Jessica Fries-Gaither's Comments

Thanks! I'm really looking forward to presenting at MLE! It's going to be intense, 3 sessions each day. Luckily I'm doing the SAME three sessions each day. The focus is going to be on getting the most out of the technology you already have available in your school/classroom. Should be a fun time!

Yes, I have heard about the Michigan game. In fact, Jacob showed me the pond he jumped in - along with the thousands of others who are supposed to be intelligent. ;-)

Maybe since he did it last year he won't have to repeat the insanity this year.

Jjessica,

...just wanted you to know that I was in Columbus a couple of weeks ago .. the week of the USC game. I thought that Clemson people knew how to tailgate, but it is nothing like OSU.

We enjoyed the Skull session with the band that afternoon. .. and tailgated with another doctoral student's group - although none of us had tickets. The RV lot over by the track stadium was full of people with no tickets. Amazing!

I can't believe how great everyone is in responding. I am looking forward to being able to spend some time digging deeper to learn what is available. Thank you!! :)

Thank you! I am looking forward to being part of an inspired group of teachers.
I am presently most interested in learning new was to enrich my gifted students in both Math & Science. We currently already enroll them in Math & Science Olympiad competitions, but I am looking for activities or resources that would help them be prepared for these events.

Thanks for the welcome-aboard well-wishes. Having this opportunity will be a great resource. I look forward to hearing great things from you and the others.

Thanks Jessica for the welcome. I just got home from a technology training that still has 3 days left . . . integrating podcasts, googledocs as well bighugelabs. I love to use technology in my classroom and have done many webquests and am looking for a yet another forum to get even more ideas!

Jessica~
Thank you for the great links! And especially the warm welcome.

I can't wait to hear all your wonderful ideas!

Peace~ Jenn

Thank you Jessica for your welcome. I am an 8th grade teacher. I have 4 sections of Science and 1 Section of 8th grade civics. It is quite interesting. I have to change gears during the day and can be a bit confusing, but it works.

I am really excited about being involved in this group. I tried a few things this year such as Wiki's, a blog and a voicethread. They were so much fun, but they need a little work. I would love to learn more about how to incorporate these technologies into my classroom for true assessments.

Anyway, thank you for the welcome. I hope to speak to you soon
Leigh

Yeah, this is how I'd like to be spending the day!

Thanks Jessica! I came into this thru the MiddleTalk listserve. Looks cool. I can't wait to test out. We have a 5-8 sci listserve in NY but not too active.

Jessica:
I am a media specialist at my school now, but I also spent 23 years teaching science. I joined the MSP in hopes I can encourage others to do so, giving them specific examples, and sharing the great things I expect to learn here. Part of being a media specialist is finding great resources to use in collaborating with teachers.
Thanks for asking!
Susie

Greetings Jessica,

I'm a dual Bachelor of Science major, Education - Middle Grade Level - Science and Mathematics & Information Systems, seeking junior at Mercer University.

I found out about this site from Middletalk1. I'm a subscriber for about 1 year. In lieu of my inexperience, I really didn't feel I anything to add. I was hoping to hear from pre-service folks as well who were looking to learn from the experts.

I changed careers. I am an ex-CoBOL, C+, and UNIX programmer, that specialized in Y2K programming and platform migrations.

About me: I've raised 4 sons and work with the hundreds of youth at my church of more than 25,000 active members, New Birth Cathedral. My first love is science, science, and more science. As far as IT, I've fallen in love with the world of graphics and designing what I need for lesson plans; however, I've only built 3 websites. I found that I do not like the Network LAN, WAN, MAN, or Wi-Fi side of IT. I think it was IP subnetting that convinced me it wasn't my forte. Math, In my mind's eye I have a wonderful curriculum idea that makes math relative for today's youth. I'm working on the specifics.

If I can be of assistance in preparing any toolset for anyone, please let me know.

Carpe Diem!

WOW! You have had a lots of experiences too! My dream is to live in Alaskas for at least one whole year. It is a crazy dream I have had for a long time.

I have a dear friend at THE OSU. He is working on his doctorate in string pedagogy. He is a violinist.

Your work sounds fascinating! I look forward to learning more about it.
Rebecca

Hi Jessica,

Well ... I guess my "other" right now is undefined. I have been a middle school teacher for 35 years. During that time I taught band for 11 years, only math for a year, math mixed with computers for a few years, technology for 20 years (including the few with a class of math involved), and health for 3 years.

This past year I was in a new school teaching technology. It was probablly the best year of my teaching. However, on May 15, I discovered that I no longer have a job for next year. (The last five years I have been "retired" .. but continuing to teach.)

So .. at the moment, I am concentrating a lot on "The North Star" by Peter Reynolds and trying to find mine. There are lots of things to think about. I love middle level kids and can't imagine life without them. However, it might be time to think of serving them in a different way. My thinking changes by the day. Last week I was scrambling to "just find a job" teaching in a school. This week .... I am sort of sitting back and "looking."

My new business cards - which may change any day - say, "Advocate for Young Adolescents" and "Technology Specialist." Although my online friends have emphatically stated that I am a technology specialist ... there is so much to learn. It is a bit hard for me to promote myself as such.

Thanks for asking .. and I am sorry I wrote so much. The summary of what I wrote is probably that I am trying to figure out what "other" means for me.

Rebecca

PS Where are you located? I am in Rock Hill, SC

Hi Jess - look at the widget on the left side of the home page - read NSES standards online. You can do that with any NRC book. Pretty cool! Kim