The past several months have found me not only working on EC & I 831 but also trying to pull the pieces of my final research project together. While looking over my data these past weeks I have come to the realization that many of the tools presented to us in this course would prove to be invaluable to a new or beginning teacher. In fact, I plan to discuss with the rest of my administrative team the possibility of setting up a blog for new staff members to our school. This tool could be used to post questions new teachers might have and the blog would be open to responses from all members of staff. This opportunity would certainly lend itself nicely to the posssibility of mentorships. In any case, I am encouraged by the new possibilities I see to support what I have done over the past year in terms of supporting new and beginning teachers.
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Gpvp's Blog 
April 3, 2009 at 1:28 am
I agree with you totally. New teachers seem to be much more interested in technology and its use. Just looking at the new blood in our school it is interesting how comfortable they are with adapting technology. Most of the new staff have SmartBoards installed and Wikis up and running. it seems we are in the middle of a fundamental shift in technology with staff. It is an exciting time. Perhaps looking at the younger staff we can see the emergence of a new technological voice, new way to communicate, and new connect, learn and bond with students. Perhaps this shift will have ramifications for future learning and pedagogical shifts.
April 3, 2009 at 2:46 am
Hey Guy,
Another possibility you may want to check out for working with all staff would be a school Ning site. We are using one to post links and allow discussion. It also has a blog feature. The best part for some is that it is a private network. you need to be invited to join. Check it out if you get the chance.
April 3, 2009 at 5:20 am
I have been working on the same type of action research project and once I finally got down to working on my final project for this course I focussed on the new and beginning teachers. I think that it is very important to open the lines of communication as soon as possible. I am in the process of setting up a wiki page for these teachers to access information about our community and school as well as contact someone who is working here and may be a mentor for them once they reach our community. this will enable the new/beginning teacher to communicate with someone and it may make it easier as it isn’t face to face and they will be more open and honest with there questions. I am excited about this but I too feel the pressures to complete my paper as well as keep up with all the other demands of our profession and lives. Keep learning and keep sharing. That way we can give all our hard work a purpose and keep it going even after we have finished this course.
April 4, 2009 at 1:11 am
Many of the undergrads I work with even say that they wish they had these tools earlier in their program. I think the earlier you can bring such tools into the hands of teachers or students, the more you can potentially empower them.
April 4, 2009 at 9:09 pm
I wish that we had taken this course at the beginning rather than end of our program. I could have used many of the tools to enhance my action research project. I think a staff blog is an awesome idea Guy.
April 5, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Sounds great Guy! I too wish we had the oppurtunity to know about all about blogs and other technology at the beginning of this class. Keep up the good work!
April 6, 2009 at 2:33 am
This spring I have had the opportuntity to sit on the hiring committee for our school as we hired 6 new teachers. I agree with you in your assertion that new teachers are more technologically current. I hope their savvy rubs off on some of our staff. Tapping in to the creative abilities and knowledge of new staff can be an excellent source of PD.