Sunday, November 26, 2006

Five Days have passed

I'm up to 29 geocaches found.

But that's not the purpose of this blog.

This week, I need to finalize my Google Certified Teacher Action Plan of Professional Development activities I will be doing the remainder of this school year. Middle schoolers are finishing up (I hope) their Charts & Graphs assignments using Excel and Word. They also have an online (Quia) quiz on MS Word this week. First and second graders have finished up their PowerPoint slides (for their class ABC books) and I just need to make the remaining slides, consolidate them, post them online, and give them to the teachers on CD-ROMs. With instructions. Meanwhile, the 3rd-5th graders are working away at their PowerPoint presentations based on social studies related research.

[sigh]

But I have reached that weird feeling already. Maybe you know what I am talking about. It's that "okay, when does summer get here?" itch. It's not that I am not enjoying my job this year . . . I am, immensely in fact. But I feel something else calling to me. Maybe it's because I have a trip back East coming up with my son, and that has had me thinking a lot about how to handle his new-found Terrible Twos (at just under age three!) on the plane and so forth. Or maybe it's my new geocaching hobby. Or maybe it's the Google Teacher Academy stuff. Or maybe it's my busy family life. Or maybe it's the lure of my summer job for 2007. (I so LOVED my 2006 summer gig.)

I guess this is what my colleagues mean when they tell me I'm ADD. I always want to be discovering, creating, imagining. But never grading. Or looking back. Or sitting still. (Unless I am chained to my laptop.)

But I do like sleeping in. Especially when I stay up late as I have been a lot lately.

This is when I start to feel more like a digital native than an immigrant. My family doesn't get it. Most of my colleagues don't get it. They can't even believe I answer IMs from kids when I am not at work. (It saves me time in the long run, believe me.)

Am I a good teacher, though? Does all this hyperactivity and ability to relate to my students count for much? I like to think it does, but I think I am biased.

Ah well, I suppose I need to sleep on it and think about it some more. But I sometimes wonder about a slight career change . . . . . .

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Diane!

So what did you think about the Google Teacher Academy experience? I'm thinking of applying for the one coming up in New York.

Any advice about the application?

How about the video - any advice there? Would you be willing to share yours with me, for inspiration? I've managed to find several on YouTube and elsewhere. They've been helpful.

Thanks!

Kevin Jarrett
http://www.ncs-tech.org
http://www.kevin-jarrett.net/blog

Diane E. Main, GCT NorCal 2006 said...

Kevin, if you looked on YouTube, you may have seen my video. It has the music "Get Ready For This" in the background.

I think what might help is making what you're doing stand out in some attention-getting way.

I had a great time at the GTA. The application itself is very brief. Two extremely short answers to huge questions, and the video, plus your vital info. The two I found on YouTube, before posting my own there, that were by others who made it into the GTA, were by Ben Chun and the guy who works at Crissy Field (his name slips my mind just now). The guys in Georgia who made a video and applied anyway had no chance of getting in, but I thought theirs was fantastic.

Feel free to e-mail me at dianemain at gmail dot com if you want any more information.

Best of luck!