Through the Twitter network, I came across this blog post about contact between students and teachers outside the classroom. This is one of the best I've read. I understand that with the changing world, we as teachers have to be very cautious. That said, I think that if a teacher is willing to interact with students in a strictly teacher/student context, it should be allowed. I live in a small town, so I have the luxury of knowing my students' parents (usually) and they know me. I have students call me to ask the name of an author for a project they are working on or to ask when an assignment is due. Sometimes my husband thinks I'm too accessible for my students, but I always want to be there for them. This year, I had a student ask me to add them as a contact on Skype. When I'm on at home, I'll usually get a "hey" from that student. It excites me that she has taken the initiative to learn these technologies. She was also the first one to go home and work on creating her own wiki. I hope to interact with these students outside of class. I hope to hear from them in the future for help or just to listen to their accomplishments. I have former students as 'friends' on Facebook.(of course they asked me)
I am not so naive that I think that there are not teachers out there who take advantage of these relationships and that is extremely sad. I do not, however, plan to pass on any opportunity that I have to be a help to a child. I do not seek to be their friend, but I do hope that I will always be a mentor to them beyond the one year that they spend with me.

As excited as I am about the potential of the new position at Benton Elementary next year, I really feel like I am going to miss being in the classroom terribly! I already miss it now, especially these kids from this year. I truly hope that I was able to have an impact on them this past year and I wish them all the best going to CMS. We've had a lot of fun together, tried a lot of new things, and hopefully learned a lot. Have a fantastic summer! Love you guys!

Mrs. Beaton graciously agreed to allow me to try out VoiceThread with her preschool class. I never imagined four and five year olds would be so nervous about recording their own voices. They did a great job, though!

An article was sent to me by our technology coordinator showing one man's repentance for his actions during the Civil Rights Movement. I found it very interesting and thought you might, too. It just shows that even the worst kids of people can make a choice to be different. Read the article here.