Getting Things Done

Prior to this week I had never heard of Getting Things Done by David Allen. It could not have come at a better time. I am currently trying to juggle creating 4-6th grade curriculum for 700 students, two grad classes, an 8 month old, finding time for my husband, and finishing our basement. Needless to say my mind never stops, and I have a mile long to do list.

The basic principle of GTD is to get everything going on in your head out and into logical order so instead of thinking about everything you have to do, you can see what needs to be done, and get it done. Reading through the GTD lecture, Kelly Forrister’s Blog, and David Allen’s 5 Phases of Mastering Workflow I felt a bit overwhelmed at first. I was trying to come up with a way to get everything I needed to do in one easy to access place that I could connect to anywhere. Since I am not a Mac owner I was sadly disappointed when I came across the “Things” app for Mac. I continued my GTD research through a Google search of “things” where I discovered a wiki page that listed countless GTD resources. I decided to use the free site www.gtdify.com. This free site is set up based on Allen’s principles of collect, process, organize, review, and do.

The collect process was very time consuming, and I am still in the process of collecting everything that needs to be done over the next few months. GTDify has a great set up that allows for you to move seamlessly through the process of deciding if your tasks are actionable or if you should put them aside for later which you can do by choosing a date in the future or placing into the “projects” folder. Organization went very quickly for me. I set up my tasks into separate project lists such as: Grad School, GIS Communications, Home Projects, and Family Chores. I can easily see my active projects, active context, hidden projects, completed projects, and hidden context by just scrolling down the screen. GTDify also has the ability to sync with Google calendar. I have yet to do this, but it is on my GTD list for this next week.  Being able to sync my GTD list to Google Calendar will allow my husband to see what all needs to get done as well. As part of the organize portion of GTD I have also set up a Gmail account and am having 2 of my other email accounts forwarded to that account which also helps me save time and stay organized. I have been maintaining 3 separate blogs on Blogger for my job, family, and grad school. GTD motivated me to add my other usernames into each account so I can access any or all accounts from one log in, making my life easier, not to mention less username and passwords to try and remember.

I have decided to set up Saturday mornings to do a quick review of what needs to be done for the following week, and to add any additional tasks or projects to my GTDify page. I am currently onto the 5th stage of my first task which is to complete my GTD post. So officially I have completed all 5 steps of David Allen’s GTD process. I know this tool will help me stay organized and help me to get more done in less time since my tasks will be prioritized for me within GTDify. I am looking forward to utilizing this tool to make my life a little less hectic and much more organized.

Social Networks in Education

Social Networking has been a part of my personal life since I joined Facebook my sophomore year of college in 2004. I looked at social networking then as a way to stay connected with my friends, and to see who was going to be in my classes at GVSU. Since I started using Facebook the social network has gone through countless changes. The one piece of this social network that has remained the same is that I use it to connect with my family and friends still today. One of the many changes I have seen Facebook take is the turn from just socializing with friends and family to a place where groups of people can connect to share ideas.

I have recently been introduced to using social networking in a professional manner. The main social networking site I’ve used in a professional manner is Twitter. I was blown away at the amount of useful information you can obtain through a simple tweet on Twitter. I have also gained knowledge and new ideas from reading what others are doing in their classroom through this social networking platform. A site I was introduced to this week is MSUEduTech Group on MACUL Space. This site provides a network of teachers, working with technology, the space to share and collaborate ideas for using technology in the classroom. Through this site I’ve been able to set up my own page, and I am looking forward to utilizing this site in the future.

I believe the use of social networks is a valuable resource for our students. At the start of the school year I had over 700 students fill out a survey asking them what technologies they were familiar with. Many were unfamiliar with productivity tools such as Microsoft Word or PowerPoint, yet almost all knew what Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter were. I believe social networks are a great way to communicate with your students, and to teach them how to communicate in an online world. I read a great article today on Ask a Teacher Blog 3 Ways Twitter Makes You a Better Writer. This post is about how Twitter can improve students writing, and your own, in the 140 allotted characters. Social networks open the door to your classroom. Students can converse with one another about an assignment when they are working on that assignment at 11pm, instead of having to wait until the next morning. I enjoy reading about how others are using social networks in their classrooms, and I am looking forward to utilizing them in my classroom in the future.

I find using social networks like Twitter or MSUEduTech Group on MACUL to be a great way to increase my knowledge about technology, and teaching with technology. Social Networking sites provide free professional learning opportunities when you need them at your fingertips. I believe this is a priceless resource that should be utilized my every school district. Teachers can connect with others teaching the same topics and share what works and what doesn’t. What better way for teachers to learn than from each other! I recently read an article on the blog Free Technology for Teachers called Nine ways to find teachers on Twitter. This article linked me to a wiki that lists teachers to follow based on content area. This is a valuable resource that I have shared with my peers. Several co-workers have starting following other educators in their fields. Overall, I believe social networks provide a stress free and very valuable platform for educators to share knowledge with one another.

Discovering Widgets

I've included a new widget that I discovered where teachers are sharing their educational thoughts via Twitter. If anyone knows how to put this widget along the side of my blog I would love to know how!

Created by Guide to Online Schools

RSS Reflection

RSS readers are something I knew little about before completing the RSS Lab. I started out using Google Reader. I was experiencing a little difficulty and decided to try Netvibes. Once I started using Netvibes I fell in love with the ability to get all my information at one time in one place! Besides the required feeds (Technology and Learning, NPR: Education, Weblogg-ed, ISTE Connects, EduTech today) I added Free Tech for Teachers, EdTechSandyK’s Blog, Tech Dirt, and Edutopia.
Two of the sites I added, Free Tech for Teachers and Edutopia, were both sites recommended to check out at a professional development I attended on Monday. Both are great resources. Free Tech for Teachers had a post yesterday about Doodle for Google which I was able to print out the article and give to our school’s Art teacher. Edutopia had an article this morning about using pop culture in the classroom.
The blog I’m following is EdTechSandyK’s blog on blogger.com. I don’t remember how I discovered EdTechSandyK’s blog, but it is filled with great messages and ideas for using technology in the classroom. Her most recent post is a powerful message about believing in your students, and your colleagues. I left a similar message on her blog.
The last site I am following is Techdirt. This site provides articles on what is currently going on with new technology. Although it does not pertain directly to teaching, it does keep me up to date with what is going on in the world of technology. While following these sites for the last week I discovered some sites have new articles or posts daily, while others have yet to change.
The RSS Readers provide great professional development. I feel like I am able to read and keep up on what others are doing with technology in the classroom. Netvibes lets me access all this information in one spot, instead of spending time trying to find each individual site. My husband is a high school digital media teacher. His students have created blogs on Blogger where they post their finished projects. I told him about Netvibes and how he could access all his student’s blogs in one spot. He used this RSS reader during conferences this week to show parents their students’ blogs. He has also shown Netvibes to his students and how they can access each other’s blogs and other resources.
The articles themselves are also great professional development. They inspire me to try new things. An article I read “Nine ways to find teachers on Twitter” on Free Technology for Teachers was so inspiring. I joined Twitter and started following similar teachers who are also teaching technology. I mentioned the article during lunch and my schools reading teacher seemed interested in joining twitter so she could follow other reading specialists. One of the teachers the article recommended me to follow had the following article posted: http://www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_valley/theprogress/community/112006859.html. This article was so inspiring. I spoke with my principal about working on setting up a digital library for our students for the next school year.


NetVibes Screenshot

Communications Calendar

Webpages v. Blogs

The main difference that I have found between a traditional website and blog is participation. A traditional website provides the viewer with information about a topic. It is a one way street so to speak. The website is a place for information, but lacks any element of conversation. A blog provides a space on the internet where individuals can have their own website about a topic or topics where others can access, but the main difference is that a blog is interactive, allowing multiple people to comment and add information. Participants in a blog can make comments intended for the owner of the blog, for other posters, or simply to give basic information. These comments help create an ongoing conversation that a traditional website does not allow for.