English 11/12 Syllabus Prezi

I decided to make a syllabus Prezi for my new English 11/12 class as well!  The content is almost the same as the English 9/10 class, but the theme of the template is different.

You can access the English 11/12 Syllabus Prezi here and I have set the privacy settings to allow others to copy it!  Hope this helps someone!  

Course Syllabus Prezi

Thinking about the first day of school, I was reflecting on how boring it can be for students to have to sit through one dry but necessary explanation of the course syllabus after another.  Since one of my main goals for this year is to do even more in infuse technology into my classroom, I contemplated how I could do that on day one.  My students will be getting their own school issued laptops to use, but they won't have them on the first day, so I was trying to think about what I could do as the teacher to spice things up a bit while still conveying the necessary start of school information.

I'd looked at a few Prezi's over the summer on various topics, but I had never made one myself.  I've done plenty of PowerPoints, but never a Prezi.  Well, no time like the present!  Might as well demonstrate from day one that technology is an important part of the way we will go about our leaning in this class and model that I too am a learner.

So, without further ado, here it is!  My first Prezi!  Have a look and tell me what you think!  English 9/10 Syllabus Prezi.  I will still hand out a paper copy of the syllabus, but hopefully this Prezi will make it more engaging for students and set the technology tone for the rest of the school year! 

Getting Started

Welcome to my first blog post!  Let me introduce myself: my name is Suzann Keith and I am a high school English and middle school language arts/reading teacher who loves teaching classical literature and writing using modern technology.

I started teaching in 1994 and the technology available to me at the time consisted of an overhead projector in my classroom and a Macintosh LC computer at home.  No one had ever heard of the Internet, and the copy machine didn’t even collate and staple your copies for you!

Now, of course, I use the Internet all day long, I have a MacBook Pro laptop, a document camera and an LCD projector in my classroom (in addition to the TV, VCR, DVD player and overhead projector that are collecting dust).  The copy machine now collates, staples, and even hole punches!  What a difference a decade (or almost two) makes!

I love technology and discovering new ways to integrate it into my classroom.  I’m not a techie, but when I hear about or see something new, I am pretty quick to figure it out and implement it.  The Internet and Web 2.0 tools in particular have really helped me to keep my teaching fresh and current, and after 17 years in the classroom, that’s important.

I’d like to use this blog to reflect on my own teaching, help inform others of how one (brave) teacher uses technology in her classroom, and connect with other braver teachers out there who are paving the way.

Let the blog begin!