Elizabeth Davis's Comments

Comment Wall (60 comments)

At 2:33pm on August 3, 2007, Andrew Pass said…: Hi Elizabeth,

I'd love to hear your opinions on my living textbook website. It contains a lot of questions that I hope promote critical thinking. The address is http://www.pass-ed.com/Living-Textbook.html.

Thanks for your help.

At 8:45am on July 14, 2007, Mike F. said…: Hi Elizabeth,

I like your idea of a blog reflecting on what it's like being teacher of the year. I'll put one up at some point. At first it was complete craziness. There were tons of cameras at the event and I gave many interviews for TV, radio (WBZ & NPR), and newspapers. Later I appeared on a few radio shows to talk about the award and the profession. I then appeared on the Chet Curtis report on NECN.

Things have quieted down a bit now, but will pick up when my contact information is released to every school district in the state. Then I'll begin traveling to give workshops, lectures, etc.

It is very fun, but my workload is going to increase 10-fold. It is no longer a sabbatical year. I continue to work in my classroom on top of all the traveling. However, I wouldn't trade it for the world.

At 11:14pm on July 12, 2007, Mike F. said…: Hi Elizabeth,

I just read your discussion entry on being famous and I had to laugh because I too had that dream ever since I was a little kid. We used to put on pretend concerts in my neighborhood just to be on stage. Later, I was in a fairly successful college band and thought that was my ticket, but alas...no. I gave up on the dream when reality set in and I got busy with work.

Then recently/unexpectedly, I was thrown into the spotlight and discovered how unnerving it can be. I am adjusting, but it was hard to go from quietly doing my job in the classroom to talking on news shows.

Fame is a funny concept. It really amounts to people paying attention to you; and we all experience it at different levels during different times in our life. What's important is that people are paying attention to you for good reasons. You have quite an audience in 2.0 and are clearly offering sage advice and reflections. So you have achieved fame.

At 9:08am on May 21, 2007, Ray Tolley said…: Thanks, Elizabeth,

I'm desperately trying to find out about how VLEs are being implemented in schools - everywhere.

If you have any opinions or know of anybody with views aboput VLEs or PLEs please let me know.

You're doing some exciting things, keep up the good work!

Ray T

At 7:49am on May 21, 2007, Mary Woodard said…: Thanks for the add! Love the picture of your daughter!! Too cute...

At 2:16am on May 21, 2007, eraser said…: Thanks Elizabeth. Desde Sevilla saludos

At 1:43am on May 21, 2007, Paul Fairbrother said…: Thanks for the invite Elizabeth. Just took a look at your "How to use Del.icio.us" video - nice job!

Paul

At 7:34pm on May 20, 2007, yunise said…: thanks for the invite! enjoyed reading your blog here. lots of food for thought. how do you manage with so many ongoing ict projects? i'm really amazed. are your teachers as enthusiastic about using ict tools as you? over here, it's been an uphill task getting teachers to use them.

At 7:22pm on May 20, 2007, Connie Walsh said…: Thanks for the invite Elizabeth. Technology is the up and coming thing (or rather it is already here) for school. About 4 years ago, we were told about the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders in our district and how they were creating newletters, websites, etc. I can remember asking our school board what would happen by the time those kids got to 7th and 8th grade. I was "assured" technology would be there for them. Hah! Our laptop labs are falling apart because they are so old and used. Many of our teachers know nothing about computers....but they are learning since we now are mandated to put grades and lesson plans on the computer. We have LCD projectors, but they are always in use and you need to book one a month in advance. SMART boards are great, but they too are unavailable. I need technology for use in the classroom...especially for my special ed kids.

At 5:35pm on May 20, 2007, Mr. Parisi said…: Hi,

Thanks for the invite. I read that you are a technology specialist. My title was computer intergrator. I taught computers to 1st-6th graders. I mostly worked with teachers and melded computer skills with the curriculum. My job was cut and now I teach 4th grade. I miss technology but I also like the challenges of 4th grade. What does your job entail?

At 4:10pm on May 20, 2007, Leigh Belair said…: Hi Elizabeth

I would love to discuss the role of technology in the classroom with you sometime...

Leigh

At 7:48pm on May 6, 2007, Robert Parks said…: Hi Elizabeth,
What do you teach? What age group and subjects?
Bob

At 4:31am on April 23, 2007, Michele said…: Thanks for the invitation! I have enjoyed reading your discussions. Your upbeat personality really shines through. :)

At 9:16pm on April 22, 2007, Ginger Lewman said…: Thanks for inviting me...I am looking forward to browsing through your page and sharing when I can as well!

At 12:56pm on April 17, 2007, Hans Feldmeier said…: Hi Elizabeth, may I embed your sreencast about del.icio.us on one of my blogs? Would be nice.

At 10:45pm on April 15, 2007, William Bishop said…: Thanks for the positive comments on my School 2.0 video that I worked up with mojiti. Also, I like your idea of using mojiti to supplement writing with a metaphorical backdrop. That's Classroom 2.0 thinking at its best. I can see "To Kill a Mocking Bird" videos just around the corner. Once again, thanks for the comments.

At 8:22pm on April 15, 2007, Rick Biche said…: Thanks for the invitiation. Great to hear that you venture to Ossipee in the summer. I read parts of your blog. I am on the same page with learning from the web. I learn so much so fast, but I think much of it doesn't really kick in until some time later. Keeping my learning organized and focused is a constant struggle.

Feel free to use any of the stuff from my student's climate wiki. Let me know if you have any questions. I can try to tell you where I will do things differently in the future.
-Rick

At 7:34pm on April 11, 2007, elizabeth helfant said…: We have done a fair amount with wikis from 4th -12th grade. I'm happy to talk more....also interested in maybe finding some ways to connect and wiki with another school if you are interested.

At 5:58pm on April 10, 2007, Dave Ehrhart said…: Thanks for the friend invitation. I'm not sure how this works as far as contacting friends but this seems to be the way. High school students and younger students have almost opposite situations involving parents and privacy. Parents in the high school seem to be a bit less concerned in some ways concerning privacy. However, teachers are very concerned about here. I think the reason is that the potential for kids at the high school to do some "inappropriate" things is much greater at the high school. It's also a really big classroom concern when students use laptops since it's impossible to watch all the kids all the time. So parents are a little less of a concern, but behavior is more of a concern. We do suspend students from laptop use for inappropriate use. One student has been out for most of this year due to a breach of the district's security from home. Both of the grade levels have some serious concerns for teachers. Too bad we can't just worry about the instruction part of it all. Do you have any kind of monitoring application for teachers to see student desktops? We've been discussion it here. Nice to talk to you. Your blog looks good, nice design.