Goals for Growth

I am still enraptured in this world of PLNing.  I have taken to bragging to my co-workers about all of the wonderful educators out there who love to learn and love to share.  They are a little wary when I tell them they MUST begin Tweeting, but eventually, they will follow.

In the meantime, I've decided to make some technology goals for myself.  I need to keep the motivation.  While I love every second I spend reading through Twitter, and scouring blogs, I also have three small children, a husband, and a never-ending pile of papers to grade.  This way, I have something to work towards, even if it is only baby steps.

1. Get my students blogging!  As I've mentioned in previous posts, I have attempted in years past to get my students blogging.  I think writing is truly important, and there are so many things they can do with blogs.  I think I will probably get them started by taking class notes (thank you @thenerdyteacher).  By the end of the year, though, I would like them posting blogs as a form of exit cards maybe.  Something "bigger" than just class notes.

2. I would like to create a blog for my district's teachers to learn more about technology and how it can be used in the classroom.  I would like all teachers (or whoever is willing!) to contribute to it.  I know we have some techies in the crowd, so I would hope that all would be willing to share their secrets.

3. Have my students use MyFakeWall.  I already have some ideas for how they can use this for character analysis.  What a fun alternative to writing an essay!  I already know they will love it.

4. I would like my kids to use online stickies.  I'm not really sure all the ways yet; I need to think about it more.  I am seeing exit-card/BlackBoard-like chats, though.

5. Figure out how wikis fit into my classroom.  I already have a web page through our school that has pretty much everything I need to inform students and parents.  I need to research this issue more.  This might be something that is not fully developed until next year.

6. Read Marzano's book about his strategies and technology.  I am part of a pilot program that is trying Standards Based Learning, so it would be nice to learn more about how to apply technology to these strategies. 

7. Attend my first UNconference at edCamp Detroit!

8. Keep developing and growing my PLN.  I'm learning more and more every day how important it is to my development as a teacher. 

This looks like a hefty list to get through in the remaining 2 months of school.  As mentioned already, though, it doesn't all need to be done this year.  This is just my starting point, from which I intend to continue to grow!

Conflicted

For the last 4 days I have lived, breathed, dreamed, slept educational technology.  I have enjoyed every last second of it.  I am tweeting, retweeting, blogging, reading blogs as fast as they can be posted.  It has been my full time job.

However, with returning to work tomorrow, I am afraid I will lose some of it.  No longer will I be able to focus all my attention on my PLN, or the blogs being written, all the advice that this great tool we call the Internet has to offer.  Instead, I have to, gulp, teach.

This is the part where I always lose my great momentum.  I have good ideas, great intentions, I'm full of excitement at the thought of the possibilities that lie before me.  But once I enter the classroom, and I can't use the ideas this second, I feel like I lose them. 

This time, however, I am focusing on staying motivated.  I know my world can't revolve around my Twitter page, but continued learning can still be a part of my life.

I have a hard time mixing all the parts of my life together.  I have 120 students, 3 of my own kids, a husband, plus list of hobbies.  What I often struggle with is combining all of this so I am successful at all of them.  I often feel like I am failing on all courts.  It is a constant struggle to stay on top of my job, plus delve into it further, reading, tweeting, blogging, creating, without taking something away from my kids.  The things that cause the most stress about my job are the things I love the most: learning!

No matter the time it takes, I am thrilled to have been introduced to a whole world of educators who love their jobs and want to excel at their jobs as much as I do!

Re-Inspired

I’ve been re-inspired.

I had happened into technology on accident.  When applying for my Masters program, I was excited to earn a degree in Humanities.  As an English teacher, I thought it would enhance my knowledge, and, as a result, that of my students.  A couple weeks before the cohort was to start, the university called me and told me the program would not be available, but there was a new program in Educational Technology.  Now, I had not considered myself to be a tech savvy lady, but my husband was, so I signed on.  I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into. 

While there certainly was some web-site-HTML-I-can’t-figure-this-out stuff, what it mostly consisted of was how to use and apply software, hardware, and Web 2.0 tools to enhance education.  I was introduced to this wealth of information that I couldn’t wait to use.  I spent those two years thinking about how to use these tools in my classroom.

My favorite was blogging.  I thought about it all summer long, and couldn’t wait for my students to fall in love with it, too!  I showed them Blogger, my Blog, and how they would respond.  It failed epically.

The following year, I tried again.  Again, it failed.

At this point, I gave up.  I figured my kids just wouldn’t get it ever, they didn’t care, it was what it was. 

But, Thursday, I was re-inspired, not only to have my students blog, but to blog myself.  

I was granted the opportunity to attend the 2011 MACUL Conference, which is a technology conference for educators in Michigan.  Just looking at the catalog of sessions to attend had me jumping up and down in excitement. 

And I was not disappointed.

Resource after resource was given to me, and with each, my excitement grew.  New ways of doing old things were circulating in my mind, and I couldn’t wait to try them out – even if it might not be until next year!

The speaker who inspired me the most, though, was an English teacher who has branded himself as The Nerdy Teacher, Nicholas Provenzano.  He presented a session on blogging, which I’ve toyed with personally and as a teacher, but had ultimately given up on. Mr. Provenzano, however, filled my head with new ways to use blogs with my students, for things as simple as taking notes!  He spoke of a project his students are working in with another school in another state!  The possibilities truly are limitless. 

So, where do teachers get these brilliant ideas?  Well, it turns out it is as simple as social networking.  Apparently, I MUST sign up for Twitter.  So I did.  Apparently I must blog.  So I am.  I need to build a Professional Learning Network. 

So, here I am, at the beginning of my PLN,  and my life as a teacher truly integrating technology into education.  Thank you to all who inspired me this week at MACUL ’11!