Megan’s Blog

Alas – I have decided to wait on creating a personal wiki. I have however started creating one at school on my moodle account and plan to have students begin contributing 2 weeks after vacation. I’m wondering how other special education teachers are using wiki’s with kids with significant disabilities? My students really enjoy “moodle-ing” yet I wonder if they will even get “wiki-ing”. 

My third post’s primary focus aborts my previous two. However, in one reading somewhere I learned that it is improper “blog” etiquette to delete previous posted blogs – so my first two stay – until I read otherwise.Well, these past few days have been filled with blog – learning and how to link RSS feeds. At one point I thought to abandon the whole ship – but alas I do love a challenge. I also enjoy being the “know it all” and wish I “knew it all” when it comes to Web 2.0 – but calling myself a novice is an understatement.The good news – learning is happening. I must admit to SEVERAL cases of “blog envy” – has anyone checked out bgenglish.blogspot.com – don’t if you get jealous easy – d0- if like me – you get over it and want to be just like him someday! LOL!Thanks to Jim W. this weekend for his blog posting (oh how I wish I could get to that link quickly and post it here – but fear not – someday I’ll be able to click and paste the address instantly) on “newbies” and our frustration level. It was just what I needed to get me back on the horse – so to speak. Oh – his blog name has a windhorse theme in there somewhere ??? I hate my brain sometimes… oh well – if you like – you can scroll down the right hand side of this page to my “blogrolls” and you’ll find him.Anyway – I have aborted the plan to put all weblinks from my reading conference into my blog. They get lost and are not easily clickable – I was able to edit my “blogroll” and now have EVERYONE in our class on this page…somewhere on the right hand side – but I can’t see it until later – once I post this post.See what I mean about learning???I now have the following accounts – not in any particular order or preference or priority – but I bet that comes someday…Bloglinesmy del.icio.ustwitterblogedu about.comand many subscriptions RSS feeds. My email is out there everywhere too – which makes me a bit uneasy – oh well. The feeds are posted on my bloglines and my next task…because I just got all my classmate blogs here – is to transfer at least a few of my RSS feeds  to here as well…wish me luck. Oh, and megan (my one and only commenter),  I love the comments – keep them coming girlfriend!!!  

Here is my second posting and not surprising no one posted on my first entry. How can we. There is so much to read and so little time. But, I have decided to use this space as a personal resource until I hit the big time! Shouldn’t be too long now… Here is the first link I got from other teachers at that conference (remember -I mentioned this as my focus in my last post): http://handwritingwithouttears.com/A few notes on the above link before you go there-  We discussed the importance of teaching handwriting. Some teachers mentioned how many of their kids can’t read cursive – a problem several of my older (high school) students suffer from.  Handwriting Without Tears has been around for some time – I thought it would be cool to check out their website. You can purchase programs on this site OR you can link to tons of other sites. Some are free, including www.edhelper.com , which I’ve used in the past. Here it is again: http://handwritingwithouttears.com/  The second helpful link for this blog posting:  http://www.itchysalphabet.com/infosheet.htm Itchy’s alphabet has so many fun ways to teach phonics. This website has many free items (although you can purchase for not too much) and tons of helpful “teaching tips” especially for young students learning to read. Here is a  quote from the site that says why it is useful AND I agree… ”…current research indicates that systematic phonic instruction is necessary for successful reading (National Reading Panel findings)…”  Here is the site again: http://www.itchysalphabet.com/infosheet.htmI’ll keep the links coming…but I only want to post them after I’ve been there and can comment!Oh, and Megan, write back soon. Like Jim says, “It can get lonely out here”. 

This is my very first blog posting – if you don’t count the blogs I’ve commented on. I hope to make this blog space a resource for myself and others. It can also be a forum for feedback on the links I plan to post. Have you ever gone to a workshop or conference with educators who share great websites and resources with the course instructor? They may jot them down on the over head – but not always. Well, this past week I was at a training in Boston and folks kept calling out different “great” websites to check out … not once in awhile – but everyday – and I kept missing them – I love when teachers share what they are using, but hate when I miss something wonderful.Well, on day three I decided to start writing them ALL down in the margins of my notebook. It became a kind of game for me – while the training was fantastic – this side (multi)task was quite fun.On the final day I shared with the others in my section that I would compile them all “someday” and send them off in emails to them. Then I got to thinking – I’m taking this class on Web 2.o and have to create a blog – what if?So- now you have it – the reason for my blog content. The thing is – I don’t know how to add links yet…so look for next week’s postings for the list – this way – I’ll be motivated to learn how to link this week – and I know you’ll be back next week and will expect results… Stay tuned…Megan