I Can Seminar

I'm looking forward to presenting at the National I CAN seminar on Monday, July 11-12th. My presentations will be short versions of my PLU classes " Engaging Students in the 21st Century" and " Classroom Management Training for Teachers," and Great Teachers make a difference. I'll also be tweeting from the back channel #engage21century.

The conference is at Tattnall Square from 8:30 -3:00
Update- we had a great first day and I'm looking forward to Day 2

Nooks, Kindles and IPod Touches

I knew it was coming. I knew that after the Holiday giving season there would be an explosion, or at least an increase, in the amount of electronic gadgets we see at school each day. The Nooks, Kindles and IPod touches are now so affordable that most can afford them.
It's not unusual to see a 6th grader finish a test and instead of pulling out a book to read while others finish, they open up their reader and digitally fill the time. Technology Rocks.

Update for the New Year

This is an update to the earlier post concerning everything I was looking forward to during this school year.
As we move towards another calendar turn, I wanted to wish everyone a very Happy and Prosperous New Year.
2010 was a fantastic year in both  my professional and personal life. Professionally I continue to be blessed by being able to work with a great faculty and administration that has begun the process of looking for ways to collaborate, communicate and innovate. My PLN has expanded and I try to be an active member contributing to the idea bank when possible but certainly my life is richer for the collaboration through Twitter and other means of social media. Unbelievable educational tools for us to access and they are free. It is still amazing to me that we as a profession are still only at the tip of the iceberg so to speak, however the tipping point continues to move closer and closer. I have completed one SAIS accreditation visit and am scheduled for another one in April plus ours is scheduled for March.
On the personal side, we navigated the treacherous first semester of high school and are looking forward to what follows. My oldest son has applied for a college teaching assistant position for his junior year, he'll find out in May. He will also intern next quarter( if we can line up housing), in of all places, West Palm Beach.  He went through a noon to midnight shadow shift several weeks ago and did well enough to be offered the internship. That was an interesting trip to say the least.  There were several firsts, first time to see West Palm Beach, first time to see the ocean in December and first time to see not one but two Rolls Royces' sitting at a red light. Unbelievable amount of wealth down there, I don't remember my sophomore year in college being quite like that. At least I know where we'll be on Spring Break.
Happy New Year!!Follow me on Twitter @gkosater.
My new Diigo files are available for you to view also at  http://www.diigo.com/user/gkosater

Delicious bookmarks

Just a note, if you haven't heard Delicious the social bookmarking site we all know and sometimes love will cease to be at some point in the future. Yahoo is downsizing and Delicious is for some reason being allowed to fall by the wayside. A great alternative would be Diigo, which some say is even better than Delicious.  The swapping of all your bookmarks is painless too. It took all of 5 minutes. There will be a learning curve as we adjust to another site but hey that's what we should do best- LEARN. If you need help, feel free to email.

Merry Christmas and have a safe and innovative New Year.