Well, I've reached the halfway point in this journey to understanding technology, and I can now put Thing 12 on my list of things I never knew that I never knew.
For this activity, I was immediately drawn to Google Calendar. I love calendars and I'm constantly updating my calendar on my phone with even the smallest things that I don't want to forget to do. This goes hand in hand with my list obsession :) However, Google Calendar was quite different. The function that I appreciated the most was the fact that you are able to share your calendar with friends and family, along with using Google Calendar to send out invitations for events. I am always put in charge of organizing family get togethers, and one of the hardest part of that is simply finding a date when everyone is available. Google Calendar will be put to use from this point forward in any family event that I am put in charge of planning! As a teacher, I could definately use Google Calendar to update parents on class activities, parent teacher conferences, field trips, etc.
The other resource that I was drawn to was Google Translate. As a Spanish major in college, I know first hand how unreliable online translators can be. In fact, the very first day of class, my Spanish professor warned us not to use an online translator to complete any of our assignments. She said she would know and it would result in a failing grade on the assignment. Needless to say, one student did end up using it to translate his entire report and as promised, the professor knew! After playing around with Google Translate, I can tell how she knew. Although the translate function was able to convey the general meaning of the English phrases I put in, there were quite a few errors. However, I could see using Google Translate or another online translator to help a student whose first language wasn't English. It is a great way to quickly translate something that a student might not understand. I also like that there is a voice option that will read the translation. I could see this being particularly helpful for the younger learners who might not know how to read yet. Although it's not a perfect substitute for speaking a foreign language, it is a great tool to use in a pinch to get your point across.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Thing 11
I've decided that Thing 11 is my least favorite "thing" since I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing for this exercise. But hey, we all have our bad days, and I'm hoping this will be my least successful posting in this journey that we call the 23 Things!
After looking at the links provided, I would say that the Google blog search function was the easiest for me, if for no other reason than I am so familiar with Google as a search engine. However, I was confused with the results that I got. After doing a quick search for "education," I came across a series of hits. Unfortunately, the results that I got were not the results that I was expecting. Up until this point, when I thought about a blog, I thought about an individual creating a site with his or her opinions, thoughts, ramblings, etc. However, searching for "education" brought me to a listing of more organized sites than I was expecting. My search brought me to a listing of online newspapers that didn't exactly fit my preconceived notion of a blog. Refusing to fail, I did the next best thing. I searched for my blog (hey, we Google ourselves, why not Google blog ourselves?). Strike 2. Searching for my blog did not bring me any success.
So, I left Google blogs in search for bigger and better things. I looked at the Topix site for a bit and found a few interesting stories from my hometown, but I was in search for blogs, so after a bit of searching I left Topix and moved onto Technorati. Once again, I searched for "education" and came up short. I found sites on being conservative, Africa and money matters. Not exactly the results I was looking for. Strike 3, I'm out!
After looking at the links provided, I would say that the Google blog search function was the easiest for me, if for no other reason than I am so familiar with Google as a search engine. However, I was confused with the results that I got. After doing a quick search for "education," I came across a series of hits. Unfortunately, the results that I got were not the results that I was expecting. Up until this point, when I thought about a blog, I thought about an individual creating a site with his or her opinions, thoughts, ramblings, etc. However, searching for "education" brought me to a listing of more organized sites than I was expecting. My search brought me to a listing of online newspapers that didn't exactly fit my preconceived notion of a blog. Refusing to fail, I did the next best thing. I searched for my blog (hey, we Google ourselves, why not Google blog ourselves?). Strike 2. Searching for my blog did not bring me any success.
So, I left Google blogs in search for bigger and better things. I looked at the Topix site for a bit and found a few interesting stories from my hometown, but I was in search for blogs, so after a bit of searching I left Topix and moved onto Technorati. Once again, I searched for "education" and came up short. I found sites on being conservative, Africa and money matters. Not exactly the results I was looking for. Strike 3, I'm out!
Thing 10
Thing 10 introduced me to a very useful option to keep up to date with new postings on blogs and newsfeeds without having to visit each individual site. This is a feature that I never realized existed! While reading through the directions on Thing 10, I was initially a little intimidated since I felt like I was reading German (which I can't read). However, after watching the video on RSS, I feel like I have a good grasp of what it has to offer in a very simple format! I especially liked the reference that RSS is like subscribing to Netflicks instead of going to the video store :)
Now that I know how to subscribe and keep up with various blogs, I feel like the whole blogging world feels a little less intimidating! As a future teacher, I feel like this new knowledge will be very useful in my professional development. RSS isn't changing the information that is available, but it does change how we are able to use that information. If I want to subscribe to a few educational blogs (which I did), I no longer need to remember to visit each blog to check for updates, but instead I can allow the updates to come to me in one centralized location. As a future teacher, this will be particularly helpful in keeping up to date on what techniques other teachers are using in the classroom, new technology available that is useful to educators, or any other new tidbits that the bloggers are discussing. Overall, I feel like this is a very useful feature that I am happy to have found!
Now that I know how to subscribe and keep up with various blogs, I feel like the whole blogging world feels a little less intimidating! As a future teacher, I feel like this new knowledge will be very useful in my professional development. RSS isn't changing the information that is available, but it does change how we are able to use that information. If I want to subscribe to a few educational blogs (which I did), I no longer need to remember to visit each blog to check for updates, but instead I can allow the updates to come to me in one centralized location. As a future teacher, this will be particularly helpful in keeping up to date on what techniques other teachers are using in the classroom, new technology available that is useful to educators, or any other new tidbits that the bloggers are discussing. Overall, I feel like this is a very useful feature that I am happy to have found!
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Thing 9
For Thing 9, I decided to pick a theme, Summer Vacation, and use that theme with various image generators. After a quick search, I came across a site that allows you to create newspapers, brochures, pamphlets and various other templates . I decided to use it to make a sample report that a student might make on their summer vacation. This site is very simple to use. You simply select one of their premade templates and insert your own pictures and text.
Sticking with the Summer Vacation theme, I used the link provided in the 23 Things page, which brought me to image chef http://www.imagechef.com// At this site, I found Word Mosaic which is an interesting image generator which allows you to chose from a variety of symbols. Once you have picked your symbol, you enter in your text (for this example, I entered in words that a child may use to describe their summer vacation), and it will utilize those words to create an image of the symbol you originally chose. For this example, I chose a sun as my symbol since it best portrayed the theme of Summer Vacation. I could see using this site during brainstorming sessions as a class. Instead of the teacher simply drawing the typical brainstorming bubble on the whiteboard, the students could work together to think of words that describe a certain theme, and then they can add those words into the Word Mosaic to create a visual aid of their brainstorming session.
A third option that I came up with to use an image generator in a classroom setting would be a simple way to add a little fun into a worksheet or homework assignment. Instead of simply writing out the directions on the top of the page, a teacher could add an image (bonus points if that image corresponds with the topic) to give a bit more visual interest to the assignment. This image was created at http://www.happyfacegenerator.com/
Thing 8
For Thing 8, I worked with both iMap Flickr http://imapflickr.com/default.aspx and Spell with Flickr http://metaatem.net/words/ to create a few projects. iMap Flickr was awesome! Travel is my passion and this site allows you to place all your travel pictures on a map from where they were taken. It took me about an hour to figure out how to use the site and upload a few pictures from some of the countries I have visited. This is one site that I could definitely see myself using in the future to upload pictures from my travels around the world. I feel like I found a gem here!
Spell with Flickr was another fun site that was super simple to use. All you do is type in a word that you want to spell out, and it finds pictures of each individual letter on Flickr and creates a picture word for you. If you don't like the look of a particular letter, just click on that individual letter and it will keep changing it until you find one that you like. This is a super simple way to add visual interest to your blog!
One way that I could see myself using iMap Flickr in the classroom is as a way to mark the places the students have travelled to. The students could update a picture from a trip they took to our class Flickr site, and then we could upload that to a class map. We could also incorporate a "Flat Stanley" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Stanley exercise and use that to help the students learn about different locations throughout the world.
Thing 7
Uploading pictures to Flickr was an activity that was not difficult for me. I have used a similar photo hosting service, Shutterfly in the past, and the process of uploading pictures was very similar. The difficulty for me came when I was trying to add the pictures to my blog. Originally, I tried the "share" function on Flickr, but I couldn't figure out a way to share all four pictures that way. Finally, I gave up and decided to upload them one by one with Blogger.
I have had a bit of experience working with Shutterfly in the past, but not much. Because I wanted to get pictures from the guests at our wedding, I set up an account just for our wedding. I then gave each guest the sign in and password information for this account, along with detailed instructions on how to upload the pictures that they took. This allowed us to see our wedding both from the professional photographers perspective along with the perspectives of each of our guests.
One way that I could see using Flickr in an educational setting would be to use it as a way to keep the parents updated on class activities, field trips, etc. When I was teaching kindergarten in Korea, we had an account for the school and then made different albums for each class. Once a child was registered in the school, the parent would receive the login information to the account. We would put up pictures of the art projects, field trips, birthday celebrations, etc. However, before doing this in the future, I would need to make sure that it was approved by the school's privacy policy. Another way to use Flickr in the classroom is as a means of making the lessons more engaging and interesting. For example, if a high school class is studying architecture around the world, it is one thing to discuss the Taj Mahal, but it is an entirely different thing to do a quick search on Flickr and show the students this...
Taj Mahal, a photo by bsmethers on Flickr.
Sharing photos in a public place is an issue on the minds of many people. Although I do think about this at times, it's not an issue that I'm overly worried about. I guess I kind of follow the rule that my Aunt told my 15 year old cousin about posting pictures to Facebook. If you wouldn't show grandma a picture, don't put it on Facebook. However, in an educational environment, it is vital that the school and parents give permission before you post a picture of minors.
And now, the pictures that I decided to use for Thing 7...
I have had a bit of experience working with Shutterfly in the past, but not much. Because I wanted to get pictures from the guests at our wedding, I set up an account just for our wedding. I then gave each guest the sign in and password information for this account, along with detailed instructions on how to upload the pictures that they took. This allowed us to see our wedding both from the professional photographers perspective along with the perspectives of each of our guests.
One way that I could see using Flickr in an educational setting would be to use it as a way to keep the parents updated on class activities, field trips, etc. When I was teaching kindergarten in Korea, we had an account for the school and then made different albums for each class. Once a child was registered in the school, the parent would receive the login information to the account. We would put up pictures of the art projects, field trips, birthday celebrations, etc. However, before doing this in the future, I would need to make sure that it was approved by the school's privacy policy. Another way to use Flickr in the classroom is as a means of making the lessons more engaging and interesting. For example, if a high school class is studying architecture around the world, it is one thing to discuss the Taj Mahal, but it is an entirely different thing to do a quick search on Flickr and show the students this...
Taj Mahal, a photo by bsmethers on Flickr.
Sharing photos in a public place is an issue on the minds of many people. Although I do think about this at times, it's not an issue that I'm overly worried about. I guess I kind of follow the rule that my Aunt told my 15 year old cousin about posting pictures to Facebook. If you wouldn't show grandma a picture, don't put it on Facebook. However, in an educational environment, it is vital that the school and parents give permission before you post a picture of minors.
And now, the pictures that I decided to use for Thing 7...
Flying Over Lake Michigan
My cats love the fish!
Some of the bigger fish in our tank.
I love this guy!
Friday, January 25, 2013
Thing 6
In Thing 5, I was introduced for the first time to Glogster http://www.glogster.com/ and was intrigued. So, for Thing 6, I decided to check it out in more depth. And let me tell you, I LOVE what I found!
As a future K-2 teacher, a lot of the technology that we discuss is geared for much older students, and it is difficult for me to find ways to incorporate it into my future lesson plans. However, this is not the case with Glogster. Glogster is a site that allows you to make an online poster. However, unlike a typical poster, this site allows you to incorporate videos, pictures, and links to websites in a way that is very visually interesting. I found this site to be very useful to my future students. For example, check out this Glog which is centered around the letter "S"
http://www.glogster.com/mbinnie/letter-s/g-6l58oj2lsl5jtl9o1dgkca0.
This interactive poster incorporates videos with catchy songs about the letter "s," a video on how to write the letter "s," another video that has words that begin with the letter "s," pictures of "s" words and links to games that can test your comprehension skills.
Another fun example of a useful Glog is here http://www.glogster.com/liliana2532/what-do-plants-need-/g-6ljp501q8sar7b3k93nuna0. This Glog sums up the items that a plant needs to grow and also has a catchy tune that could help appeal to students with different learning styles.
As a future K-2 teacher, I feel that this site could be VERY useful in my classroom setting. This is a great way to review skills that we have studied or introduce new topics in a way that could help keep young learners with short attention spans engaged and interested in the lessons.
As a future K-2 teacher, a lot of the technology that we discuss is geared for much older students, and it is difficult for me to find ways to incorporate it into my future lesson plans. However, this is not the case with Glogster. Glogster is a site that allows you to make an online poster. However, unlike a typical poster, this site allows you to incorporate videos, pictures, and links to websites in a way that is very visually interesting. I found this site to be very useful to my future students. For example, check out this Glog which is centered around the letter "S"
http://www.glogster.com/mbinnie/letter-s/g-6l58oj2lsl5jtl9o1dgkca0.
Another fun example of a useful Glog is here http://www.glogster.com/liliana2532/what-do-plants-need-/g-6ljp501q8sar7b3k93nuna0. This Glog sums up the items that a plant needs to grow and also has a catchy tune that could help appeal to students with different learning styles.
As a future K-2 teacher, I feel that this site could be VERY useful in my classroom setting. This is a great way to review skills that we have studied or introduce new topics in a way that could help keep young learners with short attention spans engaged and interested in the lessons.
Thing 5
If you were to ask me an hour ago what Web 2.0 was, I would have probably answered with "a new version of the internet." After all, I've had an iPhone 3, 3GS, 4 and 4S (nope, no iPhone 5 for me yet). Each version of the iPhone is a new and improved model of an earlier version. However, after reading through the articles and watching the videos I learned that the Web 2.0 isn't actually a different version of the internet, but how we USE the internet differently. As I discussed in "Thing 4," the internet and technology are allowing us to interact and collaborate in ways that we have never been able to do before. In some ways, it is becoming such an integrated part of our lives that we can't imagine how life was without it. And the speed of this change is quite staggering. When I started college 10 years ago, I didn't even know how to use email. My roommate literally had to take me to the computer lab and show me how to sign into the email account that the college provided each student. The problem was, I didn't really have anyone to email. These days, I don't think anyone in my family or group of friends is without a Facebook account. Heck, even my grandparents are on Facebook. To state that the internet is changing how we interact and learn is an understatement.
Because of all these changes in technology, it is imperative that we keep up with the trends and learn ways that we can incorporate the Web 2.0 into a classroom setting. After reading through some of the comments on one of the articles, a repetitive theme was the fact that although these interactive learning sites are out there, as educators we have to actively seek them out, get out of our usual teaching ruts and constantly revise how we think about and utilize technology in the classroom. But actually doing this can be an intimidating process. Let's face it, kids these days can run circles around us (well me anyway) with their technological skills. While I was home for Christmas, I was shocked to see that my brother had an iPad for each of his 4 kids, who are all under 11. After getting over my initial "don't drop that" fear, I thought, why does a kid who is that young need with an iPad? However, after playing a counting game with the 4 year old and a Spanish vocabulary game with the 8 year old, I quickly changed my way of thinking. Not only was I impressed with the educational value of these activities, but I was amazed with the ease that these young children were navigating through the different games. It was almost intuitive to them. Heck, even the 4 year old was teaching me how to change the colors and use different functions in her coloring game.
As educators, we need to realize that students are going to come to us with a broad understanding of technology. Instead of feeling intimidated by technology, we need to embrace it, study it and utilize it. To me, School 2.0 is a way to incorporate technology to make lessons more interactive and engaging. Web 2.0 gives us the tools to allow students to collaborate in new and exciting ways. It makes learning more interactive, exciting and visual. It caters to students with different learning styles. It promotes critical thinking. And it it here to stay.
As the prices of technology continue to drop, I think we will continue to see a growth of technology throughout the school systems. I recently heard a report on the radio about a school that is trading textbooks for iPads. A quick Google search shows that there are quite a few other schools doing the same thing. Although this comes with its own set of challenges (the radio story mentioned issues they had with keeping kids off Facebook during class and the initial start up cost to name a few struggles with implementing the iPad program), these changes reflect the changing world in which we live and will teach this generation the skills they will need to successfully live in this world of ever changing technological advances.
Because of all these changes in technology, it is imperative that we keep up with the trends and learn ways that we can incorporate the Web 2.0 into a classroom setting. After reading through some of the comments on one of the articles, a repetitive theme was the fact that although these interactive learning sites are out there, as educators we have to actively seek them out, get out of our usual teaching ruts and constantly revise how we think about and utilize technology in the classroom. But actually doing this can be an intimidating process. Let's face it, kids these days can run circles around us (well me anyway) with their technological skills. While I was home for Christmas, I was shocked to see that my brother had an iPad for each of his 4 kids, who are all under 11. After getting over my initial "don't drop that" fear, I thought, why does a kid who is that young need with an iPad? However, after playing a counting game with the 4 year old and a Spanish vocabulary game with the 8 year old, I quickly changed my way of thinking. Not only was I impressed with the educational value of these activities, but I was amazed with the ease that these young children were navigating through the different games. It was almost intuitive to them. Heck, even the 4 year old was teaching me how to change the colors and use different functions in her coloring game.
As educators, we need to realize that students are going to come to us with a broad understanding of technology. Instead of feeling intimidated by technology, we need to embrace it, study it and utilize it. To me, School 2.0 is a way to incorporate technology to make lessons more interactive and engaging. Web 2.0 gives us the tools to allow students to collaborate in new and exciting ways. It makes learning more interactive, exciting and visual. It caters to students with different learning styles. It promotes critical thinking. And it it here to stay.
As the prices of technology continue to drop, I think we will continue to see a growth of technology throughout the school systems. I recently heard a report on the radio about a school that is trading textbooks for iPads. A quick Google search shows that there are quite a few other schools doing the same thing. Although this comes with its own set of challenges (the radio story mentioned issues they had with keeping kids off Facebook during class and the initial start up cost to name a few struggles with implementing the iPad program), these changes reflect the changing world in which we live and will teach this generation the skills they will need to successfully live in this world of ever changing technological advances.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Thing 4
I am currently reading "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman. In the opening chapters, Friedman discusses how the internet has changed the world as we know it in a variety of different ways. However, one point that he makes that is particularly relevant to "Thing 4" is the fact that the internet was the first time in human history that we were not only consumers of media, but we were able to take an active role in the production of media. The internet has given us the opportunity to be our own authors, and have our own voices heard on a scale that has never been seen before. No longer are we required to simply take the 5 o'clock news, or local newspaper at face value. We have the opportunity to read instant reactions on what others in our neighborhoods and the around the world are thinking on any given topic, and pipe up in the conversation whenever we so desire. Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, blogs and comments on articles all give us the opportunity to author our own opinions and perspectives for the world to see. However, as the famous line in Spiderman states, "With great power comes great responsibility."
Commenting on a blog without a doubt creates a sense of community. It allows us as readers to not only not only be "consumers" of information, but to be an active participant of that information. We can follow blogs on topics that interest us as individuals, and be surrounded by a group that may be interested in the same activity, social issue or hobby. The ability to comment allows us to engage with people who may share our same values or ideas. We can use this community to learn new ideas, see other perspectives and find a place where we belong. Oh, the power of the internet! However, there is also a potential down side to commenting that has the potential of destroying this sense of community. Although we have the right to make our opinions known, it is essential that we remember to respect the thoughts and opinions of the author and commentors. Too many times have I seen a thread of comments turn into a string of insults, bashing and flat out cyber bullying.
After reading through the articles on commenting on blogs, two points in particular stick out in my mind. The first is commenting etiquette. Is the author of a blog required to reply to every comment left on the blog? If they chose not to comment, does that make them seem too elite to take the time to reply to a comment? In my opinion, a reply should only be made if you have something of value to add, and should never be expected. I would never leave a comment on a blog expecting a reply. If my comment opens a few new doors for the conversation to grow from, great! If not, I have said my piece and nothing else would be expected. The second point that struck me was the high percentage of readers who might be "lurkers" to a blog, but not active participants. If we are pouring our hearts out over an issue that is near and dear to us, don't be offended if you open your blog a week later and not see any comments. Although one of the main goals of bloggers may be to engage conversation about a certain topic, the lack of comments does not mean that all that hard work has gone to waste. Chances are, there are some readers out there, but getting any majority of those readers to comment is probably an unreasonable goal.
And now for the continuation of Thing 4...
I decided to wait a week or so before completing Thing 4 simply to allow more of my classmates to get their blogs up and running. I have been a lurker so far, but the time has come to get out of the shadows and start commenting.
I decided to comment on the following blogs...
James Kelley
Bing Thepsiri
Clinton Underwood
Bianca McDowell
Michelle Clark
C.J.Howard
It sounds kind of ridiculous but the initial few comments were hard for me to write, so I chose to comment on the blogs of people that I know from class. Up until this point, I hadn't even realized that people had commented on my blog. I now know to look in the sidebar and it will tell you how many comments you have. Once I realized I had comments, I had a lot of fun reading through each of them, and it really made this whole blogging experience seem more worthwhile.
When we initially started this project I was secretly hoping that there was a way to complete this project without having all the classmates being able to see my blog. Afterall, you can make your Facebook account private, and most written assignments are usually only read by you and the professor, but I guess that kind of defeats the purpose of a blog. Once I read through the comments left on my blog, I got excited to open up this sense of community and commenting on other blogs was a lot more fun. However, I did notice that time can quickly slip away from you when you start reading through the blogs! I found it interesting that although we are all completing the same assignment, we really do see it from a different set of eyes, and our differing backgrounds bring a lot of interest to the table. Once I got over my inital fear of commenting, I decided to run with it and I think that I have officially been changed from a "complete lurker" to a "no longer scared to be a commentor." I enjoy reading through the different blogs and I hope to continue commenting even after I reached my required 5 (well, I chose 6) blogs to comment on for Thing 4. For that reason I chose to comment on a variety of blogs, those that I relate well with and those that see things from a very different point of view that I didn't think of. I think this makes for a more well rounded blogging experience.
Commenting on blogs outside of classroom setting once again made me nervous. It's one thing to comment on our blogs, since I have the "we're all in this together" motto. However, blogs outside of our little community made me want to revert back to my "lurker" status. I did end up posting as an "annonymous" user, which helped me feel a bit more comfortable posting on the blogs.
Thankfully, I found 2 fantastic blogs that I we was happy to comment on. The first one is titled "Chalk Talk." This kindergarten teacher uses her blog as a way to show how she is teaching a particular topic. I especially love all the bulletin boards she uses that include the children's artwork, written assignments and the actual story book itself to bring together different aspects of a comment theme that that students studied. Just by looking at her blog, I found myself thinking that I wanted to be a 5 year old in her classroom! Chalk Talk can by clicking on this link....Chalk Talk.
The second outside blog that I decided to comment on was A Place Called Kindergarten. Once again this blog has a lot of great pictures that center around a certain theme. I also like that she included videos in her blog!
After looking through the various blogs outside of our classroom, I found that I am really drawn to the blogs that have more pictures/videos incorporated in their blogs. Sure they add visual interest, but they also show you first hand how these ideas are used within the classroom. And I think some of it is the kindergarten teacher in me just loving blogs with lots of visual interest and cute crafts that tie into educational themes!
Commenting on a blog without a doubt creates a sense of community. It allows us as readers to not only not only be "consumers" of information, but to be an active participant of that information. We can follow blogs on topics that interest us as individuals, and be surrounded by a group that may be interested in the same activity, social issue or hobby. The ability to comment allows us to engage with people who may share our same values or ideas. We can use this community to learn new ideas, see other perspectives and find a place where we belong. Oh, the power of the internet! However, there is also a potential down side to commenting that has the potential of destroying this sense of community. Although we have the right to make our opinions known, it is essential that we remember to respect the thoughts and opinions of the author and commentors. Too many times have I seen a thread of comments turn into a string of insults, bashing and flat out cyber bullying.
After reading through the articles on commenting on blogs, two points in particular stick out in my mind. The first is commenting etiquette. Is the author of a blog required to reply to every comment left on the blog? If they chose not to comment, does that make them seem too elite to take the time to reply to a comment? In my opinion, a reply should only be made if you have something of value to add, and should never be expected. I would never leave a comment on a blog expecting a reply. If my comment opens a few new doors for the conversation to grow from, great! If not, I have said my piece and nothing else would be expected. The second point that struck me was the high percentage of readers who might be "lurkers" to a blog, but not active participants. If we are pouring our hearts out over an issue that is near and dear to us, don't be offended if you open your blog a week later and not see any comments. Although one of the main goals of bloggers may be to engage conversation about a certain topic, the lack of comments does not mean that all that hard work has gone to waste. Chances are, there are some readers out there, but getting any majority of those readers to comment is probably an unreasonable goal.
And now for the continuation of Thing 4...
I decided to wait a week or so before completing Thing 4 simply to allow more of my classmates to get their blogs up and running. I have been a lurker so far, but the time has come to get out of the shadows and start commenting.
I decided to comment on the following blogs...
James Kelley
Bing Thepsiri
Clinton Underwood
Bianca McDowell
Michelle Clark
C.J.Howard
It sounds kind of ridiculous but the initial few comments were hard for me to write, so I chose to comment on the blogs of people that I know from class. Up until this point, I hadn't even realized that people had commented on my blog. I now know to look in the sidebar and it will tell you how many comments you have. Once I realized I had comments, I had a lot of fun reading through each of them, and it really made this whole blogging experience seem more worthwhile.
When we initially started this project I was secretly hoping that there was a way to complete this project without having all the classmates being able to see my blog. Afterall, you can make your Facebook account private, and most written assignments are usually only read by you and the professor, but I guess that kind of defeats the purpose of a blog. Once I read through the comments left on my blog, I got excited to open up this sense of community and commenting on other blogs was a lot more fun. However, I did notice that time can quickly slip away from you when you start reading through the blogs! I found it interesting that although we are all completing the same assignment, we really do see it from a different set of eyes, and our differing backgrounds bring a lot of interest to the table. Once I got over my inital fear of commenting, I decided to run with it and I think that I have officially been changed from a "complete lurker" to a "no longer scared to be a commentor." I enjoy reading through the different blogs and I hope to continue commenting even after I reached my required 5 (well, I chose 6) blogs to comment on for Thing 4. For that reason I chose to comment on a variety of blogs, those that I relate well with and those that see things from a very different point of view that I didn't think of. I think this makes for a more well rounded blogging experience.
Commenting on blogs outside of classroom setting once again made me nervous. It's one thing to comment on our blogs, since I have the "we're all in this together" motto. However, blogs outside of our little community made me want to revert back to my "lurker" status. I did end up posting as an "annonymous" user, which helped me feel a bit more comfortable posting on the blogs.
Thankfully, I found 2 fantastic blogs that I we was happy to comment on. The first one is titled "Chalk Talk." This kindergarten teacher uses her blog as a way to show how she is teaching a particular topic. I especially love all the bulletin boards she uses that include the children's artwork, written assignments and the actual story book itself to bring together different aspects of a comment theme that that students studied. Just by looking at her blog, I found myself thinking that I wanted to be a 5 year old in her classroom! Chalk Talk can by clicking on this link....Chalk Talk.
The second outside blog that I decided to comment on was A Place Called Kindergarten. Once again this blog has a lot of great pictures that center around a certain theme. I also like that she included videos in her blog!
After looking through the various blogs outside of our classroom, I found that I am really drawn to the blogs that have more pictures/videos incorporated in their blogs. Sure they add visual interest, but they also show you first hand how these ideas are used within the classroom. And I think some of it is the kindergarten teacher in me just loving blogs with lots of visual interest and cute crafts that tie into educational themes!
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Thing 3
This blog entry was a bit more difficult for me. As a future K-2 teacher, I am unable to utilize a blog in the same way that a middle or high school teacher might use a blog in their teacher education program. I won't be able to instruct my students to post their reactions to each chapter while reading The Odyssey, asking them to follow a blog written by a classroom in Cambodia probably won't make my class curriculum and starting a class blog as a means for students to promote their poetry skills probably isn't feasible. When I thought all hope was lost, I found the blog titled "Let the Children Play" and I had my "ah-ha" moment.
Let the Children Play was FILLED with fantastic crafting, field trip, and hands on activities that young learners could benefit from. After looking at this site, I saw a different way to look at how a blog could be useful in a classroom setting. I realized that the students themselves don't have to play an active role in the blog to benefit from it. By using a blog to find new and exciting ways to teach and engage my students, they will indeed benefit from the use of technology, without being an active part of the technology itself.
However, after looking at that blog, and a few other blogs listed under the 50 Must-See Teacher Blogs link, I came up with a few other ways that I could use a blog within my classroom setting that would be beneficial to my students. One idea is to use the blog as a way to network with other teachers and educators that I might otherwise never have the opportunity to collaborate with. This mutually beneficial relationship could allow the exchange of new teaching ideas and methods from halfway around the world. A second way I might use my blog within my educational program is to set it up as a means to keep the parents involved in the educational achievements of their children. In this scenario, I could update the parents on what we will be working on in class that week/month, and even suggest supplemental learning opportunities and activities that parents could work on with their children at home if they chose to. I could incorporate a class calender as a means to keep track of field trip days, school picture days, and even who will be taking the class gerbil home on the weekend!
Let the Children Play was FILLED with fantastic crafting, field trip, and hands on activities that young learners could benefit from. After looking at this site, I saw a different way to look at how a blog could be useful in a classroom setting. I realized that the students themselves don't have to play an active role in the blog to benefit from it. By using a blog to find new and exciting ways to teach and engage my students, they will indeed benefit from the use of technology, without being an active part of the technology itself.
However, after looking at that blog, and a few other blogs listed under the 50 Must-See Teacher Blogs link, I came up with a few other ways that I could use a blog within my classroom setting that would be beneficial to my students. One idea is to use the blog as a way to network with other teachers and educators that I might otherwise never have the opportunity to collaborate with. This mutually beneficial relationship could allow the exchange of new teaching ideas and methods from halfway around the world. A second way I might use my blog within my educational program is to set it up as a means to keep the parents involved in the educational achievements of their children. In this scenario, I could update the parents on what we will be working on in class that week/month, and even suggest supplemental learning opportunities and activities that parents could work on with their children at home if they chose to. I could incorporate a class calender as a means to keep track of field trip days, school picture days, and even who will be taking the class gerbil home on the weekend!
Monday, January 21, 2013
Thing 2
Well, Thing 1 is posted, my blog template has been changed a million and five times, and I've had a few laughs while making a few versions of a goofy avatar before settling on the current version that is here to stay. Creating this blog started as a task that I was dreading, but it turned out to be a surprisingly fun process! Maybe my inner computer geek is in there somewhere just trying to get out! My favorite part of creating this blog was adding the personalizations. I am naturally a crafty person and often thought of technology as boring, dull and bland. However, creating this blog has opened my eyes to the "creative" side of technology. I really enjoyed looking through the different templates, and trying them each out before I settled on the girliest one I could find. What can I say? This girl loves pink!
Creating an avatar was another surprisingly fun and creative step in setting up the blog. My husband is a video-game-a-holic and I have watched him create countless avatars for his various in game characters. However, this was my first attempt to create my own. When I first started developing my avatar I made a joke out of it. I had fun adding various mustaches, beards and accessories that had nothing to do with me. However, after the fun was done, I settled on an avatar that represents me and my personality as much as possible. I'm not sure why I ultimately decided to make my avatar represent my true self. Maybe I wanted to feel like I wanted to take this project seriously and creating a serious representation of myself is the first step in that process. If only they offered a cheesehead, I'd be all set!
That brings me to the last step in setting up this blog, creating a title. As an avid Green Bay Packers fan, I immediately knew that I wanted to incorporate football into the title. And after a bit of thought, I felt that "Tackling Technology" not only incorproated my green and gold spirit, but was a name that is fitting for the 23 things that will be accomplished on this blog.
Creating an avatar was another surprisingly fun and creative step in setting up the blog. My husband is a video-game-a-holic and I have watched him create countless avatars for his various in game characters. However, this was my first attempt to create my own. When I first started developing my avatar I made a joke out of it. I had fun adding various mustaches, beards and accessories that had nothing to do with me. However, after the fun was done, I settled on an avatar that represents me and my personality as much as possible. I'm not sure why I ultimately decided to make my avatar represent my true self. Maybe I wanted to feel like I wanted to take this project seriously and creating a serious representation of myself is the first step in that process. If only they offered a cheesehead, I'd be all set!
That brings me to the last step in setting up this blog, creating a title. As an avid Green Bay Packers fan, I immediately knew that I wanted to incorporate football into the title. And after a bit of thought, I felt that "Tackling Technology" not only incorproated my green and gold spirit, but was a name that is fitting for the 23 things that will be accomplished on this blog.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Thing 1
After a few hiccups in creating a blog and a few laughs while making my avatar, Tackling Technology is officially up and running. Time to dive in headfirst... I am writing this first blog post with a lot of mixed feelings and hesitations. Will I make a fool of myself? Will I post some horrible spelling/grammar mistakes and not realize it until it has been read around the world (yah, I'm known to exaggerate things slightly)? Or will this turn out to be a fun "adventure" that I will look back at later and be proud of what I've accomplished. I guess only time will tell. But for now, I'm jumping into this blogging craze and hoping for the best!
After reviewing the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners tutorial, I found that I have mastered some areas, and need to work on others. Having a Goal in Mind (Habit 1) is probably the aspect that comes the easiest to me. I would label myself a very goal orientated individual. I am constantly looking to the future and making lists of what I want to accomplish. I love lists! Be it my daily to-do list, or the list of 100 items on my Bucket List, I love the feeling of setting goals for myself, achieving those goals and then altering my list to portray my new life goals. Every year around the New Year, I sit down and commit my goals to writing. I refuse to call these resolutions. But they are my list of goals that I want to accomplish or at least make substantial progress towards accomplishing within the year. This year, one of my goals was to earn a Masters Degree. And here I am. Use Technology to Your Advantage (Habit 6) would probably be the habit that I struggle with the most. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an idiot when it comes to technology, but I'm not a pro either. I like to stay within my "bubble" of what I use technology for, and I rarely seek out new technological advantages until they become mainstream and virtually everyone is using them.
Through this process of working with Web 2.0 tools, my goal is to learn more about what new technology is available while focusing on how I can utilize technology in the classroom to expand the learning opportunities for my students. When I was a student, technology in the classroom consisted of a teacher wheeling the TV/VCR cart into the classroom, struggling to get it to work for half the class while my classmates and I grew restless in our seats. Or who can forget the dreaded projector shows and the sound of that reel of tape spinning while a distorted voice narrated a jumpy picture? Well those days are now long gone! Although I sometimes shy away from technology, it is obviously here to stay and it is time for me to learn more about how I can use it to benefit myself and my students! With that being said, I guess it's time for me to alter my list of goals for the year to reflect "tackling technology."
After reviewing the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners tutorial, I found that I have mastered some areas, and need to work on others. Having a Goal in Mind (Habit 1) is probably the aspect that comes the easiest to me. I would label myself a very goal orientated individual. I am constantly looking to the future and making lists of what I want to accomplish. I love lists! Be it my daily to-do list, or the list of 100 items on my Bucket List, I love the feeling of setting goals for myself, achieving those goals and then altering my list to portray my new life goals. Every year around the New Year, I sit down and commit my goals to writing. I refuse to call these resolutions. But they are my list of goals that I want to accomplish or at least make substantial progress towards accomplishing within the year. This year, one of my goals was to earn a Masters Degree. And here I am. Use Technology to Your Advantage (Habit 6) would probably be the habit that I struggle with the most. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an idiot when it comes to technology, but I'm not a pro either. I like to stay within my "bubble" of what I use technology for, and I rarely seek out new technological advantages until they become mainstream and virtually everyone is using them.
Through this process of working with Web 2.0 tools, my goal is to learn more about what new technology is available while focusing on how I can utilize technology in the classroom to expand the learning opportunities for my students. When I was a student, technology in the classroom consisted of a teacher wheeling the TV/VCR cart into the classroom, struggling to get it to work for half the class while my classmates and I grew restless in our seats. Or who can forget the dreaded projector shows and the sound of that reel of tape spinning while a distorted voice narrated a jumpy picture? Well those days are now long gone! Although I sometimes shy away from technology, it is obviously here to stay and it is time for me to learn more about how I can use it to benefit myself and my students! With that being said, I guess it's time for me to alter my list of goals for the year to reflect "tackling technology."
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