A Wiki for Math? Makes Sense...

I never though about using a Wiki before but now I can see advantages to using one. I think it would be great to start a Math 6 Wiki for the county. It could be broken up by each standard. Math6 teachers could all contribute lesson plans, lesson ideas, assessments, projects. We can then comment on what worked and what didn't work in our classroom. Better yet, wouldn't it make sense for the Virginia Department of Education to host various Wiki's for each of the grade levels and subjects? Imagine the resources that could be made available to help our students? A Wiki is only as good as its contributors. Everyone would need to contribute and comment to make it work.

Confessions of a Blog Lurker

I must admit that I never kept a journal. It's not that I didn't want to keep a journal. I can't tell you how many times I'd go on a beach vacation and buy a pretty journal with a cool cover. I usually made one entry, maybe two. I am not a journal type of person. I never even kept a diary when I was a kid. I think it's because I'm not confident in my writing abilities. I especially don't want something published where everyone can see my thoughts. I guess I'm a shy writer. I majored in mathematics and computer science back when I went to college. Writing was not my forte. Oh, I could write technical documents, but they were pretty dry. Nothing blog worthy.


Now I'm faced with the dreaded task of blogging. I like to read bogs. I read them in envy. "Wow, I love how this person writes!"," Wow, what great ideas..." I don't even usually respond to blogs. I am a blog lurker. I really don't think I am alone. Upon investigation I discovered the Jakob Nielson theory on community participation. He called it the 90-9-1 rule. It states the following:


- 90 percent of users never contribute (the lurkers!)
- 9 percent contribute a little
- 1 percent of users account for almost all the action





I'm hoping that time goes by, I can become more comfortable in the public blog forum. I can definitely see the benefits to keeping one. Hopefully this won't be like my old summer reading journals.... one entry, maybe two. 

Inspiring Teachers - Mitchell20

This is my first post that will document my final semester in the ITS program at George Mason University. I am enjoying the background reading that I have done on what makes a teacher leader. My goal is to become a teacher leader. I am inspired by the stories I have read in the books as well as the stories I have read on the internet. One story really fascinated me, it's documentary called "Mitchell20" I have not watched the documentary but am looking forward to when it will be available in Spring 2012. Here is a link to the trailer of the movie...