Monday, February 21, 2011

Technology Self-Assessment: School 2.0

NETS I, III
I chose to investigate NETS-I: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity. Classroom 2.0 Ning seemed like an interesting website and it is for those who are interested in education and in networking for their classroom. This website is free for the community and is for those who are interested in learning about networking. I find this website helpful because you are able to surf around and find different topics that you are interested in. I also think that it is a great website for children. Now days, children are getting the hang of technology faster then adults and even teachers. So it is a great tool for them to use and start understanding how to surf around the net. There are people who have posted blogs where you can click their link and go into their blog and be able to check out other information. You can also check the different forums and the members of the site. When you click on media it does not let you open the videos or the pictures, but you can get a sense of what they will be showing you. Though it be nice for them to open up and be able to see what they are trying to teach you by this pictures. 

I used the School 2.0/Tech Self-Assessment to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity and also to model digital-age work and learning.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Journal 3 "100 things that make me happy"

Journal 3 "100 things that make me happy"

  1. sleep
  2. eating
  3. running
  4. reading
  5. hot showers
  6. driving
  7. tanning
  8. hicking
  9. NASCAR RACING
  10. baking
  11. school
  12. teaching
  13. working
  14. biking
  15. swimming
  16. volley ball
  17. soccer
  18. baseball
  19. boxing
  20. tattoos
  21. computers
  22. rainy days
  23. wiwishie - my puppy
  24. shopping
  25. makeup
  26. horses
  27. wearing sweatpants
  28. walking bare foot
  29. long walks
  30. dancing
  31. singing in the shower
  32. lemons
  33. pineapples
  34. fixing stuff
  35. horror/drama/suspense/action movies
  36. smiling
  37. my best friends
  38. family
  39. ice cream/strawberry, chocolate,vanilla
  40. chocolate
  41. juicy couture
  42. sunny days
  43. pink
  44. hot chocolates
  45. technology
  46. children
  47. ballet
  48. myself
  49. when classes get cancelled
  50. snow
  51. waking up late
  52. working out
  53. talking
  54. xmas/new years
  55. skating
  56. the mountains
  57. yoga
  58. hanging
  59. skydiving 
  60. honey
  61. venti iced mocha
  62. brownies
  63. creps 
  64. sweet honey mustard
  65. french friends with cheese
  66. coca cola
  67. walking in the rain
  68. "P.S." I love you
  69. driving
  70. traveling
  71. meeting new people
  72. learning new stuff
  73. dolphins
  74. surfing/though Im horrible at it..I AM.
  75. cuddling
  76. soap operas
  77. passing an exam
  78. TV
  79. radio talk shows
  80. reality tv shows
  81. butterflies
  82. hot dogs
  83. fried banana with ice cream
  84. halloween
  85. valentines' day
  86. winning
  87.  diving
  88. acrilic nails
  89. changing hair color
  90. changing my daily looks
  91. paint
  92. drawing
  93. dirt bikes
  94. camping
  95. gymnastics
  96. acrobatics
  97. gambling
  98. be independent
  99. that there be no mathematics in the world..haha
  100. have my own rock clothes and ride a Harley Davidson

Journal 2 "Join the flock" & "Enhance your twitter experience"

Journal 2: "Join the flock" & "Enhance your twitter experience"

Ferguson, H. (2010). Join the flock. Learning & Leading with Technology, Retrieved from http://docs.google.com/viewer

Miller, S.M. (2010). Enhance your twitter experience. Learning & Leading with Technology, Retrieved from Ferguson, H. (2010). Join the flock. Learning & Leading with Technology, Retrieved from http://docs.google.com/viewer

Summary: Twitter is the virtual meeting place, where your PLN (Professional learning network)Twitter also brings the strangers together, people that don't know each other but that have things in common regarding education or any other topic. It is very necessary for those that are new in Twitter to spend some time working on their PLN or else they will not be able to learn and develop their PLN correctly. There are several steps that you can follow in order to create your account and be able to work with your PLN. You are able to search for people in Twitter, you do not need to know them. They can be either educators, history teachers, middle school teachers, etc, you just need to know who you are searching for. One great thing about this website is that you are able to check the lists that other people create and you do not have the need to create a list. Another great thing is that you can follow people on twitter without saying a word. Easy as that! You literary need to become addicted to twitter to be able to learn a lot. comes together. 

Q1: What are the benefits of twitter for teachers and students? 
A: There are a lot of benefits that I see that twitter has to offer students and teachers as well. Some of the benefits that I think it brings is the ability to gather information from other sources around the world and having a wide variety of individuals who might provide the same source but with different insights. Another great benefit that brings is that it is easy to use and does not cost a thing. Of course, it takes some time to get used to it and be able to navigate around it, but after that,it is easy to manage and understand the great ideas it brings to teachers and students.

Q2: Is twitter for anybody?
A: I believe that twitter is for anyone that is interested in finding information regarding a certain area of interest. Of course, we know that there are some people that use is as a mean of just updating their daily activities and not for any other particular reason. However, there are those that use twitter as a means of communicating with people who share the same interest as they do. For those people, twitter is a great means of communication.

Journal 1 "Do WEB 2.0 Right"

 Journal #1 "Do WEB 2.0 Right"

Light, D. (2011). Do web 2.0 right. 38(5), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Feature_Article_Do_Web_2_0_Right.aspx




Summary: It is important to notice that technology is taking over how teachers and students are communicating now. Before, teachers were able to talk to their students and explain face to face the material that was necessary for them to learn, not thanks to technology, a lot of the material and exams as well are distributed online. Whether or not we want to believe it, some classes are now taught via online. Been able to have a blog for students, where they can go and check what is new with their classes and what are the new assignments, or even make comments on what they think should be changed or not, gives not only the student but the teacher as well a more precise way of understanding towards one another. Of course, like in any other cases, there will be students who will be somewhat shy in publishing their work for everyone else to see, but at the same time, it gives them the opportunity of having having others critique their work and learn from those mistakes they have made. 


Q1: What impact does having blogs in classroom have towards students and teachers?
A: First I think that it all depends on how teachers want to look at it. For students, it might be something new and a way of exploring new technology. A way of learning how to do new things online and have friends and family as well experience their work. For teachers, I guess its more of like an obligation to work with this new technology. Some of them I must say (including my own dad) think that technology and teaching students how to make their own blog, navigate the system is a waste of time. That we are only making our future generations dumber because now a machine is doing almost all of the thinking for them. Which I completely think is not true. 


Q2: Is technology something that we should worry about in classrooms?
A: I personally think that incorporating technology in the classroom will certainly help teachers have a more wider perception of what they are talking and for students to have a better understanding. Of course, there might be times that technology might be a distraction for both students and teachers but there are always ways to minimize that risk.