Running in Place

I feel like I am out of breath from a long race that began this morning when I arrived at Turning Point. There are so many ways to share ideas here that I feel like I am running in place. Ginger, or one of the other teachers, mentions an application, and the students immediately access and use it. I am two steps behind, trying to catch up. I watched a great lesson on social bookmarkng - a new concept to me. Immediately following the explanations, the students went off to give it a try. At the same time, I downloaded the application, created my account, and tried to figure out what to do next. I have quickly learned one adage here: when in doubt, ask a student. In fact, the expectation for students is to ask two or three classmates before asking a teacher. I am trying to follow this when I can. A student gave me a great explanation of how to use diigo.com, how to bookmark, highlight, and make a sticky note. I am so lucky to have the opportunity to go to my computer immediately and try it out. It feels like I am fumbling around. I don't know why I expect to know how to do this, except that the students make it look so easy! I have to remember, it's as natural as breathing. That's no lie! While I am still trying to figure out Diigo, we move onto Twitter. Shortly after that it's time for AIM and Bonjour. Before I came here, I thought I would mostly be collecting things to share with my students. Little did I know I would be learning so much myself.