Princess’ World

I have to be honest I am just now at 7:31pm on Monday evening, finishing my assignments for the last week.  I have felt like such a slacker this week, and the thing about it is, is that I will have less and less time these next two weeks then I have had the whole time during this project. I am sure I will get everything accomplished, if I don’t kill myself getting it done.

I enjoyed using the wiki this week. Like I said in the previous post, I can’t see myself using this with my students. Maybe I am not thinking it all the way through, but I can’t think of a project that would entitle using the wiki. Having said that I can see the wiki’s being used in the upper elementary grade levels. In fact I have kind of suggested that to one of my fifth grade teachers. She seemed interested, but I could tell she wasn’t fully buying into it yet.I guess time will tell.

I just can’t wait to see what is in store for this week. I am sure it will be lots of fun.

After reading these articles this week, I find it interesting how that particular group of people had the ever glowing lightbulb come on. I can totally see where the problems with adminstration could come into play. It amazes me that the powers that be want to dictate almost about what we are supposed to be doing and then we do it and suddenly we can’t do it anymore. There are so many things out there even beside wiki’s that we could be using for a technology aveune but yet they are blocked from our use.

I understand what a wiki is and how to use it, but I don’t see myself using this venue with my students. I could see myself using it if I had a peer response group. What an easy way to edit and give feedback to one another in such a hectic time. I think it would be cool to try it during project this summer, maybe have one of the several response groups totally using a wiki.

I can see where teachers could use wikis for collabration among teachers from different schools. For example… In the past year at both of my schools we had to work on a 5 year stragetic plan, which had to go through the whole writing process. Using the wiki would be an easy way for everyone to have an imput on the project.

Well what a week it has been. I must say I kinda liked having the week off. I had time to get in a little extra grading that I was letting slide by. (I know shame on me)

Can you believe that it is the first week of spring and we are having icy, snowy conditions? I woke up this morning and looked out of the window and wanted to go back to bed and cover my head up. I don’t know about you all but I am ready for warmer weather, and my head would like it too.

I hope everyone is doing well. I know that Karen is. It must be nice to be down south during our cold times up here. I wish I were with you. I was spoiled two weekends ago when I was down there in the 80 degreee weather and not a cloud in the sky. I guess it will warm up eventually. I just want it to do it faster.

Ok enough with the rambling. I hope everyone is doing well. Until next time.

I just want to say that I know for some of you all of the work we have been putting into this project has been a little much, and yes I understand what you are saying about time. (Deloris would love the fact that I am saying this) Let me be the first to tell you that in the long run it is so worth it to finish a project like this. I remember Deloris and I pretty sure Karen too tell me to “Trust The Process”. I didn’t really understand that statment at first but I do know. Just when you think you are not getting done what needs to be done, you will find the time and energy to get it done. So for all of our new friends I give you this advice: Trust the Process!

Ok Now for the weeks events… I like using the NiceNet space. I will definately have to use it more to really and truly understand how it really works, but I am enjoying it so far. When we are using the technologies that we have been using the past 3-4 weeks it kind of makes me wish that I had a little older group to work with, but I think I am truly going to think real hard this summer and try to put something together for next year. I think I even have the group of students that I would like to try it with.

It seemed to be a very interesting conversation that we had on Monday evening using Tapped In. It is amazing to me how such small things like changing the font and maximizing the screen can make all the difference in your expierence using the site. Yet when I first logged in that was the first thing that I did was change the font and maximize the screen for my own comfort. Even though we were using a new “technology” some of us wanted it to work like the other technology we had been using. I just kind of find this strange. Actually it didn’t matter to me which chat tool we used. I will say that I did like the Tapped In space a little better that the MOO space.

It was interesting to see what different people picked out to like over the Moo. For example some liked the non-refreshing screen every time you turned around, others like the fact that you could still use some of the same commands in Tapped In as they did in the MOO. I think I just liked the fact that we were doing something different. I enjoy getting out and seeing new different things on the web.

We were asked to discuss some essential tools that we need for teaching. To be quite honest I had never really thought about that. I just take for granted I guess that I will just go to work and everything will be right there for me to use and I don’t have to worry about anything. I have sense realized that one of my biggest essential tools that I need is a room, and I don’t know why I didn’t think of this the other night, but I have thought about it sense then. I entered into my third year of teaching this year, and since my first year I have shared a room with the art teacher. Now don’t get me wrong I love her dearly, as a matter of fact she is like a second mom. None the less I have not had my own room for which to call my own, and last year I spent the whole year on a cart traveling from room to room. I often wonder how my world would be different if I had my own room with which I could put my things where I wanted them and not have to worry about whether the other person will approve. Fortunately, I should have a brand new building in a couple of years, so maybe just maybe I will get to finally see what my own room will be like.

Again what a week it has been. Is anyone else having the feeling that they are in need of a really long vacation. This seems to happen to me about this time every year. Right now I am currently in Middletown, Oh visiting some relatives, so my forgive me if my reflection seems vague.

Unlike Diane I enjoyed using the Tabulas this week, and I am looking forward to Monday night’s discussion using Tapped-In. For whatever reason I can not find the transcript for the moo, however I did like the discussion we had about the blogs and etc. I am sure that where there is a will there is a way to make blogs and virtual classrooms (like tapped-in) work for our students. I do like using my blog for my students as well as their parents. It is a great way to get information out to them because we all know that notes and annoucement don’t always make it in the backpacks and to mom or dad’s hand.

I like the tapped in space. This is one that I would like to expierment with my students. I thought about selecting a small group of fifth grade students and expierementing with them using the tapped-in space if that is possible. What do you all think? I think the kids would like it, but I am not sure (I need to think it through a little more) exactly how to go about doing that.

Well I think that is about it for me this week. I hope everyone has had and is having a great weekend because come Monday morning it is back to the old grindstone.

(Forgive me if this sounds like rambling)    

Do they really think differently? I think that is a really interesting question, yet a good title for this article. I was amazed by the statistics in beginning of this article. Between all of the hours playing video games, talking on cell phones, watching TV, and the 500,000 commericals, it is no wonder that only 5,000 hours were spent actually reading real “hold them in your hand” books. I must say that when I was growing up, I spent many, many hours listening to music and talking on our wall hung telephone. I actually watch more TV now then I did when I was younger. I didn’t have a cell phone until I was a freshman in college, and yet it amazes me that my elementary students already have their own cell phones.

I liked seeing the experiment in the article about a musicians brain vs a nonmusician’s brain. I have heard about studies exactly like this one for years. It has been scientifically proven that those students who participate in the arts score higher on the SAT and ACT’s. 

Prensky states that ”social psychology provides strong evidence that one’s thinking patterns change depending on one’s expieriences.” I would have to go along with that statement.  I love the fact and find comfort in the thought that we are all different. You could take a group of people working on a project and you could end up having several ways of accomplishing that one task. If I assigned a class project to my students and each and everyone one of them heard the same explanation, I am sure that each one of them will get some different out of the project.

Attention spans….what a great topic. It seems to me that attention spans now days are a lot shorter than they were when I was in school. It is funny for me to think about that, sometimes I sit back and I observe a class and think “did I act that way when I was in school?” Don’t get me wrong I have some good students but a good percentage of them have minds working at the speed of 1000 miles per minute, on top of not being able to sit still.  Prensky makes the statement, ”it generally isn’t that Digital Natives can’t pay attention, it’s that they choose not to.” Just like with the Sesame Street example, I could be giving a discussion to a class and have a handfull of students really in truly paying 100% attention to me and have the rest tuning me in and out and sometimes get better results out of the students who I thought were not paying attention. It is for this reason that I try very hard to switch up my activities every 5-8 minutes. I might be using the same topic, but different activities to get that topic across.

I liked the game-based learning section of this article, and I have heard the comments that educators make about the games “sugar coating” the learning expierence. I don’t see it as sugar coating, I see the games as one more outlet to get your point across. (that is if the game is designed well) I love to use anything that can get the point across to my students easier than I can. And yes they will sometimes respond better to a game or video than to their teacher. Like Prensky says “Practice-time spent on learing- works.” I love this statement. It is almost like words to live by for musicians. Musicians spend all of their lives practices for the next big thing with a big payoff in the end. If “games capture their attention and make it happen” like Prensky says then why don’t we take that extra step and make it happen.

I whole-heartedly agree with Mr. Prensky when he says that ”digital native studnets depend very much on us”. So, why then is it so hard for us to get through? I will say that they may be thinking differently, but maybe we as educators should be thinking differently too. 

     What an intresting week it has been. I have had so many things going on this week. I didn’t think I was going to finish all of my work.

     I really liked the reading assignment for this week. It has been awhile since I have had to write a “paper” so to speak. I can’t believe I am going to say this, but it felt good to write again.

     I am interested in seeing how the tabulas is going to work. I am not quite sure how I could use it in my classroom. I will definately have to explore it some more.

      I love using the weblogs. I must admit when I was first introduced to the whole blog world I was like why don’t you just make a webpage. I even went as far as to make a webpage. However, I saw the light with the blogs. I use them in my classroom. As a matter of fact if you would like to go and check it out, feel free to do so. It is www.muwp.org/muwp65 .

     One idea I wrote about this week was about being a Digital T&E (trail and error). I just want to say that I would love to consider myself a Digital Native, but needless to say I don’t take the time to educate myself like I should to accomplish that goal. I guess I have been happy about just picking up new things here and there. One day though I will as Emeril says “kick it up a notch”.

After reading this article, it took me back and made me start thinking about how I came into this technological run world. When I was a little girl it was common for everyone not to have a computer at home. We were stuck with the confines of using computers at school. Using word processing on the computer didn’t even come into my world until I was in middle school. I can remember typing my fifth grade social studies fair project  using a really old typewriter. Fast forwarding a little to the present, now I can’t live without using technology tools everyday. I am always on the computer whether that be checking email, surfing the web, helping others, or playing the ever addiciting online computer games.

How did I get to where I am today with technology? Well I think it is because I am not afriad to try new things. I am in the world of Digital T&E, which stands for Digital Trail and Error. I don’t consider myself a Digital Immigrant, nor do I consider myself a Digital Native. I find myself somewhere in between the two worlds. I think many of our educators today are a little afriad or apprehensive to try using new tools in the technology world. I believe many of them think that they have to be an “expert” with computers in order to be technologically sound, but you really only have to know a little mroe than the next person or people you are working with. We need to get used to the feeling of working off of each others knowledge and possibly combine the worlds of Digital T&E with the Digital Natives.

So, how do we teach our children in this tecnologically growing world? I believe we need to let the students  be more apart of the process. Often times when I am working or talking with the students about technology the give me ideas to think about more than I would give them ideas, and this is at the elementary level. I agree with Mr. Prensky, students today really haven’t changed, only how they go about doing things has changed. I would have never thought of watching TV and listening to the radio all while doing homework when I was coming up through the ranks. However by the time I hit college, I could have five or more people on the IM while trying to type a paper, with the TV going on in the background.

I enjoy being in a technology-driven world. Yes, I get frustrated sometimes with technology, but I still get excited when a new tool is brought into our world. As a matter of fact I can’t wait to get the new Smart Boards at school. I am hoping that I with the help of a couple of others get the other educators excited as well. I have already heard the moaning and groaning of how they won’t use it because it will take more time. I ask myself what if I put in an extra 10-15 minutes of my time, would that be more recieved by my students? I think ninety percent or better of the time the answer to the question will be yes, then why wouldn’t I go the extra mile. I think back how much cooler school could have been when I was in school if we had been exposed to the opportunities we have today to use with our students.

Wow… thoughts about weeks one.

For starters I know that this is just the calm before the storm. However I am a little fraustrated right now, simply because I wrote a nice response on the EWP blog and it wouldn’t post. The sad thing is that I can’t seems to put the words back together the way I had them. So I went onto the next step and I will go back there later. It is a shame that there is not a save draft option or something. Oh well…welcome to the world of technology.

I have really started to see how cool bloglines can be. When we first looked at Bloglines last summer I didn’t think I had a use for it, but I am really liking it now. Could it be something I use in the class room well that is waiting to be seen.