How great is this global teaching community?

Last time, I wrote about my frustration with new technology. Most of which, was of course, user error. I always tell the kids that it isn't the computer which isn't "letting you" do something, it is you. Pretty valuable advise, and some I should remember.

As my Nana might say, "Pots and kettles and all that..."

There is always a learning curve with every new thing you attempt. Just because a project or an idea doesn't work the first time you try it, doesn't mean that it is a bad idea or a bad system. I actually don't mind failing at something as long as I can try again. And sometimes, when you fail, it is best to ask for help.

The power of the internet! I was excited and thrilled last week, or maybe it was the week before-time is fluid with all these snow days, when I received an email from Mr. Love the creator of Noteshare. He was kind enough to talk me through most of the problems I was having.

What company does that? Certainly not the car company when I couldn't figure out how to change the oil myself. Or even the headlights. And even better, he's sending someone to help my whole school better utilize the technology. That is a company that really cares about the product it creates.

I can understand that, because as a teacher I really care about the product I create.

It was also great to hear comments from others about what I might be doing wrong. When my grandmother taught in a one room school house, her nearest teaching friend lived 30 miles away. Now, the world is a giant teacher's room. Help is a click away.

Another really good lesson.

Our current Notebooks are coming along without problems. I've used the program to work on a couple of notebooks with Cynthia, and they are great. The students are using them to record their labs for our new unit, and I'm thinking about how they can use them to create our garden in the spring. Hopefully we will be able to create a class notebook, with all our cool data about growth and reproduction. We are going to try our hands at grafting, and the program should be excellent for that experiment.

Happy Valentine's Day!