Here's the link to my classroom blog:
GMS Blogging with Joy
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Web 2.0 Panic
Web 2.0
So - here's the thing. I have some power issues. I am constantly reworking most everything in the world of teaching, reading, writing, and speaking. Handout left in the copier? Sure, I have some ideas of how to improve that. The bulk email sent to the staff? I'm rewriting it in my head even before I've finished reading it. The rubric shared with me? Yes, I like most of it, but isn't that font a bit annoying? The six-page packet of grammar homework my kid brings home from school? Trust me - I have some incendiary thoughts as well as a bit of productive feedback to share. The assignments/assessments/essays I myself wrote for class? Set a timer. Modifications are minutes away. The professional readings I enjoy, the lectures I attend, the courses I take --- there is a non-stop editor and teaching coach working overtime in my head. And if you aren't already judging me, I offer this compelling confession: at my father-in-law's funeral yesterday, I simultaneously listened to and revised five, heartfelt eulogies. Seriously. Major and minor revisions that I could present to you in a tasteful PowerPoint presentation tomorrow. So, you see, I have a problem.
I can't help myself. It's what I both love and despise about myself as a teacher. It's why the last class of my day gets the best lesson - I've had two times to deliver it and make it better. It's why after 23 years, I'm still up late revising lessons and reworking curriculum like I'm a new teacher (minus the wrinkle-free complexion and fashionable wardrobe). It's why I'm certain my daughters' teachers cringe when they see my name on caller I.D. It's why tomorrow morning I will want to edit every sentence that I have written in this post. It's why 90% of the time I have buyer's remorse whenever I make a purchase on Teachers Pay Teachers. And - to the point of this post - it is the back story of why Web 2.0 makes my eye begin to spontaneously twitch and my brow to furrow. Do I willingly want to throw myself into being a part of a collaborative environment on the web that creates content with users known and unknown? Are you kidding me? Do you think I have time for this kind of world wide web tweaking?
Don't get me wrong. I know the world is full of amazing and creative people who know so much more than I could ever begin to imagine. I am constantly learning from others, and I appreciate helpful criticism. I love the idea of expanding the one-member roster of my 8th-grade Language Arts Department. I only fear that any serious forays into the interactive land of Web 2.0 (beyond Facebook and Pinterest) will overstimulate my compulsions to edit, alter, and rework the world around me, thus causing my brain to explode (or is "combust" a more powerful choice? or is "implode" what I really want to say? or "fizzle out"?). Help.
******************
The actual assignment:
1) Which Web 2.0 tools do you presently use?
Occasionally post but primarily used in personal life as "lurker" & "like button" member: Facebook
Registered for, follower of others, but never remember to check: Twitter
Huge fan, both professionally and personally: Pinterest, Good Reads, Google Docs
As a result of this class - Blogger
2) Which one(s) are your favorites?
Pinterest and Google docs
3) Why did you select one over another?
Love the organization capabilities of Pinterest / like the accessibility and the classroom application of Google docs for my student writers - although I'm not a huge fan of some of the limits of page design on Google docs
4) What value do Web apps have over traditional programs that are installed on computers?
They are more easily accessed on a multitude of devices.
So - here's the thing. I have some power issues. I am constantly reworking most everything in the world of teaching, reading, writing, and speaking. Handout left in the copier? Sure, I have some ideas of how to improve that. The bulk email sent to the staff? I'm rewriting it in my head even before I've finished reading it. The rubric shared with me? Yes, I like most of it, but isn't that font a bit annoying? The six-page packet of grammar homework my kid brings home from school? Trust me - I have some incendiary thoughts as well as a bit of productive feedback to share. The assignments/assessments/essays I myself wrote for class? Set a timer. Modifications are minutes away. The professional readings I enjoy, the lectures I attend, the courses I take --- there is a non-stop editor and teaching coach working overtime in my head. And if you aren't already judging me, I offer this compelling confession: at my father-in-law's funeral yesterday, I simultaneously listened to and revised five, heartfelt eulogies. Seriously. Major and minor revisions that I could present to you in a tasteful PowerPoint presentation tomorrow. So, you see, I have a problem.
I can't help myself. It's what I both love and despise about myself as a teacher. It's why the last class of my day gets the best lesson - I've had two times to deliver it and make it better. It's why after 23 years, I'm still up late revising lessons and reworking curriculum like I'm a new teacher (minus the wrinkle-free complexion and fashionable wardrobe). It's why I'm certain my daughters' teachers cringe when they see my name on caller I.D. It's why tomorrow morning I will want to edit every sentence that I have written in this post. It's why 90% of the time I have buyer's remorse whenever I make a purchase on Teachers Pay Teachers. And - to the point of this post - it is the back story of why Web 2.0 makes my eye begin to spontaneously twitch and my brow to furrow. Do I willingly want to throw myself into being a part of a collaborative environment on the web that creates content with users known and unknown? Are you kidding me? Do you think I have time for this kind of world wide web tweaking?
Don't get me wrong. I know the world is full of amazing and creative people who know so much more than I could ever begin to imagine. I am constantly learning from others, and I appreciate helpful criticism. I love the idea of expanding the one-member roster of my 8th-grade Language Arts Department. I only fear that any serious forays into the interactive land of Web 2.0 (beyond Facebook and Pinterest) will overstimulate my compulsions to edit, alter, and rework the world around me, thus causing my brain to explode (or is "combust" a more powerful choice? or is "implode" what I really want to say? or "fizzle out"?). Help.
******************
The actual assignment:
1) Which Web 2.0 tools do you presently use?
Occasionally post but primarily used in personal life as "lurker" & "like button" member: Facebook
Registered for, follower of others, but never remember to check: Twitter
Huge fan, both professionally and personally: Pinterest, Good Reads, Google Docs
As a result of this class - Blogger
2) Which one(s) are your favorites?
Pinterest and Google docs
3) Why did you select one over another?
Love the organization capabilities of Pinterest / like the accessibility and the classroom application of Google docs for my student writers - although I'm not a huge fan of some of the limits of page design on Google docs
4) What value do Web apps have over traditional programs that are installed on computers?
They are more easily accessed on a multitude of devices.
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Blogging with Joy
I love to teach writing, and I am looking forward to how my Tech One course will help me help my students use technology to create a writing community. I try to complete every pen and paper/word-processed writing assignment that I ask my students to complete. Since I am thinking that blogging will be a good way for my students to share their writing, I think it will be a good practice for me to blog and think:
Is this helping me become a better writer?
How will blogging help my students become better writers?
What am I learning as I blog?
What glitches do I experience that I could problem solve with my students?
I worry about wasting student time by incorporating technology for technology's sake rather than for learning's sake. I want my students to be adept at being the best thinkers, readers, and writers they can be in an ever-changing world, and I am curious and excited to explore how this course and how blogging will help us achieve that goal.
Is this helping me become a better writer?
How will blogging help my students become better writers?
What am I learning as I blog?
What glitches do I experience that I could problem solve with my students?
I worry about wasting student time by incorporating technology for technology's sake rather than for learning's sake. I want my students to be adept at being the best thinkers, readers, and writers they can be in an ever-changing world, and I am curious and excited to explore how this course and how blogging will help us achieve that goal.
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