Game Plan in Progress

When I look closer at my goals that involve NETS-T, I see a need to make an adjustment. I still plan to move forward using digital cameras in the classroom to help with learning. I have met with our tech supervisor and we have been brainstorming a few ideas to use with the 4th grade curriculum. One such idea is to use their photo for a newspaper project where they become a daring detective. They will research a topic of interest from a book of choice. I have allowed them to use www.kidsclick.org in order to research their topic. They will create facts and a summary of their findigs. We will crop their photos and add it to the newspaper. This is a start for me. From here I'dlike to use the digital camera and student photos in a more elaborate way. I will be teaching Native Americans and Jamestown for Social Studies in the next few weeks. Any thoughts or ideas how to incorporate this digital tool into a product for student learning?

My other goal was to find a better, faster way to Blog effectively with students. In looking to use this tool, I find it to be a tool to revisit at a later time. My professional colleagues have given me some helpful ideas, but they are ideas for a teacher with more flexibility. I would love to use a site like blogspot.com. I use it for my blog, however our county is very sensitive on this site. We are resricted to a school site that takes to long to access with my students.

I went back to the NET-S site and found another goal that I am actually a big part of in my school right now. As a teaching professional, I would like to communicate relative information with my students, parents, and peers using digital tools and media. One requirement at our school is to have a team page and bio. I have spoke with my tech supervisor to activate more flex pages to our site for parents and students. I have already set up pages where students can practice the VA Regions and current math skills. I also added two computer math programs so students can work on a current skill or take part in math critical thinking and challenge work. On our site there is a way to icorporate a newsletter. I had parent asking me at open house about how I owuld communicate with themwhat we are doing in the classroom periodically. Wehave a school newsletter, but it oly goes out a few times a year. I was planning to let my students build this page and find a way to use the digital camera, which deals with my first goal. As I move forward I plan to add more links for students to practice and learn. I already had a student tell me how great it was to go home and practice without picking up a pencil. I am looking for other ideas to reach out to my students and parents. What have you added to your school web pages?