This is the text of the grant we are submitting to the District 70 Education Foundation. Last year they very generously supported our initial grant, iPod therefore iLearn. This request is for the second phrase of that project, which is to develop a multimedia podcasting studio for our school.
First the good news: Two grants from our school were funded by the Foundation this go around. Congratulations to Mr. Blackhurst for his top-rated grant proposal for science probeware. And more congratulations to Mrs. Ervin for her winning grant for materials and supplies to support our school-wide project on The 60’s next year.
Now for the bad news: sadly, my grant for the Rye-pod studio was not funded this year. No defeat though. We’ll just have to do some fund-raising with concessions (ugh!). Popcorn, anyone? How about a hotdog? Would you like cheese on that? <grin>
Vicki Davis linked this very cool YouTube video on her CoolCat Teacher blog today.
Communication is not the same as it was 5 years ago. Heck, it’s not the same as it was 1 year ago! Literacy skills are not the same, and if I don’t change the way I teach my students to communicate, I AM NOT DOING MY JOB! And if you’re a teacher (or a parent, for that matter) and all you’re doing is teaching your kids to read and write the same way you were taught to read and write, you’re not doing your job either. (Sorry if that offends anyone, but I calls ‘em as I sees ‘em.)
Watch the video–it does a beautiful job of explaing Web 2.0. You’ll be a lot smarter in 5 minutes. Trust me.
It’s been a while since I had any thoughts that I considered worthy of blogging. But this morning I had one that I want to explore more.
So now, at age 41, I’ve finally figured out what I want to do when I grow up. What I really want to be is a pyromaniac. As a teacher, as a mother and grandmother, as a wife, and (most importantly) as a Christian, I want to go around lighting fires in the lives other people. I want to get the sparks going and watch them blaze into glory.
I think that’s one of the most important things I can do–light a fire in other people.
