One Marking Period Almost Finished.

As the first marking period of 2010 is nearing a close, I cannot help but reflect on how the year has so far transpired.

New Textbooks: I was fortunate enough this year to receive new textbooks for my science class. Our middle school has decided to teach 8th graders the HSCE Essentials for the Physics and Chemistry units. After reviewing science books, Holt Science and Technology "Short Course" books are what was settle upon. While they have a slightly higher reading level than our old text, the support material is very nice.

Working with the Macomb Curriculum: This is the first full year that we have had with this new curriculum for the middle school ELA. Last year we moved to it part way through the year. Now after having some experience with it, I think I am going to enjoy it. The novels we cover (Bad Boy, The Westing Game, and Glory Road) are found to be of high intereset to our students. This alone, makes the curriculum worth while.

A New Course to Teach: This year we offered an 8th grade computer applications course. I was offered this course due to the experience I've had with the Ed Tech courses and other clinics I've attended. I have to say that it is a challenge developing your own curriculum, but once you get going, it is a lot of fun. I have focused on utilizing Web 2.0 technologies in the course. In doing this, I have tried to merge them with the standard productivity suite. We have OpenOffice, a suite that tries to be MSOffice, but fails...miserably in my opinion. So far, this seems to grab the students' attention and they have turned in some wonderful projects. All the while, using MOODLE to make the class as paperless as possible!

Overall, this is shaping up to be a very fun year. I am enjoying what I am teaching and the research to stay ahead of my students is keeping me very busy. If anyone has any suggestions about any projects that I can use for any of the classes, or resources I can tap into, I would love ot hear from you. To my fellow teachers out there, I hope your school year moves smoothly as you reach toward that summer nirvana that is MONTHS away. Good luck and enjoy the year.