It’s always a strange feeling to start a new blog. There is the sentiment that one need lay out a course of action, write their exposition, or explain oneself fully before getting started, and while I feel that pressure to do this, I am finally ready to simply jump right in start this blog. My friend and former co-worker Kim Cofino has been hounding me to start one since we parted ways last year, and I realize now that it is time. I have waited long enough. I will let the subsequent posts build my networks. This blog has been a long time coming. Having said all that, I cannot in good conscience start this blog like this. Let me briefly outline some goals I have for this space.
I hope Intrepid Teacher will be:
- A place for personal reflection about teaching, Language Arts, and technology
- A place to share websites, ideas, and Web 2.0 tools with ASD teachers
- A place to network with other Next Gen teachers
I value personal reflection in nearly all aspects of my life. I cannot read a book, watch a movie, or participate in a discussion and not feel obligated to reflect on what I have absorbed in one way or another. I am compelled to record and document my observations. So it only seems fitting that I should have a place to share my thoughts on the most important aspect of my life- my career.
As teachers, we all understand the importance of experimenting with new ideas, reflecting on successful and failed assignments, and simply taking the time to observe our feelings about our work. I hope this blog can be a place that helps me study, document and share the aspects of my job that I feel are important, because teaching is more than a job to me; it is the tool I have chosen to do my part in changing the world. I feel that life is a dynamic and exciting experience. I don’t want my work to be the least exciting part of what I do. It is not. My days are spent in constant degrees of euphoria and anguish. I feel it valuable to better articulate these highs and lows, both on personal and professional levels.
In addition, I hope my passion for blogging and technology will inspire and encourage my peers to join the discourse I am establishing, not only to help better serve our students, but so we can help each other become better educators. And so, in addition to simply sharing my thoughts, feelings, and ideas about my classroom, I hope this can blog will become a place where we as a school community can share websites, ideas, and Web 2.0 tools to help all of us better integrate technology into our curriculum.
At the moment, I feel quite disconnected with the people I work with and I am not sure how, where, or even if technology is being used on our campus. I hope this blog will help me identify where it is or isn’t being used. I further hope that by leading by example and modeling these new tools, other teachers will begin to feel confident in using them as well. I would like Intrepid Teacher to be a place where teachers can engage in conversations about how to best use technology. I invite all teachers who are currently using these tools to please connect with me, so we can start building learning networks here at ASD.
As I mentioned earlier, at my last school I worked closely with Kim Cofino and other teachers like Clarence Fisher. By working with these groundbreaking educators, I was constantly in the loop on what was going on in the Next Gen world. Today, I feel that I am losing touch with the latest ideas, techniques for integration, and tools. I hope this blog will re-connect me with the exciting work that other educators are doing all over the globe. You will find a short list of blogs I am currently subscribed to in the sidebar. Please start to read and interact with them as well. I hope to start communicating better with these educators and promoting by blog, If you know of others, I am open to reading them as well. I hope that some of us will become members of a global teaching network soon. A network that will helps its member’s better use technology and become better educators.
In closing, I hope this blog will be a place where I can share who I am, what I think, and what I do professionally with as many people as possible. As a language arts teacher, I teach my students that reading, writing, communicating, and inquiry are valuable skills. I teach them that we are life long learners and that seeking knowledge is a valuable enterprise. So now I want to do what I teach…
I hope that you will read, comment on, and share the upcoming posts. I hope that you will become excited and inspired, and start your own blog. I hope that we can use the tools available to us to integrate technology into out daily teaching practices, so as to better learn how to integrate them into our classrooms. If you have any questions about subscribing to this blog or setting up RSS reader accounts (so you can get the latest post sent to you) Stay tuned! I will post some videos and directions soon, or you can send me an email or stop by room 3208 to chat. Please leave comments below.
The lessons and the sharing start soon. Get ready!
Congratulations Jabiz! I am so looking forward to continuing our conversations from last year here on your blog! While you’re on a roll, add one more thing to your to-do list, please: create a Twitter account so we can all have moment to moment updates on the life and times of Intrepid Teacher 🙂
Inspiring post!
If every person in the world could read this, understand the implications of your comments for kids, and internalize your passion, the world would be a different place. Thank you for being the teacher who you are and for having the courage to write about your reflections on your practice. It will make a difference in a lot of lives.
I have two questions. How do you define “Next Gen Teachers,” and why do you choose to network with only them?
Regards,
Dennis Richards
I found my way here through Kim…she mentioned your blog on Twitter. I enjoyed reading your first post, and hope that you will find blogging as rewarding as I have.
If you haven’t tried out Twitter, I highly recommend it. There’s a large network of ed tech folks there sharing some great ideas. I’ve found it one way I can really stay on top of the new and exciting technologies emerging everyday.
Where are you located, by the way?
Welcome to the blogging world! I so relate to this particular line in your post: My days are spent in constant degrees of euphoria and anguish. This is true for many of us, and I look forward to your thoughts on how to find balance.
It is a pleasure to welcome a fellow blogger!
Your Voice is calm and reflective, and I look forward to sharing your insights.
I am a K-12 Librarian, which means I am the only Librarian in my school district. My blog, RSS feeds, and Twitter network help to moderate my sense of professional isolation.
In our connected world, collaboration is not only possible but necessary.
How wonderful to extend those connections yet again.
diane
Welcome to the neighborhood. Can hardly wait to read more! Great to have you bringing the flame to teaching.
Hello Jabiz from Melbourne, Australia,
had a read of your blog after hearing about it from Kim Cofino on twitter. It’s great that you have started blogging and I look forward to reading more of your reflections. I too am most interested in global collaboration.
Jo McLeay
Well done Jabiz! I look forward to learning (and sharing) new strategies for increasing student learning in the medium in which they are most comfortable, and to connecting with like-minded educators – those who think that learning can be most effectively garnered through technology. And of course, through passion.
Hey Jabiz, thank you for developing this blog! I too look forward to learning and sharing, in fact, I have already developed my “Twitter” account:-)
Looking forward to many great connections, reflections, and professional growth! The ideas are already tinkering away. Thanks for taking the great step forward and leading such an initiative here.
Adam
Ahlan wa sahlan from Korea? Hall tatakallum al-Arabia?
Welcome aboard from a Yank in the Far East (Korea). It’s a big world out here!
Hey, I teach literature too. High school level. What age-group/grades do you teach?
Well said. Your voice echoes many of us in the edublogosphere. Keep it up.
Congratulations on starting your blog! And also welcome to Twitter. I too look forward to learning (and sharing) with you and other like-minded educators. I am sure you will feel re-connected now, and I hope this reverberates back to your current school location.
Congrats on having started your blog. You have great goals and I look forward to networking with you. You will soon feel connected with others who share your passions.
Jabiz, hello from Virginia (US),
I totally enjoyed your blog and posts; in fact, they are uplifting. It’s interesting how teachers/tech teachers around the world are all the same! I always enjoy seeing everyone’s ClustrMaps and how the world gets smaller and smaller. I plan to come back and read your posts often,
Brian
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Hi Jabiz,
I have always – secretly – loved reading your blogs and admired you for writing it. I admit I don’t as often as I do, besieged by all the issues that come with breathing a day in and out.
You have come a long way from this first post. Good on ya! Keep writing. And yes, you might just have inspired me to blog again.