Development of my PLN

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cobannon/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

So far, so good.

I feel that I'm getting more out of this class than any other course I've taken within the TE program. Let me show you what I've got and what I've learned about so far while developing my Personal Learning Network.

1. This blog
2. Twitter account (hardly used, but I've got it)
3. Learned about social bookmarking
4. Started developing a personal website
5. flickr.com and Creative Commons
6. TPACK
7. Google Docs
8. Google Reader
9. BBP
10. Slidecast...

I could list a lot more things, but I won't. There's too much I've come across through reading others' blogs, education articles, etc.

Each new task we come across in class comes with a various levels of difficulty, but this whole technology thing is getting easier. Checking in on my PLN has almost become a part of everyday life. I'm definitely more comfortable with it, but after this week's audio task I need a breather...

BBP Slideshow with AUDIO

Time To Rhyme

RELIEF!

That is what I feel at this point. After hours and hours of trying to figure out how to record, how to save as an mp3, how to edit the recording (complication after complication), ETC, it's finally complete. For my first time, I don't think it's half bad. It's not pristine, but practice makes perfect.

BBP Slideshow on Rhyming Words

           Presentation on rhyming words for first graders

This week for class we were assigned to make a PowerPoint presentation using the three tricks of a "Beyond Bullet Points" (BBP) presentation proposed by Cliff Atkinson. It's so obvious, so simple, so clear, so straight forward. I can't believe I didn't think of this. Haha.

The point in the BBP presentation is to keep things simple; include a title, visual, and you're set to speak.
Atkinson talks about how when people make presentations in the "old way", they try to cram information with bullet points, add semi-meaningful pictures just as a decoration, and then expect their audience to be able to retain all of that information and their vocal presentation at the same time.

It's definitely hard to focus and I, as well as everyone who has professors that use the "old way" of making PowerPoint presentations, struggle during lectures every other day. In my case, I am taking an Anthropology of Linguistics course this semester. The readings are long and it's hard to understand them, let alone pick out the main ideas out of them. I like to take notes on everything, just so that if I forget something, then I can always refer back to my notes for clarification. Well, this class requires a maximum amount of note-taking in my world. My professor uses PowerPoints every session and they clarify the readings' main points, but then again they can't stand alone. His explanations are also extremely important to note to be able to gain a full understanding. Every lecture I find myself trying to keep my attention on both, but it's impossible; I'm constantly tuning in and out.

Atkinson states that our working memory, "the part of your mind where your audience holds their attention", receives information through two channels: visual and verbal. With a BBP presentation, basically, all that you need to include on a slide is a headline that states your main point and a meaningful visual. The audience quickly digests the information on the slide and then they focus their attention back to, the most important part of a presentation, the presenter and what he or she is saying.

BBP presentations look very promising and I highly encourage anyone to refer to the link above next time you're preparing for a presenation.

so what's the deal with standardized assessments?

TOWARD A NEW VISION FOR OUR CHILDREN AND THEIR SCHOOLS: I HAVE A DREAM...  

Where time spent engaged in inquiry, reading, making art, writing, interviewing, dancing, problem solving, dramatizing is more highly prized than time spent filling in bubbles, choosing the right answer to someone else’s questions or logging on to prove you  read...

 Lester Laminack

Every time that I am reminded of it, I am daunted by it. "It" being standardized assessments. How are the stresses and the pressures going to effect my teaching? Better yet, how is it going to effect my will to stay in the profession and to keep on teaching?

This entire fear or doubt in my future as an educator was set in motion last year when one of my first TE professors gave the class a bit of a reality check. After talking about standardized testing and how a lot of teachers quit because of strict curriculum and having to follow every detail, he fed us a statistic. He said that out of the twenty people in our class, one out of five of us will leave the profession after at least five years. Surprisingly, I have to admit that the first thought that came into my head was that I would, most likely, be one of those people. I have to explain, though, that I definitely do not want to be that person. I decided to change my major to Teacher Education because of the obvious: I love children, I want to do whatever I can to help them develop into sophisticated human beings, and to make a difference (among other things). So, all of this seemed impossible to attain after our discussion on the reality of a teacher's job. Nevertheless, we will all just have to "cross that bridge when we get to it" and hopefully be able to find some balance.

The reason I bring this topic up is because of a certain blog I follow and recommend any Language Arts major to read: Two Writing Teachers. One of the writers blogged about a recent conversation she had about standardized testing with her second grade daughter. It consisted of the daughter, H., asking if her mother was impressed by her test scores. Her mother said, "Not really," and of course the seven-year-old was upset. What her mother tried to get across to her was that she should not value what others think about how she did on some "silly" test; she should always try her best as a student and be proud of herself for that reason alone A test like that won't show who a person is, how creative a person is, etc. The problem that the mother was trying to fix was preventing her daughter from labeling herself, her worth, and her abilities as a student.

^^^ This is great and as people commented on her blog they gave some really positive feedback, but not without a "BUT" or "HOWEVER"...

google docs as a teaching tool

To get started I took a Google Docs Tour and found a video where teachers have only good things to say about the new technology (obviously a Google promotion, but what they say is true). Google docs has made some classes, where computers are available in schools, a lot more interactive; people learn, the best, by doing, and not just by listening to a teacher's lecture. In the video the teachers found that students are more excited to learn and have raised the level of their work because they know that a lot more people will be looking and criticizing their work; especially, if they publish their work onto the web for all of their parents and peers to view. http://www.flickr.com/photos/14922438@N00/ /CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

A good way a teacher can incorporate Google Docs is in a Language Arts/English class. When writing papers, students can create their own documents. To get started they can type their rough drafts and after they're done, share their document with other students and the teacher, who can then edit the draft. Utilizing the revision history will help in finishing up a final copy that will be published and submitted to the teacher.

Another way Google Docs is useful for teachers is to post quizzes. Check out the "how-to" slideshow in the blog, Free Technology For Teachers.

My Google Docs Experience Thus Far

The new technology of the week is Google Docs. Ingenious organizational tool, I have to say. I was getting tired of e-mailing papers to myself, classmates, and professors.

My first time actually using Google Docs was about three weeks ago, for a group project. As we did research and found useful and credible sources, we put all the links and information on one document that we could all access at any time. Once we were ready to write our paper, we actually switched to Etherpad, which has been "acquired by Google". Unlike Google Docs' "real-time" word processor, Etherpad is "really real-time"; it is much more live. Though, once we were done writing the paper, we transfered onto a new Google Docs page where we could all edit it in our own time. After that, all that was left was to make a powerpoint presentation out of our findings and Google Docs was there with to help us with its "presentation" option.

The best part of all this is that we all have access to this one document 24/7; we can access it and edit whatever we want, whenever we want. We're college students and we've got busy lives; it's hard to find times that we all could meet. Thanks to Google Docs we didn't have to try and schedule too many face-to-face meetings.

What else is Google going to come up with?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15312650@N05/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Twitter!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/polvero/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

I have to admit, I don't ever tweet. However, I have found reasons to like it and to use it. 

I can't read everything and find every single awesome blog post or article out there (well, maybe I could, but that would be extremely time consuming :P). Nevertheless, I've found that twitter has been a great resource to find links to valuably informative and interesting blogs that I probably wouldn't have read it if it wasn't for the dedicated and frequent users of twitter.