This course has been challenging but very informative. I signed up for this and other technology staff developments because this is a passion of mine. I know technology changes daily and in order to stay current you have to learn new things. It has been several years since I was in the classroom as a teacher, so I think it is important, as an administrator to stay informed and know what is available. Technology has changed education and in order to be a true instructional leader today, you have to be savvy with technology. If a similar course was offered again, I would certainly participate.
The Google apps are definitely my favorite! I feel they can help me be more productive and informed. I will use many of the google apps daily at school. Checking my reader has now become a habit and this enables me to explore new ideas. I will also share these new ideas with anyone that will listen. Watch out Gray staff, I'm informed and excited!!!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Thing #23- Hooray! I'm done
I started my exploration at the classroom 2.0 website. I was excited because I had previously explored this site during an earlier "thing". I subscribed to the classroom 2.0 site in my Google reader. I joined both the classroom 2.0 ning and the MISD thingsters ning. I also saved both to my Delicious account. I know that both of these sites will offer quick resources that I can share with our faculty.
Visit 23 Thingsters
On the classroom 2.0 ning I read a discussion started by a campus principal. He asked if any fellow administrators had plans to use Twitter to tweet about their schools or education. I found the discussion very interesting and this is one I'll continue to follow.
Technology and education are coming together and exciting things are happening. I know that social networking has a future in education and I'm excited to see what the future holds.
Visit 23 Thingsters
On the classroom 2.0 ning I read a discussion started by a campus principal. He asked if any fellow administrators had plans to use Twitter to tweet about their schools or education. I found the discussion very interesting and this is one I'll continue to follow.
Technology and education are coming together and exciting things are happening. I know that social networking has a future in education and I'm excited to see what the future holds.
Thing #22- Social Networking
Now this is a web 2.0 tool that I know and love! Actually, my Facebook account is what has kept me from finishing my 23 things faster. Well, if truth be told my Facebook keeps me from doing many things. I often times "work" deals with myself...empty the dishwasher, play on facebook...cook dinner, play on facebook. See how this works.
I've had a Facebook account for about a year. During that year, I've reconnected with some past friends, kept up-to-date with current friends and made some connections between friends. All the social aspects of facebook have been easy for me to understand and use. I love posting pictures for our friends and out of town family.
As educators I think it is very important for us to understand the technology that our students are using. The report from the National School Boards Association illustrated several statistics that support the fact that today's students are actively using social networking at home. I feel like it is our responsibility as educators to teach students the correct and safe way to use all the technology available to them. If we don't teach them this, who will? They will use the technology without our guidance, but if we implement strategies and lessons to teach them how to use these tools for education we are bettering them and society.
I don't have the answer for exactly how to safely use social networking at school, but I do so the importance of having an open mind.
I've had a Facebook account for about a year. During that year, I've reconnected with some past friends, kept up-to-date with current friends and made some connections between friends. All the social aspects of facebook have been easy for me to understand and use. I love posting pictures for our friends and out of town family.
As educators I think it is very important for us to understand the technology that our students are using. The report from the National School Boards Association illustrated several statistics that support the fact that today's students are actively using social networking at home. I feel like it is our responsibility as educators to teach students the correct and safe way to use all the technology available to them. If we don't teach them this, who will? They will use the technology without our guidance, but if we implement strategies and lessons to teach them how to use these tools for education we are bettering them and society.
I don't have the answer for exactly how to safely use social networking at school, but I do so the importance of having an open mind.
Thing #7b
I love my Google reader and I'm already in the habit of checking it daily. I have several school related feeds. One of my feeds is http://groups.diigo.com/group/classroom20. This feed offers a variety of web 2.0 tools and ideas that relate to using technology in the classroom. One site that I found today was Google Tools For Schools. I played around with this and I think it is a very valuable site, especially if you love Google as much as me. It offers tutorials, ideas and other resources for using Google in education. The author of this site is a Google certified teacher. Check it out, I know you'll find something useful to use.
Thing #21- More Google
I love Google! The iGoogle homepage is very cool. I'll definitely set this as my homepage. This will allow me to have all my Google tools in one place. I played around with the settings and now my iGoogle page has my Google reader, gmail and the calendar that I set up. I'm thinking I can also add my blogger account to this page. This is the perfect way to have it all in one place. I needed a way to organize all my new learning in one place, and I found it!
I plan to utilize the Google Calendar as our office/ARD calendar. We schedule appointments, ARD meetings and other important school related items on a centralized calendar. This prevents us from double-booking ourselves and allows everyone to know what is happening. Last year we did this through our school outlook calendar, but we need the collaboration that the Google Calendar offers. I'm excited to share this with my office friends.
I plan to utilize the Google Calendar as our office/ARD calendar. We schedule appointments, ARD meetings and other important school related items on a centralized calendar. This prevents us from double-booking ourselves and allows everyone to know what is happening. Last year we did this through our school outlook calendar, but we need the collaboration that the Google Calendar offers. I'm excited to share this with my office friends.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Thing #20- Google Docs
I love Google Docs!!! I've already used it a couple times this past school year. I signed up for the service through MISD.
The Google docs offered a way for me to complete several administrative tasks. I created a doc to collect information for the end-of-year inventory. This allowed me to have a digital record of everything. It was organized in a spreadsheet format which made it perfect for organizing a ton of data.
Another doc I created was used for collecting tutoring data. I shared this document with my teachers and instructional specialists. We used this data to inform decisions for our CIP.
At the beginning of this year, I plan to use a google doc to inventory our textbooks. Since the teachers have already had some experience using this in the Spring, I'm hoping it should be easier in the Fall.
Several teachers did have "issues" using the tool. However, these were mostly the teachers that are reluctant to using technology.
The Google docs offered a way for me to complete several administrative tasks. I created a doc to collect information for the end-of-year inventory. This allowed me to have a digital record of everything. It was organized in a spreadsheet format which made it perfect for organizing a ton of data.
Another doc I created was used for collecting tutoring data. I shared this document with my teachers and instructional specialists. We used this data to inform decisions for our CIP.
At the beginning of this year, I plan to use a google doc to inventory our textbooks. Since the teachers have already had some experience using this in the Spring, I'm hoping it should be easier in the Fall.
Several teachers did have "issues" using the tool. However, these were mostly the teachers that are reluctant to using technology.
Thing #19- Voicethread
This is a new web tool for me to explore. I see lots of value for teachers using this in a classroom setting. As an assistant principal, I looked for things such as classroom management and other student issues. I found a few things of interest. The voicethread I'm including is about bullying. I enjoyed learning about relational aggression in girls. This is an issue I've dealt with many times in my office.
http://voicethread.com/share/1196457/
I see value in creating a voicethread that would allow teachers to offer their opinions or thoughts concerning campus issues. This would be like an interactive survey or poll. I'll definitely explore this some more.
http://voicethread.com/share/1196457/
I see value in creating a voicethread that would allow teachers to offer their opinions or thoughts concerning campus issues. This would be like an interactive survey or poll. I'll definitely explore this some more.
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