Where Am I Now?

Where am I now? Well, after seven fast weeks, wow! I feel that I have learned so much in a short period of time.

It's important to reflect on all the things I have learned in this class:
- The article about learning styles helped remind me how important it is to be aware of how different out students are from one another
- Twitter! I never would have gotten interested in Twitter if it was not for this class! I now see it as an excellent way to connect with other teachers and even students!
- RSS READERS! LOVE MY READER! I have been hooked ever since I created it. It is so helpful to have everything I am interested in, in one spot.
- Blogs! I never paid much attention to blogging. Not only do I love blogging (and I can't wait to use it in the classroom), I learn a lot from others' blogs.
- Learning about Copy Right laws and how to stay safe was very helpful. I never really knew what I was doing in that area and I now I feel confident.
- PC Maintenance and Security. I will definitely continue to use what I learned in this lab. Since performing some of the tasks from the lab, I have noticed an improvement in my computer speed and performance.

Our last project, The Personal Technology Plan, helped me reflect on what I learned in this class and my use of technology. Because of this class, I feel that I now look at technology in a new way. I see it as an opportunity as well as our job to prepare and teach students. Technology is going to continue to advance, which means new jobs for the future. We have to prepare students for these new opportunities. By using technology on a regular basis, students will become comfortable with it. Incorporating technology to our daily lessons will also make learning more interesting and engaging for students.

One thing that would have been helpful for me is for me to see some of the great ideas we learned in lesson plan form or in action. A lot of the videos and articles talked about using things like blogs, social bookmarking sites and Twitter, but there were not many examples of these tools in action.

I look forward to my future with technology. In regards to teaching, I am excited to use all of the things I learned in this class. For example, I want to use blogs in the classroom. I have loved blogging and I think it is a great resource for students. I also want to use social bookmarking sites for research or an on going class site. Everything I have learned can also be used to streamline my life and making teaching easier. I have founds ways to be more organized through Google Docs and Google Calendars. I also feel that a class wide Google Calendar would be a great way to keep everyone on track.

Have I met the goals I set? Definitely! I feel that I have taken advantage of this course and I have challenged myself to go above and beyond. But, I am nowhere close to being done. In my original growth plan, I stated the importance of me keeping up with everything I learn in this course. I will continue to use the resources and tools I learned in this course, in addition to exploring what else comes my way.

RSS Feeds...the next chapter

Well, I must say, RSS Reader's can be a bit addicting. Over the last week, I spent a lot of time looking for blogs and professional sites that will help me as an educator. I followed four sites closely over the last week and a half - and I must say, it takes quite a bit of work.

Teaching History
One of the professional sites I discovered was Teaching History: National History Education Clearing House. What I loved about the site at first was it had a blog that was updated frequently in addition to a frequently updated site. My first couple of days following, I spent a lot of time getting caught up. I found a lot of great ideas but I didn't know what to do with them. For example, there was an article about Constitution Day. The article had great ideas for connecting technology (blogging) into Constitution Day which can sometimes be a challenging topic to get through.
As I continued to keep track of this site through my Reader, I started thinking about ways to sort and store all the information I am finding. Luckily for me, one of the articles posted last week was about a new tool called Dropbox (http://teachinghistory.org/digital-classroom/tech-for-teachers/25164). Dropbox is similar to Google Docs, however, it lets you save a file on any desktop that can be accessed without internet.

I am happy I stumbled upon this site because it is turning out to be a great lesson plan tool and a great technology tool.

GTD
At a meeting last week, one of my employees mentioned that I would like an article she refereed to as GTD. She was right, I loved it and I added the site to my Reader. I am constantly looking for new ways to make my life my streamline in and out of the classroom. I was even more surprised when this weeks session asked us to read material from Getting Things Done. The website is full of helpful hints and articles to read about GTD. This site is a great tool for educators because it gives you a guide for balancing everything. These tools can be taught to our students as we work to prepare them for their future (organization, accountability, time management, what student doesn't need this?). This site also has Podcasts! What an awesome resource. The Podcast about accountability to a must!

NPR - Education

Another of my discoveries is one that I can't really claim. My teacher suggested we subscribe to this site, and I am crazy about it. I have always listened to NPR on the radio, but never checked out the website, let alone a site just about education. On Sunday, they published a great anti-bullying article. Working to create a bully free environment was one of my passions as a teacher and I loved reading this article. As I continued to follow, I found amazing articles that caught my attention. I recently read an article on the site about what teachers make. It was a great article and it is nice to read things in support for teachers. This site helps me stay current on the world of Education. I also like it because the site has positive articles as well, which can be a challenge to find.

A Year of Reading

Another awesome blog I found for elementary teachers is called A Year of Reading. It is a great resource because the blog is edited by a variety of teachers and it keeps us updated on great literature. As a social studies teacher, I struggle to find books that bring history to life. I find this blog helpful because it highlights great children's books and then shows ways to connect it to different subject areas.

The blog also acts as a great resource for other sites; connecting us to other authors and teachers. For example, one post had short clips with a variety of teachers and authors talking about connecting literature to everything we do. I feel that great literature is a powerful tool in social studies because there is so much more than the textbook.

My thoughts now?

By tracking blogs and sites of interest, I have gained insight into new lessons, projects and ideas that I never even fathomed – and it has only been a matter of days. Through one site, I found resources that will help me tweak a project and I did last year and make it that much better. My RSS Reader will make connecting and learning so much easier than I ever thought possible. I am very excited to continue to use this and learn new ideas.

My mind continues to be in overdrive thinking of all the ways I can use this in school. It would be amazing to see students using their own feeds when conducting research or just learning about the world around them. For example, I have been playing around with a unit about Africa. My vision is to have each student learn about a country and create a blog about it. Students could subscribe to a variety of sources about Africa and have all their information in one place. Eventually, students could subscribe to each others' blog to continue to grow their network. I am also excited about all of the new tools and ideas I have just because of my checking in on my Reader.

Follow my Reader!