Journal 7 NETS-T 5

My Professional Learning Network

What is my PLN:
My PLN is my professional learning network. It is something that is web based (in the cloud) and is a resource I am creating by using tools that interest me and that I find helpful. By creating a web based PLN as a future teacher I will be able to access any of my tools anywhere I am, and I will so be able to share it easily with other people, teachers, parents, students and peers. Creating my PLN is something that I can constantly change and upgrade but it is a great place to start connecting with other teaching and educational professionals. Having a PLN is a great way to get ideas and resources from other people that have been working with kids for a while and also with people who are new to the field that may have fresh ideas. Having a digital PLN gives me the ability to learn about new resources and ask questions from people across the world. It is one of the best resources to have and update because it is such an accessible tool and will be so helpful when I join the professional field.

Twitter:
The people I am following on twitter now are

• calisafe
• A site for CA safe schools. Has interesting little topics that discuss school safety
• NatGeoSociety
• The National Geographic twitter account. I think it may have interesting updates and postings and is a great resource for fun information about things in nature.
• usedgov
• US department of education. This will be helpful as a national source of information on education
• MrWejr
• He's a high school principal, a great resource as someone who is in the field and may have great ideas and updates for educators.
• jheil65
• A wonderful twitter resource. Constantly giving updates for informational resources and interesting tools for educators.
• aba_behaviour
• speech therapy plus. I am interested in becoming a speech therapist so I thought this would be a great resource eventually.

On Twitter I followed the #edchat, for Tuesday November 2,2010 at 4 pm. The topic was about if teachers' observations should be more subjective. I think this is a great topic. There are teachers that need to remember how they are testing us, and it would be helpful if they took their own tests. Sometimes teachers present material in a way that is not testable. Teachers who for example show personal images or silent videos may believe they are giving students a break from lecture, but they then give a subjective test on information never presented.
Within the discuss someone responded posing another question asking if students are ever involved in pre and post observation meetings. This is something I would love to be involved in for some professors. There are professors that are horrible, just horrible that need to be pointed out and have a discussion. I have had horrible professors I have complained about at lengths only to discover they are chair of their department and therefore quite difficult to report. There are also professors who may be average teachers but their support and help outside the classroom in office hours and through helpful emails is where they need to be recognized and observed. These teachers spend timeless hours and bend over backwards to make the student understand the material. They should be recognized by their students.
Delicious:
The people I have added to my delicious network are

• Dan Serrato
• Dr. William Bauer
• Jefferey
• Mark Wagner, Ph.D
• Robert Petkus
• Will Richardson

Many of the people I have decided to have in my delicious network are people that I recognize that consistently post bookmarks for educational sites and tools. Many of these delicious users also have their own blogs and or wiki's where that present information, talk about their tools and resources they find helpful and also they discuss topics that interest them. I am not sure who all these people are, what they do, or where they live but I am eager to use their tools and resources to add to my PLN.
Some of the things I tagged in delicious were

• USGS Education-US Geologic Survey, information and resources with maps etc.
• ERIC- Education Resources Information Center
• US Department of Education
• EDU Blogs
• Kathy Schrock's ed tech blogs

I joinged Classroom 2.0. This website has so much information! I was looking at Steve Hargadon's blog. He is one of the people who started classroom 2.0 he also has connections with blackboard, he is on the chair for the global education conference, and many other things. His blog isn't about current topics, it is more an informative schedule of events and interviews taking place through classroom 2.0. I read a blog post by a man who is concerned about the future of text books. He was curious as to what is going to happen with them because history is happening so fast, will the old history be less relevant, and second will it all be digital. I thought it was an interesting question. I personally dislike reading on the computer. I don't feel like I comprehend the material as well if I can't physically read and take notes on the page. I also would understand though that if students start at a young age in elementary school and begin reading on a computer then they may be used to it and find it easier, less material to carry around, have internet access to it wherever they want etc.

Digital Discussion Forum:
I joined classroom 2.0.

Journal 6 NETS-T 5

Rebora, A. (2010, October 11). Change article. 04(01), 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

Change Article
Summary
This was an interview with Will Richardson, a former educator and now a education technology consultant who speaks about the importance of technology in the field of education. Richardson makes it his job to promote technology usage and information in the classroom to aid education. Richardson finds it important to provide and discuss resources that will aid in the learning process rather than factual information students memorize for tests. This is a large quote from the interview but I think he puts it very nicely,
"I think we need to focus more on developing the learning process—looking at how kids collaborate with others on a problem, how they exercise their critical thinking skills, how they handle failure, and how they create. We have to be willing to put kids—and assess kids—in situations and contexts where they’re really solving problems and we’re looking not so much at the answer but the process by which they try to solve those problems. Because those are the types of skills they’re going to need when they leave us, when they go to college or wherever else. At least I think so. And I don’t think I’m alone in that." I think this is a great way to put it and I strongly agree with him. Two other things Richardson discusses that I think are important concepts to discuss are G-Portfolios and students starting PLN's at a younger age.

How will the "G-Portfolio" help my future students?

Richardson calls G-Portfolios the ability for teachers to teach students how to have strong and appropriate search portfolios. Students need to be able to go on the internet, search something and find credible sources that fit their learning style, level or reading, and will be able to help them. As a future educator it is important to me that I know only help my students learn how to be strong and appropriate researchers but to aid my students in using internet resources as a means to find answers. As a student now I know how important and intimidating internet sources can be because it is all changing so quickly. But that also makes me realize how helpful and informative these new resources are.

What is the importance of students starting a PLN early in their education?

If I am able to help my future students create PLNs early in their education they will have a greater amount of resources to fall back on in all fields of their education. As a student in today's society creating a PLN allows me to find educators and other important people and or institutions and i am then able to follow them on things like twitter and delicious, google blogs etc. Being able to use these people as resources is something that was nearly impossible 10 years ago. I am able to follow and receive resources from teachers in other countries, principals, political figures, organization presidents etc. Some of these resources are information and some of these resources are classroom tools and tips. Having a PLN would allow students to also have access to these resources and to also collaborate with their own peers, teachers, etc. It is never too early to start a PLN. It is a very important tool that can help in so many ways, and its most likely free!

Crossword Puzzle Earth Science NETS-T 2

This is an Earth Science crossword puzzle created using Microsoft excel. This is a very creative way to create a crossword with clues when you run the mouse over the top letter. This is a great tool to teach students how to create their own as a fun way to study vocabulary and concepts.

Prezi NETS-S Presentation NETS-T 3

This is a presentation tool called Prezi. Prezi is a non-linear presentation tool. I used Prezi to describe teaching indicators for grade k-2. This tool is very interesting and fun to create because they can spin bounce around, zoom in etc. This is a very fun tool that makes very boring presentations much more interesting.

Prezi Presentation Assessment NETS-T 2

This is an assessment used to address the Prezi Presentation. This assessment is very cool and interactive. This is created through Google forms. When students or people answer questions on the assessment all the information gets added and put into an exel form and organized for me.

Journal 4 NETS-T 5

Johnson, D. (Dec, Jan 2009). Computing in the clouds. Learning and Leading, 37(4), Retrieved from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/200912?pg=18&pm=2&fs=1#pg1

Computing in the cloud, by Doug Johnson

Summary

              This article is about leaving programs like Microsoft behind and beginning to use purely free internet sources. The idea of free web based resources is called "the cloud", it is somewhere out in the technology world and everything just floats there until you call it back to your computer. The idea of using googledocs or adobe photoshop rather than having to buy and update the expensive microsoft and other expensive programs. The article talked about how easy and most likely incoming this idea is for students in the classroom. I think it is a great idea, but in a few years.

Question 1
How could i benefit from using the idea of computing in the cloud within my classroom?
              If I used the idea of "computing in the cloud" in my classroom then I would be able to teach my students about safe internet practice, assign homework that could be complete at home, and create projects that could be worked on in and out of classroom. Like the article said it is so important that students of all grade be able to work on projects, papers, ideas, etc while at home and or school and then be able to transport them without actually having the responsibility or threat of losing them via thumb-drive or hard drive crash.

Question 2
What are possible down-sides if any?
              One definitely could be the possibility of losing the file or not storing it properly, causing it to be gone and unsaved somewhere in the cloud. Second, if students forgot their passwords they could lose access to their work. Third, if parents know their students' passwords or if teacher do there may be an invasion of privacy. Fourth students may use the cloud for inappropriate things. And lastly, it may not be accessible to everyone outside of the classroom, and if so it cannot be mandatory. Although all of these are fixable through back up files, stored passwords with students permission, and adequate monitoring the idea of "the cloud" leaves many people skeptical. I personally am a little apprehensive about relying completely on technology and trusting that all my work will be private and secure.

All About Me/Test Survey NETS-T 2