be proven in the Rome write-up coming soon.

Then there is the Labor Art project, which is off to a pretty good start. I am in touch with Mr. Mayo and Clarence Fischer about possible collaborations. We want to see if we can get a good look at how kids from different regions understand the role labor plays in their daily lives. In addition to these things, the semester is ending, which means assessments and grades. And I am going on a Week-Without-Walls trip to the Malaysian rainforest with 119 eighth graders.

Wheew! Deep breath….

In Web 2.0 world, I am getting ready to start my kids on blogs, finally, when we get back from the trip. I am reading Twitter and blog posts like crazy, but not finding the time to comment like I want to. Here at IntrepidTeacher, I am at a loss as to who my audience is. I know that the educators with whom I am in contact with and whose work I am reading daily are hearing and reading the same things as me. This is known in the Edublogospehere as the echo chamber. Both terms I am becoming very familiar with, but one of the main reasons for this blog was to spread the echo into my immediate environment and for the staff at my school to also read these amazing ideas. So if you are working with me here at ASD and are a regular reader of this blog, I ask that you read some of the amazing articles listed below, and drop me a line in the comment box that says you have been here. Remember the point of blogging is conversations, communication, and connection.

Evaluating Technology Use in the Classroom

Peering Inside a Cyber Savvy World about Growing Up Online which is generating a lot of talk, and Work With the Willing.

And some great student voices: Tuna’s Aquarium, Student 2.o, and NYC Student Blog.

I wish I had time to comment on all of these amazing educators and learners, but there really aren’t enough hours in the day. Time to get back to work and start writing those summaries and write-ups for my projects.