Web-Based Grading

I’m looking into adopting a web-based gradbook next year.  Help me out.  There are some things it has to do and cannot do for it to work for me.

1.  I need it to be completely internet-based.  No software allowed.  The IT gods at our school do not allow any teacher to install individual software on any computer, nor will they install any software that is not district approved.

2. I need it to be a gradebook made by someone in the competent pool.  You know what I mean.  Our district already paid up the waazoo for this completely useless internet gradebook.

3.  I need to be able to trust the security of the website.  We all know about privacy blah blah.  I’d really rather not lose my job over this.

4.  I need it to not be ridiculously expensive.  Husband is only mildly tolerant of me spending our hard-earned money on my job.  I currently pay $37/year for teacherweb.com which I’ve used for two years.  I like all the features that are available there, but I don’t like having to upload grades to it every week.  I’d also love the flexibility of accessing my grades from any computer.

5.  I need it to do more than just grades.  I’d like to also be able to post assignments, announcements, you know, the usual.  However, I can bend on this one.

For now, that’s it.  Any suggesstions?

Stepping up the Blogging Game

In the past few days I’ve spent an INSANE amount of time reading blogs.  This is in direct realtion to my new revelation of what I would like to pursue as the focus for my PhD.  The whole long distance professional development has thrown me into the world of eudblogs and other things available on-line and useful for the classroom.  Let’s just say I now think the better part of the next two years will be used not only for preparing for Grad school in the academic sense, but also filling my time with becoming familiar with things that will matter in the long-run…I think.  I have a 10 page list of things I want to further explore and links I need to check out.  Too many elements of Web 2.0 have developed without me even taking notice, and it’s time for me to step up my game.  In addition to this, I’ll be using this blog a lot more…I think.  A close friend of mine has already attempted to get me to blog each day, and I think I lasted doing that for like…4 days straight.  Now, however, I have much more I need to process through, and this is the place to do it.  Not only will it be saved for me here, on the internet until all hell breaks loose and it crashes, but I also have an audience of people to help me out. 

So here’s the deal…I’m going to be more serious about blogging and relating it to my profession.  I’ve cleaned up my blogroll and organized a bit.  Several are no longer there and several new ones have appeared.  I’m going to actually read with purpose and post with purpose.  Right now I’ve got too many things on my plate to really organize and post.  If you havne’t already noticed, this post is a “word vomit,” as my friend Dave likes to say.  I’m throwing everying in my head up here just to get it out of my head.  I’ve literally been reading blogs since my husband left for work at 7:45…it’s now 11:10.  I’ve got to get off my butt and run so that I can clear my head again.  After that, I need to focus on putting together some presentation notes for a professional development seminar I’m part of in two weeks!  That’s the main goal for the day.  Then I can return to obsessing over the vastness of the internet I need to explore more. After I run and put some notes together, I’ll be back.

Top 5 (+1)

I have finally weeded my way through too many grad schools and made my Top 5 (+1) list of grad schools.  The top 4 are in because it appears to me as though they offer the programs that best fit what I want to do, and they are among the best schools in the nation with Curriculum and Instruction programs.  Number 5 is there simply because it is in the state the huband most wants to move to, and +1 is there in case for some reason we decide I have to keep my current job and stay local.  So, here is the much awaited list…

1.  University of Maryland–College Park–Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis available in Teacher Education and Professional Development…EXACTLY what I want to study AND I have two friends already living in the area!

2.  University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign –Curriculum, Aesthetics, and Teacher Ed with an emphasis available in Teacher Education…close to a good friend I miss dearly, and this program sounds really interesting.

3.  University of Pennsylvania–Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum with an emphasis in Teacher Ed… I’ve got family living out here, but I”m not sure how I’ll like Pennsylvania…

4.  University of Wisconsin–Madison –Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Teacher Ed…Husband isn’t sure if I can survive Wisconsin weather and bugs…any input on that?  What’s it like there?

5.  University of Colorado–Boulder–Instruction and Curriculum with an emphsis in Teaching and Teacher Ed…I would LOVE to live in Boulder, CO…and my favorite college roommate lives in Springs.

+1.  University of Calivornia–Riverside–Curriculum and Instruction…This isn’t the most exciting program ever, but it’s here and it’s close. 

There you have it friends.  The Top 5 +1.  If any of you have any input you’d like to share on any of these schools, it would be greatly appreciated.  I’m hoping to spend part of next summer visiting each school and getting to know the campuses and programs a bit better. 

My next step is the GRE.  I’m taking it next Tuesday, YIKES! 

Rwanda Tidbit #1

Well, picutres are still not here, but I need to blog a bit about the trip.  The first and one of the most important things I gained from going on this trip was about the culture.  We were told over and over again that Rwanda was a relational culture, but I didn’t realize what that meant until I was there.  In a lot of ways, Rwandans consider value by the number of relationships they have.  A “wealthy” man is one who knows and has relationships with many people.  This plays out in a way that is definitely not American, certainly not Southern Californian, and absolutely not in my paradigm of thinking about life.  As one of our local Rwandan friends would be taking us somewhere, we would stop every few minutes for him to talk to someone and build relationships.  As we drove somewhere, he would constantly wave and yell out the window at someone.  Occaisionally, he would ask the driver to stop and he would flag a friend down, talk to him out of the window, or sometimes even invite him into our car for either a short talk or even to join us on our adventure.  The amount of time spent investing in people was amazing to me.  I often get so caught up in what I need to get done or where I am going that I don’t give time to the people who deserve it most (like my husband) let alone look for other people I don’t know as well to invest in.  I saw foreshadowing of this last year when “New Teacher” kept coming to me for help.  Even though I’m always way ahead during my prep, it was painful for me to take time to help her simply becuase I did not look to that situation as one that benefitted me.  Being in Rwanda made me realize just how selfish I often am with my time.  New Teacher is just one example.  I’m also going to try to be me thoughtful of my husband and my time.  As I am quite the ambitious person, any time something new comes up that may look good on my resume or CV, I look for a way to incorporate it.  Nevermind the fact that there have been semesters when I was only free 2 nights a week before 9pm.  So, one of the things I’m taking away from this trip is to invest in people.  Especially being one that doesn’t intend on having kids, I could use some of that would-be mom energy to put into other people around me.  Not only will I be building relationships with others, but I’m sure I’ll be a better person because I learned from them as well.  More to come later!  I’m off to Mountain Bike with the husband

Back…but not in full capacity

Well, I survived Rwanda.  Got home Tuesday afternoon and have been trying to get settled back in.  I just wanted to check in here and read some blogs and whatnot.  I’ll post more about the trip soon.  The best thing for me personally is that I know what I want to do for grad school now.  I’ll definitely be looking for a program in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on Teacher education and Professional Development.  This is pretty much what we did there, and I loved it.  If possible, I would have loved to move my family there and work as a curriculum consultant as they are making some major changes in their educational paradigm.  Anyway, enough rambling for now.  I’ll write more once I’ve settled in more.