We are making a difference

To start our school year on a positive note, I wanted to take a moment to remind all of us just how much of a difference we are making through Globaloria. We are both impacting our students' knowledge base and changing how we and our colleagues view technology in the classroom.

So far this year, I have seen blog entries from all of us that really show our impact. Lisa Dolan is already helping students make the connection between society and blogging by having her students blog in response to President Obama's speech on education. And its good to see she already has her student blogroll up and running to help with that. Aaron Lester has a good blog roll as well and is already making an impact with students by bringing blogger, an unknown, into their educational experience and letting them run with it, personalizing their spaces and adding gadgets. Denise has even shown how broadening our impact on technology can be with the excellent example of her daughter's class and the use of iPhones to make sure all students could get an assignment completed.

I had a smile on my face when students in my regular biology class, not the advanced students as they may be labelled by some, showed me just what impact the Globaloria approach had on their class experience. We all know how bellringers work, gradeable material used to pique a student's interest. Not all students are interested it seems in these activities. But my stars, as I'll call them, were sitting in my class when the tardy bell rang. I reminded them to get their journals done so that we could go to the computers and work. They had already done the work and were eager to get started. Not everyone wants to teach non-honors classes. Some even view them as troublesome or difficult to teach. We are all proving them wrong with Globaloria. With this program, we really can change the world by groups of students at a time.

By the way, the image above is just one example of the Lab Safety Posters created by my "non honors" kids. You be the judge.

Okay, my turn on the soapbox is up. Who's next?