Thing 6: Nings

My thoughts on Nings...

• a place with LOTS of information, thus, they can be very time consuming, unless one goes there with a focus.
• another Personal Learning Network.
• a voice for our profession (for I join those that pertain to my interests).

I enjoy the following Nings:

1. English Companion
2. Classroom 2.0
3. NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English
4. Teach AP
5. ACTELA (Arkansas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts)

Since Nings will no longer be free, teachers may not utilize this tool as much. Since I appreciate those that I follow, I would be glad to be financially supportive of their hard work, for I glean, borrow, use much from the great minds that visit these sites.

What are your favorite Nings? Know of one that I should visit/join? Please share!

Thing 12: Delicious

Delicious is a social-bookmarking tool, one we use with our students, (one that, although I use it....shhhhhhh....I actually prefer Diigo). With that said, now let me jump-even-more-on-board and encourage your use of this tech tool (or your using such a tool...some prefer Digg...and others!).

REASONS I LIKE Delicious:

1. My Network: I enjoy checking in on my network to see who is tagging what. Yes, this a great way to quickly access the the very latest of what my professional peers are reading. Cool.
2. Tags: By tagging my sources, I am, basically, in "old-fashion" terms, placing my links into a folder. Once I click on a tag, then on one page, are displayed all the links on that particular topic. Please click here to access my tags for Web 2.0 Tools.

Delicious remains a tool for encouraging students (and teachers alike) to be more organized, while serving as a place for links for papers, projects, and personal interests.

Hungry for ways to be more organized with all the vast amounts of online information? Then Delicious is the snack for you. Enjoy!

Year 2 Begins!

Year two begins with a new focus...on project-based learning. Always a proponent of projects, I am now embracing this new focus with even more enthusiasm...and apprehension.

Enthusiasm for the student engagement that I know this endeavor will bring.

Apprehension for the lack of understanding of the big picture.

Enthusiasm for the confidence that having completed one year in a 1:1 classroom. will bring to this new focus.

Apprehension as I modify my definition of project.

Enthusiasm for how little I will actually have to teach to ensure they learn. Cool, uh?

Yes, cool.