One last thing

Well, I'm not gonna lie...this exercise wasn't my favorite.  Some of the 'things' were a bit dated and some lacked educational value in my opinion.  Also, I don't think that teachers have the time to mess around with image generators and mashups...their plates are quite full as it is.

HOWEVER...

If I should need these things, they are at my fingertips!  I can go back to APSU's 23 Things anytime I want to refresh my memory.  I really enjoyed learning about RSS feeds; I had seen the symbol before many times and didn't know what it was for...now I do!  I also liked creating a montage of pictures with Animoto and was pleased at the quality of it.  The flow chart and mindmapping sites were very cool, too and I can me using them for presentations, posters and instruction.  And I'm thankful to know about Teacher Pop!

There were things I was already very familiar with (like blogging in general, Google apps, Facebook and Flickr), but many things I was not.  The possibilities seem endless...

There were some broken links and websites that just weren't user-friendly or intuitive (like Delicious)...my thoughts on improving the 23 Things is to check the links frequently and consider the relevance to the classroom...compare these sites with what is actually going on in today's public schools.  I have worked in the school system since 2005 and rarely do I see technology being used to this extent... I don't think it's out of ignorance, but instead a lack of time.

Well, it's over!  I am breathing a sigh of relief as I procrastinated a little the second half of the semester. I do much better with periodic deadlines and descriptive feedback (formative assessment!!!) as I go... that's something I will strive to do with my future students.  Overall, I learned something - and that's never a bad thing.

Adios!!!

Thing #23 - Creative Commons

Copyright infringement is serious business and it never really occurred to me until I was teaching ESL in Egypt and I asked a teacher friend of mine if I could copy some pages from her Reading book.   She say no way because of copyright law.  Since I will be 'borrowing' many ideas and perhaps lesson plans in my teaching career, it is important I give credit where credit is due.

Thing #22 - Livebinders

Pretty neat concept I suppose; I think it's a good way to organize research and lesson plans. I could show the students various resources for a project. Also, the binders can be organized in such a way that students can easily access information they need at any time. It may also be useful for students to have their own Livebinder. My Livebinders are entitled:

-Special Education Law
-Math, Math, Math
-Random Teacher Websites

 Here's the link to the SPED law binder:

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=865502

Thing #21 - Animoto

Kitties!

OK, this was really fun...and quite simple. As you can see, I created a montage of my kittens, Jack and Diane. I know, corny...but I don't think sharing their photos on the Internet will offend them :)  I think this would be great for an end of the year party or something that maybe as a teacher I could create for my students to say good-bye.  I also think students can make things for their parents for Christmas or Mother's Day or something like that...even though it's only 30 seconds (for free).  Not sure how I feel about paying for this service; I think other things will be more important like perhaps supplies and a like a Brain Pop account or something like that.  Anyway, I enjoyed this 'thing' :)

Thing #20 - YouTube

I've been a fan of YouTube for a while; it's a fun place to watch silly videos and learn something, too.  I have given numerous presentations during this program and have used many YouTube videos.  This being said, I do have 2 issues with YouTube:

1.  Many schools have it blocked on their server, so it's not accessible to me or students at school
2.  The comments on some of the videos are vulgar (as are some videos) and I would not want a parent coming at me for sending their child to a website with lewd and lascivious behaviors being displayed.

I think SchoolTube may be more appropriate.

I chose these 3 videos... the first one is called Math Education:  An Inconvenient Truth.  I was interested to hear what this woman (a meteorologist - NOT a teacher) had to say about upper elementary math curricula.  I was equally as interested to hear a college math professor respond to her video.  The last video is about why cats purr... I found it fascinated and learned something new about my furry little felines :)

Thing #19 - More social networking

Visit TeacherPop


I like Teacher Pop... this is something I'd probably find useful.  I think it's a good forum for pre- and in-service teachers to utilize when wanting to share ideas or learn about something.  I uploaded a picture, but I think the photo has to be approved.  I also posted a comment in the forum and asked everyone's opinion on an assessment question... maybe I'll get a response...

I have been a member of IMDB for a while; I enjoy movies and learning little facts about them...I especially like the 'goofs' and will try to pick them out when I'm watching a movie.  I have read many of the user comments on the discussion forum, but I don't like to get involved in those conversations because they turn ugly pretty quickly.

I checked out Goodreads and really liked that site too.  Good 'Thing'!

Thing #18 - Social Networking

I have been on Facebook since 2007.  My settings are private, so not everyone can see my personal information.  I also have to give permission for tagging of pictures and posts of me.  I do not 'friend' people I work with, nor would I ever 'friend' my students.  I don't even 'friend' classmates here at APSU unless we've become actual friends and get together outside of school.  I am only friends with people I actually know in 'real life' and do not accept friend requests from friends of friends.

However, I would consider creating a new Facebook page for my class and invite students to comment and post about school.  I would have very strict rules about my page and there would be absolutely no cyberbullying or rude comments.  Of course, most districts have Facebook blocked on their system, so it's not something we could use during school hours...and if some students don't have computers or internet access at home, or their parents refuse to allow them to have a Facebook account, it's useless because they will be left out.

I am not a fan of Twitter.  Been there, done that, don't like it, nor do I see educational value in it.

Thing #17 - Delicious

Before joining Delicious, I perused the site; it's easy to use and has a similar background to Facebook...hmmmm.   Honestly, once again I find myself not impressed.  While I understand I would be able to access my bookmarks anywhere instead of just on my computer, I find it just as easy to just type whatever it is I'm looking for into a search engine like Google or Bing.  Many of the same websites will come back, and quite frankly, I don't care what other people say about sites; I will be the judge of whether or not they are useful TO ME.  I saw all the comments on the right side of the page, but again, just because some people find the sites useful doesn't mean I will.  I would rather explore something on my own than go by the comments of strangers.

Personally, I have no interest in sites like this or Pinterest, although I do see some value of using it in the classroom:  teachers and students can share information and it can be useful when writing a research paper.  It's also an easy way go back and quickly access the information one has gathered.  Will I use it in a Special Education math classroom?  Probably not.

Thing #16 - Organizing with Web Tools

I chose iGoogle since I use other Google products and find them to be really user friendly.  I doubt I'll make it my homepage since my Mac has all that information already available on the Dashboard.  However, it is a handy tool - it's like a one-stop for everything you need.  I added widgets for quotations, moon phases, movies, translation and currency converters.  Here is a screen shot of my iGoogle page:

I'm not a fan of creating online to-do lists; pretty sure I mentioned that in a previous blog.  I like to have a tangible list I can carry around with me and manually cross things off as I go.  It gives me a sense of accomplishment and I feel it takes WAY less time to write things on my list than it would be to input them into a device of some sort.

Thing #15 - Wikis

The first time I encountered a Wiki was about 5 years ago when I was working as a one-on-one instructional aide to a 9th grader with autism.  His English class was presented a lesson by the librarian on research, emphasizing MLA citation and the pitfalls of some websites when doing research.  I already knew about Wikipedia, but I had never seen a classroom Wiki before that.

I thought it was pretty interesting that students from all over could collaborate without actually having to be face-to-face.  I think this is a valuable tool.  Of course students must be aware that other students are editing these Wikis and not all information may be 100% reliable.  It is important that they cross-reference items to be sure they have the most up-to-date and useful information.

I may or may not use a Wiki...with all the other possibilities out there it may not be worth it.  Also, some schools require the teachers have a personal website, so why would I stress myself out running two?

The Sandbox thing was actually a bit annoying.  I did not find it user-friendly at all and spent too much time fumbling around on the site just to figure it out.  But I did figure it out and posted something about Thing #7 on the front page.  I think it may just be easier to create a Facebook page for my class.

Thing #14 - Go with the flow

I had some fun playing around with Gliffy, as you can see by the image above.  To me, it was quite user friendly and intuitive.  I can definitely see some uses in my classroom.  In math many times we have to take steps to work through a formula and a 'map' would be a good way to illustrate these steps.  These flow charts are useful for specific items that depict a sequence of activities.

I also enjoyed using Bubbl:

These types of mind maps are visual and can help my students structure their information and ideas.  I think this is useful for brainstorming ideas because they aren't as structured as a flow chart.

Thing #13 - Web-based applications

I found Zoho and Google Docs to be quite similar and both user-friendly.  I don't really prefer one over the other and since I have Microsoft Office on my computer, I doubt I would personally use them.

However, I have been in groups before that prefer to use the online web apps because it's easier than downloading the document from an email, editing it, saving it and then uploading it to an email to send out to your group members.

If everyone has access to it, than anyone in the group can go in and edit it easily.  I see the value in having our students use this when they are working on group projects because not everyone will have Microsoft Office at home; but if they have the internet, they can get to Zoho or Google Docs!

here is one of the documents I created in Zoho:

https://writer.zoho.com/public/bdbd51b85b9d8b8e07304f5e0dd452f3b1010d9fecb8b4ee1fba11c44bbf3cbc9ece6500d2ba5d8a

Thing #12 - Google

I have been using Google for a long time now and have been aware of all the options it offers.  I'm not one who likes online or digital calendars, I prefer them to be tangible.  I like to be able to write on them and carry them with me.  Since I don't have a smart phone and I don't carry my iPad around with me, paper will have to do!  But, for many people digital calendars are a good thing, so I decided to play around with it.  I created a calendar with some upcoming assignment due dates.  I also set a 'test' alarm for 10 minutes later, with a pop-up reminder for 5 minutes before the 'start time'...and sure enough, an alert popped up, even while surfing another page.  Definitely good for someone who is often on their computer, or has alerts sent to their phone, and who takes the time to enter in appointments and other important reminders.  I may be able to make a group calendar for my students; however, when I clicked on the 'share' link, this is what popped up:

I don't know how to share it with anyone that's not on Google, besides having to enter their email addresses.  Another student put the URL to his calendar in his blog, and when I clicked on it, his didn't come up for me, so I'll give it a go, maybe it will work for you:

https://www.google.com/calendar/render?tab=mc


I also played around with translator, which could assist students who speak multiple languages.  I have a translator app on my laptop, so I compared the one I have to Google...here are the results of the following sentences:    Welcome to the United States; my name is Adrienne and I will be your tour guide for the next three weeks.  I'm really looking forward to our trip together!

Google translate:  Bienvenidos a los Estados Unidos, mi nombre es Adrienne y yo seré su guía para las próximas tres semanas. Tengo muchas ganas de nuestro viaje juntos!

Mac app translator:  Recepción a los Estados Unidos; mi nombre es Adrienne y seré su guía turístico para las tres semanas próximas.  ¡Estoy mirando realmente adelante a nuestro viaje junto!

A little bit of a difference!  :)

Again, I didn't see anything to share this, so here's the URL...

http://translate.google.com/?hl=en&tab=cT#en/es/Welcome%20to%20the%20United%20States%3B%20my%20name%20is%20Adrienne%20and%20I%20will%20be%20your%20tour%20guide%20for%20the%20next%20three%20weeks.%20%20I'm%20really%20looking%20forward%20to%20our%20trip%20together!

Thing #11 - using RSS

The three sites were all pretty easy to navigate; my least favorite was Topix - I didn't find their search engine (Blekko) very impressive and didn't find anything interesting to me.  Google was definitely easiest, and I'm sure some of that comes from using Google frequently over the last several years.  Technorati has some cool features, but not much under the search "education"...when I searched for "teaching" I found some good sites that I added to my RSS feed:

http://www.teachthought.com

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/2013/01/insiders_not_sanguine_on_feder.html

On the Google blog search, I found the following:

A technology blog by Jennie Magiera, a digital learning coordinator for a group of 25 public schools in Chicago.  Her site is easy to navigate and it has useful and appropriate links to other education websites:

http://teachinglikeits2999.blogspot.com

A lot of the special education blogs I found were people sharing stories, I guess in some way to blow off steam.  Nothing inappropriate really, just talking about the difficulties of special ed, some of the behaviors of students and what NCLB means for sped.

Here is an example of a blog I probably would NOT follow... I can't find a name or any other qualifications for this teacher... and it's more of just stories of things that happen day to day.

http://tennesseesped.blogspot.com

This special education law blog seems to have some useful information, although it is geared towards parents, it may be a good thing for teachers to be aware of:

http://blog.jeffmarcuslaw.com

Most of the sites I came across did not have the RSS feed symbol (or one did, but when I clicked on the symbol, it wouldn't connect); they did have a share button for Google +, but I did not utilize it.  I was able to add two blogs to my feed.

I liked how Technorati had different categories for blogs; that makes it easy to focus in on your subject of interest.  I didn't really find anything unusual or confusing; except maybe the Topix website; that just seemed like another Yahoo or something similar.

Thing #10 - RSS

The RSS feed is a simple way to have a bunch of information easily at my fingertips.  I always just made a bookmark for the sites I like and then I have a list of them right there - which is still a good thing.  However, the RSS allows me to peruse all my favorite sites at once.

I subscribed to several sites, including my classmates' blogs, NPR, The Onion, and a couple Teacher blog sites.  Having all the sites together like that is great for a teacher; this way I won't forget to read updates on sites and won't potentially miss out on some good information!

I won't create a public page right now, but I see the value in doing so in the future.

Thing #9 - Online Image Generators

I feel like I'm becoming Debbie Downer in my posts.  In the last few exercises I didn't find much educational value nor could I come up with an appropriate way to use the sites with my students; unfortunately, the same has happened for Thing #9.  All these tools are fun to use and play with, but I'm having difficulty connecting them to my classroom.  If there comes a time where my students might need something like this, I will know where to go!

Thing #8 - Mashups

1. old trees an fresh grass in bay of islands, 2. La Mussara Arbre, 3. Untitled, 4. Sowa uszata



 So... I struggled with this 'thing'.  I was disappointed that Mappr seemed to be a for-hire service.  I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to take a bunch of my pics and place them on a map...but I'm not paying for it.  I tried to make mosaics of my pics, but I could only bring up the ones on Flickr, and I wanted to do something a little different from my previous post.  Then I opted to just gather random Flickr photos with the tag 'nature'...the mosaics that came back to me, were missing pictures because these users had opted out of using Big Huge Labs.  I changed the tag to trees and viola!  Below my mosaic is the html language I was instructed to include so that my photos are properly credited.  I thought it would look different once I copied it over, but it is just a bunch of gobbleygook.

I think these mashups are fun to play with if you have the time, but I don't really see the educational value in it.  Maybe I'm being short-sighted, perhaps it would be really useful for an art project or to enhance other subjects.  I'm interested in reading others' posts about this 'thing' to see their take on it.

My feelings about sharing photos on the web are best described as guarded and hesitant.  I fully plan to remove all content I've uploaded for this class at the end of the semester.  I only have a few photos uploaded on my Facebook page and I'm very private about who has access to them.  I've also hidden  my other blogs from public view and only invite people to view them.  I was recently disturbed to find a picture of me from the school I used to work at - I absolutely HATE the picture, it's very unflattering and I didn't give permission for it to be on the world wide web.  I don't allow people to tag me in photos and I don't tag other people.  Maybe my feelings are more vehement :)

Thing #7 - Flickr

I haven't used Flickr before, but I've used other photo sharing sites like Photobucket.

I opted for the more "fun" option #2.  I opened an account - my username is adrienneapsu.  I uploaded six photos with the following tags:  apsu23things, motorcycles, and nationalparks.

For several years I was a tour guide, taking small groups of travelers on camping trips across our great nation.  I had the privilege of visiting at least a dozen national parks and touring many of our awesome cities.  The work was hard and sometimes like herding cats, but very rewarding (not financially, mind you!)  I wanted to share some of those pics along with another passion of mine - motorcycle riding.

These two pictures are of Antelope Canyon in Page, Arizona.  You cannot enter this slot canyon without a Navajo guide.  My guide has all the cool tricks; he changed some of the settings on my camera to capture these images below:

Antelope Canyon, Page, AZ

Antelope Canyon, Page, AZ

Arches National Park, Moab, UT

The picture to the right was taken at Arches National Park just outside of Moab, UT.  It is the Double Arch.  Arches is one of my all-time favorite parks.  But doesn't hold a candle, in my opinion, to Bryce National Park (see picture below).

Bryce is home of the one of the oldest organisms known to man:  the Bristlecone Pine Tree.  It's also the top of the 'grand staircase' that connects Bryce, Zion and Grand Canyon National Parks on the Colorado Plateau.

The first time I visited Bryce I was alone; I hiked the trails in early May and there was still snow on the ground.  There weren't many other hikers around, in fact, I only ran into 2 other people on the trails.  It was so peaceful and I really came to some conclusions about the life path I was on...one could say I had an epiphany...

Bryce Canyon National Park, UT

Yellowstone National Park, WY

Yellowstone National Park is actually the first national park I ever went to.  I was in my early 30's and I took my brother; at the time he was only 15 years old.  We saw buffalo, bear and tons of elk.  We actually got the last camping site in the entire park for that night.

Motorcycle Training Course, Clarksville, TN

The photo above was taken a few years ago; I had just bought my first motorcycle after riding my boyfriend's 1977 Suzuki GS400 for a year.  We went out on the training course at Harley and I practiced my cools moves on my then-new Buell Blast.  I've moved up to a Buell XB9 since then with a BMW F650 in between.  Today looks like a nice day to ride...need to finish my 12 things so I can get out there!!!!!  LOL

I had trouble grabbing the link from Flickr...couldn't get that .jpg to appear at the end, and when I used the import tool on Flickr to Blogger, it just created a new post for me...I didn't like that, so I just uploaded the pics from my desktop.

I'm not entirely sure what I'd use Flickr for in my classroom; if students needed to find pictures for an assignment, I suppose this would be a good way to find them.  However, whilst tooling around the site, I came across several inappropriate ads, like "Your arrest record is online!" with mug shots of alleged criminals.  Not so good for our students.

Thing #6 - Web 2.0 tools

Well, the first site I went to was http://www.go2web20.net/site/?a=Gripe; I chose it partially because it had a yin-yang symbol and I was curious to know exactly what people were griping about... students about teachers?  teachers about administrators?  well...neither...in fact, it has nothing to do with education.

This site claims to "harness your word-of-mouth power to get complaints with any business or service provider heard and resolved, likely on the spot!"

There are gripes about businesses that allegedly mistreated customers whether it be from extended hold times on the phone to being over-charged for products.  The companies people are complaining about cover a range of businesses from HP to Walgreens to local eye doctors to online companies like Expedia.com.

I'm not sure how I would use this in a special education classroom; I suppose it could be a life skill to teach any student to stand up for yourself and not let people take advantage of you...but I feel that's a stretch.  Also, the website is not very user-friendly; it took me a while to figure out how to get to the actual gripes.  

The next site I checked out was http://www.twentyfour.me/#&panel1-1; the description of the site is an "automatic to-do list."  I wasn't impressed with this one either.  Since I don't have a 'smart' phone, this would pretty useless for me.  Besides, wouldn't you have to enter everything you need to do into the program?  I'd rather just write it down on paper.  

I saw sites like Pinterest and YouTube...sure, they can be useful, IF you can get on YouTube at your school - the last school I worked at had it blocked.

Overall, I'm not impressed.  If the school doesn't have iPads (or something similar) and the students and teacher don't have smart phones, then honestly, I don't see the use of it.  Guess I'm old school

Thing #5 - School 2.0

Well, that was an abundance of information!!!  I'm not sure I like the entire idea of School 2.0... it seems this could lead us down a path where teachers aren't really needed anymore... kids stay home and work online all day.  This is not good...nor do I think it's actually going to happen.  I realize education has trends almost as frequently as fashion, but I truly believe the latest trend of collaborative work is going to stick.  Does that mean it has to be entirely online?  Or entirely face to face?  No.  I think we need to strike balances between everything we do.  It's important for students to use technology in various ways, but they also need to know how to work with people face to face and complete hands on activities.  How do we as teachers decided how much online interaction is appropriate?

I also don't understand how all this will be funded.  I wonder if the technology of the future is going to leave some of our students living in poverty-stricken areas behind.

This isn't to say some of that stuff isn't impressive and fun.  One of my classmates used the Go! Animate site for a presentation in another class; I would definitely use this site in my classroom as an instructional aid and also as an assignment...I think the students would have a lot of fun playing around with it.   I'd love to know how to work all those gadgets and use them effectively in my classroom, but I don't know that it is a reality for the majority of our students.

Thing #4 - Commenting

Commenting helps create a sense of community and interaction by generating discussion and debate on topics we find interesting.  We're not going to read blogs that don't either entertain or inform us, and some of that entertainment and information comes from the comments.  Often times I'll read articles online and read many of the comments below; sometimes my perception of something changes just by reading what someone else wrote because it opens my eyes to something I may not have considered previously.  

Commenting also lets the writer know that he/she is being read and can encourage more blogging; otherwise the blogger may believe no one is interested and just stop writing.  Comments from the blogger are important as well because the readers will feel like the blogger is also 'listening' to the readers instead of being this untouchable figure.

One of the main pointers that stuck out to me was from the Cool Cat teacher blog:  #6, teach commenting.  It is SO important that our students learn how to communicate effectively and professionally in all types of mediums, however, since the internet is where many of us do a huge chunk of our communicating, our students need to learn how to write appropriate comments that help foster discussion and not be offensive or rude.  We also must talk to our students about cyber-bullying and why it can be so harmful.

Another pointer that I enjoyed reading was from Problogger... I think asking questions is a great way to generate comments and start discussion.  I don't recall doing much asking when I was running my travel blogs, perhaps I would have generated more interest if I had...other than my mother commenting every other day!  LOL :)

My classmates' blogs I chose to follow are:

*Jamie Kelley
One of my comments to Jamie was in response to this very thing, #4:

"Jamie...what a wonderful post! I especially agree with your thoughts on malicious commenting; I think this is where bullying can really explode. As teachers, we must be clear on our policies about rude, hurtful comments and we must pay close attention to what our students are writing and reading. Thank you for bringing up this point!"

I commented on Jamie's blog because I enjoy his writing style and because we agreed on the malicious content people hiding behind a screen name can generate.  

*Scott Davis

"Scott,  I wish my easiest habit were beginning with the end in mind... I mean, I can set goals and figure out how to get to those goals, but when looking at it from say an assessment point of view, I have trouble figuring that out. The Backwards Design model suggests we start at assessment and design our lesson plans to meet that assessment...seems logical to me, but not exactly easy. Maybe I'll get some pointers from ya!"

I commented on Scott's blog because our habits were opposite - his strongest is my weakest and vice versa.  Scott and I are also both GAs and see one another frequently.  

*Kasey Howe

Kasey,

"While I didn't exactly get caught up on the Google profile, I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to pick the best background and fonts and style of my blog. I also got a little frustrated because Blogger was different a few years ago (of course, everything evolves when it comes to technology) and I feel the previous version was easier. But I also stuck with it and just worked through!"

I commented on Kasey's blog because I felt her frustration, even though it was with different issues!  We also have other classes together and I enjoy hearing her perspective.

*Tobey Lee

"Tobey,

I like what you said about blogs becoming rants and that is why you sometimes read them. I am hugely guilty of reading the senseless, grammatically offensive articles on Yahoo! news. Mostly, it's to read the comments, because they can be so outlandish sometimes!"

I enjoy Tobey's writing style and liked that he admitted reading some blogs because of their rants :)


*Bing Thepsiri

"Bing,  I have enjoyed reading your posts, but chose this one to comment on. I have not done this "thing" yet, but have a good idea what it's all about. I am also concerned about my lack of knowledge of technology. But even more, I'm concerned about those areas in poverty that won't have the money to keep up with it - and not just the inner city schools, but our rural schools in poor states such as Mississippi. I just don't see how it's financially viable.  Maybe we should all be taking grant-writing courses!"

I think Bing has a wonderful style of writing and enjoy reading her posts; this post however struck a chord with me because of the high cost of technology.  I really fear a lot of our poorer areas are going to be left behind, as they are already.


Blogs I follow outside the classroom are:

http://www.kumuainafarm.com

I follow this blog because my brother is currently living and working on this farm; the people who began the farm have a cool story as to how they got there; and I'm learning about organic farming, which is something that may come in handy one day!

http://cecblog.typepad.com/cec/

I chose this blog to follow because it's all about Special Education (I'm going for SPED licensure) and the bloggers vary...it's not the same person post after post.  I think this helps keep it fresh and meaningful.

Thing #3 - Why use blogs?

Our society basically lives on the internet; social media has exploded and students of all ages are going online and accessing various sites.  If we make an interesting blog, or even just use a blog as a way to communicate with our students and give assignments, I think they will respond positively.

Blogs can be used to communicate with parents as well, and to display resources for parents, students, and other teachers.  Blogs can also be used to open discussions on various topics.  We can also have our students create their own blogs as part of assignments.

We also have to have clear guidelines about posting and commenting to avoid potential issues.  Cyber-bullying has become a clear and present danger, and if we're requiring our students to blog or comment on blogs, we have to monitor this process closely.

Thing #2 - Creating the Blog and Avatar

I have 3 older blogs here on Blogger.com (attached to a different email account), so creating this new blog was a breeze; although, Blogger has changed some things on the setup and I got a little caught up in trying to make certain backgrounds and fonts, etc.  It was fun, though - and very easy.  And this time around, I'm keeping the blog post archive in order from oldest to newest... I think it's because of my OCD and how I want my posts to be in order, #1 - #23... instead of backwards...we'll see if that works...I can always change it if it doesn't flow!

My students call me "Ms V" so it was a no-brainer in deciding what to name my blog.  I went ahead with my first name and last initial for posting to keep some anonymity, but enough that at least my professor and classmates would know who I am.

My avatar reflects me ever so slightly.  I don't have straight hair, but I had trouble finding wavy hair that didn't look too crazy!  I try to have a smile on my face as much as possible, hence the cheesy grin.    I wanted to use my Avatar from Yahoo! but couldn't get it to copy over...it's much more "me".....maybe someone can help me with that?  :)

Thing #1 - Habits

As I scrolled through the slide show on habits of lifelong learners, the one habit that really jumped out at me was #2:  Accept responsibility for your own learning.  I am a huge proponent of personal responsibility in all aspects of life, and learning is no different.  I feel that as our society evolves, or perhaps devolves, people like to blame others for everything from spilling hot coffee in our laps to failing a class.  I have many theories and ideas behind this shift, but won't get into them here!

One of my goals in teaching is to foster personal responsibility and accountability.  I've worked in some elementary schools where I sometimes feel like there is too much control over the students; for example, they must walk in pin-straight lines in the hallways and absolutely no talking...ever!  Some teachers require their students to ask to get out of their seats to sharpen a pencil, get a tissue, or a retrieve a paper from their backpack.  I don't want to be this teacher.  Although, I can imagine there may be times when things are too chaotic and students are up and down and frequently distracting from the lesson. I'd like to find a balance.  I think it's important for students to start taking responsibility for their actions; so if they leave my classroom everyday to use the bathroom and are gone for 10 minutes and miss out on classwork, they either lose points or have to figure out a way to make it up.  Choices = consequences.  Making good choices will yield desirable consequences.

The habit that is the most difficult for me is #1:  Begin with the end in mind.  As I continue my education, I keep hearing about the 'backwards design' whereby the teacher creates the assessment first and works backwards from there.  Starting with the question, "What do I want the students to learn?" makes perfect sense, but I'm more of a 'go with the flow' type of person.  Although I realize that teaching requires a lot of planning and forethought, so I'm going to have to spend more time thinking about what I want the end result to be.

Habit #4 can also be a challenge for me, too...I have confidence when learning certain subjects, but when it comes to something like Science...forget about it!  I give up before I even get started.  So that is something I should probably work on!