Breaking the Ice
When you enter your Home Room, it may be empty. Click on the “members” link at the top of your screen to see who else is part of your Home Room.
If there are no messages posted in your Home Room, try introducing yourself to get the conversation started. Here are some ideas:
Pose one of these questions with your own response:
- What are some of your greatest successes or learning experiences as a teacher in Texas?
- What is a metaphor you feel describes schools? (E.g., a garden where children are flowers that bloom...)
- What prompted you to join RT3?
- How do you define classroom success? How did you come to this definition?
Or try one of these activities:
Explore one area of RT3 that is currently available (i.e., the "About RT3" Community, Search, Library, or the Online Academy) and report back to the larger group on your experience — what did you find out?
Introduce yourself with a topic called "Three Things About [your name here]" and share three things about yourself that others would never learn from your online profile.
On a lighter note, post a message titled "Two Truths and a Lie About [your name here]" with 3 statements about yourself, 2 true and 1 false. When you read someone else's "Two Truths and a Lie" statements, see if you can guess which one is false. After a few responses have been posted, reveal the answer!
General Notes:
To start a discussion on any of these topics or one of your own ideas, go back to your Home Room then click on "add topic" under the discussion heading. Enter your topic in the title box and your response in the text box before clicking the submit button.
When trying to encourage others to discuss a topic (as opposed to eliciting a simple answer), be sure to use techniques similar to those that you use in your classroom - open questions, an inviting tone, being responsive, and so on. Remember that electronic communications lack many normal social cues so please stay aware of your word choice and tone.
Most of all, have some fun!