Discopants and Haircuts

Hello fellow Panters.

It was the first week back at work and, although there were no students, the days were filled with things to do. We drank coffee and then ate food. It was difficult. Actually, I got the shit going on. This year is going to be great. The kids come back on Monday and I am ready. You see, the school has this online CMS, for lack of better words, that is going to become the system used for teaching and learning. I am excited.

Any of you who knew me, back when I was a teacher in the city of Buffalo, will know that I was constantly pushing (sometimes too much) for more technology resources to use in the classroom. Well my friends… that day is here. The government here has decided that every student will have a laptop by 2009-2010 school year. Many will also have them this year. Say goodbye to paper. Lessons, quizzes and grades will be done via the computer.

So what is so good about this? Well… given that every student now has a mobile phone, 100 channels of TV, computer, x-box and a personal music player… it’s about time. There are 7 buildings on our campus. I am in the one with the most resources. There are digital projectors in every room. I think there may even be one in the toilet. Lessons can be interactive. We can use video and audio on a one-to-one basis. I can implement multiple lessons for the same class based on different levels of understanding. I can share my lessons, quizzes with anyone on the campus. Everything is becoming collaborative, interactive and appropriate for today’s kids. I like it a lot.

I am geek. Now a video that has nothing to do with what I wrote about.