Final PLN

After working with various technologies to create a Professional Learning Network for this course, I have decided to continue using podcasts as a means of growth, development, and professional learning.  I was familiar with podcasts before the course began, and I have found several that are extremely engaging and informative.  I will also continue attending live online professional development opportunities.  My county uses them often (Elluminate and Safari Live) as a cost cutting measure and a way to inform a broad-base of teachers and leaders. 

Ultimately, I have decided to discontinue my blog.  I may employ a blog as an administrator, but for now, it is too personal for my taste.  I am not comfortable with my opinions and ramblings being available to an entire community with whom I am unfamiliar.  I will also discontinue my Twitter account.  Twitter seemed a little self-aggrandizing to me, and I didn't get a lot out of it as a professional.  I will also discontinue using Delicious.  I find my own bookmarks easy to access, and while I did find a network of people using informative sites, it wasn't as efficient as I like.

I put my RSS Feed in the middle of my mind map, because I would like to use it, but more often.  I have enjoyed having my publications in one place.

Whether I use all of them or only a few, I think the exposure to these tools will be useful to me as an administrator.  I have learned there are many ways to use technology to communicate with other leaders and to grow and develop professionally. 

Jing Presentation

We've learned how to use Jing, a free presentation tool, to create a screencast.  I actually had a lot of fun learning to use this tool.  I plan to use it in the future to create technology tutorials and brief trainings for our students and teachers.  Because I erroneously introduced myself to the Jing download after I chose my content, I would have changed my topic for presentation to something more interactive and engaging.  I think because I missed the last class session for Tech Night, I was also unclear about the Virtualization piece.  I searched on how to implement the periodic table, but didn't read anything that made it more clear.  I'm excited to see how other people in the class have implemented the concept.  I imagine the goal will be much clearer to me then.

The topic I chose was one I presented to our faculty last week as a reminder of the Staff Expectations shared during pre-planning.  I did not present it using Jing, but the content was the same.  Of course, it was more interesting live because I sang and danced my way through it dressed up like Barney...  Just kidding.

Connell-Presentation

Online PD Session- Math Frameworks

I attended the Live Online Professional Development seminar providing an overview to our county's new Math Frameworks on November 2nd.  Last summer, I was employed by the GaDOE as part of the development team for the K-5 Math Frameworks being implemented in our county this school year.  I was hoping the Elluminate session on our District Collaboration Day would be engaging and a positive overview of the Frameworks answering the many questions posed by our teachers.  The implementation has been challenging.

I have attended numerous Elluminate sessions in the last six months, sessions sponsored by both the district and the state.  They are usually used to address curriculum issues and/or for administrative training in school safety and response-to-intervention protocol.  I did not gain any new information from the Elluminate session on the Frameworks.  There were a lot of technical glitches (sound problems, problems viewing the ppt slides within the Elluminate frames).  The consensus from our teachers was that it was not a very engaging medium.  It would have been more engaging to see a live person rather than hearing a live voice reading a ppt. 

In subsequent Elluminate trainings I have attended recently, I still have a hard time feeling engaged with the medium.  Especially during a training session vs. a more collaborative experience.  I think Elluminate is more engaging in more collaborative discussions; however, nothing beats the budgetary savings!

Compare the various aspects of your Personal Learning Network - Blog reading, podcasts, twitter - what is your experience with each thus far? Are there differences in the types or quality of material between the different tools? If so, what do you think accounts for those differences? How are you integrating them into your daily/weekly routines? What has surprised you most to date? Are you finding that you are getting "to know" the people you are listening/reading/following? If so, how has that influenced your view of them and what they have to offer?

I just completed presenting at and attending my county's Digital Schoolhouse conference.  It was extremely exciting to see the various ways in which people are integrating technology, including the technologies we are using in our PLN, into their teaching and personal learning.  I am getting the greatest benefit out of listening to podcasts and reading people's blogs.  An unintended consequence of using blog reading as a part of my PLN has been to connect with parents of teenagers with needs similar to my son's.  I think the most surprising thing has been that in my isolation, I can find support and strength in people I don't even know.  While maintaining my privacy, I have found validation of my family's struggle and have found myself more accepting of his diagnosis. 

I am still on the fence about twitter; however, I will tell you a positive twitter moment from last week:  My husband uses twitter professionally, and through his own twitter PLN, found out about a contest to win an American Music Awards party.  He was one of the first few hundred to tweet for it and won a party package for 10 teenagers!  :)  My daughter is thrilled.  I may be a convert, yet!

You’ve been using Twitter for a few weeks now.
Questions:
A) To what extent is Twitter extending your Personal Learning Network. If so, how? If not, what might you need to change in order for it to be more useful as a part of your PLN?
I really haven't found Twitter to be a useful tool.  I don't think it is as powerful as a podcast, blog, or professional bulletin board.  In order for it to become a useful part of my PLN, I would probably need to seek out communication that is of interest to me and/or spend more time on Twitter.  Twitter is blocked from my school internet access during the work day.  I also do not have data access other than my personal computer.  I don't find it an efficient or productive use of my time to log on at home and scroll through twitter after twitter, most of them irrelevant.

B) Think about using Twitter as a teacher/educational leader. Others see some possibilities (review readings from Class 2 if needed). How might you use it as a teacher? How might you use it as an educational leader? What do you think is realistic for you? Is there something you would like to try?
I consider myself technologically savvy.  In addition to administrative assistant responsibilities, I teach Science and Technology to 3rd-5th graders.  I have not bought into the usefulness or power of Twitter.  I have asked my teenaged children to tell me how they use Twitter, and they are much more interested in connecting socially and academically through Facebook, blogs, and virtual communities.  Twitter, to the young people I've talked to, is not as interesting as it used to be.  I may use Twitter as a means of school communication, but only in addition to other technological venues (school web site, blog, Facebook, email, etc.).

Watch DOGS Program

Watch DOGS (Dads of Great Students) is an innovative program of the National Center for Fathering focusing on prevention of violence in our nation's schools by using the positive influence of fathers and fatehr-figures.  WatchDOG Dads are a hero for a day.  They encourage students by monitoring hallways and entrances, eating lunch with studens, playing educational games with them, helping with homework and actively and positively engaging with their student and other students.

Please click below, and scroll down to access my podcast

for more information about our WatchDOG Dads Program.

More About WatchDOG D.A.D.S

EDL- Blog Post 2

Focus on Podcasting
We discussed tonight what makes a good podcast. What is your experience with podcasting (consumer and creator)? What’s the best podcast you’ve found. What makes it good to you? What do you want to remember as you think about creating your own podcast?

I enjoy listening to podcasts.  I am a big fan of the TED conferences (http://www.ted.com), and I also use podcasts to catch up on my favorite NPR programs.  One of my favorites  is “Splendid Table”, a culinary talk show.  Although it is purely auditory, the culinary experience is not diminished by the lack of visual representation.  The show’s hostess  engages the listener with vivid sensory descriptions.   I do appreciate that I can listen to the show on my time and when I am engaged in other activities. 

I have a friend who is a proponent of sustainable living and makes his living from sharing that interest and knowledge with the aide of technology.  His career began with a weekly podcast, and now he is sponsored by Purina and has been featured in Time magazine and the Wall Street Journal.  The internet has been largely responsible for his popularity and the development of his own Professional Learning Network.  I like to remember the role technology has played in his career as I embark on my own professional learning journey.

EDL- Blog Post 1

1.       What do you expect from your PLN journey this semester?  
I am looking forward to having the time to learn more about technology as an instructional and collaborative tool in my professional life.  In the past, I have focused on technology as an instructional and collaborative tool for my students. 

2.       How might it compare with and influence what you already do?

While I use technology to make my personal and professional life more efficient,  and I have used technology as a network to collaborate and grow through my hobbies and personal interests, I haven’t fully realized technology as a collaborative tool professionally.

3.        What concerns you?  
There are some technology tools in which I am simply uninterested, and many of them seem to create a guise of impersonality and anonymity that I think has the potential to breed misinformation and/or a lack of personal responsibility.  There are a lot of people behaving in ways that they wouldn’t in face-to-face social interactions.  Likewise, there is a lot of inaccurate and irresponsible information being disseminated.   

4.       What excites you?  
The prospect of learning about tools of which I was previously unaware.