Countdown...

In just a week we'll begin a new school year in Texas...where did the summer go?? Oh yeah, that's right...I (gladly) spent my summer preparing for and attending the Junior Achievement North American Company of the Year competition with the officers of our JA Company Program, WINC. Awesome performance by our group (BTW). Very proud...and...that's right...I completed another online PD with my district, studied for and passed the MCAS Word exam, attended Conference and spent my weekends at tennis tourneys with my son...whew! Busy (but very fun) summer!

Now, it's time to complete my preparations for the upcoming school year. I received my schedule last Thursday. I will be teaching 'lots' of BCIS this year...which is great 'cause several of us will be piloting a program to help our students with certifications in IC3 and MCAS. WooHoo! Awesome...

I'll also have a couple of sections of Sports Marketing again this year as well. Thanks to last year's online PD, I was able to implement some cool Web2.0 technologies in this class...the students produced some great work.

I want to expand that this year. I will be expanding my unit on digital citizenship in all of my classes this year. I found that most of my students (last year) needed more than what I covered in class (especially when it came utilizing tools like backchanneling). I will be receiving video cameras...YEAH!!! I plan to utilize them in the Sports Marketing classes. I believe they will be a great resource for students to demonstrate creativity and content mastery..very exciting...

I've learned so much this summer that it's hard not to become overwhelmed. I have to keep telling myself, "Baby steps, just take baby steps." Maybe one day I'll be as "on" in my teaching as Vicki Davis, or Dan Meyer, but for now...baby steps...

Creative Collaboration and Web2.0

Since the beginning of the school year my Sports & Entertainment Marketing class has been learning about the 7-key functions of marketing, the marketing mix, target marketing, segmenting, and positioning (whew!). My approach has been to incorporate activities with all of the concepts to facilitate understanding of them. For example, when we studied the key function of Marketing Information Management (i.e. research), I had the students participate in taste test of colas and then complete a questionnaire. My student teacher, Kim Clayton aggregated the results for us and we discussed the possible implications. The students loved it...frankly, I had fun, too.

So...this week my class began a comprehensive project--It's called, "Rock On!". The goal of this project is for them to synthesize the concepts they've learned thus far and plan a 20-city U.S. tour for a musical group (sounds like fun, huh?).

Now, I wish I could take total credit for creating this project, but I cannot. I found the original project from a "Best Practices" ebook put together by Jeff McCauley of The Marketing Teacher. However, the original project involved lots of printing and creating of 'static' artifacts--I want to incorporate Web2.0 into the project to make a more rigorous and relevant project for my students. I created a Wiki for my classes this year. So far though (thanks to the hurricane 'vacation'), I really haven't had time to implement the use of it--until now.

I have placed the Project Parameters on the Wiki and created a BlogRoll page for the Sports Marketing students with links to their Team Pages. They will placing their artifacts on their Team Pages, discussing their progress in Discussions, etc. We should finish the project in a couple of weeks.

I would LOVE to have some feedback from both educators and marketing gurus on the Project. Do you like it the way I have it set up? What can I do to make the project 'better?' And the BIGGIE: would you be willing to 'judge' the results? What are your thoughts on the artifacts the students produce?

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

The other day I posted about how I approach the first few days of school to set a successful tone for the year. Well, after I posted that I begin contemplating--I've 'met' a number of incredibly successful educators this summer online. I've tagged their blogs/posts on Del.icio.us, added a number of these blogs to my blogroll, and read much of their information on various topics.

What I hadn't done, was read/study how they approach their first days...so...I started searching. Here are some links to some great posts from some great educators and some of their best practices for starting the year out right...

Vicki Davis - Tips for Starting the School Year Right
Todd Seal - Change in Your Classroom
Cal Teacher - Settle Down
Dan Meyer - How I Work

This is just a smattering...check out Teacher Lingo for connections to other educator blogs.