The Grand Finale

     I cannot believe that this program is coming to an end.  It seems like not that long ago I was telling my family, friends, and co workers that I was headed back to school for my Masters.  Everyone thought it would be a great idea to push my career forward and keep up with the new waves of education and technology.  I thought that the program looked good and I would do a lot of lesson plan writing and things I have a good grasp on in my field.  Boy was I wrong.  Suddenly I find myself taking apart computers, download new operating systems, examining various technologies as a back ups and protections, discussing how to teach an online class, meeting with teachers already in the online field, and most important finding new web 2.0 tools that I can use easily in my classroom and share with my colleagues.
     I have learned so much about myself with what I know and did not know.  I also found that my confidence was a bit shattered in our stats class.  That was probably the hardest part of this whole program for me.  Stats math is not my strong suite, but I had a great group of peers to work with and helped me through the course, explained what I was missing and guided me through.  The other great thing I was able to do with taking the course online was google terms on the net while the professor was continuing with his lesson.  It took away the anxiety of it all with the simple comfort of having the computer as a reference tool right in front of me.
    I have gained great confidence in my abilities to use technology as well as share the knowledge with others.  I have tried to open myself up as a professional resource to my co workers and have found myself in the middle of a few "tech crisis" moments and been able to prevail with my new knowledge and know how.
    Further, I feel as though I am now equipped to teach in a 21st century classroom.  I know how to access tools for teaching in the classroom as well as proper ways to implement them into my units and lessons.  I know where to look to find new tools and have an RSS feed that keeps me up to date on what is coming down the line with technology for the classroom.  I also feel as though I am more knowledgeable and able to reach out and attempt to get more technology in the classroom.  With my knowledge and degree I feel as though I may be an example for my district and school of what technology can be in the classroom.
I wrote this as my first blog post,
    "In studying and working in MEIT I hope to not only learn of new programs, but also to learn of new technologies to push my teaching abilities and teaching arsenal to their fullest potential.  Learning of new operating systems and programs to make my classroom management, grading, and document processing more efficient and successful is a main goal of the program.  I feel that it is with this knowledge that I can take my abilities as a teacher to the next level."
     I would consider this mission accomplished.   I was able to achieve all of these goals I had hoped to and so much more.  My vision of what this program was to be seems so limited now that I look back at my blog over time.  It is fun to also see the limited computer history I had before this program began.  I feel as though I have grown so much in my professional career and will continue to thanks to the knowledge gained.  Further with this program of study teaching me so much about tech and the classroom I have a great portfolio prepared as evidence for my Professional Development Plan, which has the main goal of furthering my education with a focus on technology in the classroom.   I have also grown in the use of technologies in my personal life and can keep my own little "computer lab" I have at home up and running to its fullest potential.     
    MEIT has gone by way to fast.  Almost a whirl wind.  The knowledge I am leaving with will not stop here.  It is a foundation for more learning, more technology, and a greater learning experience for myself and my students.  

CEDO 565 In Review

  Leadership continues to be what I have always thought it to be.  Even after looking at the different aspects of it as well as when looking at the challenges of it.  The main thing this course has brought to me is an amazing amount of respect.  Leaders must go through so many challenges and steps and most important communications.

    I have in no way changed the way I feel about taking an administration role in a school.  I will take more leadership roles in small groups, teams, and with other tasks.  But leading a large group does not seem to be my idea of fun.  I like my classroom and will do what it takes to keep it funded, functional, and educational.  If that means I need to step up and be a leader, I will most defiantly fill those shoes.  

     I do agree with the idea of improving from with in and that is why I will step up, but there are always outside factors that are important and necessary.  We will see where the state of WI goes with our education and the country.  The coming elections and rulings will be interesting, but not matter what.  I run my classroom, teach and care for the kids.  I lead a group of 20 every day.  I will continue to do this to the best of my ability.  

CEDO 565--Week 5

     Years two and three of the game just flew by!  I am continued to be amazed that even with this game all of the decisions that a school leader must make.  The "game" based on research of reality was very eye opening.  I found myself very frustrated with the "sinkers" of the staff.  The ones who just did not want to move and would continue to hinder progress.  Further, I found that just as in real life, the Super wants and needs to be included in all discussions and plans.  By excluding that person on even one steps puts your progress back many many steps.
     I also found myself as the game was played comparing the board and players with my coworkers and staff.  It is interesting how it can really be as simple as a few sinkers that stand out.  I also found that the social network knowledge of a staff can be so instrumental to leading.  Knowing who has influence over who and whose word can be trusted is a huge asset to any leader.  Often as is the case the secretary is a leader unintentionally.  They have all of the gossip and everyone, almost everyday, talks with them.  They can influence even if it is unintentional.
     The idea behind this game and the way it is played is an amazing teaching tool.  It really shows what it takes to be a leader of change while having consequences for actions that thankfully do not have consequences on the students.  It is a great way to learn and is safe for all parties.  I would have like to have more discussion with the moderator of the game to learn about my decisions and why they were not "a great choice."  But at the same time, in the real world--I would not be afforded that courtesy.
    Back to my big project of a moment--I have spent the past two weeks teaching how to use the technology for my assessments and have given two so far.  I did see in the first week a slight difference in paper-based assessment to tech. based.  This week may be a bit different.  The content of the assessment was a bit more challenging as well though.  Off to grade!

CEDO 565--The Big Game

   This week we spent some time playing a game that put us in the shoes of administrators trying to get their district to the next level of success.  It was difficult with many choices to make and order.  The thing that was always in the back of ones mind was the fact that everything we did costs "bits"' or money.  Our team spent a good number of bits to only find out that we did not get any return for.  We were trying to look back at what the district was in the past and were told we basically could not look at what the past.  Only at actions we have done.  It turns out that staff development was a great place to start.  Getting staff ready to work together via trainings was a great way to spend bits and earn bens.
   The work this week was basically figuring out what kind of work environment you work in.  Looking at the moral of your school is always hard, because though you see it one way,  not everyone will.  That makes things very hard there always seems to be that person who has something to complain about.
   It was also nice to work with a group and come up with a list of skills/abilities that a leader needs to have to create systemwide change.  The list is full of ideas that have floated around for the past 4 classes, but we complied them now into one place.  It was nice to see them all together.

Heres hoping that year 2 of the game is a bit more productive!

Week 3 CEDO 565

     So what was the cheese?  The cheese to me was the end result.  It takes a lot to get there and once you have what you were looking for it seems you do not need to keep looking.  But as everyone should know times change and there will always be a new end goal.  Deciding what the cheese was, was fun, but there really was a purpose to it.  Discover what type of person you are.  Do you sit and complain as things change around you, or do you go out and find the next big thing.  Change with the changes.  As one looks around their staff they are always able to see some of each.
     It was also interesting this week to look at what some think of the leaders that are coming up the ladder.  The Millennials are the new generation of leaders and some will find them soft, family people who have no problem taking direction.  As a member of the "M" I feel that there are some great leaders, but we are going to be a  different kind of leader.  We will lead with our skills and technology as well as our team member up-bringing.  
    We are looking at leadership and at the same time I am hours deep into my culminating project.  Assessments created and now it is time to take it to the kids!

Week 2 CEDO 565

     This week we are getting into two concepts, data and team building.  When it comes to data and data collection I have not participated in a data retreat up to this point in my career.  I hope that it is all it sounds like is should be.  Lucky for me there are sites that host loads of data to be looked at and reviewed.  The Winns site is one.  It allows me to see my schools data and test scores and compare it with similar schools in the area.  We have looked into the Winns site before, but being assigned to look at our own schools is really getting some real life practice out of these exercises.
     We have also taken a look at what it takes to build a functioning team.  It is interesting to me to see the mechanics and learning the process that goes into adding team members as I was hired only 4 years ago.  This process that I went through is still fresh in my memory.  I have also volunteered to be on a hiring committee for a vacant special educator position that was to be working with our second grade team.  I found that I was sympathizing with the candidates having just recently gone through the process.  I also took what I thought was a good process or question with me to this hiring committee and ultimately we hired  a great new team member.  In our reading this week I enjoyed reading how other districts or schools go through the process and the things that can work or even go wrong.  A simple slip of information can surely send the staff into a downward spiral.  It is because of this that often a hiring committee does not include the school leader.  It is often put into the hands of the curriculum leader--Assistant Principal.  Our district does not have one of these and there for our Principal took the lead on all interviews.  The idea of opening the committee to staff members keeps the hire unbiased and ensures the new hire will mesh with the staff at the school.

CEDO 565--What Kind of Leader Am I?

     This week I spent some time looking at what kind of leader I am.  It was hard to evaluate myself as I like to think that I am the best and would do only what is right and "noble."  But in the situations given I think I will react one way, but in the momoment, in the face of the Superintendent, would I really say that his family member is not fit for the job?  I would like to think I would say this is not best for kids, but could I say no to the top of the power chain?  
     As I looked at my qualities of leadership I found that  adaptive aggressive is my highest score.  I do realize that I am very organized and give everything I do 100% effort.  This did not surprise me to much.  I was also not surprised by the dynamic supportive as I have a hard time saying no to people when the come to ask for help.  Similarly I was not surprised to see that in the Virtues of a leader I was strong in Empathy and imagination.  Both of these are ones I thought I would score well in.  I pride myself with my imagination and taking others into consideration.  But it is important to that I understand that my strength can also be a weakness.  Feeling bad for others cannot get in the way of a necessary task and my imagination can make a simple problem much more complex than it needs to be.  
     In taking time to look at leadership has been eye opening and I have found that there are many roles of a leader and I wish to fulfill more than what I am currently doing.   Others may see me as a leader, but I am not sure I would always feel the same way.  Self evaluating is much harder than I imagined, but it is good to look at to see what things I need to improve on.  

CEDO 555---Portfolio Reflection

     CEDO 555 was a boat load of work.  But, with that said, that means we are nearing the end of our MEIT program.  This is course had us build our portfolio with mission, vision, standards, projects, reflections, and artifacts.  In taking time to review all of these various pieces as well as the work that I chose to use as artifacts took me back and really made me realize just how much work I have done over the past year and half and how much I have grown in the world of technology.  It is crazy to think of all the projects and experiences that have made me step out of my comfort zone and have therefore made me a better online "coach."
    This course was also more about portfolios than just building one.  We looked at what they are and how they can be used.  There is a difference of portfolios for learning and of learning.  It is important to realize which type of portfolio you are looking for as an educator before you begin the process with your class.  We also discussed how portfolios can be a stressful thing and turn into a two day folder stuffing fest.  This is not what a portfolio is about.  They should be built over time with a purpose and so the students understand why they are building it.  With proper planning a portfolio can be a great learning and/or reflecting process that students and teachers can take a lot from.
     Overall this course was a ton of work, but totally worth it.  The idea of the amount of reflection and organizing was monumental, but I feel that it is has made this program come full circle for me.  With only a few course and projects left I know I am ready to finish strong and complete this program.  

Creative Commons and More

    Teaching Creative commons to students is something that I am a bit afraid of but know that is necessary.  I am right now teaching a digital photography class that I think would be the most opportune moment to test my hand at teaching this.  Having the students create their own CC will show them that they are artist and that sharing ones work for others to use is a great thing.  Sharing ideas or works of art will enhance their understanding of what it means as well as how it can be used.  
    To me personally the laws and rules behind borrowing and sharing are often so blurred.  There are specific ways to share and site things as to make sure you do not run into trouble.  With creative commons it is an easy way to say this is ok to use in your works and for the user to know it is safe.  Where I struggle is the proper way to site things as to not run into that trouble.  If I struggle with this I am sure that my 2nd graders will as well.  The class I am teaching now is one with the older grades is going to be my moment to shine with whole topic!

Mission, Vision, and Standards

     It took me a lot longer than I thought it would to create a mission and vision.  The hard part for me was the narrowing it down to keep it simple, short, and precise.  I have a lot I want to portray in my few words and those words need to speak for me as an introduction to what I plan to do with my knowledge and work.  This is a lot to accomplish in a few words and sentences.  I did notice when reading others in this cohort that many of us teachers have the same mission and visions with merely different words.  What was nice to see was that students were at the center.
   The standards I have chosen to work with are the NETS ISTE standards and they make it very easy to show knowledge and understanding.  These standards are very detailed as they have bullet points that describe what needs to be understood and displayed for each.  This makes it much easier for educators to display their learning and knowledge of these standards.
    Finally, our readings this week talked about Blogs as online portfolios.  This seems like an easy route for students to use to show what they have learned and are learning.  The main point I thought was so interesting was the discussion about how there are portfolios that are For learning and those of learning.  For learning means the portfolio is developed to strengthen ones understanding and enhance learning.  Of learning means that you are simply displaying ones works to prove that learning has occurred.  There is a huge difference here and the intent of the portfolio is in the balance if you choose the wrong route.

The Portfolio Build

    It is finally time to start thinking about building our portfolios and that means that everything we have learned and done up to this point is about to come full circle.  The process seems like a long one, but with a template and a few weeks to do this I am sure we will have a solid start!
     In setting the template used with the MEIT program things will be done in an organized manor. It is nice to not have to worry about creating the basics of the site as that is already done for us.  That seems like it would be just another step that would cause more unneeded stress.
     The final piece that is extra important to me about this process is that I am using this program as evidence for my PDP for the PI-34 requirement for my teaching license.  This portfolio will include my all of my work and talk about meetings with peers and instructors.  Overall this will make getting my masters easy and keeping my teaching license even easier!

550 Review

   As the class comes to an end I have had a chance to really look at what it is to be an online teacher.  It is a world I have always wondered about especially with how it all would work.  It was great to get to hear an experienced online teacher talk and share experiences.  It was also great to hear that my opinions about the lower grades with online schooling are ones that others share.  It is tough to hear that some think our elementary grades could develop socially with online learning.  It is schooling that allows our students to learn the social protocol and develop friendships that are practice for the rest of their lives.
    Reviewing Web 2.0 tools was a challenge as we have done this many times throughout the course.  It was nice to find new new tools though.  Overall the course was the exposure I needed to really grasp what online teaching and learning is.  I am now able to say that I have some idea of what I could be getting into in the future of education as I will be certified to teach online in the near future!

The Future of Online Learning

    Predicting the future is hard for me as to often I do not know what is in the works right now.  Also the future of technology is always changing the minute something new comes out.  Point and case.  I bought the Iphone4 and they announced a week later the 5 was to come out sooner than later.  I feel as though I am always just one step behind.
    With these courses we have taken though I have gotten some in site into what online learning can be and where it can go.  I personally am not sure how I feel about 100% online learning.  I do like the blended format and feel that we will be seeing a lot more of these type of schools popping up in the near future.  It will be hard for students to avoid any online learning in the near future.
    With the way education conforms to the needs and changes of the "working world" technology and online collaboration will soon be a required part of education in my mind.  We have had trends where we pushed math, reading, science more so than the other topics.  Technology and collaboration with it will be at the forefront soon.  Students will need practice with this and the best way I feel is a blended online learning format.  A blended format is much like many work environments today and if we educate our students to be successful in the "real world" is there a better way than this blended learning exposure?

Web 2.0 for Formative Assessments

There are many tools that a teacher can use to administer formative assessments.  It is not surprising to me that after looking around the web a person can find them just about anywhere.  There is a lot of technology in my own classroom that I even like to use for it.  Our school has activ board and the remotes that allow for student response.  Activ Inspire has a quick quiz poll that allows for a teacher to set up a question allowing for a number, text, or letter answer.  Once the teacher has posed the question and allowed time for student response the program records the student response. Teachers can see a class bar graph showing answers.  What I do as  formative assessment is basically a pretest, mid unit test, and review.  The questions are posed and the students submit answers.  I monitor the answers form the class alone.  As a class we discuss what was the right answer and why the others are wrong.  We share our responses and thoughts as a class.  Once we are done with the entire quiz I am able to print out the individual answers, pre graded by color of each individual student.  I am able to see which students need greater instruction or if there is a common problem that needs to be retaught to the class as a whole.  Formative assessment is great for the teacher to do a check on their teaching as well as their students understandings.

4 Roles of the Online Coach

This week we were to look at the roles of the online coach and see what we need to improve on as a future online coach.  I found that there is a lot I am comfortable with as we have developed a big bag of tools and tricks in this program this far.  I chose to rather than make a simple box for this, go with a new website easel.ly.com.  It is actually a very easy tool to use and make things look professionally done.  I must give credit to Nate for sharing the site in our group meeting this week.  Below is the graphic I created and my thoughts on the 4 roles of the online coach.  

(I apologize for the image spreading outside of the text area.  I want to make sure the text in image is readable.)

Face to Face VS Online Learning

This I have taken time to think about the differences of face to face and online learning.  It is very interesting to me because before I started this program I would have never thought I would be taking an online program to earn my masters degree.  There was so much uncertainty to it that I really did not know about.  When thinking about it the most important things when it comes to any type of learning are the content and those fall in to the similarities section of the diagram.  I have also found the only thing that really mattered to me when doing this compare contrast was the idea that there is very little face time with online learning.  I personally like to have a face to the name and voice.  Most of groups and professors will at some point put up a video feed allow this to happen.  Below is the venn Diagram created on Creately.com

Online Learning

     Online has a lot of advantages especially at an age where life is happening so fast.  With and online class I am able to cut out any commute time to school and home.  I simply find my office at home, log in and I am "at" school.  It helps alleviate any stress of the commute.  Yet another advantage of the online learning is being able to look up any topic or discussion point online while learning.  For instance during our stats class I was able to google a few terms I had never heard before while listening to the lecture.  I was able to learn while learning.  It allows me freedom to explore the content while learning about it.  I would feel rude looking things up during class, and often embarrassed to ask a vocabulary question.  With online learning I am able to use the tools at my finger tips to help tutor me through!

     What I thought would be a disadvantage was not seeing my professors face to face, or even my group members.  I was also concerned that lectures were going to be pre-recorded and then it was going to be a simple play back with no way of asking questions.  A listen, learn, work type environment.  That simple is not true.  It is just like sitting in a classroom, only I can sit in my PJs!  

     The only disadvantage I have come across is that often there is dead time when a question is asked.  Whether it be due to not knowing an answer or some other reason, the mic sits silent.  With out the pressure of the teacher watching over you it can be hard to get a response.  

     I was originally worried about online learning and what it would be like for me.  To tell the truth, it is just like a classroom, only I can be comfortable and not at a desk or table. I still learn the same and have a few more tools at my disposal.  I have encouraged friends to take classes online as a time and money saver and it has also worked for them!

Stats

      As our group finished our projects for the week it was interesting to see what is out there for places to get data for a statistics project.  It is actually very easy to find a government webpage which carries statistics that can be manipulated into graphs or tables as the user wishes.  I did assume that because these are government webpages that the facts on them would be true and unbiased.  Lets just hope that that is true.

     I also really enjoyed looking at Google trends and the correlation of certain terms.  Our group chose to look at Special Education.  The time of the year where there were valleys and peeks seemed to match with many school calendars.  There is a low period that comes with the summer months and deep spiking valleys at the end of the year.  To expand this and find another term that matched with the SE term, we looked at ADHD.  This almost perfectly matched with the peaks and valleys.  We then added Autism to the mix.  This term had a much higher traffic volume than the other two terms.  This made the data for the pervious terms seem obsolete.  

      Overall finding these trends was actually educational not just for the Stats class.  The information can be used when discussing SE in schools.  This week was full of projects that seemed to take much longer than I expected they would.  We as a group did get it all done, but as it turns out Stats seem to be much more in-depth and involved than I thought they would be! 

Creation of the survey

   Creating our survey as a group was a pretty simple process.  Deciding that the survey would check students, grade 4-8th, on their knowledge of Internet safety was another easy decision.  Lucky for me our group member Laurance works as a tech teacher at his school and was able to easily administer the survey to a large group of students.  The results are to be looked at yet, but knowing grade level vs grade level results will be interesting and actually meaningful to the teaching of Laurance.  His students know what he has taught them.  The questions were not created off of his curriculum, but rather what we felt were safety concepts all kids should know.
  I also had a tough time thinking of jobs that will be created in the future.  I like the idea our group has come up with of an Ozone creation/design specialist.  The concept will probably come about in the future, but who really knows when.  I get the idea of thinking that we are teaching for jobs that do not exist yet, but what does matter is that many of the skills we teach now will always need to be taught to our students.  Team work, social skills, and collaboration will all be needed regardless of the time or job to be accomplished.

Z score and More

So this week in lecture I found that I was able to keep up and even make the computations before the answers were given!  I guess this extra time working with the vocabulary and practicing the equations for all of these various "averages" is starting to pay off!  I am still working with the spreadsheet programs to create the equations and get the answers in a much easier way.  I am looking forward to working with my group on the survey and actually collecting our own data for a purpose.  This is what I was hoping for in this class.  I like that the assignment as is asks us for the numbers and how they help us to solve a problem. That I feel is what stats should really get at.  Gathering numbers for a purpose and analyzing what they tell us.  Not merely finding a bunch of averages, but what do those averages mean.  I guess we will see how this plays out in coming week as our group creates and administers a survey and then analyzes what it means.  This could be fun!!!!

Stats and Survey Sites

This week we spent some time taking a look at various sites to do surveys, polls, or questionnaires.  There are some that go well beyond my budget and what I would need from them.  Others are free and meet the basic needs I would have for creating a survey.  What is really impressive is that it is so easy to get a survey completed/created, and have the results in a manageable/professional way.  It actually is the part of Stats that I have been looking forward to.  I like to see what people have to say and think about the topic I am studying.
I am a bit worried again as I listen to the class recording from last week with all of the terms that I do not know.  I have taken to getting pen and paper, writing the term down and hitting pause button.  I then have time to check it out one Wikipedia for a quick reference, then head back to the class to continue.  I know that this information will be needed later in the course and probably program, but I am fearful that I am not getting it all due to my lack of vocabulary knowledge.  As of now I am keeping up and am assuming that with coming classes I will find myself using this same Wiki technique to keep up as to not get lost!

Stats!

So statistics to me are a pain in my side, or so I thought.  In the past stats to me was just crouching the numbers, never really collecting the data.  It was really just math with no real meaning to me.  After watching the video this week and seeing the various ways that stats can be used and are used in the real world, it is nice to know that it is not merely just the numbers and computing!  I guess this class may not be as bad as I thought!
My favorite stat I always heard were a bit funny.  They kind of put statistics in an interesting place.  You can make statistics say what ever you want.  For example.  100% of statistics say what you want 90% of the time.  Just throwing numbers out there means nothing, but the problem is when they are broadcast over a large population, they have an effect.  In high school we were given a pamphlet that let all students know that 100% of successful suicide attempts end in death.  Scary to hear 100% of anything ends in death.  Stats with a purpose there.
The video this week showed that there is good that can come from statistics and that often people do not like the truth behind it.  I am hoping that this course will teach me ways to get and present statistics in a meaningful way.

S.M.A.R.T. on Web 2.0 Tools

     Web 2.0 is such a concept that is ever evolving and really it can be tough keep up with the changes that are happening.  There are ways that one can use these in their personal and professional lives.  I for example can see using them in both.
I love the idea of the RSS feeds and keeping up on what is current in any topic.  I can find the information for many topics in one place.  This saves me time.  There is an initial up front time cost to set it up, but using it from then on is easy.  I follow both the personal topics--DNR, Hunting News, Political News, and Marfans Foundation.  For the professional world I am follow RSS feeds that discuss Technology in the Classroom, Integrating Technology in schools, New and Cool IPad Apps for teachers, and many more.
    RSS feeds let the user know how many various update there are to the feeds they are following.  I for example without checking regularly will find that I have over 30 articles to read.  To ensure that I am keeping up with my RSS I wish to keep my unread articles to under 30 at a time.  This seems pretty manageable as I can select the ones I wish to read and ones that are less important are ones I can "cheat" and mark as "unread."
With these RSS feeds it seems pretty manageable as I already have it set up, now I just have to do my job!
    I need to make sure that I get this into a routine quickly and efficiently.  It is important to start this trend right away and stick to it as I plan to use this same type of format for setting up a web 2.o tool in the future.  I wish to start maintaining a classroom blog and website.  Both of these are already set up.  I  just need to get the RSS feed in for practice of maintaining, from there it will be success and I will know what I need to do for further Web 2.o tools.
     I will keep up-to-date with how this is all going and when I start with my usual website and blog updates.  More to come soon!!!

Read/Write Web tools

     This weeks assignments seemed much more manageable for me in the course of a very busy week.  It is great to have time to work on my Wiki page for my classroom, but my big concern is that tomorrow Wikipedia is going "Black."  I have to have my Wiki ready and the site will be down in protest of the new bills that are being passed through the government right now.  There are a lot of other sites that are doing the same in protest.  My concern with being new to Wiki is, will my Wiki page be down if Wikipedia is, or are they separate?
     Creating an Eyejot is again a great tool to simply put a video message out there for others to see.  I have used this tool before, but what I am to do is reflect.  I have got that under control.  I can do that with my eyes closed (probably won't seeing as it is a video.)  I would have loved to see this assignment be one that would be more meaningful or useful in the classroom.
     Twitter is getting a bit over hashed for me.  We have discussed it, used it, and discussed it again.  I get that it is a great tool, but what about other tools that are out there that are similar ones?  I guess we are to discover those one our own is exploring other web 2.0 tools.  I guess we will see what I discover when I get a chance to explore those tools!

New Teaching Tools

   After learning about the RSS feeds and Twitter I am finding myself looking at the way education is going in my school and also my classroom.  I feel that there is so much out there that we can use and are learning to use, but I am not sure that the district is keeping up as well.  Our district is committed to using technology, but I need guidelines on what is ok to do and use.  With that I have found some new tools this week that I am excited to try out and in the very near future.
   I have talked a lot in my work for class lately about our 2nd grade zoo at parkway.  It is a tradition of 2nd grade and has been done the same way for many many years.  There is so much we could do to update the whole process and I think now is the time.  Every year we have at least 15 kids with huge disappointment that their parents were not there.  Now we can use ScreenCasting to make sure that parents can see what is happening at the zoo.  It will take only a few minutes for students to read their reports to the computer and have it narrate to the picture of their diorama.  It will be very simple and the students will have, I am sure great success.
   I am also working on creating a Wiki for my classroom this week and am finding it very easy to do and create.  I do like that I will have the freedom to set the page as I would like to rather than have to follow the "strict" formatting of the district webpage.  It is really kind of a pain to try and figure that out.  With my Wiki the same info will be there with even greater images, visual appeal, links, and imports.  I like the way it is turning out, it is just a matter of playing with it to get the look I want.  It should not be to hard--and I am already liking the end product!  

Creative Commons and More

    For class this week I have enjoyed going back through some old photos from my summer academy class that taught digital photography.  It was a fun class with a bunch of successful photos taken.  The students shared their photos and were letting other students in the class and school use them for various projects.  If I had know about creative commons at the time of the class I would have had each student create one like this.  Further I would have had a Flicker site set up for the class so they could choose a creative commons attribute for it or choose to keep the photo private.  It would be a great way for the students to choose what could happen with their photos.  I guess this will come into play as I do my Summer Academy classes that are coming up in a few months.
Below are a few of my example flicker photos.

www.flickr.com Digital Photo SA2011's Student Samples photoset

    RSS seems to be really working for me.  I am trying my best to keep up with reading the articles and blogs that I have subscribed to, but I doubt I will be able to as there are so many updates.  What I do love is that I can simply click on my subscription page and see what is new without ever having to navigate to the multiple pages.  What I am finding is that there really is a lot of information out there and it is just a matter of keeping up with it.  The idea of the RSS really does make this a lot easier!


Student Samples (Summer Academy 2011) / CC BY 3.0