My First Meme-School 2.0

I love this pic so Im keeping it for my meme too.

Thanks for the tag Mr. Moses, I appreciate my first meme. Without your google link I would of thought meme just meant talking about ME so others could learn what I thought about specific issues. Now I understand it has to do with imitation, adaptation, and ideas leaping from one brain to the next and not just ME.

1. Is School 2.0 about technology or pedagogy (teaching methods)?
Its about teaching methods but with a clear understanding that technology should be a primary focus of changing schools. School 1.0 is the traditional school with traditional classrooms, administration, and teaching methods. 2.0 is not. Thats the point.

2. What were 1-3 things you had to”unlearn” to become an effective teacher?
That education doesn't take place only in a 30 desk classroom. That there are a lot more resources for educators than textbooks and worksheets. Am I yet an effective teacher?

3. Did you learn these poor practices in your teacher preparation program, or somewhere else? If so, where?
Yes, and yes. Life as a student in HS and college. I didn't see my first powerpoint presentation with pictures until my senior year in college, that was 4 years ago.

4. Describe the philosophy of your teacher preparation program in 25 words or less.
To prepare the best possible teachers to lead multi-cultural, 20th century classrooms. Quickly! We need bodies!

5. What age/grade level do you teach? When did you attend school at that level?
Grades 9 - 12, 1989-1993

6. When were you in your teacher preparation program?
Cal State Northridge, 2003-2004

I have no one to tag, all the people whose blogs I read don't know me yet., except the ones that Mr. M tagged.

3 Goals

Ive put a lot of thought into what my goals are for this school year, and Ive narrowed it down to 3 things.


1. Be persistent- Drive the kids crazy with communication. Yes, utilize the face time as best as possible but more importantly, talk to them when they aren't on campus. Many kids in our model dont reply or dont read their emails, so I have to call. Call often , email often, track them down on campus, be persistent!

2. Be resourceful- This is multifaceted. First off, I need to learn a lot more. I need to engulf all the possible resources out there for teaching kids online. Secondly, I need to get my students to use the resources I give them. I want them to create, imagine, construct, be engaged. Maybe if I can get them to find a few methods that interest them then they will use those to complete more of their work. I don't really care how students turn their projects in to me, I just want them to do some work. We can only go up from there.

3. Be Positive- This is the hardest one for me, 1 week into the school year and I already feel it being beaten out of me. I don't want to complain as much. Well, sort of. I question authority, its in my nature, but I need to learn how to do it in a constructive way. From another angle, I need to be more positive towards my kids. Simply meaning, I can't give up on them. Ive given up in the past but Im learning. Setting this goal is the first step, and I think its a big step, to promoting student success even when it is REALLY hard.

Not sure if this can be a meme, but I will tag a few people to see if they have any goals for this year:

Mr. Moses
Kimberly McClain
Belinda Shllingburg