The Classroom

Well folks, I upgraded the “backend” of my blog to the latest and greatest WordPress release and was very happy with the result. I love the new administration panel, and just the layout of the system in general. But sadly the new look and feel could only be seen by me, leaving everyone else out in the cold. So I upgraded my theme from “Freshy 1.0″ to “Freshy 2″! What does that mean for you??? Just a slicker looking interface, and cool new drop down menus on the nav bar to help you find what you’re looking for faster. I’ve also revived the use of Gravatar (though before it was MyBlogLog) Avatars on the comments posts. If you go to Gravatar and sign up your image will appear beside your post… if not the Classroom’s apple icon will take your place.

Last, but not least I’ve added a mobile theme that should allow you to view The Classroom on your PDA or Cellphone, I haven’t had a chance to test this yet, so please let me know if you run into any problems. In the end, all the upgrade are mainly cosmetic – but I think they’ll add a little polish to the blog.

Enjoy!
-Mr. G

My first principal, Bill Drake, told me to always change schools every 4-6 years. Well after 7 years at Meyokumin, and 9 years of teaching grade 6 integrated mainstream – I’ve done it. I’ve graduated with my last class and moving on to Jr. High. I’ll be teaching grade 7-9 English Language Arts and Social Studies to literacy (special needs) students. I also get to be the English Language Arts and homeroom teacher for the 7B’s – a class participating in the 1 to 1 project. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been playing around with the blog – trying to make it easier to navigate, and to make sure all the important things get updated in my RSS feeds and tag cloud properly.  So you may (or may not) notice that reviews are no longer found in the top bar, but are now in the category section.  I’ll also be adding a new category soon call the “Professional Library” where we can review and discuss all the latest books and journal entries on educational topics.  Remember – I’m always on the look out for people willing to help me keep this site going.  If you have something you want to say – a resource to review, or a book you’d like to talk about – just e-mail it to me and I’ll post it!  And please feel free to leave a comment on any topic that captures your attention!

I think Janine Lim is an AMAZING teacher. I’ve thought that for years. After taking part in Read Around the Planet twice, listening to her speak at the Broadband Summer Institute last year (which by the way is open for registrations this year), and taking part in one of her on-line courses she offers she has fast become my Videoconferencing Idol. So imagine my surprise when I get an e-mail from my buddy Randy asking if I had check out the latest entry on her blog. She featured one of my posts about the success of this year’s RAP event. I still can’t wipe the smile off of my face. Yes it’s probably juvenile of me, but I feel like one of my heroes just patted me on the back and just said – “Nice job kid!”

I’m always playing around and tweaking the blog, and now I’ve just linked it up with MyBlogLog.com to host avatars for the comment section.  Just sign up for your free account, upload a picture, and post your comment!  You avatar will magically appear beside your words of wisdom!

I also want to take this opportunity to once again extend the invitation for anyone to write a post for The Classroom.  Simply write about what your passionate about, and e-mail it to me.  If it’s appropriate I’ll post it on your behalf and people can start commenting on it!  I don’t mind starting the conversation (just ask my class… or my wife), but if other people have a great idea, I don’t mind stepping off my soapbox for a while.

Well with that said, I’m off to shape the minds of the future (that’s a scary thought…).  Have a great day, and have fun!

-Mr. G