My First Blog

The purpose of my blog is to share my thoughts on teaching in the 21st century with others. I welcome your comments. I'd also like to share what's going on in my classroom with my students' parents and our community. This semester, we have incorporated digital technology and project-based learning through a teacher-created program called the Andalusia High School Digital Immersion Project (DIP).

I've used the technology in my English 12 and French I classes this fall. Overall, I think the students have been much more engaged, especially with reading literature and writing essays. Students are more accountable for their learning. If they are absent, they Gmail me for their assignments, and I no longer waste class time explaining what they missed. The activities we've done in French have made the language relevant to the students. They exchange conversations with real French students. I'll blog about individual activities later.

Incorporating digital technologies into my classroom has totally energized my teaching. It's like a shot of B12 every day. I've developed closer relationships to other teachers, my students, and their parents. I look forward to further exploration of this "brave new world."