Journal 4

Join the Flock

Enhance Your Twitter Experience - NETS 4

Miller, S. M. (2010). Enhance your twitter experience . Learning and Leading with technology, 37(8), 13-16. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publication/learning- leading/digitaledition/digital-edition-june-july-2010  

Ferguson, H. (2010). Join the flock. Learning and Leading with technology, 37(8), 12-14. Retrieved fromhttp://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning- leading/digitaledition/digital-edition-june-july-2010

Summary

"Join the Flock" written by Hadley Ferguson is an informative article about using Twitter to create or expand a Professional Learning Network or (PLN). I think that teachers using Twitter is a good idea. There is so much information and it is extremely easy to follow leaders of the education field. Ferguson wrote this in a very low pressure tone. He tells the reader that it is OK to stand in the shadows for a while and just take it all in. I think this is a good way to introduce this new world of communication. Many people in our 422 class were confused of the purpose of Twitter when we first made our accounts and I think it takes some time to get used to the idea. 
"Enhance your Twitter Experience" by Shannon McClintock Miller was a good second article to read because she took using Twitter to the next level. She offered a dictionary of Twitter-related lingo. She also provided a few examples of Twapplications, which are applications that make using Twitter easier and more organized. 

What is a PLN and why is it a useful resource to educators?

A PLN is a Professional Learning Network that can be used to learn and share information with others in the education world. A teacher's Personal Learning Network can be a great asset because it can be used for getting new ideas for lessons and activities. A teacher can also share activities that work well in his or her classroom with other teachers and education professionals.

What are some ways to enhance your Twitter Experience?

One example Shannon McClintock Miller mentioned that lots of people use is called TweetDeck. Tweet Deck is an application that organizes all of the tweets coming into your twitterstream. Utilizing Tweet Deck can make being part of a twitter conversation possible because it organizes all of the tweets coming in with a certain hashtag. When all of the tweets are in one place, they are formatted by cchronologically and accessible to anyone.
  

Journal 3

Students Need a Digital Driver's License Before They Start Their Engines - NETS 4

Swan, G., & Park, M. (2012). Students need a digital driver's license before they start their engines. Learning and Leading with technology, 40(5), 26-28. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-leading/digitaledition/digital-edition-february-2013

 

Reflection

     At first, I took the title of this article literally and I thought it was about an actual digital driver's license. Once I grasped what I was really reading, I decided that I really liked this idea. I think that it fulfills a need that has not been here before. All of the new technology that is getting more and more attainable poses new obstacles that we need to meet and overcome and the area of education is not immune. So many students have their own smartphone/laptop/tablet and many schools provide devices that students can take home with them. Students are using these devices to communicate with their classmates and the digital driver's license is a program that students would take to make sure that they have developed digital citizenship and take responsibility for their actions on the internet. 

In what ways are schools are using the digital driver's license?

     Schools use the program in different ways. Some use it as a way to allow students to use the school network on their own devices. Another school used it as a prerequisite to take the school-provided devices home with them. I think either or both of these examples are easily attainable for students.

How widely used is the program?

     According to the article, 14,000 students have used the program since 2011. I think that this program should be used more because technology is always becoming more prevalent in schools. I think that it will increase the sense of digital citizenship and influence students to act responsibly when using technology.

Journal 2

Learning Without Borders - NETS 1,2,3, and 4

Anderson, S. (2012). Feature: Learning without borders. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-leading/l-l-december-january-2012-13/feature-learning-without-borders

  

Summary

     The article Learning Without Borders by Sue Anderson is about her experience with a program called Schoolwires Greenleaf. This program is a virtual international exchange classroom where her students in Pennsylvania worked with middle/high school students in Beijing, China. The purpose of this assignment was to learn how to work and learn in the digital age. The students benefited by getting to know peers in China as friends. The students would work on projects together and the Chinese students translated. The technology the students used was what connected them. They were able to share emails, and using a program, they could share documents and work on them at the same time. The American students had to be very careful with their writing to the Chinese students because they could not use slang or anything that the Chinese students would not be able to understand. The students were able to show their digital citizenship and responsibility through participating in this program.

What kinds of technology issues did the students run into during the program?

      The students had a few problems with not being able to open documents because they were old versions. "Schoolwires has since created a tool within the platform where students can work collaboratively on a document." (Anderson 2012)

How did the students work together?

     The students worked as groups and each group worked with another group in China. For the second year that they are in now, Anderson said that they want individual students paired up with other individuals in China so that they are able to get to know each other better. 

Journal 1

100 Things That Make Me Happy:

Reese's cake

1 Hanging out with my Boyfriend Robert
2 Baking
3 Looking at the Sky
4 Listening to Music
5 Going to the Gym
6 Taking Baths
7 Watching Movies at Home
8 Going to the Movie Theater
9 Eating Popcorn
10 Cooking
11 Finishing Homework
12 Watching TV
13 The Beach
14 My Apartment being Clean
15 Number Pads on Keyboards
16 Dinners with My Family
17 Clean Laundry
18 Organizing My Stuff

Spongebob Pointing at my birthdate

19 Writing in a Diary
20 Singing Along to Music
21 Going to Disneyland
22 Figuring Stuff Out
23 Doing my Hair
24 Going to Target
25 Robert Playing Guitar
26 Reading Books
27 Reading Magazines
28 Trying Beauty Tips
29 Having Nothing To Do
30 Looking Through Yearbooks
31 Looking at my Pictures
32 Swimming in the Pool
33 Bathing Suit Shopping
34 Laugh Attacks
35 Candy
36 MY BIRTHDAY
37 Spongebob
38 Patrick

Me and My Boyfriend Robert

39 My comforter
40 When my Nails Look Cute
41 Making Cute Doodles
42 Funny Internet Stuff
43 Yoga Pants
44 Nana
45 New Stuff
46 Making Lists
47 Talking with an Accent
48 Learning
49 Going to Concerts
50 Swimming in the Ocean
51 Hershey's Hugs
52 Real Hugs
53 Listening to the Beatles
54 Going out to Dinner
55 Trying to Whistle
56 Sneakers
57 Feeling Accomplished
58 When the Weather is Nice
59 Decorating Birthday Cakes
60 Oatmeal
61 Going to Costco

Cake I made for my mom's 50th Birthday

62 Eating at Costco Foodcourt
63 Writing in a Brand New Spiral Notebook
64 Winning 
65 Playing Catchphrase and Winning
66 Summer Days
67 Filling in my Planner
68 Watching Scary Movies
69 Holding Cute Babies
70 Getting Massaged
71 Being at Home
72 Making Tacos
73 Baseball Games
74 Going for Walks
75 Playing with Dogs
76 Flowers
77 Texting
78 Riding the Sprinter
79 Naps
80 Playing Ping Pong 
81 Nice Showers

A painting I made

82 Christmas
83 Decorating my Apartment for Christmas
84 Decorating for Birthdays
85 4th of July!
86 Halloween
87 Cinnamon
88 Mango with Chili
89 Dried Fruits
90 Breaking Bad
91 Making my own Trail Mix
92 Pesto
93 Camping
94 Hot Chocolate
95 Pumpkin Pie
96 Doing Teacher Stuff
97 Crafts
98 Workaholics
99 Community
100 Painting