the first post : me!

July 12th, 2008

I taught 8th grade English last school year, which was also the last year of my middle school. So at the moment I am unsure what grade / school I will have in the fall. I am hoping for 8th or 9th.  I loved my kids last year and secretly hope I get a job at the nearby high school so I can teach them again.  Weird, huh?

(My avatar photo was taken at Central Park. My husband and I visited NYC for the first time earlier this summer. It is a fun city — highly recommended.)

It looks as if this class will be a lot of fun, but more importantly, useful for the classroom.  I already like this site and want to use it for the upcoming school year for a class site.  I think that will intertwine somehow with my final project. Perhaps a blog / wiki for a novel we’re reading in class or a blog for a choice novel the students are reading (?). I’d like a venue for the students to be more engaged with reading. Perhaps the internet is the key.

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15 Responses to “the first post : me!”

  1.   krichter on July 16, 2008 9:39 am

    Great to meet you Cassie. We’ll be talking about class blogs for sure. I like your wiki idea, too.

  2.   amyrauen on July 16, 2008 7:36 pm

    Hi, Cassie! Glad you enjoyed New York. I got engaged there a few years ago. I agree that it’s a very fun city.

  3.   martyjay75 on July 16, 2008 9:21 pm

    Hi Cassie,

    I’ve never been to NYC, but I hope to go sometime soon. I’m envious!

  4.   cwilsie on July 17, 2008 11:24 am

    It must be a little unnerving to not know what grade you are going to teach. NYC is awesome — I’ve been 3 times and hope to go back sometime in the near future.

  5.   Mrs. C on July 17, 2008 11:40 am

    Good luck finding a position that you love. I was declared in excess this year, so I am in the same “wait and see” situation. It’s causing me a bit of stress this summer, that’s for sure. Enjoy the rest of your time off!

    Lori

  6.   angw1068 on July 17, 2008 1:21 pm

    I like the set up of your blog Cassie. Very clear and nicely layed out.

  7.   mrpayne on July 17, 2008 2:58 pm

    Great ideas with the on the use of a wiki for a novel. It would allow students to collaborate on their ideas and understanding of the book.

  8.   garcia202 on July 17, 2008 4:37 pm

    Found an interesting tool today – click speak (http://clickspeak.clcworld.net/about.html) Students can highlight passages on firefox pages and the computer will read the selection to them. Thought it had strong possibilities for poor readers.

  9.   Ken Callaway on July 17, 2008 6:30 pm

    Cassie

    Good luck with the wiki ideas you have. Glad you enjoyed the Big Apple. My wife’s a New Yorker and I lived there for a couple of years myself. Spent one summer as a street vendor in Manhattan! Great place to visit and spend some time, but I couldn’t spend my life there. I have to admit I’m a big California fan.

  10.   denisekhenry on July 17, 2008 9:28 pm

    I know what you mean about wanting to stick with your students. I delayed my move to CA for almost a year so that I could finish 8th grade with students I’d had since 6th grade.

  11.   lnettels on July 17, 2008 9:35 pm

    I think the wiki idea would be great for a novel you assign to the class. I subscribe to a blog called “Speaking of History,” and that teacher has actually maintained two wikis over the past two year for a book called “Guerilla Season,” that he had his students read. He has them respond to questions, and the author even answered some of the kids questions over the blog. It was pretty neat.

  12.   kgranfield on July 17, 2008 11:52 pm

    I love Central Park! Just took a group of 14 students there over Memorial Day and rented rowboats!

  13.   screllin on July 18, 2008 10:54 am

    Isn’t it a bit stressful not knowing what you will be teaching next year?

    Your idea of creating a blog or wiki for a novel your students are reading made me think of a blog I looked at from the top ten edublogs list. http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/ has a list of class blogs if you scroll down far enough. There are a bunch that focus on literature discussions and allow students to post and write about novels they are reading.

  14.   jliebke on July 19, 2008 12:48 pm

    Hi Cassie-

    Sounds like you had fun in New York. I just got back from London (it’s European counter-part). I saw Spamalot for about a third of the price, too. It was excellent!

  15.   krichter on August 1, 2008 5:17 pm

    Use the rubric to come up with your 5 posts about the final project.

    Looking forward to hearing what your plans are..
    http://edtec700.edublogs.org/assignments-2/blog-rubric/

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