Journal 9 NETS-T 1

I read an analyzed an article relating to technology in education, and I provided a summary/response to it, along with proposed questions and answers.

Ferrell, K. (2010). A book report your students will love. Learning & Leading with Technology, Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/digital-edition-december-january-2010.aspx

Summary:  Book reports are a common assignment in school, and I think we can all agree that they were usually a pretty mundane task.  Keith Ferrell, a teacher, proposes a more creative way of completing these reports.  His inspiration was from when he was in school, and his teacher allowed the students to deliver their book reports in any way they like.  He and his partner decided to do a puppet show.  He has always remembered how fun this was, and has now brought it into his classroom.  To get his students interested in the book report, he has them create trailers for them.  Through Microsoft Word they first create a table, making a story board that lists the different aspects of the book they find interesting and key topics.  They then add flickr photos that match the key elements to the book.  Lastly, they use Windows MovieMaker to create the trailers. They upload their photos and create transitions, along with adding music.  Through this project they not only learn about their book, but also learn skills on Word, Flickr, Windowns MovieMaker, and SoundzAbound.  On viewing day the students eat popcorn while watching all of their trailers.  They have the opportunity to reflect on each others work and have some fun.

Q1:  Is this project solely useful for book reports?

A1:  No!  This style of project could be incorporated into many different fields of education.  History classes could create trailers on different historical events, or people.  Chemistry students could create a trailer about an experiment they conducted, or on some of the different elements.  Also, art students could make a trailer on a specific artist, type of art, or style.  The possibilities are endless.

Q2:  Would it be expensive to create these types of projects?

A2:  Although this assignment does require computer usage, most teachers can allocate class time for library use,  Students also have access to the school computers throughout school hours.  The programs used like Flickr and Windows Movie Maker are free, but students must be cautious to cite their sources.  This is always a good habit to practice.

Journal 8 NETS-T 1

I read an analyzed an article relating to technology in education, and I provided a summary/response to it, along with proposed questions and answers.

Newkirk-Smith, M. (2010-2011). Cross-continental collaboration. Learning and Leading, Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/digital-edition-december-january-2010.aspx

Summary:  Mishele Newkirk-Smith is a professor who developed a yearlong international project for her environmental science students.  The project was called Fire and Ice, and allowed her students to discuss environmental issues with students from England, Canada, Brazil, and Burkina Faso.  The online project allowed her students to get to know people in these areas, share information, and try to find a solution to environmental issues.  After quickly learning how to use the computers, the students learned about the people they were connecting with.  Through this project, they got to see that, although they come from very different places, they have similar environmental issues.  At the end of their project they proposed solutions to each other, and gave feed back.  The students were very engaged in this creative project.

Q1:  What are other ways in which this project can benefit the students?

A1:  Through this project the students learned about environmental factors in different regions.  Having contact with people around the world can benefit the students in many other ways.  One, for example, is that they are learning about geography, seeing on the map where their new friends are from, and being able to relate information to that area.  They are also learning computer skills, practicing basic navigation skills as well as different tools.

Q2:  What other topics could students learn about through this type of communication?

A2:  This project was specifically focusing on environmental factors in different parts of the world, but the possibilities are endless.  Students could inform each other about current events that are happening, celebrations, the economy, politics, language, culture, or rites-of-passages to name a few.  The lesson can be specific to the course, and can be manipulated in any fashion.

Journal 6 NETS-T 2

I read an analyzed an article relating to technology in education, and I provided a summary/response to it, along with proposed questions and answers.

Rebora, A. (2010). Change agent. Education Week, 4(1), Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/tsb/articles/2010/10/12/01richardson.h04.html?cmp=clp-edweek&intc=bs&sms_ss=delicious&at_xt=4cb7dc75d0303b73,0

Summary/reflection:  I found this interview with Will Richardson very interesting, and found myself agreeing with many of his statements.  I see him as a professional who is embracing the fact that technology is becoming more and more prevalent  and can be highly beneficial if used properly in the education world.

He first discusses the importance of being "Googleable".  This means that you have put yourself out into the web and are now findable.  He says that people are going to Google your name, so you should have a positive web based profile online.  I thought this was very interesting, so I decided to Google my name, Christine Turner, and see what comes up.  I am not the highly decorated Brigadier General  of the United States Air Force that first comes up, nor am I the department chair at Portland State University.  She is actually in the department of art therapy and counseling department, which is a field of interest to me.  My boyfriend and I have also been talking about moving to Portland.  I think it would be hilarious if we did move there and I was a student in her program.  I'd have to get a good grade having the same exact name as the director right?  There was also a Christine M Turner in Carlsbad, which is the same middle initial as me.  As these results show, I am currently not "Googleable" according to Richardson.

I agree with is statement that technology is a "huge culture shift" and that you should share your information with others.  Information should especially be shared during this time of newly incorporating technology into the classroom.  I look to my peers in my classes for advice, so why shouldn't teachers?  Richardson states that in order to make the transition into the classroom, it shouldn't be seen as a 1 unit class, but instead of making it a shift in the way we do things.  I think the easy way out would be to make it a class, as opposed to a way of education.

The topic in the interview that I couldn't have agreed more with is when Richardson is discussing how we should focus more on developing the learning process, as opposed to spitting out the right answer.  In the work place I've found and heard that it's not about knowing how to do everything, but knowing how to work with others, use critical thinking, and use means to find the answer.  Through my schooling I have learned the art of memorization.  It sounds silly, but I really do have a few different techniques to pass this style of test.  Unfortunately, as Richardson states, most people are totally focused on test scores, instead of how you use different skills.  I agree with Alfie Kohn's views on teaching, and think Richardson would too.

Q1: Do we really need to promote web-based learning when children are tech-savvy already?

A1:  Yes, I believe so.  As Richardson pointed out, although children are more comfortable with computers, it's largely based on social networking.  It's great that children are growing up to be comfortable with technology, now we have to teach them how to use it to their advantage.  Why only learn from your handful of teachers when you can learn from people all over the world?  Teaching how to use technology to our advantage will help students create their PLN.

Q2:  How can we incorporate technology into the classroom?

A2:  I think it will be difficult to use technology to our full advantage when education is stuck in the same testing routine.  I think that if schools wanted to start off slow, they could have the staff start building their PLN, and then all be a part of each others networks.  Then they could share information, helpful tools, and tips for what they found works and doesn't.

Inspiration NETS-T 3

Using the program Inspiration9, I created a graphic organizer showing what class assignments or programs used relate to the NETS-T standards. To make it visually pleasing, I changed background color, font colors, and added fun graphics. Using different colors not only added to the visual effects of the diagram, but also helped make it easy to follow.

Journal 7: My Personal Learning Network NETS-T 5

I added to my personal learning network (PLN) through the use of Twitter, Delicious, and the Educators PLN.  I added people to my Twitter and Delicious networks who I felt had similar professional interests as me, and who I felt I could learn from.  Through Twitter, I followed an educational chat for kindergarten teachers.  I also tagged useful sites through Delicious which I can access on any computer.  A digital discussion forum I joined was the Educators PLN, which is a great source for videos, articles and blogs.

1. My PLN: My personal learning network is a way for me to connect with individuals all over the world who have similar interests as me such as education, speech and language pathology, creative tools for learning, and technology in the classroom. By using many different sites such as Twitter, Delicious, Wikis, and Blogs, I can learn from others as well as contribute to discussions. Once I am a teacher, I will be able to use the resources I have through my PLN to learn teaching strategies, correspond with other teachers, and keep up-to-date on current events in the teaching world.

2. How I Use Twitter: I have been using Twitter as a way to 'follow' people with common interests who I think I could learn from. Twitter is a good tool for learning from others, as well as passing on information you find helpful. The more I follow, re-tweet, and tweet the larger my PLN will grow.

Inside My Network: So far I have six people in my network who I feel I could learn from. The people in my network include teachers/principals, people in the speech and language pathology (SLP) field, as well as special education professionals.

A teacher, Jeffery Heil, and a principal, Gino Bondi, are two professionals I am following because they are both interested in how to incorporate technology into the classroom. I see the importance of keeping up-to-date on current technology, and feel that I could find useful information on this through these two instructors.

To learn more about SLP, I followed Stuart Russell and a site called Kidslanguage. Russell created a site named Speech-Language, which is an online community for speech language pathologists around the world. Kidslanguage was created by a SLP who provides language resources for parents and professionals. These are both great sources of information regarding my field, and exploring their sites will help me learn about the profession.

Dennise Goldberg and Autism Classroom are two people I'm following on Twitter to learn about special education, specifically autism. Goldberg offers special ed advise, and the classroom gives free teaching materials, training, and information for parents and educators. This can help me as a speech therapist be more understanding of students in the autism spectrum.

Educational Chat:  I participated in an education chat list through Twitter named #kinderchat.  This is a chat room for kindergarten teacher to share ideas and information on a given topic.  I was excited to hear what the topic was, expecting it to be informative or useful.  I was a bit disappointed with the evening's topic because it was: "Teacher Gifts: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly! Will the Real Best Teacher in the World Please Stand Up!".  This whole discussion was literally about what presents the teachers had received from students, and how they feel about getting presents.  I didn't find this discussion very rewarding.  Before they dove into the topic, however, they did ask for people to make introductions including what projects they were working on in their classrooms.  One teacher said they are working on a cross-grade project with grade 11's.  The kindergarten students drew superhero's and the grade 11's are writing stories about them.  They are then going to Skype in the story.  I thought this was a great way to use technology in the classroom while making it fun.

3. Delicious Use: I used delicious as a way to bookmark useful online pages. The great thing about using delicious is that I can access my bookmarks on any computer, so this is very helpful for when I have a home computer, lap top, and a work or school computer.

My Network: I looked for people to put in my network who had common tags of 'education,' 'speech,' 'language,' 'research' etc. I can use my Delicious network throughout my schooling and teaching career to keep track of useful sites and people. Two professors I added to my network are Jeffery Heil and JBrown, both interested in introducing technology into the classroom. Brown focuses on introducing it into special education classrooms, which is an area of interest to me. A user who had the name tls161 was also added to my network because they had tags like web 2.0 along with interesting posts. One post by them which I thought would be helpful as a teacher is a post on ClickSpecialED, which is a great site giving tools and information on 7 "rooms", including news room, approaches to learning room, therapists and specialists room etc. I also added two people who had top tags such as 'speech,' 'language,' 'reading,' and 'research'. These were Erin Narwell and Tom Lawrence. Naswell had an interesting post on a computer based program designed to help students with phonetics. SLP often focus a lot on this to help students with their reading along with pronunciation of sounds. With all of these people added to my Delicious network, I can look to them for information to better my career.

What I tagged PLN: Through Delicious I tagged five different sites that I thought would help build my PLN. I wanted to focus on areas such as education, speech therapy, creativity. I first tagged a site called "Click Special ED", which is a site that gives tools and information on news, approaches to learning, and specialists to name a few. I then tagged the site "This Week in Education Blog", where I could learn about the latest news in education. It has a wide range of posts and comments regarding the world of education. I think it's important for an educator to stay up-to-date with education current events, and this is a good way that I could do that. Third, I tagged "The Writings of Lee Kraus", which is an educational blog focusing on creativity, innovation, collaboration, technology, and elearning. This is right up my alley because it brings fun and creative learning tools into the classroom. One post I found interesting was on the history of visual thinking where it shows a video that shows how to improve learning through visual thinking. Lastly, to focus specifically on SLP, I tagged "Mommy Speech Therapy" and "Speech-Language Pathology Sharing". These are both blogs where useful information is shared.

4. Digital Discussion: I read a blog post on Educators PLN titled "How does a teacher's attitude towards creativity affect student creativity?" by Cynthia Brandt. She was reaching out to others for advice on her situation. She is a first grade teacher and has a hard time with perfection issues. She explained that growing up her parents demanded perfection from her, and now expects that from herself. She sees how this view on herself is hindering her ability to allow her students to be fully creative. She got a large amount of responses, which drew me to this post. She got advice from a lady named Marisa Constantinedes, who suggested she read her artice "The Art of Being Creative. This article includes topics such as: What is involved in the graphic process, Why are we unable to think creatively, and Activities promoting fluency, to name a few. Seeing how many helpful responses she received, many including links, showed me the benefit of blogging and how it can help me as a future educator.

Cybersafety Site NETS-T 4

This informative website on cyber safety was created through Google Sites. It discusses 6 major topics in cyber safety: cyber bullying, cyber predators, identity safety, inappropriate content, piracy and plagiarism, and social networks. Each topic includes a video, and tips for both students and teachers.

Link to site

Web 2.0 Tools for educators Wiki "Mindomo" NETS-T 3

I created a wiki website that explained a new educational tool I learned about. I found the tool Mindomo on a website named 'Cool Tools for Schools'. This cool tool allowed me to create a colorful and creative mind map, which could be used by both teachers and students in school.

Live link to my wiki: Mindomo

Crossword Puzzle "All About Me" NETS-T 1

By using Microsoft Excel, I designed a crossword puzzle that can be completed by students on a computer or on paper. Having students do a crossword like this one promotes learning in a creative way. Students not only learn the information on the puzzle, but also practice basic computer navigation.

Journal #10: 100 things that make me happy

100 Things That Make Me Happy:

1. Building snowmen
2. My Godson's smile
3. Sleeping in
4. Straight A's
5. Decorating the Christmas tree
6. Kittens
7. Wrapping presents
8. Photos of my family,friends, events etc.
9. Giving a gift
10. Sleep overs
11. A child's hug
12. My boyfriend
13. A clean kitchen
14. Catching a wave surfing
15. Black and blue steak
16. When my cooking turns out well
17. Volunteering
18. Making a child laugh
19. Crafts
20. When my parents are proud of me
21. Date night
22. Roller coasters
23. Road trips
24. Cuddles
25. Being shown gratitude
26. Helping others
27. Surprising someone
28. Hugs
29. Roller blading
30. Reminiscing with old friends
31. Sushi
32. Music
33. Movie The Santa Clause
34. The beach
35. Decorating for holidays
36. Learning a new type of art
37. Getting high scores on video games
38. Sunny days
39. A good laugh
40. Teaching speech
41. High fives
42. Themed parties
43. Weddings
44. Painting
45. Shopping
46. Girls nights
47. Nyquil
48. PJ's
49. Catching a fish
50. Camping
51. Jumping out and scaring people
52. Venice, Italy
53. Skim boarding
54. Winning a race
55. Making jewelry
56. Making someone smile
57. Bed time
58. Finishing a book
59. Talking to my best friend in England
60. When my little cousin runs up and hugs me
61. 4th of July celebration with my friends in Coronado
62. Adventures
63. Finishing the semester
64. Shooting stars
65. Graduating from my CERT class
66. Gelato
67. Paninis
68. Stockings
69. Family
70. Board games
71. Crazy socks
72. Sales
73, Beer
74. Getting new clothes
75. Riding bikes
76. Playing with my friends dog
77. Nice fire in fireplace
78. The snow
79. Snowboarding
80. My dad's Christmas stuffing
81. Rip sticking
82. Having friends from out of town come visit
83. When my Dad calls me doll
84. Putting my friends baby to sleep.
85. Boyfriend saying 'good night sweetheart'
86. Beating my friends high scores on doodle jump on their iphones
87. Playing piano
88. Swings
89. Traveling
90. Being bundled up in bed with a bunch of warm blankets
91. Breakfast burritos after a night of drinking
92. When my advise helps someone
93. The thought that some day I'll graduate college
94. Knowing what career I want in the future, speech therapist
95. Wandering around Rome
96. Sledding
97. Glow sticks
98. Snowball fights
99. Cooking for friends
100. Photography

iMovie NETS-T 3

This 1min long movie was created with the iMovie program. Sections of short clips were put together to create an informative movie about CSUSM. Music was added, as well as fun transitions, screen effects, and other creative effects that made the movie interesting.

Prezi Evaluation NETS-T 2

This is an evaluation I created through Google Docs by making a new forum. It is a digital-age assessment of a computer-generated presentation I created in Prezi. It is a fun and creative way to assess assignments.

It's Prezi time NETS-T 3

This is a presentation I created through the program Prezi. It shows the NETS-T standards and some grade-appropriate lesson plans that fall under each category. This format of presentation could be used to communicate information to students, parents, and peers.

NETS for Students on Prezi

Journal 5 NETS 2

I read an analyzed an article relating to technology in education, and I provided a summary/response to it, along with proposed questions and answers.

Hopkins, D. (2010, May 9). Twitter tips: for teachers and educators. Retrieved from http://www.dontwasteyourtime.co.uk/twitter/twitter-tips-for-teachers-educators-2/

Summary:
David Hopkins discusses how to use Twitter, along with the benefits of incorporating it into the classroom. Before diving into the world of Twitter, he suggests that you first create a goal for your Twitter use, otherwise you'll just get lost. This will help you gain the most from your experience. You would then need to create a profile, including a biography about yourself, as well as a photo. He advises you to put relevant information in your profile bio. In the future, mine might include: Speech Pathologist, Teacher, Children Services, Volunteer etc. The profile picture or avatar should be appropriate, and shouldn't be a photo of you drinking or an animated picture of a television character who loves beer and donuts ;) When ready to post information, make sure you don't pass stuff off as your own. You can prevent this by putting ReTweet (RT) before your post. When looking for people to follow, a suggestion is to look at who other people are following. Don't get caught up on how many people you are following, or how many people are following you. The goal is to learn and make relevant connections with people, not a popularity contest. There may be times where automated systems try to follow you. Hopkins says to not be afraid to block these, or even block people who you don't have similarities with. Along with these helpful tips, he also discusses how teachers have experimented using Twitter in the classroom, and how it allows teachers and students to connect around the world learning new techniques on elearning.

Q1: Will Twitter be more commonly used in the classroom?

A1: I think that we will be seeing more of Twitter in the classrooms, or at least in regards to education. I would still consider Twitter fairly new, and think that a lot of people, including myself a few weeks ago, have a misunderstood idea of what it is used for. Many people think it is just a social networking site that people post irrelevant information about themselves on. I think that once more people see how it can be used professionally, we will be seeing it used for education more.

Q2: How will Twitter give teachers new techniques on elearning, as stated by Hopkins.

A2: One of the things I've learned about Twitter is that you can make many new connections and friendships with people in the same field as you. If you want to learn more about using tech in the classroom, or creative ways of teaching about the internet, you can simply look for people with these topics in their profile, and 'follow' them. Once you build a group of people to follow, they will be posting or retweeting information that could be beneficial to you. I'm sure that many teachers share techniques that have worked in their classroom, and other teachers can learn these new techniques and also implement them.

Journal 4 NETS 2

I read an analyzed an article relating to technology in education, and I provided a summary/response to it, along with proposed questions and answers.

Johnson, D. (2009-2010). Computing in the clouds. Learning & Leading with Technology, Retrieved from http://iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Computing_in_the_Clouds.aspx

Summary:
Doug Johnson discusses the topic of cloud computing, referring to the use of online sites to perform tasks usually done by expensive processing programs. Documents, presentations, correspondence, and other tasks can all be done for free through cloud computing. There are many benefits to using the internet for these tasks, one being it's all free. I know especially at this day and age schools are struggling to make ends meet financially, and students and teachers are being greatly affected by this. Some of the other benefits of using the internet for these tasks are: less hard drive space being taken up, files can be accessed on any computer, don't need to worry about having the right software to open a document, and you can work on any computer anywhere. In order to make sure he wasn't promoting something he couldn't live by, he "lived in the cloud" for a few months. He found that it, for the most part, was an easy transition.

He also discusses the use of Netbooks as opposed to laptops. One of the big differences a consumer will notice is the price. Netbooks are priced around the cost of $250-300. This makes them a lot more affordable for people. They are smaller in size, which may take people some time to get used to. Through a Netbook, he was able to "live in the cloud" and didn't report any major problems. These are not used for people who have to edit videos or who need a CD drive, but in general, they are affordable and useful.

Q1: Is it reasonable to ask students K-12 to buy a Netbook as part of their school supplies?

A1: I can definitely see the benefit to having your students own a Netbook, but am not sure if it would be fair to ask them to buy one. The list of school supplies is so large at the moment, throwing this into the mix might be a bit too much to ask. As a student, I see more and more assignments being assigned online or needing a computer to complete, so whether it's required to own a computer or not, most of the time we have to get one anyway. Since technology will be more and more used in the future, maybe it would be a good first step to provide parents with information on Netbooks just to create awareness.

Q2: At this point in my education, would I be able to "live in the cloud"?

A2: I don't think I could live in the cloud, but maybe take a short vacation there. I am learning a lot about different programs I can use in the cloud, but would still consider myself a beginner. I'm not fully comfortable with all of the programs I've learned, but think that with practice I could be. I have a feeling that in the future most people will be using programs online, as opposed to paying lots of money for programs like Microsoft Office. Technology is constantly changing, and as a future teacher I will have to keep up with the trend.

Journal 3 NETS 2

I read an analyzed an article relating to technology in education, and I provided a summary/response to it, along with proposed questions and answers.

McDermon, L. (2010). Bring the world into your classroom. Learning & Leading with Technology, Retrieved from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/20100910?pg=36&search_term=bringing%20the%20world%20into%20your%20classroom&search_term=bringing%20the%20world%20into%20your%20classroom#pg36

Reflection:
I think using video-conferencing technology in the classroom is a great idea. I've never heard of this before, so it was interesting to read about it. I specifically like the Read Around the Planet program. Linda McDermon talks about students reading stories they've written to another class or the class performing skits. This sounds like great fun. I think the students would be more motivated to create a story or learn a skit knowing they get to present it to other children. I'm sure it's great fun for them also to watch other classes perform. Also, connecting with classes around the world helps them learn about geography. When connecting with a class, the teacher can show the students on a map where the other class is located. Since technology is becoming more and more useful, this project gets children more familiar with computers and the internet.

When I was living in England, the middle school I went to would hold assemblies where a group of students would act out a skit that the headmaster was reading. We would then walk to the neighboring elementary school and act it out for them. I always found this very exciting as a child, so would imagine the Read Around the Planet would be just as fun.

The megaconference Jr. program seems like something students could look forward to. It is only held once a year, and there is a 12 hour window to present. This sounds like it would be fun for the class to present a topic that they have been working on. It could be made fun by including costumes and decorations which I like the idea of.

Q1: How would I use video conferencing in a speech therapy group?

A1: I plan on making my speech therapy sessions as fun as possible. This is different than a normal class, with a small group of students for 1 hour sessions. We will be playing many games to help with the development of speech. I could contact another speech therapist, or group, to plan a video conference. In the conference, my group of students will teach another class how to plan one of their favorite games. Then they will be taught by the other class a new game to try. Then after the conference, we can play our new game, which will also be designed to improve speech.

Q2: How would video conferencing benefit my speech pathology students?

A2: I can see one of the biggest benefits being that my students can see that they are not alone. They may feel shy or embarrassed about the fact that they have a speech impediment, so seeing other classes of students will help them see that there are a lot of people with the same problems. Also we can learn new games from other classes, and become more familiar with technology.

Journal 2 NETS 5

I read an analyzed an article relating to technology in education, and I provided a summary/response to it, along with proposed questions and answers.

McClintock Miller, S. (2010). Enhance your twitter experience. Learning & Leading with Technology, Retrieved from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/20100607?pg=14&search_term=join%20the%20flock&search_term=join%20the%20flock#pg16

Ferguson, H. (2010). Join the flock. Learning & Leading with Technology, Retrieved from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/20100607?pg=14&search_term=join%20the%20flock&search_term=join%20the%20flock#pg14

Reflection:
I'm glad that I had a lecture on Twitter before reading these articles for a couple of reasons. First, I now have a less biased view on Twitter when reading about it; and second, it was easier to understand the material discussed. For example, how to use the hashtag explained by Miller would have been confusing. I honestly never thought Twitter could be used in a professional manner. I've heard a couple of my friends talk about it and it seemed uselsess to me. They were just using it to talk about their day. I like Miller's breakdown on engagement, "70% of Twitter time should be spent sharing other voices, opinions, and tools; 20% of tweets should be directly responding, connecting, collaborating, and co-creating with Twitter colleagues; and 10% is chit-chatting trivial details about your life as a human being" (2010). I think this is a much more productive and less annoying approach to Twitter.

I surprisingly haven't heard of a Personal Learning Network (PLN) before, and can now see some of the benefits of it. I think the sooner I build one the better, because what I learned from these articles is that you can get advise or ideas from peers at any stage of your career. Ferguson states, "I have discovered people who wanted to help me succeed or help me figure out what went wrong" (2010). Sounds like it would be nice to meet people who go the extra step to improve the education of children, as well as a support group for myself. She states that Twitter helps teachers make "learning and education the best it can be" (2010).

Q1: How would I start using Twitter to develop my PLN?

A1: I've learned from Ferguson that I can start out slow, but do need to make a commitment. Now that I have an account, I can look for people to follow. I'd probably follow other students to begin with, who are in my classes. Also, I would look for people in the field of speech pathology. That way I can be knowledgeable and up-to-date with information regarding the field I'm trying to enter. I'd probably wait until I'm very familiar with Twitter before I start posting things myself. Simply visiting the site and following people is a first step to getting used to the site.

Q2: How would building my PLN benefit me?

A2: As a student, I could use a Bookmarklet to share sites with other students. Often when working on group projects, our group will be sending emails back and forth all over the place about what sites we've found or other info. I learned from Miller that I could use the bookmark-let Hootlet. Although this sounds like something from Dr. Seuss, I think it would help my classmates any myself communicate. I would also build relationships with them through my PLN that could benefit me through all of my schooling.
Building my PLN now will also help me in the future. I often have questions about the career of speech pathology, and if I build relationship now, I can find mentors in the field.

Journal 1 NETS 3

I read an analyzed an article relating to technology in education, and I provided a summary/response to it, along with proposed questions and answers.

Green, T, Donovan, L, & Bass, K. (2010). Taking laptops schoolwide: a professional learning community approach. Learning & Leading with Technology, Retrieved from https://acrobat.com/#d=7rIs4heRCXPhOZp7l-otEg

Summary:
Tech implementation researchers studied how laptop use has progressed in schools. They found two very different situations: Some schools implemented laptops perfectly into their curriculum, and others didn't at all. So what made some schools so successful? Mainly, a clear outline of how students will use the laptops, as well as teacher collaboration.
Teacher collaboration can be very helpful in providing quality education to students. This can be done in many different ways. One way, for example, is for teachers in adjoining grade levels to communicate what computer skills they are going to teach. This is beneficial because students will be able to learn new skills every year and the information will act as building blocks. Also, teachers in the same grade level may want to speak with each other to share what does and doesn't work.
The researchers shared how one district used collaboration by implementing "Richard Dufour's Professional Learning Community (PLC) approach to planning: a focus on learning rather than teaching, working collaboratively, and holding one's self accountable for results" (Green, Donovan, & Bass, 2010). Through this, the team of teachers collaborated and came up with how they would assign their students certain websites to visit if they were having trouble with the material.
Four things must be considered when starting a collaborative approach: school climate, communication, collaboration, and progression of use. A good school climate consists of a team of teachers, through the support of their administrators and community, who can integrate laptops into the classroom. Open communication helps gain support of the program. The benefit of collaboration was discussed earlier. Progression of use can be decided when teachers in different grades communicate what will be taught.

Q1: How would I collaborate with other teachers about successfully incorporating technology into the classroom?

A1: Since using laptops in the curriculum is somewhat new at my school, a small group of us teachers who are familiar with laptops will meeting the beginning of the year, and then once a week. Together we will discuss our plans. To educate other teachers, seminars will be held. The plan is to involve all teachers along with the community. I will discuss techniques with teachers in my same grade to share stories. I will also let teachers in the grade after me know what skills I will be teaching.

Q2: If giving students computer assignments to complete out of the class, how can I be sensitive to the fact that some do not have computers at home?

A2: I will provide students with information on school and public library hours. Students will have access to the class computer after school. Any online assignments will be due by midnight on due date. I will also offer some class time to do extra computer exercises if the student is needing more help.

Classroom Newsletter NETS-T 1

This bright and colorful classroom newsletter was created through Microsoft Word. Fun pictures, fonts, colors, and borders are included to make it visually pleasing. The letter is used to give students and parents monthly updates on the class and special announcements. It will be posted in class, as well as online for viewing.

NewsletterCT

School 2.0 Reflection Tool NETS-T 5

I used the School 2.0 Reflection Tool as a way to evaluate how strong my skills were for each of the 5 NETS-T standards. I answered a series of multiple choice questions, and looked over my results to see strengths and weaknesses. I could then see what areas I could work on to improve my professional practice. Below is one area that I decided to try to improve on.

 

      I decided to focus on the NETS-T regarding engaging in professional growth and leadership.  I often get comfortable with the information or techniques I know, and don't reach out as much as I could to improve my skills.  The question about being up-to-date on current research and applying the new info stood out to me because I see it as a field that I can greatly improve on.  Technology is constantly changing and improving, and I do see the importance in keeping up with the news.  A classroom of students can benefit greatly if their teacher is willing to do the research and implement the new information.  

     I researched an Education Week site that contains blogs on technology trends in schools.  One article that was interesting to read was about principals of high schools supporting online classes.  This would help students who are behind in credits, along with helping students advance in their schooling.  I think this would be a good program to have, especially for these two groups of students.  However, for the average student, I think it would be too much responsibility for them to keep up on the work.  This is coming from my high school experience.  Along with this topic of online teaching, there was another blog that had 3 parts addressing the quality of online teaching.  Surfing through these different blogs seems to be a beneficial way to learn about some of the new trends.  The site also is linked to twitter, so I can use the two sites together. 

Introducing Christine...AKA Mo

Hi everyone!  I'm Christine, but my friends all call me Mo.  I got that nickname in middle school thanks to my friends.  They started calling me monkey because my ears stuck out and I goofed around a lot.  They shortened it to Mo, and it stuck.  I was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, which is where most of my extended family live.  I attended nursery and first school here.  When I was 6 I moved to Buckinghamshire, England, which is just outside of London.  This is where I attended first and middle school, and immediately gained an English accent.  My whole middle school had a population of about 100 students, so it was a shock when I moved to San Diego when I was 12.  Bernardo Heights Middle School had a population of about 2,500, so it was a difficult adjustment.  I gradually gained an American accent, but still use my English accent with my family.  I attended Rancho Bernardo High School, where I was on the track team doing long and triple jump.  Then spent way too long at Palomar College, and am now at CSUSM learning to be a speech therapist.

As far as being up-to-date on the latest technology, I understand the minimum of what I need to know.  I'm capable of learning new things, but really am not that interested in it.  I like to stick with what I know, so when I need to learn a new program I usually get frustrated.  I've been living with my boyfriend for the last 6 years and he's a computer wiz, so I've gotten quite used to him doing everything for me.  He's good at fixing things, which works out well, because I'm good at breaking things.  If the computer doesn't do what I want immediately, I usually want to throw it out the window, so hopefully that won't happen in class.

The CSUSM/COE mission statement did not play a part in my decision to apply to this school.  One part of the statement that stood out to me talks about life-long learning and innovative research.  I feel, as a student, that I am always learning new things, especially from the experiences my teachers have gone through.  Also, through all of the different research studies going on, we are often learning new ways of teaching.