Personal reflection...

What are some things that you have learned about effective teaching strategies when integrating technology?

            I have learned a great deal in this class! One of the most important areas where I have learned or rather have more appreciation for is in blogging.  I realize that I can use what I have done (turned in assignments via blogs and shared bloggs with other students) in this class.  I had no idea that we were going to use blogs so much, but I am glad we did.  I now see how I can incorporate blogging and having students find their own RSS feeds to follow and respond.  I think this expands what I am doing in my class by just having students answer blogs that I create.  By having students respond to blogs by others, brings more perspectives and different viewpoints into the classroom. I will have to think about how I can do that in my classes next year.

            I also enjoyed the presentation we did in groups.  Every group had a different project so it was interesting to see what others were working on.  While it was challenging to get together with the group because of different schedules and time zones, it forced us to work a bit independently, but also at the same time incorporate what each of us did.  I think this is important for students experience.  They need to learn to work with other people in different situations.  Everyone is on a different schedule and at some point in the future they might be working with others who live in different countries.  With the internet and the technology out there it is possible to do this.  What I also liked about this project is that we then turned it in via a class blog.  We were able to view each other’s projects and then comment on them.  I liked the feedback that the others in the class had to say about the Three Musketeers’ project.  I can see how this would work in my classroom as well.  It would be possible to have my students post projects and then have others comment on them.  This would bring a “real” world feel to the projects.

How did integrating the Internet help you think about and evaluate uses of technology?

            I have learned that I am not useing the internet as much as I should be.  There is so much out there and I have been using it in very limited ways.  In my classrooms I am the one who finds the site, videos, and articles.  I should be relying on my students to find some of their own sources and to help with their own understanding and improve researching skills.  I need to believe that my students are resourceful and can find good sources and information. That way they can find resources that would match his/her interests, but still fits the assignment.  I found blogs and RSS feeds I would have never found if I didn’t take this class.  The only problem is that I can’t keep up with all the readings I have found...but that is what summer is for! I wish I had more time to keep up with all the blogs from people who are doing such great things in education.  I need to just take more time to read a few blogs a week to keep up.

            Another way I thought about the internet is with Diigo.  This is such an amazing resource and I just need to utilize it more with my students.  I think this would be a wonderful way to have my students keep track of their sources and then share them with me as well.  I was also thinking this would be a good way to show students how to take notes on-line.  There are wonderful highlighting tools and “sticky” notes to take notes with.  I think this would benefit my students when they go off to college and need to keep track of sources when writing papers.

Which of the assignments that you turned in do you feel really exemplifies good teaching with technology and why?

            I think the presentation was the one assignment that really exemplifies good teaching with technology.  We had to use information from the Internet, collaborate with fellow students via Google Docs or skype, and then we had to chose the way we were to present via a web 2.0 application or other sources.  I love Google docs in that the group and the teacher can see the progress of the group.  Collaboration this way is a great way to work together to produce a project.  We shared information and ideas and were able to produce a great project.  I also liked to use Skype to actually talk to the group...that way we didn’t have to meet in person.  This is important for students who will have to do this type of collaboration in the future.  My students would benefit from this as well because they are so busy and this might be the only way to get together as a group.  Then we had to combine all parts of our project to make a collective project.  This way everyone was responsible for a part of the project.  Being able to see how the group is progressing is an important way for a teacher to make sure everyone is doing his or her fair share of the project.  In the past it is difficult to make sure everyone was participating...if I were to use Google docs with my group projects I would be able to make sure everyone was doing equal work.

How have you met your goals established in your Personal Growth Plan?

            I do think I have met my goals to incorporate iPads in the classroom.  I am using my iPad to take notes and then post those notes on my website.  The students like the idea of checking their notes with mine.  Also students who are absent like the fact that they can get the notes that they have missed.  I have help students with their iPads to expand their knowledge of different Apps and how to stay organized.

            I also led an iPad workshop at my school’s recent PD days.  I created a blog for teachers who are looking for tips and tricks and App ideas.  I showed teachers tricks about the keyboard...how to split it, insert quotations (without switching boards) and how to get rid of open Apps to save battery life. I also showed teachers an App called Whiteboard.  This App allows a teacher to work the desktop from an iPad.  That way the teacher can walk around the room with the iPad and see what everyone is doing.

            I still need to see what else I can do to utilize my iPad more.  I would like to how workshops with students to show them how to really use their iPad to its fullest potential.  I think I can also do this with iPhones as well. Instead of making students put these devises a way, teachers should be looking at how to utilize them within the classroom.  Teachers are so wary of these devices they should learn how to work together with students and the different technology that is out there.

Do you have any new goals? What are your plans for reaching your new goals and your long-term goals after this course is over?

I do have some new goals.  One of my goals is to continue these classes. I cannot believe how much I do not know, and I thought myself to be pretty tech savvy.  I can see the potential in so many new areas.  I cannot wait to see what the other classes have to offer.  I want my teaching to go further than it is now.  I want to keep up with the educational tech trends. I do want to continue to get a technology masters as I see potential in this type of a degree if I want to ever get out of the teaching profession.

 As I have said before, I really want to see where blogging can be expanded in my classroom.  I am thinking about doing an on-line portfolio with my comp class this year all via a blog. I think they should be able to upload a paper and then reply as they reflect on the different writing they have done this semester.  I also think that Diigo can help my students with researching.  I do not have time to implement this this but I do think I can start using this wonderful site by next fall.  Students do not know to research very well and I think that this is a valuable tool that they could use well into college.  I think that this would also be another good collaboration tool for students.  I liked how our groups in this class had to put different sources on Diigo and use those sources in our project.

I do not like the fact that some teachers use technology as a gimmick.  I think we need to keep up with technology as it is always changing.  We need to keep up and look ahead because our students need  us to do this.  Classes like this are useful for teachers as it gets us to look at some of the tools that are already out there and change the way they are used.  This can only make our lives easier if done correctly. I have a lot of thinking and planning to do this summer.  I want to change the way my virtual classroom looks next fall.  I want to be prepared and to change my assignments and projects and change the way I present information to my students.

Learning Styles...

My own learning experiences:

In high school I was very good at music. I would practice for hours and know my music very well...eventually I got a full ride music scholarship my 1st year.  However, if my music instructor would tell me to play an A flat...I would have to figure out where it was on the lines, I never really learned the names of the notes with out having a sheet of music in front of me. I was never very good at memorizing vocab words, but I could memorize a speech. But then I took Japanese and could memorize how to write out the Chinese characters better than the actual meaning of the words.  Math was a disaster for me, but I could tell you details from every book I read.  To this day if I can drive somewhere, I will always know how to get there.  So, with that said, I guess I am a very visual learner...hence the Chinese characters and the music.  I am very tactile as well...I have to write it down to memorize it.  I would spend hours writing out my notes and write the Chinese characters...I would even do that with vocabulary words.  I am always touching things...if I am looking for furniture I need to touch it.  If I am supposed to learn a process I need to do it rather than have someone tell me how to do it.

Less effective learning strategies:

For me lectures and listening to some one talk for an hour or more is not a good way for me to learn.  However, if I write notes as the person is talking then I am fine. I cannot listen to books on  tape and get the same level of understanding as I would if I read them.  I miss the small details when I am listening to someone...I need to see the details in the words.  Saying something over and over does not help me memorize...I need to either make lists or write words out several times in order to really know them...even better I need to be put into situations where I have to actually use the information before it will be in my brain forever.  For example, I took three years of Japanese and then went to Japan.  It was like I was starting over.  I knew some words, but it took me months to be able to use them and use them well.  I would have done better in an immersion program rather than a regular classroom.

Focus in my own teaching:

I think because I was not a good memorizer and I struggled in school I make a better teacher because I can teach to "those kids."  I am quick to tell my students that I had to work at my grades and that school did not come easy to me.  I have learned to adjust and where I have made my adjustments then I am good. (to this day I still am a terrible speller...spell check has saved me from really learning how to spell!)  For me I use a lot of images.  I like to show student what different setting would look like if they were trying to imagine things from a book.  I also have students talk things out, like when we are diagraming sentences.  I have them describe what the diagram would look like or the process they would use to start the diagramming.  I do not give them the diagrams, they have to create them all on their own.  When I give directions I give them orally as I am writing key points down.  I show kids how to highlight and draw pictures as different ways of taking notes.  I then tell them that there is no "right" way to take notes...they have to figure it out for themselves and know how they learn best.

reflect on your own learning experiences and what types of teaching strategies were more effective to your learning style.  What strategies were less effective?  We can't teach each lesson focusing on every learning style that we have in the classroom.  What should be our focus instead? 

Creative Commons Blog

Personal Image with the creative commons license 

Original Image: Hiroshima

Image URL: http://asmodehn.fr/~alex/Blog/index.php?m=07&y=09

By: Alex

License link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

I am always using images in my classroom.  I teach a lot of world literature and there is a lot of imagery that my students do not have when dealing with other countries.  For example, I teach A Fine Balance, the images in that book about India are not realistic until students actually "see" what India is really about.  I have been to India so I have a lot of pictures from there and have put together a powerpoint to show students.  They love to see what that country looks like.  For the above image I am starting Hiroshima and to show them some before and after pictures would be a powerful lesson about what an Atomic bomb can  do.  They really have no idea and to "see" these images will make that book more powerful.

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PC Maintenance and Security Lab

Which tutorial did you choose?
The labs I chose were the ones on Malware: Defining, how do you get it, an what an unprotected computer looks like.
 What was one thing you learned that you will definitely be sharing with others?
One thing I will share, especially with my teenage step-son, is that the sites that offer free movie and music downloads are the worst sites for Malware.  I did not know about P2P (peer to peer) sites...this is how college students share information, but these sites are also notorious for spreading Malware.  Another way is through IM, I had no idea that Instant Messaging could be a way to spread Malware.  I  did learn that such sites as iTunes and Napster are relatively safe ways to share things with other people and can protect you from Malware.  I would also tell people that it is important to keep up the security of your computer and always have to most up-to-date spyware as it is always changing and can break through your computer at any moment.
Was there any information that surprised you?
Some things that surprised me about these tutorials was the way a person can inadvertently get Malware and not even know it...IM and free software, who knew? I never click on a web address from a computer user I do not know...or if I do know them I can tell when the only thing in the e-mail is some strange site.  I also didn't realize that a single computer could have anywhere from 100-5,000 different Malware viruses, it just depends on how secure your computer is and how smart you are in the security of your computer. 

• Describes at least one comment you have added to a blog.
• The one post I made to a blog was at the English Companion blog.  It was about new ideas for teaching Catcher in the Rye.  Last year I did a great paper about Catcher in the Rye and a non-fiction book called Generation Me.  I posted to this teacher my idea and he was really excited about the assignment I suggested to him.  I like this blog as it is teachers helping teachers.  I have found some great suggestions to different questions and ideas.  This is also a great place to find tech advice and suggestions.
• Describes your experience of tracking changes to these pages routinely (for example, check your RSS Reader page on at least 3 different days and describe the differences in postings across those days).
•  I think I could spend hours and hours a day tracking all the different RSS feeds.  You really do have to limit yourself and do a lot of skimming.  I like some of the "clip" features that I can get on my iPad so if I really am interested then I can go back and read the articles in the summer when I have a few minutes!!! It is interested to follow the different blogs and read everyone's opinions and how people react.  Most people have solid information, but others just drone on and on. Like I have stated before you really just need to skim or "clip" some of the articles to read later.  The best part about all of this is that it can be archived or just saved for later.
• Describes what you have learned from the contents of the news feeds you have been tracking.
•  One of the RSS' I follow is called iPad Insight.  This is a new site and it started after the iPad 3 was introduced.  I have learned about the new features of the iPad 3 and some of the downfalls as well (like how hot the machine can get).  I have also learned about some of the new Apps that have come out since the new iPad 3.  There is a very cool photo App called Photo Toaster and just today Madonna just released her own App...but I don't think I'll get that one.
• Describes how you might apply either the content of your RSS Reader page, or the capabilities of RSS Reader pages, in your own setting.
• I think RSS feed would be great in an education setting.  I could post different articles on my webpage and this could benefit both parents and children.  This is a great way to keep up with the latest educational and technology trends.  I like to keep up with the latest iPad Apps and tricks and this is a great way to do that.  I have a lot of students who use iPhones and iPads and I like to show students and parents what is out there to use at school and at home.   

Rss feed

Social Networking post

After reading about all of the tools available for participating in and creating social networks, create a post of your ideas in your blog on how social networks fit into your workflow, professionally and personally and how you think they fit into the lives of your students and or peers.

I use social networking tools a lot with being a teacher. I use several Nings and am constantly being updated with the newest ideas etc.  I have given several ideas to people and have received great advice and ideas from the English companion Ning.  Our school also has a Ning that all the teachers are connected to as well.  We communicate our department meeting notes via the Ning and there are several Nings that different departments use to share ideas.  The social networking is a great way to share ideas and ask a quick question to peers.

Personally I use the social networking to keep up with old friends, family, and colleagues.  I am constantly receiving updates about my nephew's walking progress or my friends family pictures. I love seeing what everyone is doing and where they are traveling.

For students I know they are constantly on social networking sites.  I think that I would be great to have a class Facebook page.  That way I would be able to update students on test changes, assignments, and students could ask questions about assignments that I could answer or other students.  This would be one way to keep in contact with students.

I could also post articles that everyone could read via the different social networking sites.  Students could also post different articles that they found to the networking site.

I have also used a site called "Fakebook" and with this fake Facebook site I had my students create Facebook profiles for the different characters in Lord of the Flies.  It was a great way for the students to "become" that character and how they would interact via Facebook