Happy Birthday to My Blog!

Holy Cow! An entire year has gone by already. My intent with this post was to reflect on my Ed Tech journey over the past year and all that I have learned, but I'm not sure that I'll be able to put it into any coherent form. When I think about all I have learned my mind jumps from one thing to another like a drop of water on a hot skillet. Therefore, I will simply make a random list about my growth over the past year.

1. I STILL can't believe that I went to the Google Teacher Academy at the Googleplex last summer. That day started this whole wild ride and I've loved every minute of it. Sometimes I'm successful with all of the cool tools I learned about and sometimes I'm not, but it's always interesting. I feel very fortunate to have had the experience with Google and the fabulous presenters that day. As a result, I have become MUCH more of a tech evangelist. Our students use technology to get information every day, but it seems that many in education are reluctant to tap into that.
   
2. Within a week of attending GTA I had started this blog and joined Twitter. As I've said before here and here, I learn something new on Twitter every day. For me, Twitter is primarily a professional thing; I follow teachers and other education professionals. Just last night, because of Twitter, I found the YouTube Reporter's Center and links to several blog posts summarizing sessions from NECC '09.
   
3. In the past year I've learned to be less afraid of technology. Actually, I'm not sure that I ever was afraid of it, I was just cautious. This week I've given my blog a facelift and earlier in the year I finally figured out the timeline gadget in Google Spreadsheet. Both of those tasks would have been beyond me a year ago...not so much that I couldn't do them, but I would have been afraid to try.

So, where does this leave me? I know I still have much to learn. I find I spend much more time thinking about how to make my classroom more student centered. I believe this is especially important now that I am in a journalism lab. The dynamics of the physical layout, in my opinion, demand a different way of teaching and learning. There are new tools that I want to try (like Skype). I want to attend more webinars this year and plan to 'attend' this year's K12 Online Conference in December.

I am looking forward to learning this year. Stay tuned for updates!

Day 3 The Thank You

Day 3 of the "30 Days to Being a Better Blogger" Challenge suggests that we write thank-yous to those who have helped and inspired us in our blogging journeys. I've been blogging for just a few months and already have a whole host of people who are inspiring me on a daily basis. However, there is one educator in particular that I'd like to thank right now.

Vicki Davis (coolcatteacher) was the Keynote Speaker at the Google Teacher Academy last June. I honestly don't remember if she even mentioned blogging, but I started reading her blog and she ALWAYS seems to have just what I need, when I need it. My favorite nuts and bolts post is "Ten Habits of Bloggers that Win!" I read it a few weeks after I started blogging. She has also written asking the question "are you part of the solution or part of the problem?" Just today, as I am looking for sites that contain appropriate copyright free or creative commons license images, she posts "Let's get kids out of Google Images and into Good, Free, Legal Photos."

So, Vicki, thank you for all of the hard work that you do in your own classroom, at conferences and in cyberspace. You have given me the courage to start blogging and continue to write about my own journey as a teacher trying to integrate Web 2.0 tools.

Day 2 of Blogger Challenge: Site Statistics

Day 2 of the Be a Better Blogger Challenge asks us to start thinking about site stats. This is a good idea as we never know when we might need them. I started this blog as a result of my participation in the Google Teacher Academy last June. Part of my responsibility as a Google Certified Teacher is to get the word out about Google Tools for the classroom and other Web 2.0 tools. I decided that one way I could do that is through a blog. CGTs do periodically report on what they are doing, so having site statistics could be useful.

As recommended by Steve Dembo, I signed up for a free account at Site Meter to track visitors to my site. I had previously been using ClustrMaps, but it doesn't give detailed information. I have been able to see that my blog has had 101 hits since September 1, 2008, but I think many of those are me. I can also see where my visitors are on the map which is pretty exciting since I've had visitors from five continents!

One of the things I do like about Site Meter is the detailed reports I can get even with a free account. I can even exclude my own computer from stats. I am looking forward to see who is visiting this little blog and where they are coming from.

Oh, The Places You Can Go!

I have realized, with something of a jolt, that I am the "newbiest" of newbies to Web 2.0 in the classroom. Here I thought I was gaining some foothold in this exciting new world, and then, WHAM, I get knocked back to earth. This is not a bad thing.

Last night I read Vicki Davis' post, at her blog Cool Cat Teacher, "A Second Look at Second Life Filmaking." When I was at the Google Teacher Academy in June, I heard several teachers talking about using Second Life in the classroom. Since then, I have been reading bits here and there about it. I am familiar with Second Life only in the most basic of ways. I still don't understand how you can make real money in a virtual world, but that's for another time.

Vicki's entry made my head hurt. NOT in a bad way, but in a way that made my brain have to stretch and work to visualize the possibilities. I read Diane Carr's article Machinima in Education, recommended by Vicki, and whimpered. Then I visited Machinima.com.

I watched a couple of videos and suddenly understood that I had seen machinima before. Last spring two different student groups put together videos that integrated video from games into their overall presentation (specifically, re-enacting battles from history). At the time, I thought it was a great idea to put the videos together that way. Educationally, it seemed to work too, as they were showing their understanding of battles and strategies through the character action. After reading about machinima, I want to go back to those students and talk to them about their process and using virtual worlds in class projects.

At the same time I am getting excited about all of this, I realize, with some sadness, that Second Life and Machinima are not in the cards yet. I still have a long way to go to get up to speed with Web 2.0, but that's okay. I realize there is much to do where I am, let alone where I'll be in two or three years!

It's a brave new world and I'm excited to be here!

Reason for Being

Back in the day, when I was a newbie teacher, I integrated technology into my lessons whenever I could. I even went to far as to scour bulletin boards for used computers to put in my classroom (not that computers are the be all and end all of tech integration). Somewhere along the line, I lost my way and...well, got lazy. My integration efforts were reduced to PowerPoint presentations and the odd website demonstration to my classes. It was sad.

However, over the past year, with the help of an enthusiastic newbie teacher, I have become reinvigorated with technology integration ideas for my classroom. I have also come to believe that I am NOT entirely meeting the needs of my students because of the lack of tech integration into the curriculum. The most immediate kick in the pants came from the Google Teacher Academy held at the Googleplex. My head was spinning after a day immersed in awesome ideas surrounded by some of the most amazing teachers in the country. So, I've started reading articles and blogs online, have dusted off some of the old lessons, and am ready to start anew.

Of course, like most classroom teachers, I'm busy and don't want to spend hours and hours learning complicated software. So, my purpose here is to chronicle my journey back to the Land of Technology Integration. As with any lesson, some things are going to work well and others will fall flat. That's okay. I'll let you know either way. Hopefully you'll be able to take some of my ideas and use them and will avoid the mistakes that I make along the way.