I posted this yesterday, but for whatever reason, it vanished by this morning. Let’s try again…

This prompt came from Sage Advice, a column in Edutopia. Some of these ideas have been bouncing around in my head for a while, but this made me put those ideas into concrete goals.

These are my resolutions for the 2007-2008 school year:

• Incorporate more podcasting in my classes
• Instill a sense of selfless giving and service in my students
• Promote the concept of “Making a Difference”
• Clean out old files and materials (What list of resolutions would be complete without the obligatory goal to “lose weight” or “get organized”? Since weight loss doesn’t really apply to a list of school resolutions, I’ll go with the one to declutter.)

This is a great video about using technology tools in the classroom. I found it online at the T4-Jordan School District. I haven’t explored the whole site yet, but what I’ve seen so far looks like a pretty amazing pool of resources. Thanks very much to those in charge of organizing and sharing this site.

Technorati Tags: PayAttention T4JordanSchool Education Technology 21stCenturyLearning

So what are you reading this summer?

I LOVE summer for many reasons, but one of the major ones is that I have time to read what I want! Yeah, I’ve got some professional development reading on my list for the summer, but mostly I’m reading books just because I want to. In the first week of summer break, I read almost 1000 pages, and my goal is to read much more during the remaining weeks.

The big winner this summer for me is A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. It was just released May 22. His first novel, Kite Runner, is the the best book I’ve read in 20 years. A Thousand Splendid Suns is just as good. You won’t be disappointed. I promise.

I also read Freedom Writers Diary, which is even more inspiring than the movie, and now I’m reading Erin Gruwell’s new book, Teach With Your Heart. I desperately want to attend the Freedom Writers Institute and learn how to incorporate her techniques and lessons with my own students. That would be the most amazing thing. I’ve never been nervous about applying for a job or to get into a school or program before, but I’m really intimidated about my application for FWI. It’s very competitive, and I want to go so badly I can taste it.

I have a habit of re-reading all the previous Harry Potter books before a new one is released, and since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) will be out in less than 6 weeks, I’ve got some work to do! I’m on book 2 now, and if I’ll just sit still for a few minutes, I can get through them pretty quickly. J. K. Rowling is such an imaginative author, and I truly enjoy this series. (I was in a serious funk for about three days after I finished book 6.) BTW, Amazon guanantees release-date delivery on July 21. Pre-order yours today!

That’s just a start…my reading list gets pretty long. Some books I’ll read (or in many cases re-read) this summer for professional development include Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson, The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman, and Classroom Blogging and Redefining Literacy for the 21st Century by David Warlick.

Other activities that make my brain happy….

Playing the piano. My whole brain just feels better when I’m working on a challenging piece of music. I love playing my “standard favorites” but my brain really feels like it has had a good workout when I’m trying to learn a new piece.

Crocheting. Last summer I made a curtain for one of the windows in my scrapbook room, and I still need to make curtains for the big window in that room. I haven’t started on those yet, but I’ve really had a great time making baby blankets and hats for Warm the World. It’s one of those really cool ideas that I wish I had thought of. Anyway, I’ve had a lot of fun trying out new baby blanket patterns and feeling like I’m doing something for someone else.

Organizing. I try to follow the great advice I learn from FlyLady to keep our home and my life running smoothly. Two of the best concepts I’ve learned from her are the 27 Fling Boogie and using a timer to work for 15 minutes. I’m truly amazed at what I can finish in 15 minutes. You should try it.

Technorati Tags: KhaledHosseini KiteRunner ThousandSplendidSuns FreedomWriters ErinGruwell HarryPotter WillRichardson DavidWarlick ThomasFriedman WarmTheWorld FlyLady