And so it begins...

So the day has finally come... Tomorrow morning I begin my student teaching internship. It is absolutely crazy to think that I am going to be in this position for a whole school year. I have wanted to be a teacher my whole life and it is finally becoming a reality. I have a whole ton to learn and even more to experience, but I feel like this kind of learning can't be learned in a college classroom. So I am willing to see the roses and thorns of this profession...I pray that God would give me patience, wisdom, strength and determination... but for now I pray for sleep :). I pray that God would use me in some small way in the next school year in the lives of the students that I will come in contact with... may His glory shine through.

Its all for you Heavenly Father.

Chapter 9: New Schools

This chapter was interesting. It discussed the many different directions that Web 2.0 could take in the coming years. Over the course of the chapter, several miscellaneous notes were made. First of all, one of the main ideas that is developed is the use of technology that is used at home, should also be used at school. We must, as the chapter points out, not fear away from the use of social networks, cell phones and video games. We must embrace that technology because that is the world that our students live in. In research for another project I came across a program entitled wiffiti.com which uses cell phone texting to respond to questions in real time. This is a way for teachers to use cell phones that is educationally beneficial. Furthermore, I think that it is important the remark that is made about Web 4.0. I am excited about the progress that has been made since this book has been published. I think that there are great ideas in the world of education that can only help us in creating a technology community and a very fostering environment for our students.
Another idea that emerged in this chapter was the comment about David Warlick's bookA Day in the Life of Web 2.0 where he talks about how a school librarian subscribes to all of the teacher's blogs in order to use that information to keep on track in order to supplement the instruction when their students come to library. This makes me VERY excited, because this same concept could be used if I am an ESL teacher. One of the main challenges in teaching ESL is that some teachers don't keep you informed on what is going on in the classroom. With this kind of technology, the ESL teacher would be able to be "in the know" without the mainstream teacher doing any more work than just updating their class blog and assignment calendar.
Finally, I appreciate that the authors of this book realize that this is a changing and very dynamic field. I think that it is very interesting that they include their contact information at the end of the book. This shows that they are always looking for the latest ideas. This is a display of professionalism and a willingness to shift with the educational field.

Chapter 8: Systemic Issues

This chapter was very interesting to me since I am studying to become an ESL teacher and a Gifted Teacher. The former issue was addressed in somewhat lengthy detail in this chapter, providing helpful information for instructors. One of the things that I appreciated about this chapter was the suggestion for the use of blogs for communication. It is true that often times one division of a language development in a student is lacking and so blogging offers a way for the student to work on these skills. It also provides a safe and non-threatening environment for the student in which to work. I also liked the blogging community aspect because it reinforces the component that everyone in the classroom has something to offer to a composition of an piece. This would cultivate the classroom community and would be beneficial for everyone. I also appreciated the "blog as a tutor". This format offers a system for the students to be able to communicate with both the teacher and other students in order to share knowledge and help each other in the path to knowledge.
The second main component that I gained from this chapter was the explanation of e-portfolios. I like the idea for use in teaching ESL students. I like that the materials can be tracked in one place and the students can personalize. One thing that I am excited about ESL teaching is that it can be individualized instruction and so the e-portfolio gives me the chance to individualize assessment.
Finally, I think that there are extreme benefits in using e-portfolios in the professional world. Our year is the first year in Teacher Ed. at JBC to use Livetext as our final portfolio. We will update it at the end of this year in order to include the artifacts from our internship. I like that I can update the artifacts but still maintain the same format. I also like that this portfolio can be used to share with other principals in other states without having to send a big stack of papers. It offers the person hiring with the option of scanning what they deem important and skipping the things that are non-essentials. I believe that I will use it if I ever do become a principal in order to more effectively get teachers that would be best for the job.

Chapter 7: Online Safety and Security

This chapter had a lot of good information that is relevant to the issues that I will face as a classroom teacher. I also like that during the class lecture, there were points made about a technology coordinator. The picture is much more involved than I had originally expected. I think that if I do become in that kind of role, that I would try to understand what the school is trying to accomplish through technology and attempt to blend those objectives with Acceptable Use within the district.
One of the key things that I appreciated about the chapter was the survey that was given in the middle of the chapter. Even though this survey or questionnaire would need to be adjusted depending on the grade that you were teaching, I think that it is a good idea to include the students in the process of understanding the AUP and the reasoning behind the policies. I remember when I was in school and we were given AUPs to sign. I don't think I fully understood why I was signing the paper. I think that if I were to have been included in the process of making the policies or have been guided through the process of understanding them, I would have taken the issues more seriously. I think that if the students are included in the process that they would take more ownership and the problems after the signing would have been less. Therefore, I believe that if I were to be a technology coordinator, to some extent I would take the students through a lesson, at least, of what they are signing and the reasoning behind the issues that are addressed. I think that that is an important concept, or life lesson, that students should get. They should know that they shouldn't sign something without knowing what it says and in most cases what the reasoning is behind it.
The second thing that stood out to me was the creative commons license. I think that is a great idea in showing that there are safe and secure ways of guarding and sharing your property. I think that this gets at finding the balance between complete open source and protecting the property and ideas of the creator. It gives credit where credit is due, but it also prevents others from reinventing the wheel.
The last thing that I appreciated about the lecture and chapter was the websites for images. I want to use images in my classroom for interactive learning and possible "image field trips" for engaging lessons. As a teacher, it is good to know that there are sites out there that offer free but quality images that can be used in the classroom.
I think, overall, this chapter is really the climax of how we are to handle ourselves with technology in the classroom. It offers us, as teachers, resources, information as well as cautionary notes that we can take in order to protect ourselves, the students and the educational community as a whole. No matter how much we may think that Web 2.0 is the greatest thing, if we do not take caution, it will end up being more disruptive than productive.

Chapter 6: Leadership and new tools

This chapter deals with a few things that I am interested in after I am in the classroom for several years. Although this chapter would be helpful for a classroom teacher to understand, I am looking at it through an administrative stand point. However, I believe that one of the main components to an effective administrator is to understand what it is like for a teacher. One of the main things that I grasped from this chapter again is how effective blogs and wikis can be in administration. I think that just like blogs can be used in professional development and in the classroom, they are versatile in use for communication from the administration. Again, I think that the blogs should enrich the face to face contact. I think that this could be played out in the use of blogs before "official" professional development. One of the ideas could be to use blogs to see what teachers want to learn about, then to see how they are implemented it and then their feedback on the whole process. I believe that consistency is also a big deal when an administrator uses a blog or wiki. One of the components is to cast a vision and if you have an administrator that sets up a program or process in using technology and then they don't update the blog or they don't follow through on what they are talking about. I believe that the vision is a big part of it, but the details to follow are also very critical.

One of the other key things that I grasped from both the discussion in class and the chapter was the use of grants for school use. I appreciated the comment on developing relationships with the program officers of the organizations. I know that funding is always an issue and if I know a basis for how to go about the process, or what name to look for on the website of the organization, I feel that I will have some kind of grasp on the next step.

The final note that I would like to make about this chapter concerns the comment on the effective administrator that was made in class. Although I do not know this administrator personally, I am gathering that one of the reasons that he was effective was because he was learning, in some regards, "on the job" and along with the other people in the educational community. Often times the best learner (and teacher) is not an expert. This administrator saw a need for change and implemented the change, and apparently followed through with the vision. I hope that one day, in a small way, I can use my knowledge and passion for learning to make a difference like this administrator did.

Chpater 5: Professional Development

This chapter opened my eyes to a new perspective to this area of the educational field. I think that community is an essential component to Web 2.0 and even moreso with the educators along with the students. One of the main ideas that I have had to grapple with is the administrative side of professional development. As I have said, I would like to be a principal one day or in some kind of leadership role. I want those that I lead to feel confident in the work that they are doing and the work that I am leading. I want to create a community of learning and not something that hinders the work that they are already doing in the classroom. I want it to be a community of learning and not a community where people are prideful for giving away their ideas or taking ideas.
Another one of the ideas that came to mind was the idea that blogs should be used in professional development. I think that the comment was made in this section that blogs (or web interaction) should not take the place of face-to-face communication, but it should enrich conversation. I think this is essential in both professional development as well as looking at development in the classroom. We should use these tools for a better enriching environment and not something that takes away from face to face communication.
Another idea that emerged from this chapter is the need for preservice learning and training. This is an interesting concept to me, because I am interested in keeping up with the latest technology and I hope that that continues after I become a teacher. I know that when I took Educational Technology as a Sophomore, there were not near as many techniques that were taught in that class as are available right now. I think that it is important to educate preservice, but it is also important to keep up with the latest technology because of the quick rate at which technology changes.
Finally, as one that would be interested in leadership in the school system in the future, I think that Web 2.0 offers a lot of invaluable resources. We can use these resources to make sure that the teachers are not only getting the information, but it also allows the instruction to be more individualized and flexible. I look forward to where this may take us in the future.

Chapter 4: New Tools in Schools

This chapter was inspiring. Just like Trudy said this morning, it was a chapter that even though most of the sites might not work any more, there is still the element of inspiration and a collaborative community of good ideas. Reading the examples in the chapter made me think of one of the schools that I have run across within the past month while surfing the web. I believe that the school is in South Carolina, somewhere. I don't remember all of the details of the program, but two of the things that I do remember is that they used PDAs to do a running record for students. This recorded all of the information and grouped it all together without using paper. Furthermore, I also remember that this particular school was a key proponent of collaborative teaching. They welcomed the idea of sharing ideas and planning together. I really like this aspect. This is a theme that, I believe, is a main factor in the success of Web 2.0. The shift is moving from "look what I thought of" to "look what we did together with the resources around us" and better is "look at this idea that I found, that may be helpful to you in your teaching". I think that as a community of educators we must look on how we can help each other and push down the pride issue. In the chapter, Lemon Grove School District must have had some of this environment because they were able to train 20% of their teachers each year, in order to train everyone over the course of 5 years. For this model to work there would have to be a low turn-over rate for the teachers. This is a good model to follow for administration, of which I would someday like to be a part of.

I really did enjoy a lot of the content area resources that were available in this chapter. I know that over the course of this course we will look at most of the sites, but I appreciated the idea for the use of wikis with independent novel studies. As a future gifted teacher I would like to use this in my classroom because of the higher order thinking skills and the fact that this could go outside the classroom, but still achieve the same objective. The students could be serviced, even if there is not a lot of funding for this program.

I know that I am not very old, but some of the things in this book make me feel a bit old. The component about Journalism and broadcasting made it to appear as if more and more schools have programs and equipment to have a morning show. I remember when I was younger that the morning show was only for high schools and very rarely for Elementary schools. And if they were in Elementary schools, they were run by the administration. What an exciting advancement for the students to be a part of the growing technology community!

Finally, I would like to point out a comment on ThinkQuest. I am not very familiar with the program, but the discussion on this site in class this morning got me thinking. Dr. Krug mentioned grants that were given by this organization. I would imagine that there are others like this organization that give grants. I have heard of some in the past and I know that they are out there. My concern, and one of my objectives within the next year, is to become a little more informed in writing grants. Perhaps there is a "Dummies guide to grants" I could purchase or find free online. That is something I could look into in the future.