Learning Styles

Growing up I have always known that I learn better when I can see what is being explained.  After completing the Learning Styles test I know for sure that I am a Visual Learner.  When reading through the visual learner’s definition I found myself saying this is me!  I tend to sit towards the front of classrooms so that I can see the teacher at all times.  I also like to see visual representations such as charts, graphs, and pictures. 

When teaching technology I tend to teach to the visual learners as well.  I always have the projector screen up and going so students can see what I am doing on the computer as I explaining a new concept.  I find that some students don’t even look at the screen and my explanations are enough for them, but I always remind students that as I am explaining what we are doing that they can look at the screen to be able to see what I am asking them to do.  I feel that I teach really well to the visual and auditory learners.  As a computer teacher I really struggle teaching to the kinesthetic learners.  Students each have their own computer and are completing different tasks, but I don’t allow students to roam or move around the classroom much for fear of computers crashing down.  I try to break up my 50 minute classes into a warm up or discussion, mini lesson, and work time.  Breaking the lesson into chunks helps keep all of the students’ interest for most of the period. I am interested to see how other tech teachers meet the kinesthetic learner’s needs.     

Although it is impossible to teach to all of our students different learning styles, I try really hard to make my lessons interesting both visually and orally.  I also try to find as many interactive activities for my students as possible.  I try to make sure that students have an opportunity to see, hear, do, and say something every class period.

Personal Learning Reflection

At the start of CEP 810 I listed 2 main goals for myself.  I wanted to increase my knowledge of different programs and websites that I could transfer into my curriculum, and I wanted to learn more about technology so I could be our buildings “go to” person.  In the last 5 weeks I have gained more knowledge about new technologies and how to make my life more streamlined than I have in the last 5 years. 

My first goal for this course was to gain knowledge of new programs or websites that I could utilize in my 4-6 technology curriculum.  I currently teach my students Microsoft Productivity Tools.  In the first session I learned how I could use Office Live, Google Docs, and Open Office to teach students about online productivity tools and how to use these tools in a collaborative way.  I was also excited to learn about Zoho and Prezi.  Both are collaborative presentation tools my students would love to utilize.  

Internet safety and copyright laws are two topics that I teach my students about.  I’ve gained some great safety tips to share with my students, such as copy and pasting any link into the Google search bar to see if the link is a scam or virus before they ever click on the link. Citing sources and using copyright free images is a constant struggle when working with students.  Attempting to explain the complicated copyright laws is a struggle.  The YouTube Disney video is wonderful, and I am looking forward to sharing it with my classes.  I also found the chart from Technology and Learning to be a user friendly chart when explaining what is allowed and not allowed when using others ideas, images, or products.  Creative Commons is also a great resource for students to use when looking for copyright free products.    

Digital storytelling is a topic that I had heard about prior to this course, but not one that I had taught.  I have learned so much about digital storytelling through my groups SIG project. For all of our great resources check out our SIG Delicious account.  I am looking forward to having my 4^th graders use Kapoof, and teaching my 5^th and 6^th graders how to use Microsoft’s Photo Story 3.  I believe digital storytelling is an excellent example of integrating Language Arts and Technology.  

Personal Learning Networks, Getting Things Done, and Netvibes are all three things that were introduced to me, and that have changed how I function.  At the start of this class I considered my Personal Learning Network to mainly consist of my colleagues at work and my peers through MSU.  CEP 810 opened my eyes to the many different PLN’s available within a click.  I have become an active member of Twitter and I am constantly checking to see what other tech teachers are saying.  Joining MACAL’s Ning has also provided me with a wealth of knowledge, and new ideas to try out in my classroom.   

Netvibes is a wonderful site where I can view all of my PLN blogs, websites, and social networks at one time.  Instead of spending time moving from website to website I can use Netvibes as a one stop spot where I can read up on technology trends, and what other technology teachers are doing in their own classroom.  I have discovered three teacher blogs where I have gained so many wonderful ideas that I can not wait to implement into my own curriculum.  Cool Cat Teacher, Ask a Teacher, and EdTechSandyK are three blogs that I have recommended to several of my colleges. 

David Allen’s Getting Things Done is a concept that I had never heard of.  This has tremendously changed how I function as a teacher, a student, a wife, and a mom.  I found a great free site (www.gtdify.com) and my husband and I have been using it religiously.  We share the same GTD account so we both don’t have to put some of the same projects down.  I can see what I need to get done today, tomorrow, this week, and this month in one click.  I know where my priorities need to be and if I complete all my tasks I can easily see what I should accomplish next.  I have noticed that the process of getting my endless to do list out of my head and into the GTDify page has reduced my stress tremendously. 

My second goal was to be able to be a “go to” person for technology in my building.  I have gained so many useful resources from this class.  I have decided to put together a Prezi presentation for my building administration on some of the beneficial websites our teachers should be utilizing.  I also want to present the idea of starting a collaborative Delicious account where teachers can post their useful websites and links.  As teachers we are constantly looking for new ideas and lesson plans that work, and at times we feel as if we are on an island all alone.  A school Delicious account would allow our teachers to share what they have found that works in one easy to access spot.  If teachers include detailed summaries, and tags we can easily create a collaborate site filled with countless resources for all. 

A new goal I am setting for myself, and hopefully the other technology teachers in the district, is to set up a K-12 technology portfolio system for our students.   Using the Michigan Educations Technology Standards and the National Educational Technology Standards for Students I would like our district to align our curriculum K-12 and see how we can successfully integrate other subjects into teaching technology.  This is a huge undertaking, but I believe it is a necessity for our students to be successful in today’s tech savvy world.  I believe using the TPACK model   would help us successful complete this task. 

Creative Commons

I've just discovered Creative Commons. This is a free search engine that filters copyrighted products. You can use the search engine just like any search engine and what is brought up are materials that can be used without fear of copyright infringement.

I found the following image by completing a Creative Commons search for computer classrooms. This is an image that I could potentially show my students of what a computer lab would look like in a college setting. I would ask them to compare/contrast our computer lab to the lab in the image.  I could also ask the students what they like about this lab compared to ours.  Our school district is considering technology update and it would be interesting to see what the students would like to see updated in our lab compared to the adults.   

Photo Attribution:

Original image: "Desktop PCs Warwick"
File:Computer lab showing desktop PCs warwick.jpg

User:Emijrp/Commons/es/10
By:User:Mike1024
Released under Public Domain.

This is an image I took of Alcatraz in May of 2009.  I added it to my flicker account and created a creative commons copyright. 

PC Maintenance and Security

Atomic Learning has helped me learn about PC Maintenance and Security this week. I chose 3 different areas to comment on below.

Tutorial #1: Tips for safe web browsing

1 thing learned: Internet Explorer should not be your main access to the internet. Atomic Learning recommends using Mozilla Firefox. One reason they recommended Mozilla Firefox is because it is more secure. Internet Explorer allows for others to do a “drive by” and install their information on your computer, where Mozilla Firefox does not allow this.

Information that surprised me: Under the same tutorial I learned about P2P software. I was surprised to learn that once you download a song or movie you automatically are sharing it with others. Atomic Learning also points out that a lot of the search results are trojans or viruses that will cause your PC to run slowly. This is information my students need to know!

Tutorial #2: Wireless Network Safety

1 thing learned: That you need to change the default password from the one given. Others can access your wireless internet even with the password on if you have not changed the default.

Information that surprised me: I was surprised to see that you can do a simple Google search for default passwords and anyone can access your wireless internet if you haven’t changed the default password. This is kind of scary.

Tutorial #3: Protecting Your Family Online

1 thing learned: I knew how to clear my internet history prior to watching this tutorial. I, however, did not know about the importance of emptying the cookies, cache, and temporary internet files.

Information that surprised me: While watching the Google preferences tutorial I learned how to set up safe Google searches for my students. By setting up the preferences my students will not come across nudity, explicit language or violence.

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