Blogging. Turns out I love it. Of course, it's all just extemporania for the moment. After all, I don't have particularly DEEP THOUGHTS! I enjoy hearing others' comments, although there have not really been many (or any, other than Jim's -- thanks, pal). Ironically, I haven't been particularly interested in reading blogs before, mostly for the same reason I like my own: there's not always a lot there. Alas.
One concern, should anyone actually read these things, is that my comments might be misinterpreted. Writing is not the same as reading, is not the same as conversing. Paranoid, I know.
I expect I'll play at it for awhile and see how it goes. It's an interesting way to fulfill my mother's dream of me becoming a writer. What goes around, and all that.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Woo-Hoo!
I'm done, I'm done, I'm done. I learned a lot of stuff. I'm smarter than the average bear. Knowing myself, I'll probably forget a ton of it. Le Sigh. That's why I'm going to print/copy/paste/abscond with as many of the directions as possible so I can continue to improve my skills. See you in the cloud, baby!!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Thing 23
This has changed my view of education, and excited me as to what is possible. It will take more than a few of us in any particular district to implement these Web 2.0 ideas and open the rest of the staff to what is possible. There is significant reluctance, in many cases, to spend the time on these things. Too many of us feel computer illiterate and afraid to make the attempt. Those of us who have these skills will have to "evangelize" and spread the word of how terrific this stuff is.
As for personal use, I love the blog world. Even if no one else sees it, it's fun to play at. Watch this space!
As for personal use, I love the blog world. Even if no one else sees it, it's fun to play at. Watch this space!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Thing 4
How has learning changed since I was a child, lo, those many, many years ago. Hmmm, let's see. The only educational stuff we had on TV was "Watch Mr. Wizard". Learning communities were developed by discussing letters to Dear Abby. Students were not encouraged to "share" information with others, as this might be confused with CHEATING!!! Research involved hauling your sorry self to the library and spending hours & hours with the card catalog, stacks, and note cards. A bookmark was a stiff piece of paper stuck in a book. Okay, okay. You already know I'm old.
What's too often the same is that students schlep books from lockers, read, answer questions, take a quiz/test, and move on. Stuff they may have just learned may be forgotten as they begin work on the new unit/chapter/assignment. There is collaborative work on projects, but it's much like it was (skenkty-five) years ago. That said, it's nice to see unitedstreaming vodcasts used in some rooms, access to online info, and quick collaboration with parents.
Hooray!!
What's too often the same is that students schlep books from lockers, read, answer questions, take a quiz/test, and move on. Stuff they may have just learned may be forgotten as they begin work on the new unit/chapter/assignment. There is collaborative work on projects, but it's much like it was (skenkty-five) years ago. That said, it's nice to see unitedstreaming vodcasts used in some rooms, access to online info, and quick collaboration with parents.
Hooray!!
Thing 22
Obviously, the advantage to online PD is convenience. It's self-paced and no one cares what you're wearing or if you have dragon mouth or whether you scratch something inappropriate. You don't have to re-arrange schedules, prep lesson plans for a substitute, or worry about getting there on time.
The disadvantage of online PD is that you have to show up. Knowing myself as well as I do, I find it easier to watch Burn Notice (or equivalent) than to park my body at the computer for another hour or two of an evening. The result is that I procrastinate (you may have noticed that on this course!) and sweat out getting the assignments done. Hewlett Packard offers online courses for FREE. I have signed up for several of them, started with a flourish, then walked away because I couldn't make myself put in the time. Bah.
Having to show up for a live PD presentation forces you to participate. It's also time limited, which helps me enormously. You take your notes, put the handouts in a binder, and use what you remember to improve your service delivery. That's it. You're done.
I'll probably do some of both in the future. Hopefully it'll work out better!
The disadvantage of online PD is that you have to show up. Knowing myself as well as I do, I find it easier to watch Burn Notice (or equivalent) than to park my body at the computer for another hour or two of an evening. The result is that I procrastinate (you may have noticed that on this course!) and sweat out getting the assignments done. Hewlett Packard offers online courses for FREE. I have signed up for several of them, started with a flourish, then walked away because I couldn't make myself put in the time. Bah.
Having to show up for a live PD presentation forces you to participate. It's also time limited, which helps me enormously. You take your notes, put the handouts in a binder, and use what you remember to improve your service delivery. That's it. You're done.
I'll probably do some of both in the future. Hopefully it'll work out better!
Thing 21
Well, this has been an exercise in frustration! I'm sure that with more use, it would become easier to embed video into a blog or wiki. At least I'm hoping that would be the case for a techno-novice such as me.
Videos could be used in the classroom to present materials in different ways. For example,on Teacher Tube, I learned about a multiplication grid. It was fascinating. There was also an Abbot and Costello video on doing multiplication incorrectly. Hilarious. It could engage students easily. The same video could be used in a social studies class to discuss WWII, starting with demographics of military personnel, draft vs. volunteer military service, etc.
You Tube is blocked for student access in our district. However, it is available for teachers, so it would more likely be used in large-group instruction rather than individual access. I jumped through hoops trying to make Firefox work. When this project is completed, I'll try again. I didn't actually try either Vixy or Zamzar because it was so easy to download things to Real Player, for which I have a subscription.
Videos could be used in the classroom to present materials in different ways. For example,on Teacher Tube, I learned about a multiplication grid. It was fascinating. There was also an Abbot and Costello video on doing multiplication incorrectly. Hilarious. It could engage students easily. The same video could be used in a social studies class to discuss WWII, starting with demographics of military personnel, draft vs. volunteer military service, etc.
You Tube is blocked for student access in our district. However, it is available for teachers, so it would more likely be used in large-group instruction rather than individual access. I jumped through hoops trying to make Firefox work. When this project is completed, I'll try again. I didn't actually try either Vixy or Zamzar because it was so easy to download things to Real Player, for which I have a subscription.
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