SUCCESS: What really worked for you this year...?

[Laura Gibbs]

For many of us, it's the end of the school year... and summer is a great time to reflect on the year's successes! Please take a minute to share some of your success with everybody here -

* Did you devise a really fantastic project...?

* Did you take your students on a fabulous field trip...?

* Did you gain some new insight into your school, your students, yourself...?

* Did you discover a resource that opened new doors for you...?

* Did you break out of your old routine in an exciting new direction...?

Share any and all details here, so that we all share in your success! :-)

[Laura Gibbs]

Hi Bill, that sounds like a very good year, indeed! The summer is a time for me to re-group and re-think also... my schoolwork finished about two weeks ago, so I'm already feeling like summer is really here and lots of little ideas that had been adrift in my brain during the school year are now able to take shape... with many more weeks of summer to come, to allow more taking shape to happen.

I don't know if you are interested in the history of mathematics, but I think we will be having a reading group here at the Fireside this summer on a book that a friend of mine highly recommended:
Greek Mathematical Thought and the Origin of Algebra by Jacob Klein

My main subjects are Latin/Greek - but I have a passion for math, so I am very intrigued by this book. I'm about to create a little group here at Fireside and put up an announcement about it. Apparently this is a venerable old book... and it also has the advantage of being available in a very inexpensive Dover paperback. I'll go create the group and write up the announcement right now before I forget! :-)

[Laura Gibbs]

Hi folks, I realized I had not replied to my own discussion question here: DOH!

NING. In terms of a teaching success, the answer is obvious - I started using a Ning for my online classes at the University of Oklahoma. This single change is huge compared to all the other little successes that I might list here. The students LOVE it - previously, I had used Bloglines for our blogging tool (that was okay, but not great) and the official course management system discussion board for discussion (that was TERRIBLE)... well, with the Ning, I am able to seamlessly combine the blogging and the discussions, and the students have so much fun interacting with each other in that space. They have such a good time picking just the right avatar which lends a face and personality to all their posts at the Ning, they customize their profile page by choosing a theme, adding videos, etc. - and the result has been just super. If anybody is interested in looking at the admittedly chaotic pile of stuff we accumulated over the past year, let me know and I'll be glad to send you an invite! And thanks as always to Connie and all the people who made Fireside such a great place to be over the past two years - it was my experience with Fireside the year before this one that led me to choose Ning for my classes this past year... with wonderful results. :-)

I led two lives... You could call this something like a meta-success, I guess - because in addition to teaching my regular online courses at Univ. of Oklahoma, I really pursued my Latin hopes and dreams this year. Although I wish I had time to do more, I still managed to do a lot, and I feel SO LUCKY that my job at University of Oklahoma is one which I can manage very carefully in terms of time so that every day I have at least a little bit of time for Latin things. And in that Latin world, of my gosh, so many great things happened: I published my Aesop's Fables in Latin book, I've got my blogging into a really good grove with a daily Bestiaria Latina Round-Up, I'm Twittering in Latin and English, with thanks to Or-Tal here at Fireside for helping me figure out how to do that bilingually.. and probably the biggest success of all is due to another Fireside connection here, learning about Tar Heel Reader where I am able to create TRULY simple Aesop's fables, again in both Latin and English. For those of you who have not visited Gary Bishop's Tar Heel Reader project yet, take a look: it is marvelous! Here are the fables I have published here: Aesop's fables at Tar Heel Reader.

HAPPY SUMMER!

[Kathryn L. Keene]

Last year, I was asked to develop a "smart goal". I had difficulty choosing between becoming greener using less paper) and developing an electronic portfolio. I chose the latter, because I became the first teacher in my school with a professional portfolio, taught my students to create one, and saved on paper and plastic by encouraging students to create their portfolios online. I also created a website for my course, which is a resource for absentees and an advertisement for what I do everyday. We are in the midst of contract negotiations. If everyone in my district created a portfolio and/or website advertising their expertise, teachers would garner more respect as professionals worthy of decent pay and benefits (my opinion). It is important to stay on top of technology, and if I can do it, so can anyone...Google Docs is the vehicle, and it is not difficult...
KLK

[Sara Bliss]

My students just finished a great service-learning project. For the past year they have been writing, recording, and producing their own original music during the Community Records Foundation After-School Songwriting Club in my program. During the fall session the students decided that they wanted to write a song to address animal rights. Together they wrote the hit single "Animals Need Respect. It became the title track of a compilation CD comprised of all their songs. They decided to sell the CD to benefit local animals. Our leadership club researched local animal rights agencies and selected Friends of Michigan Animals Rescue as a partner organization. We kicked off the CD sale in grand fashion with a CD Release Party at the library. http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20090503/NEWS24/905030554&S...
The students advertised and sold CDs for two weeks at their school and online. All in all, it was a great project. My students learned important lessons about the power of collaboration and self-expression, partnerships, giving back to their community, economics, language arts, and I'm sure much more. Here's a link to our song on the learn and serve website:
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/lib_cat/index.php?library_id...
Take a listen if you can.

[Connie Weber]

Sara, this is a magnificent model of what's important to do with students. What you're doing is empowering--likely life-changing-- for young people. I am so impressed with the depth, the breadth, the involvement reflected in the project.

And I'm even MORE excited because we're going to be linking up next year!! Yippee!! To me, that was one of the biggest bennies of the class we just took: meeting you.

Thank you for your tremendous energy, dedication, and follow-through. You are making a difference in the world--by teaching people that they can make a difference in the world.

Oh, I just thought of the word: you are a transformational teacher.

What a joy it is to have you as a colleague!

[Andrew]

This is brilliant and a perfect demonstration of where learning needs to be now. Students need to be creators of content. Process and Assessment become one. Thanks for this inspiring example!

[Sara Bliss]

Ohhh...transformational...we should have added that to our vision statement! You make me blush. I am grateful for this opportunity to dialog with thoughtful and insightful educators. Thank you very much for developing such an outstanding forum. I look forward to learning many new ideas and transforming myself further through the interaction.

[Janice Robertson]

I changed school last year. I'm a teacher librarian and the library at my new location was not set up in a manner that I felt was conducive to the way I envisioned the library working, so I came in over the summer, several days a week, and fixed it up. I removed 17 pieces of furniture, threw out many bins worth of junk, and rearranged almost everything. Now when i walk into the library, I have an instant feeling of joy. A student just the other day told me there was a great "vibe" in the library and that it was now a cool place to hang out. Many staff members have told me how much they appreciate the beautiful space that the library has become, and how much more functional it is. I also successfully negotiated the addition of 9 new computers, so we now have a mini lab of 13. Students are becoming very comfortable using the technology. My only regret is that I didn't take before and after pictures. The library is truly beautiful now, and that's my big success story!
I realized that clearing out the junk allows students to see more clearly what is actually there! A TON of kids thought that I'd purchased new books because they could finally see many of the great books that remained after the dust settled.

[Patrick Chukwura]

I know this may be late and something probably for next year, but I released a product that some students and teachers loved. Basically it (Cram)allows you to study and prepare for tests on your Mac, iPhone or BlackBerry. http://www.simpleleap.com/cram/mac.htm

[Brian]

I am a Technology Resource Teacher (AKA "ITRT" in Virginia) and took the plunge to teach all six fourth grade classes how to make videos in Movie Maker. We found out:
--we had NO discipline or management issues
--Sp. Ed. students BLOSSOMED and made impressive videos
--Families got involved at home (homework)
--Other grade levels noticed the enthusiasm of students

Slowly, but surely, my two buildings are seeing the effectiveness and usefulness of integrating technology as a resource!

[Teachers TV]

Hi Laura,

I thought I'd share the information about the new series From Good to Outstanding from Teachers TV as this is all about how to go from being a good teacher to being an outstanding teacher, which seemed relevant to this thread.

The series started on 9th June 2009 and we would really like more teachers to get involved and let us know what they think.

Here’s a bit more about the programmes: Taking a teacher who was rated ‘good’ by their school, viewers will have the opportunity to give their advice about how they could deliver an ‘outstanding’ lesson. After also receiving advice from specialist coaches, we find out what impact the experience has had on each teacher taking part.

Read more about secondary science teacher Hana and early years teacher Rachel in the discussion group as they are interviewed by Teachers TV. Hana and Rachel welcome your advice after their first lesson which is now live, so do get involved.

Thanks in advance for your contributions.

Beth Granter
On behalf of Teachers TV

[Laura Gibbs]

Thanks, Beth! I looked at some of the videos at your site yesterday and was really impressed by how it is all put together - there is great information provided about just where the videos come from and what we can try to learn from watching them, and the coverage of so many different subjects and grade levels was really impressive (that's one of the things I like about Fireside, too - the chance to interact with people teaching such different subjects at such different levels).

I don't know if it's just me, but I had better luck accessing the site going in through this address instead of using the bit.ly abbreviated address (bit.ly is a much more sophisticated version of tinyurl; some of you have probably seen it being used at Twitter recently). Anyway, the teachers.tv address is not really long at all and it loads much faster, at least for me, this way:
http://www.teachers.tv/
The "From Good to Outstanding" section is here: http://www.teachers.tv/good

So, if people have not seen this marvelous UK initiative, it is definitely worth taking a look at. I was really impressed at what I saw in the videos I watched yesterday...I know that it is a big effort to develop a video-initiative like this, and I am so glad they have found a way to share it online with the world! :-)