LiterateLife

Here we are back after a 3-day weekend. I was playing alot in Second Life, as I have joined a Star Trek role-playing (RP) group. We actually attend Academy classes and I am really curious to see an example of how virtual classrooms work! Unfortunately I am working with a school laptop that has a video card not quite powerful enough for  smooth running of SL. I keep crashing! Not a good way to try to take a class.

I may just have to bite the bullet and get a better computer myself.

I also had ordered Seeking Diversity by Linda Reif last week from amazon.com. It came Saturday, and I read the first chapter where Linda explains that she had been teaching 10 years. Nancie Atwell also wrote her book after about 10 years. I have been teaching 14 years and don’t feel nearly competent enough to write a book about my methods! How do these people feel get so good? I guess they are just “born” with it. Maybe I just haven’t found my “niche” yet…using technology in the classroom may be it, since I LOVE it!!!

I found myself at the ISTE website last night. They have a whole section about Second Life and a virtual classroom. I visited with a docent there and hope to attend some training in the virtual classroom. I know as I introduce these technologies to my kids, they are going to want to play, just as I have been wanting to. I have no real purpose YET but to figure out how much of this works. I do have a higher goal in mind, which is to have use the technologies to engage my 7th and 8th graders in high quality reading and writing explorations.

I am not there yet. I also know that my students will probably experience the same desire to play, but will have to be nudged (assigned??) by me to explore higher purposes.