1to1+in+the+English+Classroom

=1:1 in the English Classroom ...=

Photo credit: CW Clark on flickr, licenced under creative commons attribution 2.0

Us English teachers are good at metaphor, aren't we? So, this digital classroom we find ourselves teaching in poses many opportunities for spouting metaphorical .... technology is a doorway to a new world of learning. A key to open up skills which have been lurking, locked away, waiting to be handed out by benevolent and all-knowing teachers. A portal to new discoveries. Blah blah blah ..... I could go on, but I'll restrain myself!

In our 1:1 in the English classroom discussion, I want to make one thing clear. I'm not an expert, and I won't have all the answers for you. (If I have one or two, I'll think I'm doing pretty well!) I'm hoping to provide a platform for us all to share our experiences, our knowledge, and dreams for what could be. And then, I just want to be a part of the discussion!! I know that I LOVE technology in my classroom, but sometimes I feel like it's just there for the sake of it, or that I might as well be using paper and pen, and that seems like a waste. It IS a waste. So I'm hoping, as part of this discussion, that we, you and I, all walk away with some ideas for being more effective in our ever-changing role. Some great new resources or tasks we're going to try with our yr9's on Wednesday morning. A great new way to tackle Macbeth next year.

Ok, that's the extent of my spiel about what we are doing here ..... (and I'm typing it so that you don't have to listen to me prattle on too much when I see you all in person on monday morning!!). Let's get stuck into it!!

You'll find links below to a few different activities, conversation starters .... click on a picture, and it'll take you some preliminary ideas. They are VERY preliminary, because we'll be working on filling the gaps as part of our discussion. I can't wait to come back and look at these at the end of our chat!

I've created a posterous for us to use as a post-unconf blog, and catchup - and adding to my list of "firsts", it's the first posterous site worked with!! The address is [] You can post to this blog via email - englishunconf@posterous.com
 * //DISCLAIMER: This is my very first time creating a wiki or google docs. I'm fully expecting it all to go to hell in a handbasket, so to speak, on monday morning, so if it all fails dismally, pull out some paper and make notes, and try not to say too many terrible things about me when you go back to school, I'm a fragile little thing!//**
 * [[image:book_phone.jpg width="205" height="171" caption="Doc1: Reflecting" link="@https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OOi3-7vzlN8FcShUmTN4DmY66GXvVLiZVdkTXETWJpM/edit?hl=en_US&authkey=CJPiv_kK#"]] || [[image:shakespeare.jpg width="135" height="167" caption="Doc2: Sharing" link="@https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uJ2Z5D1Y3_2sIQ8lvgJ1bvdCwc7YP1Xva-hkVUetWVo/edit?hl=en_US&authkey=COjXupEN#"]] || [[image:help.jpg width="236" height="169" caption="Doc3: Problem Solving" link="@https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qFyFdr2F_wyou_VsJM0JkgIFPCjUwDkrtYCy7sU4W9o/edit?hl=en_US&authkey=CIquvekH#"]] ||< [[image:phone_box.jpg width="214" height="152" caption="Doc4: Connecting" link="@https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XcTrmXTj1D-0ZUl6szbVA92iw9ZdodfWRA_iPjNuyXw/edit?authkey=CJ2S9tIO&hl=en_US#"]] ||

Thanks for being a part of the conversation today!

//Tamara Rodgers// tamara.rodgers1@det.nsw.edu.au