Still Afraid of Thinking

Information overload anyone?  Phew! But I think my group members and I have more of a handle on what we are doing for our theory lesson/products.  Thank goodness because until tonight I felt like we were flappin' in the breeze. 

It's 7pm and I've mentally checked out of class for the evening.  I feel like looking at beautiful landscapes to the tune of soothing music, like I need to level out my brain waves or something.  I went through a "new age" phase in my twenties; I know what it's all about--ear candling, chanting, etc.  There's merit to that lifestyle (still not sold on ear candling though;  no one has that much ear wax!), however it takes too much time.  But I digress.                                                       
Today was report card day for my kids.  My 9 year old got straight A's (of course) and my 6 year old got a mess of dots, pluses, and checks.  The Kindergarten report card is massive.  All I care about is that my child, after 1.5 years of kindergarten, still can't read.  I think he's capable, he's just not interested.  And my goodness, if you believe what this site says, you might as well check yourself and your child into a mental facility for intense therapy.  One, because there's something terrible wrong with him and two, because I've failed as a parent.

I've obtain access to Pottermore..! (more to come on that).

What to do, what to do?

I've been tearing my hair out trying to come up with a topic for our solo theory project.  Either I'm thinking too deeply or I'm just not very smart. 

This year I find myself teaching students to use Web 2.0 tools (Fakebook, Community Walk, Creaza, etc.), more often than teaching database searching.  And these teaching moments only occur because I try to convince a particular teacher to try it.  I find this disturbing because teachers seem to be getting away from requiring their students to find information on their own.  They'd rather hand it to them to save time. I'm sympathetic to their plight (testing constraints, fitting in skills, etc.), but the students are losing a vital life skill. 

Despite this being a very large "gap" in my professional existence, I'm not sure how it translates into a theory-based issue.  So unless I can figure that out I think I will base my paper on how we must embrace a connectivist style of teaching when incorporating Web 2.0 into teaching.  Like connectivist theory, Web 2.0/e-learning encourages users to make connections with others, to collaborate.  It's more about the journey, and the learning that occurs is a by-product of the journey. 

I think I also may touch on how sometimes teachers are reluctant to embrace allowing their students make online connections with others.  But in the right environment, educational collaboration can be very satisfying and safe for teachers and students.

Tah dah!

Xtranormal

I LOVE Xtranormal!  I know, I know, you have to pay but when you first sign on, you get 300 comp points.  I created one so far and it cost me 111 points.  The best part is that once you "buy" your characters and backgrounds, they are yours forever.  I think the best strategy is to establish an account, choose some characters and backgrounds that are applicable to lots of situations, and then continually reuse them in different combinations.  I created an interview with John Keller, the creator of the ARCS elements of learning. I thought it would be fun to email him the link so he could see my creation.  The best part is, he responded with his own Xtranormal!

My Place in the World

I've really started thinking about my future a lot lately, mostly in regards to my job.  Librarians are dropping like flies across the state.  In my kids' school they may be able to get a librarian if they win a grant.  A grant?  Are you kidding me?  So what happens when the grant money runs out?  No more librarian?  Honestly, I would love to be in an elementary school but it's too much of a gamble.  I would also love to be a tech teacher for the little ones too.  But librarians are not considered essential personnel, along with guidance counselors, and many special ed. positions.  At least on the secondary level, one librarian is mandatory per district.  But do I want to be in a place where I have to jump around from school to school?  Or would it even be like that?  Support people in the other libraries maybe?  I really need to explore further what my new Master's will qualify me to do.  It would be fun to be an independent contractor--I could go around to different schools and workshop them on tech tools.  But I don't think that now is the best time to do that...
I do like my job, really.  I just don't want to wake up one morning without one.  I have to be proactive.
Okay, enough of the depressing talk.

I really like the blog, The Standardized Teacher.  However, I worry for her job.  She throws some people in her district under the bus.  But she makes some really great points. 

I found this bumper sticker.  I find it too funny that such a thing exists.  It's a link to an interesting news snippet...



Ah, the holiday weekend.

My right hand lady is retiring on Tuesday and I'm not sure what I'm going to do without her.  I'm going to try not to think about it this weekend.  I'm going to the beach with my kids where I'll dig lots of holes and get too much sun.  Then I'll drink a tall Weis beer and eat a hamburger.
I wish there was a Web 2.0 tool version of her.  Then I could log in everyday and send her out into the world so she could help everyone as much as she's helped me.

Raise your glass to Ceil:-)

Labyrinthitis

Labyrinthitis
It's confirmed.  I have it.  I call it "Dizzy on the Fringes".  My friend tells me that's a great name for a rock band.  So what is it?  It's an infection of the labyrinth portion of the inner ear, the area that affects balance.  At first it was terrible.  I felt like I was seasick all the time.  Now, I only experience it when I look up.  It's like having the bed spins without experiencing the "fun" of getting them.  Now I have to go for "vestibular therapy".  It's like physical therapy for the ear.  Who knew?  It could last weeks or months.  I'm curious as to how I will respond to roller coasters.  We've promised the kids all winter that we'd take them to Great Adventure.  Yikes.  Maybe the coasters will make me feel normal:-)?

Web 2.0 doesn't care about my affliction.  So I must press on.  I made a Google Site for our district summer reading program.  It's getting posted in June.  Hopefully students will use it to choose books.  I thought I was done but I keep going back to it to tweak it.  I will post it soon.

I found a fun site called Blabberize.  You upload a picture and make it talk.  It's like a primitive version of those commercials where the babies talk about eTrade.  Students can create Blabbers for presentations.

An eventful week so far!

Today I received an education on the art of course reimbursement.  I got an F.

The week before an assignment is due is always a fast week.  I can't believe tomorrow is Thursday already.  My group and I now have some direction.  Our topic has allowed me to walk down Memory Lane.  Remember Oregon Trail?  Where in World is Carmen Sandiego? The first Sim City?  I forgot all about them!  I need to find an oil drilling simulation game that I played in 8th grade...Wait!  I found it!  I so remember Oil Barons for the Commodore 64!!
Games appear to have teaching value, depending on what expert you read.  Some say great, others...not so much.  I've always thought that students learn more when they're having fun (duh).  Teaching should be conveyed via different forms of media (it's why we're here, right?) so there should always be a place for a quality game/simulation exercise.

Now I'm going to search for popular "edutainment" software from the late 80's:)

(heehee!)

The original is from 1971--I'm as old as the Oregon Trail!