CEP 810 - Personal Learning Reflection

I have learned so much about how to use technology in the classroom as well as how to use it  professionally from taking CEP 810.  I learned about the iste.nets for teachers and students and know how to make lesson plans that incorporate technology into all subjects areas so that my students can use digital tools that promote learning as well as student creativity.  Integrating the Internet has made me much more comfortable using technology in my teaching this semester because I was given the opportunity to explore, make mistakes and have successes that built up my confidence and gave me knowledge that I needed to become more tech savvy.  It was very useful to not only be given strategies and information about how important it is to have students use technology, but to be able to watch video’s, explore one area of technology in depth with the SIG group, and to learn specific tools that will helped me to be a more effective teacher in and out of the classroom.  I learned how important it is to take students learning styles into account when designing lesson plans, and how it is so important for teachers to teach students to become life long learners that are responsible for their own learning rather than just being directed by the teacher.

The SIG group assignment on SMART Boards really exemplifies good teaching.  I really enjoyed learning about the SMART Board with two other individuals that had similar interests as I did.  I thought it was really neat that we lived in three different states and were able to collaborate and make a final presentation project together using technology.  It helped me to see how the same type of assignments could be done in a class among classmates or even across the country.  This particular assignment was very rewarding to me because it made me more confident in my classroom with using the SMART Board which was my goal in taking this class.  

I have met some of my original goals.  I have already incorporated many of the lessons that I learned about the SMART Board in my daily teaching.  In my professional and personal life I have begun to use the blogging tools, RSS reader tools and the Calendar tool.  I love that I can be organized and have information at my fingertips.  My new goal is to teach the teachers at my school to use the tools such as the SMART Board, Google calendar, the cloud, and twitter to help all of us become more effective teachers.  My long term goal is to continue to learn about the newest technologies that are available to me and to take more professional development opportunities that teach me more about how to be an effective 21st century teacher.

CEP 810 - Learning Styles

  

 

this screenshot is the results of my Learning Styles Profile

According to the Learning Syles Inventory, it is apparent that I am a social, physical and logical learner.  I didn't peak in one learning style by a lot, which I think means that I rely on many styles of learning.  I know that in the past, I have hated to give oral presentations, but have become better at is as time has gone by.  I teach a curriculum called "MOVE" and dread having to get up in front of people to present it, afterwards I get several compliments on what a good presenter I am and that it was very clear that "MOVE" is a passion of mine.  The fact that I am a physical learner doesn't suprise me because I can remember things a lot better when I actually do them rather than just hearing directions about how to do it.  It really helps me to do things a couple of times in order to reinforce that I know each step.  I think I am memorizing the steps more than I am understanding the concept of how to do it.  I remember when I was in high school math, I would use several sheets of paper doing math problems because I would do each step as I had been taught.  I wouldn't combine two steps into one line, in fear that I would mess up the problem.  I had to solve them the long way even if it meant using a whole page for one problem.  My lowest scores on the Learning Styles Inventory was in verbal learning.  I know that I don't learn well from a lecture.   It is hard for me to determine what is important when someone is lecturing or telling a story.  What I pick up or remember from the story isn't always what the person is wanting for me to remember.  I remember being in a history class in high school and my teacher would tell a story about a war as if he was in it.  It was very hard for me to then remember details such as dates, events and locations for each of the different wars.  I would try to take notes or outline events as he was telling his story, but I was never able to do well on his tests because it was so hard for me to memorize his stories. 

I always knew that I was a kineshetic learner, but this inventory made it much clearer to me.  I enjoy learning new things by doing them.  The inventory said that kinesthetic learners are often good at playing musical instruments, and I played the violin and piano growing up.  I was also a gymnast and a dancer.  I was athletic and loved to collect things as well which is another sign of being a kinesthetic learner.  When doing a project, I like to have examples of someones finished work to go off of because I always second guess myself, which is yet another sign of a kinesthetic learner. 

This inventory was a very insightful tool for me.  I think that this inventory could be used very effectivly with middle school and high school students to help them to know what study techniques they could adopt to help them become better learners, studiers and test takers.

In the classroom setting, there are students from each of these different learning styles.  Therefore, it is important that teachers incorporate these learning styles into their lessons.  The teachers focus should be to use at least 2 learning styles for each lesson that they teach.  Maybe part of a lesson is a listening or lecture style activity and then the students move on to an activity where they are physically manipulating items, or are working in small groups on a project.  The goal of the teacher should be to keep his or her students engaged during the lesson.  This has to be done through proper lesson planning, which takes time and effort on the teachers part.  I believe that many teachers are using technology such as SMART Boards, Blogs,  and Computers to accomodate student's different learning styles.

CEP 810 - Creative Commons

Pumpkins, Charlecote
  © Copyright Derek Harper and licensed for reuse under
this Creative Commons Licence.

 I use pictures in my curriculum a lot.  My students love to see pictures on the SMART Board.  I have created several digital storybooks that use pictures to tell a story.  I tell a story or talk about a subject as the pictures go through a slide show.   Just this week I started talking about Halloween and we are going to a pumpking patch for a field trip.  I used this picture to show my students how they will be selecting a pumpkin to bring back to school. I also had a picture of a pumpkin patch to show them what the pumpkins look like in the field. 

I haven't given much thought about copyright laws when using pictures in my classroom.  This week's lessons have been an eye opener for me.  In the past when I have come across pictures that had a faded label or image over the picture, I assumed that meant that the picture was copyrighted and couldn't be used.  If I was able to copy the picture and there wasn't a notice to stop me, then I assumed that I was free to use it.  I understood that if I was going to use a picture or video in a presentation that I would be expected to ask permission or to cite that I used someone else's photo in my reference section.  It does make me wonder what would happen if you were caught using someones video or photo?  What is the penalty or price that you would pay?  I have a Flickr account from another class I took, but don't use it much because it is easier to google for the images that I want.  Knowing more about the copyright laws makes me think that I will make use of my account a lot more now.

Here is a link to an image that I uploaded to Flickr and copyrighted using Creative Commons.

CEP 810 - PC Maintenance and Security

Explaining what intrusion detection software does
I chose a tutorial about intrusion detection software thinking that it was software that detects when an intruder comes in from the Internet and accesses my computer.  What I learned and will share with others is that intrusion detection is actually a much more advanced form of anti-virus software.  Where anti-virus software only detects known viruses based on virus signatures, intrusion detection software appears to detect changes to key windows files and processes.  The tutorial compares intrusion detection to looking at behaviors, while anti-virus software really only looks at fingerprints.  I was surprised to find out that my anti-virus software doesn't protect against 'all' viruses.  It only protects against viruses it knows about.  I can see where there is a need for intrusion detection software that checks to see if there are differences between how the computer is supposed to behave (start up, registry, processes) compared to how it is behaving.

Securing Internet Explorer
I chose the Securing Internet Explorer tutorial because that is the web browser that came with Windows on my PC.  I learned that there are settings that can be enabled or disabled which control how Internet Explorer behaves.  I will share with others that under the 'Internet Options' menu item, one should choose settings to only allow signed active-x controls because unsigned active-x controls usually come from a source that is not safe.  One thing that surprised me was that I can get spyware and malware just by clicking on a link on a web page if that page was created by someone motivated on distributing these types of items.  I thought you actually had to "install" something to get infected.  Rather, it can happen as easily as clicking on a hyperlink.  It turns out there are security settings that allow you to "disable install on demand" functionality, preventing applications from being installed when you click on them (e.g. on demand).

Setting up Content Advisor in Internet Explorer
I chose the 'Setting up Content Adviser in Internet Explorer' because I was hoping to find that there were tools that could filter the content that my children may be exposed to on the Internet.  The main thing I learned that I will share with others is that Microsoft has built in to their web browser the ability to control the viewing of inappropriate content.  Using Content advisor I can set the levels I am willing to accept my children seeing on the Internet in regards to language, nudity, sex, and violence.  I can set the levels for each category individually to prevent my kids from seeing things or words that I don't want them to see.  Not only was I surprised to see that this feature was built in to the software, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I can set a supervisory password that will be required in order to change any of settings.  This means that they won't be able to override the settings that I choose because they won't be have the password.  As a parent I can say, 'Nice feature Microsoft'.

CEP 810 - Getting Things Done

I organized my "Getting Things Done" (GTD) process using an app that I found for my iPhone.  I searched the Apple App Store for "GTD" and found an application called 'Action Lists for iPhone - GTD Task Manager'. that claimed to follow David Allen's GTD system.   I chose to use an iPhone app because it is something I always have with me, which will tend to make me use it more regularly.  I am always checking email and Facebook on my iPhone, so now I can also be checking my GTD tasks.  This application allowed me to 'Collect' all of my tasks into an 'inbox', just by selecting to add new tasks.   I used the GTD 'Process' step while entering tasks, instead of entering all tasks first, and then deciding if the task was short or actionable.  Since I had limited time to work on this project, I opted not to include the tasks that were not actionable, nor the tasks that were less than 2 minutes to do.  The application then allowed me to 'Organize' the tasks into projects, calendar, next actions, and waiting, just like the GTD process mentions

Going through the GTD process for the first time was actually pretty straight forward since I used an application that guided me through it.   The application "forced" me to follow the process.   Pencil and paper, or a general task list application, would have required me to know and apply the GTD process.   Instead, this application pretty much helped guide me through the GTD process.  Not knowing what I was getting in to, I kept the number of tasks to a manageable size so that I could pay attention to learning the process rather than spending precious time entering all of my tasks.

I think the GTD process will actually help me become better organized and hopefully relieve much of the stress I feel from trying to maintain too many tasks in my head.  What I like about this process is that tasks become more than just a list of things I need to get done, now they are organized and prioritized.  Normally, my tasks would just fall into buckets of 'Home', 'Work', and 'School' tasks, without any type of prioritization.  So as these buckets filled up, I just begin to feel more and more overwhelmed.  The GTD process puts another level of categorization on my task list.  Now, my tasks are organized more by when they are due, not by what type of task (work, home, school).  This will allow me to see what tasks I have a commitment to finish, which tasks have actual calendar due dates, which tasks/actions just need to be done as soon as possible, and which tasks I am waiting on for some reason or another.

I am going to (try to) continue using this GTD process, if anything it will help me keep track of all of my CEP 810 assignments :)   I am hoping that having the tasks collected in this application will help lower my anxiety of trying to remember everything, helping me to focus on doing tasks, rather than worrying about tasks.  Plus, having my tasks readily available on my phone will hopefully make it easier to continue to use the process.   The other thing I learned that I will try to do is to identify which tasks are actually actionable, and which ones are short enough that I should just do them right away.  Hopefully that will keep my task list down to a manageable size and give me fewer items to have to worry about.

CEP 810 - Social Networking

Facebook is my only social network experience so far.  I started using Facebook about a year ago because my friends were bugging me to create an account so we could keep in touch.  Now that I have an account, I use it for personal networking with my family and extended family as well as with my friends on a daily basis.  I like to keep up with what is going on in their lives.  I have an iPod and have my Facebook account set up so that I get updates every time someone posts on my Facebook account.  I tend to look at other peoples news feeds a few times throughout the day, but rarely do I post anything on my page.  When I went on an anniversary trip to Hawaii, I posted pictures for my children to see almost daily.  It made me feel connected and felt more personal than just talking on the phone.  We could talk about the picture and what we were doing at the time.  I haven't really explored all of the features that Facebook has, but I do enjoy keeping up with family and friends on it.  I have not used a Social Networking site professionally.  I had not even heard of LinkedIn or Nings like MACUL or Classroom 2.0 until this session in 810.  I signed up for each of them today and can see that they could be very useful in most classrooms.  Looking at LinkedIn, I can see how it would be useful to have a social network that allows me to communicate about my career in education. 

I am not able to social networks with my own students because of the severity of their disabilities, but I would definitely use it with my peers.  I can see that I could share lesson plan ideas, post things to other teachers that I work with, or teachers in my field of special education across the country.  I am eager to use the resources in classroom 2.0 to find applications that are appropriate for my students or my field in special education.  I am excited to search for others that have similar classrooms as I have to see if there are good ideas that can be shared with teachers in my school.  I would love to learn enough about these tools so that I could introduce them to my colleagues at work.  I think that some of them would be really excited about using these social networks.  I can especially see this being used with my students parents to help them to get networked with other parents that have children with similar disabilities as their own children.  Overall, I am pleased with what I have learned about social networks and can't wait to explore then more in depth.

CEP 810 - RSS Page Reflection

I checked my news feeds daily since subscribing to them in Google Reader.  By following the RSS feeds, I found that some news feeds have too many posts such as NPR.  It becomes overwhelming to look through all of them to find something that might be interesting.  Some subscriptions had so many that if they weren't checked daily there would be hundreds to go through, so most likely I would not go through them thoroughly and would probably miss information that could have been useful.  Other subscriptions haven't had any new feeds since May, such as the EduTech Today Newsletter.  The CEC Smartbriefs feed gives a good amount of posts daily and it is easy to scan them to see if there are any articles that I am interested in.  On the CEC feed I found information on how iPads can be used to help the visually impaired, and I have a visually impaired student.  On CEC I also found an interesting article on Down Syndrome and how their families live happy lives because they have a child with a disability.  This was particularly interesting to me because I have a daughter with Down Syndrome.   The Rifton feed about mobility equipment is my favorite because it has several success stories and videos of how to use the equipment that I have in my classroom.   I don't know how to provide proof that I have been reading feeds.  All I know is that I spend time engrossed in information that I had previously didn't even know was available, and this causes me to have to stay up very late to get my homework done.   Here is a screenshot that attempts to show my subscriptions up to date:

I don't find myself participating in, or commenting on, many of these news feed articles. I am the same way with my Facebook account. I like to read information, but I do not (yet) have the confidence to provide information. I did feel compelled to comment on a Rifton post about a new Activity Chair they have produced.  I have an Activity Chair in my class that I use with my students and we have just ordered another one.

Here is a screenshot of my RSS Page in Google Reader.  It includes the 4 feeds that were required as well as the 4 feeds of my choice, which were:
  1) Adaptive Mobility and Positioning Blog by Rifton
  2)  CEC Smartbrief
  3) Enabling Devices which is Assistive Technology Innovation
  4) The Ingham ISD News, which is where I work.

I have learned a lot about following feeds.  To start with, I had no idea what an RSS feed even was before taking this class.  The benefits of having an RSS Reader is that you can choose what feeds to follow and keep up with up to date information in the teaching field.  What was most interesting for me was to learn that I could follow the Ingham ISD's feeds to get the latest updates in one place and I no longer have to wait for our secretary to pass out the Boards News Briefs about what issues were discussed at the board meeting.  I can also follow Rifton's feeds to read articles and success stories without having to go to the Rifton site and search their news letters.  I have shared some of the success stories from the Rifton blog feeds with my parapro's to encourage them as well as to back up things that I do in the classroom that they have questioned such as beginning toileting students in my class that are in their twenties.

This learning about RSS feeds will certainly have an impact on my classroom.  As a teacher, the things that I have learned using Google Reader to see news feeds will impact me as a teacher because I will be able to check them weekly or daily to read up on what is current in education.  I will be able to use the things I learn from Rifton specifically in my training for the "MOVE" program.  When I am doing training, it is always best to use success stories that are within the last year.  I can bundle my RSS feeds and make them available on my blog so that my trainee's can have access to all of these Rifton feeds by following my blog.  I plan on using news feeds to find lesson plans that are specific to special education.  I will be able to get materials that other have made for SMART Boards rather than spending my time making programs to use myself.  I am excited about having the ability to connect with other special educators that are in similar classrooms as mine.  It is very hard to create meaningful lessons that are created for severely multiply impaired students that are specific for students that have no or very limited ability to communicate.  I am not an expert in the area of technology and have found it difficult to come up with meaningful subject materials for older students that isn't geared towards young children.  Everything is suppose to be "age appropriate" for our students, but their cognitive ability is on the average between 6 months and 2 years old, so you can imagine how difficult this is.  It would be nice to collaborate among other teachers that have the same challenge across the country.  although my students wouldn't be able to access my RSS feeds to benefit them in the classroom, I plan on using RSS feeds to share with my students parents to keep them up to date with articles and information that is pertinent to their child or to things we are doing in the classroom.

CEP 810 - Blogging Lab

Differences Between Traditional Web Pages and Blogs

There are several differences between traditional web pages and blogs.  Traditional web pages are collected together within a web site.  These pages are informational and usually static in nature.  Web pages can contain hyperlinks, which direct the user to other web pages within a web site, or to other related information located in other web sites.  Web pages are typically meant to be one way informational, where the reader pretty much can just read the information.  A 'blog', or 'Web Log', is a type of website that has appeared with the advent of 'Web 2.0', where web sites have become more interactive, personal, and conversational.  Blogs provide a means for an individual, or a group of common individuals, to publish their thoughts and opinions on just about any topic they desire.  It is typical for a blog to be on specific topic or idea, but that is not required.  A blog contains 'posts', where a post is a published entry by an author, which allows them to express their thoughts or information that they may have.  The collection of posts in a blog are typically ordered from newest post to oldest.  Readers of the blog have the opportunity to make comments about what the author has posted, making blogging a truly interactive and converstaional forum for users to express their thoughts.  Web pages opened up the world of information, and have evolved into blogging, where it is now easier for anyone, not just web site authors, to put their views out there and allow the world to comment on them.