Donald Johnson's Page

A student last week showed me how she uses an ap called Noteshelf on her iPad to take notes in my room. I thought that was an excellent use of technology! I talked to my principal about it and she told me that she ordered iPads for the staff. Her secretary told me that the district won't let us order iPads because we recently received netbooks for the students. It would really be tragic if we were not allowed to progress along with the rest of the country.

As part of a new means of evaluating teachers, my district has asked each of us to review a set of core elements that they've identified as being vital to good teaching. We are to come up with 2 goals that relate to the elements and commit to meeting that goal. I am in the process of choosing my 2 goals. It is taking me awhile because I don't exactly know how this document will be used. For example, if I commit to these goals and am not able to meet them, will this be used against me? Some…

I have heard a lot recently about flipping classes. I started on the ground level by keeping up with the two teachers who started the vodcasting. I tried to have my students create vodcasts at the time (about 3 years ago), but wasn't really successful. The idea continues to be interesting however. Many people refer to Kahn Academy http://www.khanacademy.org/#biology as a source of videos. I plan to try some "flipped" lessons this spring to…