educating for the journey

The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be.
- Robert Fulghum

It seems that my techy friend Nevin has come up in many of my most recent posts, and why shouldn’t he, he is a great guy; generous with his knowledge and always makes himself available for a quick skype session or even just to compare tales of fatherhood.  In fact it is he who introduced me to TeamViewer and he has been an invaluable component of our Moodle implementation here at Carol Morgan.  Indeed, this post started to bounce around my head when we were talking about some ideas for Moodle training.  He revealed to me that a number of schools in Eastern Europe or even Zagreb will send people to other shools simply because they find their staff more attentive to the “new face.”  I had never thought about it, but i must say i have experience times when it is somehow easier to listen to the “expert” you know little about then to the (perhaps more qualified) “friend” that is just down the hall from you.  This notion was at the forefront of my mind this week as i re-presented a workshops on using blogs to increase writing, reflection and assessment across the curriculum to my “home team.” I felt it was received well in both locations, the feedback i have received has been great and i have reports of more then 500 student blogs that have been created by students of the teachers in the three workshops – will they stick?  This morning i received a wonderful email from one of the teachers in Costa Rica and i appreciated her feedback and knowing that she is diving headlong into the blogosphere.

Please take a second and check out some of these great teacher blogs that are taking off – comment and help expand and extend their experience…

• ithinkthereforeib.edublogs.org – TOK class blog
  (love that address!!!)
• cosmopista.edublogs.org (11th grade)
  
• rayuela.edublogs.org (12th grade)
• jobiwan.edublogs.org
• irisita.edublog.org
• lorena08.edublogs.org
• more to come

Google Presentation…

“From there to here,
from here to there,
funny things are everywhere.”
- Theodor Seuss Geisel

I often feel pulled in many different directions, i think many of us feel this way at times.  With so many things going on, places to be and people to work with i have been running from place to place – too often to the point of exhaustion.  That said helping with integration planning, project celebration, and computer issues wherever they have arisen is a key part of my job.  Lately i have been using TeamViewer to help me be in multiple places at once, to lead class demonstrations, and generally to make my life a little easier.  TeamViewer fits nicely in the educator’s price range (free) and can help you troubleshoot, demonstrate, or even lead a lesson from your office, your home, or anywhere in the world.

In the relatively short time i have used this program i have used it to share my own desktop, remote control another user’s, and in the role of tech support coming in to quickly see what is wrong with a machine.  I have used it with teachers, students, and even to trouble shoot my dad’s recent issues with his Skype volume.  It is a really fantastic tool and although I would not use it with bank details or information whose security i want to absolutely guarantee…it is a powerful tool that has saved me, my teachers, our students, and my father lots of time and headaches.  The newest version works on both MAC and PCs and it can even connect cross-platform!

The need for this is intensified here as we work around the media center’s construction and the wall it has brought.  The question however remains:  how is this increased way to sit here and be there going to help sort out the issue/spare tire growing around my belly…