Does Global Connect lead to Personal Disconnect?

Recently, I was introduced to a site of a great edublogger, Vicki Davis. If you would like to visit her blog, go to:
http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/

In one of her posts entitled "Globally connected... Personally disconnected?" she addresses the issue that as a teacher use more and more websites and web tools to communicate with others and teach, he or she can feel personally disconnected.

Vicki states that being a teacher is becoming less about a stack of papers to grade. She is now concerned with email assignments and updating wikis and web pages.

Her advice to those who feel globally connected and personally disconnected is as follows:
"It is OK to feel personally disconnected sometimes, particularly when that means you are creating rich, vibrant, deep learning experiences for students.....
Just keep perspective and don't beat yourself up too much about how often you've blogged or tweeted. If you've got something to share, share it any way you can with the time you have and just don't sweat it."

Vicki expressed that she feels personally disconnected at times. It is evident from exploration of her blog that she uses technology ALOT in her classroom.

Do you think that there is a such thing as using too many websites and webtools in teaching? Do you think that global connect can lead to a personal disconnect? If so, how do you find the right balance?

How do we get kids to ask questions?

As a pre-service teacher, I often think about what I can do to get kids to ask questions. I noticed that at the beginning of the year, many kids in the Algebra class that I am observing did not ask questions. My cooperating teacher tells the kids all of the time that he wants them to ask questions and thanks them when they do. He always states that he cares about their learning and he makes himself available before school, during lunch, and after school. Over time, kids that never asked questions started to ask questions. However, there is still a large number of students that do not ask questions.

Some additional ideas that I have to get kids to ask questions are:

*Have students write their questions anonymously on index card.
*Give students points for writing questions on their homework when they don't understand.
*Make participation points apart of the class grade.

What are some methods that you would use to get kids to ask questions?