Eureka! I bit the bullet and DID it! We had our second practice HOA today just before the first Webinar, and then.. the Overview. Not that it was without glitches. Like anything else on the computer, one needs to practice a lot... but by the time we get through a few of these sessions, I should feel quite confident! 

Some of the participants were without headsets - which made the feedback from the speakers really annoying - and it wasn't until the end that Howie suggested that whenever someone is not talking, they mute their mikes (and then Mickey pointed out that we can mute each others'!) There is so much going on at once... it's not easy to keep up. I had trouble sharing the slides with everyone, and then in the end, when I asked for feedback, I was unable to get my picture back.. but the feedback was great (despite the glitches) and I have a really good feeling about this project. I believe it is THE way to spread the Google-word and get teachers connected and collaborating - with their students as well as their colleagues. 

If you are a teacher trainer and you want to join, please sign up on the course website homepage. If you want to view the recordings, they will all be on the site. Here is the page with the first Webinar recording, and the While you Wait slide show where anyone interested in participating in the course, and enrolled, is invited to follow instructions and add a slide (please be sure not to delete someone else's work).

Or.... you can just watch the Webinar recording from here!

So, despite the glitches, and despite the background noise, we managed to have some pretty good discussion and sharing! I look forward to more sessions with these great teacher trainers!

After being encouraged to begin a Blog; in fact being told that the only way I can be a true leader in digital pedagogy (even if my following is only a following of one) I started out with a bang.... and sort of peetered out. You know how life gets in the way of blog commitments and assorted other things....

However today I am very happy to say that I am rolling out a pilot of Webinars which, hopefully will be open to the general public of teachers in the coming year. This pilot will begin with teacher trainers, and I will use this blog as a way of logging (uummm..blogging) my process in this endeavor.

So - almost 40 teacher trainers from around the country have signed up. I am accompanied in this endeavor by my excellent Google Ninja colleagues from GTA TLV 2011. People seem really excited about it (not just me :0)

Yesterday we had our first practice Hangout On Air, and today - before the Overview session (Webinar #1) we will have another practice session - just so that people can get into the Hangout stress freely.

Luckily, Ninja Yair was online with me yesterday and fielded the phonecalls from confused prospective participants. I am probably going to be on my own today - which is slightly intimidating but.... I've been through worse challenges and lived to tell the tale...so I am optimistic.

I will pace myself by trying to post a new blog after each of the Webinars. So, if you are interested, stay tuned!

Good luck to us all!
Adele   

First Steps into Bloggerdom

A Blog. Yeah, right. That's ALL I need. NOT!!!

But maybe - yes?

• Woman
• Mother
• American-Israeli
• Kibbutznick
• Gaza border dweller
• Teacher
• Teacher-Counselor
• Medical clown

Maybe a blog is what I need to pull all of these things together.

The dominant focus of my Blog would be Digital Pedagogy, since that is how I "got here", when my mentor, Aviv, suggested that blogging would be a the ultimate tool for getting my professional voice out there, as a teacher-counselor on the team of Leaders in Digital Pedagogy in Israel. Although the other aspects which comprise who I am, influence everything else I do in life, and work, in one way or another. I sometimes wonder how I got here.... but I guess that question is not really relevant, considering the fact that I AM here, I AM comfortable here, and I will try to work it into some sort of rhythm. 

Wish me luck!