We're a third of the way there and all this process had done is make me more addicted to the computer! :-)
Commenting - I did it! I wrote on a popular blog page that I have been following and that I referenced in the previous post...Do I Dare Disturb the Universe! In my comment I thanked Scott for his thought provoking post, related it to my own experience and then asked a question! (ooooo, daring, I know!)
HE WROTE ME BACK!!!! A few minutes after the post, as I was searching and reading other things in my reader, I got a personal email from him that actually answered my question! It wasn't just an automated response, but a real response! I've made my first "virtual" friend! (not that my followers aren't - but I know most of you!) Now, I really will be encouraged to try commenting - you never know what might come of it!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Thing #6
The RSS reader is an amazing tool! There seem to be millions, if not tens of millions of blogs out there. I was a bit disappointed in that ability to search and find what I was looking for. I tried several searches looking for administrators of public schools that were blogging or instructional leaders. Other than finding blogs for classroom teachers or for technology instruction, there didn't seem to be alot out there.
I found 3 that I will follow for a while and see if anything useful comes from them. The title of the first one, caught my attention. Do I Dare Disturb the Universe is the title for a principal from Colorado's blog. It was a very interesting read for the first three or four blog entries. He didn't have a blog roll started, that I could see, but he was a contributing author for another blog titled Leader Talk. There were several blogrolls listed here, so I followed a couple of them. There did not seem to be much out there for elementary principals.
It made me wonder, are we (elementary principals) so far behind the technological curve that no one is really blogging? Am I just not searching the right key words? What is going on? You promised me there would be a blog for everyone!!! :-) I'm sure I'll find it soon enough - I will just have to keep looking past this assignment for what really feeds me!
I did find one other blog called the Principal's Blog. It appears to be the personal blog of a prinicpal of an elementary school. So far the postings have not been very "job related" more of a social blog, but I'll keep watching to see what I can find. Who knows - she may have taken 23 things and is just keeping her blog going for personal reasons! I'll keep waiting for that nugget of inspiration! :-) After all, her avatar makes her look like a really fun principal! Maybe she is... we'll see.
I found 3 that I will follow for a while and see if anything useful comes from them. The title of the first one, caught my attention. Do I Dare Disturb the Universe is the title for a principal from Colorado's blog. It was a very interesting read for the first three or four blog entries. He didn't have a blog roll started, that I could see, but he was a contributing author for another blog titled Leader Talk. There were several blogrolls listed here, so I followed a couple of them. There did not seem to be much out there for elementary principals.
It made me wonder, are we (elementary principals) so far behind the technological curve that no one is really blogging? Am I just not searching the right key words? What is going on? You promised me there would be a blog for everyone!!! :-) I'm sure I'll find it soon enough - I will just have to keep looking past this assignment for what really feeds me!
I did find one other blog called the Principal's Blog. It appears to be the personal blog of a prinicpal of an elementary school. So far the postings have not been very "job related" more of a social blog, but I'll keep watching to see what I can find. Who knows - she may have taken 23 things and is just keeping her blog going for personal reasons! I'll keep waiting for that nugget of inspiration! :-) After all, her avatar makes her look like a really fun principal! Maybe she is... we'll see.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Thing #5
OMG!!! As my high school teacher sister would text me! Whoever thought of this RSS reader thing is so awesome. I had already "followed" or subscribed to several people's blogs in our class and was already getting FRUSTRATED at how many clicks it took to get from kbb to vikingman to theroylemansblog! This is an amazing piece of technology that could be very addicting, especially when I have the opportunity to go out there and surf for something that I am interested in reading about. However, that scares me a little - can other people see what I enjoy reading on my RSS? You might see a whole lot more of the "non-educational" things than you might like! I would love to follow my Florida Gator Blogs and anti-Dallas Cowboy blogs more than some other "school" blogs - but I'll try to diversify myself for the sake of learning in our class! :-)
Now, as for the reflection. One of the blogs that we were required to view was the Infinite Thinking Machine. On of the entries talked about a company called Brightstorm. This company makes videos to help teachers brush up on their own skills for teaching some subjects like Geometry, Writing, Alegebra II and many SAT preparation courses. I thought how incredibly cool this would be if we had this same type of technology available for our new teachers! Wouldn't it be amazing if they were wondering how to teach rational numbers to a group of fifth graders, at an age appropriate level, they could just click and there would be some video showing them what to say, how to say it, good examples and so on... Wow! I can see where this type of "digital teaching" could impact classrooms everywhere!
This RSS things is gonna be fun!!
Now, as for the reflection. One of the blogs that we were required to view was the Infinite Thinking Machine. On of the entries talked about a company called Brightstorm. This company makes videos to help teachers brush up on their own skills for teaching some subjects like Geometry, Writing, Alegebra II and many SAT preparation courses. I thought how incredibly cool this would be if we had this same type of technology available for our new teachers! Wouldn't it be amazing if they were wondering how to teach rational numbers to a group of fifth graders, at an age appropriate level, they could just click and there would be some video showing them what to say, how to say it, good examples and so on... Wow! I can see where this type of "digital teaching" could impact classrooms everywhere!
This RSS things is gonna be fun!!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Thing #4
First of all - thanks for the video on how to find the permalink! :-)
What do you notice about the genre of blog writing in general?
The writing is very informal! Anyone can do it. When I read the duck blog I found it so humorous! I wondered if some of our secondary friends would be able to decipher what was written because it was invented spelling of second graders. Every blog was an opinion from the writer and then comments, of course, were a free for all!
How is blog reading different from other types of reading?
Reading a blog takes a little time to get used to! I wish I knew how to make a thinking map online to compare and contrast to other types of readings! I am sure I'll learn that down the road somewhere in a Thing! First of all, most books that are used for information have gone through some type of peer review, I would imagine. Obviously blogs do not and therefore, the information gleaned from them would need to be taken cautiously - or at least with the understanding that it is not "gospel". That could be a good thing or bad thing, I guess. Great thing being that you have some opinions from which to make your own opinion and bad in the sense that it can't be counted on as fact...
How is blog writing different from other types of writing? How is it similar?
Blog writing is different because anyone can do it. In order to write a book or an article for a journal you have to be credible. No credibility required for blogging! :-0 However, I think that this type of freelance writing empowers people to say what they feel needs to be said. When in the history of mankind would an at-risk fifth grader have been given the time of day to talk about his will not to fail? What an amazing thing for him. To read all of the comments and then to read his thank you post, you know this kid felt encouraged, proud and determined! How awesome is that? Immediate feedback, praise and encouragement when he needed it most!
How can blogging facilitate learning?
There are so many uses for blogging! It is really fun to see my students at school blog about the book they are reading in book club or to see Mr. Smith's class blog about the daily events in his math class, much like the math blog from SP-817 Math Class. It can provide the teacher with a deeper understanding of what kids know and don't know. It provides parents a way to participate in the learning of their students. It gives students the ability to have input from all ends of the earth - not just little Mesquite! It gives administrators the power to observe student learning without ever entering the room! We can do it from our iphone! (Although that blog titled Spies Like Us scared me a little with the technology available to students on their iphone!) Blogging definitely could have a place in our buildings and classrooms, but the necessary precautions need to be taken! The blogging could certainly get out of hand or cause problems for students like in the article about cyberbullying!
What do you notice about the genre of blog writing in general?
The writing is very informal! Anyone can do it. When I read the duck blog I found it so humorous! I wondered if some of our secondary friends would be able to decipher what was written because it was invented spelling of second graders. Every blog was an opinion from the writer and then comments, of course, were a free for all!
How is blog reading different from other types of reading?
Reading a blog takes a little time to get used to! I wish I knew how to make a thinking map online to compare and contrast to other types of readings! I am sure I'll learn that down the road somewhere in a Thing! First of all, most books that are used for information have gone through some type of peer review, I would imagine. Obviously blogs do not and therefore, the information gleaned from them would need to be taken cautiously - or at least with the understanding that it is not "gospel". That could be a good thing or bad thing, I guess. Great thing being that you have some opinions from which to make your own opinion and bad in the sense that it can't be counted on as fact...
How is blog writing different from other types of writing? How is it similar?
Blog writing is different because anyone can do it. In order to write a book or an article for a journal you have to be credible. No credibility required for blogging! :-0 However, I think that this type of freelance writing empowers people to say what they feel needs to be said. When in the history of mankind would an at-risk fifth grader have been given the time of day to talk about his will not to fail? What an amazing thing for him. To read all of the comments and then to read his thank you post, you know this kid felt encouraged, proud and determined! How awesome is that? Immediate feedback, praise and encouragement when he needed it most!
How can blogging facilitate learning?
There are so many uses for blogging! It is really fun to see my students at school blog about the book they are reading in book club or to see Mr. Smith's class blog about the daily events in his math class, much like the math blog from SP-817 Math Class. It can provide the teacher with a deeper understanding of what kids know and don't know. It provides parents a way to participate in the learning of their students. It gives students the ability to have input from all ends of the earth - not just little Mesquite! It gives administrators the power to observe student learning without ever entering the room! We can do it from our iphone! (Although that blog titled Spies Like Us scared me a little with the technology available to students on their iphone!) Blogging definitely could have a place in our buildings and classrooms, but the necessary precautions need to be taken! The blogging could certainly get out of hand or cause problems for students like in the article about cyberbullying!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Thing #2
I'm going to try to figure out how to link to my writeboard now - I already reflected - let's try to link it - Here are my reflections of my Thing #2 on Writeboard!
The password for the Writeboard is ajmurry
Woohoo! I think I did it!
Thing #1
Okay - so we've started on this journey of the 23 things. The habits of highly effective life long learners (btw - can I tell you how much I love the SPELL CHECK FEATURE of this blog!).
These seven and a half habits are so closely tied with those of Steven Covey, whom I highly regard as a model for being an effective leader. I am thrilled about the opportunity to grow and learn new things.
As an administrator - standing in front of my faculty and asking them to get with the technology era and not doing it myself seems a little hypocritical! Therefore, I've decided to take the leap. I am ready for the journey.
The most challenging habit for me to adopt will definitely not be the play! :-) I think it will be to view the problems as challenges. I really get frustrated easily when technology doesn't go my way! I like for things to work the first time and for them to work the right way! Not alot of patience with having to "figure" it out. Although - that is a problem too, because I hate to take the time to read the owners manual! I would rather figure it out - is that an oxymoron?
The easiest habit or one to most easily identify is the half! Playing - I will easily find myself on the computer "playing" for hours on end! I leave my kids in the tub by themselves just so I can "play" in peace! Isn't that being a terrible mom?? I love the opportunity to learn the new technology and make it a habit for me!
I think taking responsibility for my learning will be most important! Take the time to get all I can out of the course instead of hurriedly completing a thing just to be done! All about getting it done - you know!
These seven and a half habits are so closely tied with those of Steven Covey, whom I highly regard as a model for being an effective leader. I am thrilled about the opportunity to grow and learn new things.
As an administrator - standing in front of my faculty and asking them to get with the technology era and not doing it myself seems a little hypocritical! Therefore, I've decided to take the leap. I am ready for the journey.
The most challenging habit for me to adopt will definitely not be the play! :-) I think it will be to view the problems as challenges. I really get frustrated easily when technology doesn't go my way! I like for things to work the first time and for them to work the right way! Not alot of patience with having to "figure" it out. Although - that is a problem too, because I hate to take the time to read the owners manual! I would rather figure it out - is that an oxymoron?
The easiest habit or one to most easily identify is the half! Playing - I will easily find myself on the computer "playing" for hours on end! I leave my kids in the tub by themselves just so I can "play" in peace! Isn't that being a terrible mom?? I love the opportunity to learn the new technology and make it a habit for me!
I think taking responsibility for my learning will be most important! Take the time to get all I can out of the course instead of hurriedly completing a thing just to be done! All about getting it done - you know!
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