Introductions

Please introduce yourself, let us know a little bit about you, and where you are from.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kevin on June 3, 2008 at 6:38pm

Hello,

My name is Kevin Smith and I am a middle school science teacher in northeast Pennsylvania. I teach both 7th grade life science and 8th grade physical science. I am also the MathCounts coach for our school. This year we made it to the state finals again where we finished in the top half.

I have a blog called Siyensya. The word siyensya is Bisaya for science. Bisaya, or Cebuano, is the language spoken in the southern Philippines. My wife is Filipina. We are going back to the Philippines in two weeks to visit family. I will be teaching a few science lessons there in the local school. I have some video from three years ago when I taught the three color density lab to over 100 students here. I am adding video of all my best labs and demos on my site and hope to interact with other science teachers to make these activities even better.

Last year I started a non profit called the Southern Philippine Children's Shelter Our goal is to open a shelter that includes a small school so we can take in some of the street kids and get them out of poverty. When I return to the Philippines this summer, I hope to find a place to rent so we can start our plans. I will be there for two months and I will be posting often if you would like to follow my dream and mission.

We have already had a food and clothing drive so far. Our blog is here, spcshelter.org

Kevin

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Permalink Reply by Anne Mirtschin on June 3, 2008 at 9:41pm

Hello, Kevin, what wonderful things you are doing! Please keep us informed of your progress. Welcome to classroom20.com

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Scofield on June 3, 2008 at 8:46pm

Hi all,

I'm Nancy Scofield from Colorado City, Colorado, USA. I teach high school and college English, and I'm fortunate to be a trainer for our district's 1:1 laptop initiative. We're currently being trained in Moodle and will begin training other teachers starting next week. Exciting times!

With my daughter, I started a program at our high school last year called GIFT (Girls In Fun Technology). Last year it was an after-school club, but we are working on making it a class for next school year.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Mirtschin on June 3, 2008 at 9:42pm

Welcome Nancy, to classroom20.com Girls and technology is a topic that always interests me as well, especially as I teach technology as a dedicated subject. Girls so often lack confidence in their own ability and it is wonderful that you are encouraging them in this area.

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Permalink Reply by Colette Cassinelli on June 4, 2008 at 7:57am

Nancy, I just started a HS girls tech club called Digital Divas 2.0. We set up our own Ning site (with no ads!) and will be using the site to stay in touch, share resources, and post examples of work. Our focus is on creative applications of technology such as digital photography, making movies, blogging, etc. I'd love to get ideas of what you have done with your program.

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Permalink Reply by April Pierson on June 6, 2008 at 12:40pm

Hi,
I am the online training coordinator for the Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. I'm excited to explore the site more and learn!
April

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Permalink Reply by Anne Mirtschin on June 8, 2008 at 5:54am

Hi April and welcome. There is a lot to explore here. Don't forget to join in some of the groups/discussions and make friends.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Mirtschin on June 8, 2008 at 5:55am

Hello Gail - a warm welcome to you. There are so many resources here and you will find lots to keep you busy with web2.0.

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Permalink Reply by Andres Monroy-Hernandez on June 7, 2008 at 10:54am

Hi everyone. I'm a graduate student currently working on the development of the Scratch Online Community, a place where kids and novices can share their own games, interactive art and digital stories created in the Scratch programming language. We're organizing a conference for educators, researchers, developers, and other members of the worldwide Scratch community. If you use Scratch or are interested in learning more about it, we hope to see you here at MIT this summer!

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Permalink Reply by Anne Mirtschin on June 7, 2008 at 3:03pm

Hello Andres and welcome to classroom20.com I have recently attended a conference where I sat in on several sessions involving scratch - how to use it, possible applications and outcomes from junior to quite senior students. So, I am very impressed with it and want to use it next semester with my classes. All the best with the planning for your conference. Will there be anything offered online?