Thoughts on Obama's Ed Tech Plan
This was my final reflection in my Intro to Instructional Tech class. I'm posting it here simply to make sure I am successful at adding a link. Baby steps :)
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Overwhelmed!
I've gotten behind in my "23 things" as a result of final papers and projects that were consuming me this past month. I'm done with classes and now have the next few weeks to completely focus on my own professional development, but I'm totally overwhelmed! I created RSS feeds and now I have close to 400 articles and blogs waiting to be read in my google account. I don't want to miss out on anything, but I can't possibly absorb all of that - especially when half of it is like a foreign language to me! Somehow I need to focus my energies on one thing at a time (y'know the whole reason I started doing this 23 Things on a Stick to begin with). I've only done the first few lessons including setting up a blog, editing photos and signing up for RSS feeds. The next several I'm planning on lumping together as I'm pretty familiar with most of it including tagging, social networking, and communication tools like email, texting and IM. I will now focus on these three things (in no particular order): collaboration, podcasts, wikis and online productivity tools. This should allow me to stay somewhat focused without getting too incredibly overwhelmed (unless I get sidetracked by my RSS feed).
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Avatars and Widgets
Today I had fun playing around with my blog and wiki. I learned how to add widgets and embed videos. I also played around with a couple different websites to create an avatar. I settled on a voki and added it to my blog. I've read a lot of different teaching articles that suggest having your students create an avatar. I think this would be a great way to get them excited about participating in online discussions. It's also a great way for them to personalize their blogs.
My 5th grade daughter started a blog at school a couple weeks ago and was so excited to show it to me. For some reason, they blocked access to the site for most of the time, only allowing the students to work on it at school. This seems like a waste of a wonderful tool. The one night she was able to work on it from home, she spent the majority of the night creating a new post and reading and commenting on others' posts. She had me proofread it (something she rarely does with regular schoolwork) as she wanted it to be perfect for everyone that may read it. I talked to her tonight about setting up her own blog from home that she can work on whenever she wants. I know she'll love creating an avatar and finding widgets and videos to put on it as well.
Students may not think to double check homework that is simply being "checked off" by a teacher, but they will more likely want to proofread their own creations that are going to be viewed by their peers and family members. Students should take pride in their work. Having a worldwide gallery is one way to achieve this.
My 5th grade daughter started a blog at school a couple weeks ago and was so excited to show it to me. For some reason, they blocked access to the site for most of the time, only allowing the students to work on it at school. This seems like a waste of a wonderful tool. The one night she was able to work on it from home, she spent the majority of the night creating a new post and reading and commenting on others' posts. She had me proofread it (something she rarely does with regular schoolwork) as she wanted it to be perfect for everyone that may read it. I talked to her tonight about setting up her own blog from home that she can work on whenever she wants. I know she'll love creating an avatar and finding widgets and videos to put on it as well.
Students may not think to double check homework that is simply being "checked off" by a teacher, but they will more likely want to proofread their own creations that are going to be viewed by their peers and family members. Students should take pride in their work. Having a worldwide gallery is one way to achieve this.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Professional Development
I attended an online FETC conference a few weeks ago. One of the sessions was on professional development. The speaker, Meg Ormiston suggested opening a Twitter account for the purpose of professional development. I finally did it today. Wow! What an incredible resource! I would have never guessed. I added the hashtag #edchat and have been reading some great education articles all day as a result.
I realize that many teachers don't know where to begin when it comes to networking and professional development. It's difficult to find enough time in the day to fit everything in. I've spent countless hours over the past couple months searching the iInternet for educational resources and ideas for integrating technology in the classroom. The only reason I have the time to do this is because I'm not currently teaching (I'm subbing as I work on my master's to renew my certification after being a stay-at-home mom for the past 12 years).
As I collect all of these articles and bookmark all of these websites to use in my future classroom, I should find a way to share them with teachers who are currently teaching but don't have the time to do the research. I'm not sure of the best way to do this yet. My initial thought is that I will send out an email to every language arts teacher in all of the 6 districts where I sub explaining that I would like to help them find productive tools, resources, websites and articles. I will then lead them to either a blog or wiki that I create and update so that they can add it to their RSS (I may have to tell them about that first. I'm acting like it's something everyone has and I just learned about it this week :)
So, who knows, maybe this blog will be the site I use. While I'm figuring that out, I have some more learning to do...
I realize that many teachers don't know where to begin when it comes to networking and professional development. It's difficult to find enough time in the day to fit everything in. I've spent countless hours over the past couple months searching the iInternet for educational resources and ideas for integrating technology in the classroom. The only reason I have the time to do this is because I'm not currently teaching (I'm subbing as I work on my master's to renew my certification after being a stay-at-home mom for the past 12 years).
As I collect all of these articles and bookmark all of these websites to use in my future classroom, I should find a way to share them with teachers who are currently teaching but don't have the time to do the research. I'm not sure of the best way to do this yet. My initial thought is that I will send out an email to every language arts teacher in all of the 6 districts where I sub explaining that I would like to help them find productive tools, resources, websites and articles. I will then lead them to either a blog or wiki that I create and update so that they can add it to their RSS (I may have to tell them about that first. I'm acting like it's something everyone has and I just learned about it this week :)
So, who knows, maybe this blog will be the site I use. While I'm figuring that out, I have some more learning to do...
Friday, October 29, 2010
RSS and Adobe Photoshop
I opened up a google reader account and have found a couple websites for which I'm interested in receiving regular updates. This is where RSS has come into play. Aside from one personal blog a man is keeping regarding the passing of his wife, all other websites and blogs are of educational value - mostly having to do with integrating technology in the classroom. I'm amazed every day at how many resources are available. I've been adding new websites to my delicious account almost daily. I'm hoping that I will have a good collection of websites and resourses to use in my future lesson planning and teaching. In the meantime, I am a bit overwhelmed by the abundance of tools and the amount of experience that seems to be needed in order master just a fraction of these resources.
I was encouraged today by a quote from Dale Carnegie's How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. It says, "The best possible way to prepare for tomorrow is to concentrate with all your intelligence, all your enthusiasm, on doing today's work superbly today."
In addition to leaning the ins and outs of RSS (and there don't appear to be many as it is fairly straightforward), I have enrolled in an Adobe Photoshop class for the next three weeks that takes me throught the basics of photo editing. This may only be used in my personal life, however, I've seen many uses for digital cameras and photo editing in the classroom as well. At this point, I feel that I can't possibly "overlearn" any technological concepts. The more interaction I have with all forms of technology, the better.
Some potential uses I see are in creating posters, developing possible character portraits from a story or in recreating a story by way of digital storytelling. I've been in a number of classrooms this year where posters are still made the "old-fashioned" way with posterboard and markers. There's so much more that can and should be done to expand these assignments and challenge the students' creativity and innovation. Most students own cell phones that have digital cameras on them. They can easily use this tool to create visual displays of their interpretations of literature.
I was encouraged today by a quote from Dale Carnegie's How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. It says, "The best possible way to prepare for tomorrow is to concentrate with all your intelligence, all your enthusiasm, on doing today's work superbly today."
In addition to leaning the ins and outs of RSS (and there don't appear to be many as it is fairly straightforward), I have enrolled in an Adobe Photoshop class for the next three weeks that takes me throught the basics of photo editing. This may only be used in my personal life, however, I've seen many uses for digital cameras and photo editing in the classroom as well. At this point, I feel that I can't possibly "overlearn" any technological concepts. The more interaction I have with all forms of technology, the better.
Some potential uses I see are in creating posters, developing possible character portraits from a story or in recreating a story by way of digital storytelling. I've been in a number of classrooms this year where posters are still made the "old-fashioned" way with posterboard and markers. There's so much more that can and should be done to expand these assignments and challenge the students' creativity and innovation. Most students own cell phones that have digital cameras on them. They can easily use this tool to create visual displays of their interpretations of literature.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
I'm a blogger!
I have several journeys going on right now - all with valuable life lessons and growth. I won't be diving into all of those areas (yet). For now, I will be using this blog to document my progress over the next 23 weeks as I commit to learning Web 2.0 tools for my own use and use in my future classroom. I just started pursuing my master's degree in Instructional Technology a mere 7 weeks ago. I wasn't sure that I was sold on this degree 2 months ago, but I now realize just how valuable it will be to me, my kids and my career. I've been very overwhelmed by how much I need to learn. I've been researching different technologies to see which ones will be of the most value to me. I can't seem to narrow it down. Today, I found a website that takes me through 23 weekly lessons to include things such as blogs, wiki's, googledocs etc. I need some structure in this seemingly insurmountable field of information so I am committing myself to completing the weekly assignments and documenting my "baby steps" through this blog. I can't wait to see how much I've grown come the spring!
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