Monday, May 17, 2010

More of This, Please � Chalkdust101


Chalkdust 101


More of This, Please � Chalkdust101

More of This, Please

I read Eric Langhorst’s blog, I’ll confess, not for the great history links he sends out, but for ideas about how I would run my my own classroom. In one of his latest posts/podcasts, Eric talks about how his class skyped in author Pat Hughes to talk about her work (and it magically fit right into what they were studying–imagine the serendipity!). If you know how to use skype, you understand how simple and easy it is to use. My mother uses it. My kids can almost use it now. It’s simple to pick up. After our impromptu conference with Shelly Blake-Plock last week, I began thinking about why we don’t bring others into our classrooms this way more often. It’s not all that crazy to plan–anytime I have done one, it originated from an idea, that led to an email, that became a brainstorm for a date and time, and then some quick tech set-up. Voila. Instant access to smarter, more interesting people (choose your interviews wisely). The next level then becomes something like this once you’ve become more established:This