Mom and Dad told us today that we would be leaving our home here in New York City and going to a new home out west. They said that there is a lot more space out there and that we can build a new home once we get there. We have to pack everything we have and fit it all into a wagon that we will travel in. Dad says that it will take a long time to get there and that it won't be easy but that it will be worth the trip. I have to leave all my friends. I hope that I can make new ones there.
Mom says that I will have to help her to pack the food. We need enough for many months. We can only fit so much in our wagon so we have to plan right that we will have all that we need for the trip. We'll start planning tomorrow. I hope there is room for my doll.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
What a week! But what possible rewards!!
It has been a week of mxed emotions. I have been so excited to realize all the wonderful Web 2.0 and beyond tools out there just waiting to be discovered and used in our classrooms. I am optimistic about incorporating them into my lessons and already have created some draft plans for future library and computer lessons. The key will be to use them sooner rather than later. In the past, I have caught myself claiming I would use a certain tool someday and then finding that the "someday" never came. My resolution is to use the tools that are out there even befor feeling comfortable with them. The students and I can learn together and from each other. If I wait to become comfortable with these applications before teaching them to students, they may remain simply "future plans".
So that's the exciting part. Then there's the ever present uncomfortable feeling that I can never get done what I need to. This has been a demanding year and sometimes I feel that it is physically impossible for me to do all that I am trying to do. How does one juggle a full time teaching job, coordinating and directing an after school chorus with many gigs around the community, giving guitar lessons, taking care of a family, and helping a high school senior with all the extra scholarship applications and trips to colleges, and last but certainly not least complete the many assignments, reading, and discussion posts for two graduate courses? If anyone has any good suggestions, please offer them to me. I never turn down advice or constructive criticism.
The good news is that what I lack in time or strength, or even intelligence, I make up for in my determination to make all of this work and hopefully work well. I try to smile a lot and complain only a little and keep my sense of humor along with the hope that things will all work out the way they should and that the rewards of all my hard work will be so much greater than I can ever imagine.And so, back to work.
So that's the exciting part. Then there's the ever present uncomfortable feeling that I can never get done what I need to. This has been a demanding year and sometimes I feel that it is physically impossible for me to do all that I am trying to do. How does one juggle a full time teaching job, coordinating and directing an after school chorus with many gigs around the community, giving guitar lessons, taking care of a family, and helping a high school senior with all the extra scholarship applications and trips to colleges, and last but certainly not least complete the many assignments, reading, and discussion posts for two graduate courses? If anyone has any good suggestions, please offer them to me. I never turn down advice or constructive criticism.
The good news is that what I lack in time or strength, or even intelligence, I make up for in my determination to make all of this work and hopefully work well. I try to smile a lot and complain only a little and keep my sense of humor along with the hope that things will all work out the way they should and that the rewards of all my hard work will be so much greater than I can ever imagine.And so, back to work.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Feeling Hopeful Once Again
So I'm back. I've had a full week of exploring and my head is spinning from all that the virtual world has to offer. I could not experience it firsthand. It seems my computer is too slow. But through the many blogs that I have found on the subject and the kids I was able to interview who are gamers, I feel like I know so much more about this craze. Like everything in life, it has its good and its negative points. I can see how it offers an opportunity for problem solving through critical and creative thinking and there are choices and decisions to be made. While still believing in the educational value of some social networks, I feel a little unsettled about some of the experiences that I know the students could be exposed to. I am eager to see how this all fits into the 21st Century classroom. In the meantime, as promised, here is another attempt at uploading my video. This is a performance by my Songbirds singing "How Lucky You Are" from Seusical the Musical. Enjoy!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Fun with Video
I have to admit that though learning all these new applications does take up a lot of time, once you get the hang of it, you begin to see the many things you can do with them and how much they will enhance our lessons. I already use YouTube and it has helped me to learn how to tie a toga for our Ancient Greek Olympics, teach my Songbirds sign language, get some ideas for different units I'm using in the library, and find some old song or movie that my mom has been trying to remember. I'm sure that I will continue to use both YouTube and TeacherTube and find new purposes for it. I did upload a video of myself and a few other teachers performing Thriller at a school talent show. I've been trying to upload it here but apparently I still have a lot to learn. Much cooler to embed a video right here. Instead here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/ycuxgpn
Animoto is another fun site. It's all about photos and videos and creativity. With the time and a little practice, I feel this could become one of my most visited sites. I'm in the middle of finishing one starring my three sons. For now, "Hey, Hey we're the Songbirds". More problems. I can't upload the animoto video either.
I know that there is probably some minor step that I'm forgetting. For now, I will close.
Animoto is another fun site. It's all about photos and videos and creativity. With the time and a little practice, I feel this could become one of my most visited sites. I'm in the middle of finishing one starring my three sons. For now, "Hey, Hey we're the Songbirds". More problems. I can't upload the animoto video either.
I know that there is probably some minor step that I'm forgetting. For now, I will close.
So Many Toys, So Little Time
It's a rainy day and my first thoughts are getting cozy, making myself a cup of green tea, and exploring all these new treasures that I am being exposed to. I can easily do the "cozy" part, and I'm already sipping my hot cup of green tea. Ahhh, how soothing! Then reality smacks me on the back of the head. For I spent all day yesterday in Boston at the Hines Convention Center supporting our district's music program as my sons' high school jazz band and combo group and other like groups from high schools all around the country competed in Berklee's High School Jazz Festival. What incredible young musicians and vocalists we had the pleasure of hearing! I'm always amazed at the talent and drive of these students.
So what does this have to do with my plans for today? Well, I realized, as I so often do, that I am not the student I was many years ago before I assumed the role of wife, mother, daugther of an elderly parent, full time employee, director of a children's chorus, guitar teacher, and graduate student, not necessarily in order of importance but certainly all of equal pressures and demands. The difficult part is that I want to do them all and I want to do them all right.
So now to my "To Do List":
So what does this have to do with my plans for today? Well, I realized, as I so often do, that I am not the student I was many years ago before I assumed the role of wife, mother, daugther of an elderly parent, full time employee, director of a children's chorus, guitar teacher, and graduate student, not necessarily in order of importance but certainly all of equal pressures and demands. The difficult part is that I want to do them all and I want to do them all right.
So now to my "To Do List":
- Wash and pack clothes for my two sons going to Disney this week to perform with their high school jazz band
- shop for items they will need for the trip
- take my mother to fill her prescriptions
- grocery shop for the week ahead
- finish plans for my library classes this week
- do plans for my guitar students this week
- record two songs and write out lyrics for the Songbirds who have a gig coming up next week
- tweek my project due today
- work on my research project due in my other class due next week
- drive my son over to work on a group project for his social studies class
- help my other son with his scholarship applications due to be postmarked tomorrow
- cook??
- clean???
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Exploration
Over the past week, I have had such mixed feelings over the online applications I was experiencing for the first time. I found that I could classify these applications by its organizational potential or by its curriculum integration potential. I certainly need help with both so I am truly excited about what I can do with these tools.
Before I detemine what to do with these tools, I need to learn how to use all their features.
My organizational quest began with Delicious and I can't understand how I could have missed this one. To be able to bookmark sites and have them handy when I want to access them is worth so much to me. Add the fact that these sites can be tagged in whatever fashion personally organizes them further has sold me. On the suggestion of one of my classmates, I will tag all the sites I have been introduced to while taking a course.
Shelfari will be my social cataloging tool. I find it simple to use which is a huge plus for me and what a great way to keep track of the titles, read reviews, and rate the books. I feel that this would be a great place for some of my older students to create book clubs.
In my searching, I happened upon PageFlakes. This seems to do it all: Notebook, calendar, message board, To do list and you can add Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, RSS feed, and more. PageFlakes can become your personalized social homepage. I feel this may have potential for me to become more organized with all that I am trying to do.
I had so much fun with Flickr. I plan to do much more with my loads of photos when I can find some down time.
I sent my first Voki and did I look cool. It was for my sister's birthday. I have always called her on her birthday to sing to her and this year I knew she would not be home. So I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to test this one out. I created the perfect Voki Me and recorded my rendition of Happy Birthday!! My sister is a teacher at another elementary school in my district and since she was at school, I decided to send it to her there. My only problem was that she didn't receive the first one. I sent one to myself to test the filters. I received "Me". I made one more attempt to send my sister hers only to find it was not successful. This reminds me of the problems I may have with integrating some of this new technology into my lessons.
More to come...
Before I detemine what to do with these tools, I need to learn how to use all their features.
My organizational quest began with Delicious and I can't understand how I could have missed this one. To be able to bookmark sites and have them handy when I want to access them is worth so much to me. Add the fact that these sites can be tagged in whatever fashion personally organizes them further has sold me. On the suggestion of one of my classmates, I will tag all the sites I have been introduced to while taking a course.
Shelfari will be my social cataloging tool. I find it simple to use which is a huge plus for me and what a great way to keep track of the titles, read reviews, and rate the books. I feel that this would be a great place for some of my older students to create book clubs.
In my searching, I happened upon PageFlakes. This seems to do it all: Notebook, calendar, message board, To do list and you can add Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, RSS feed, and more. PageFlakes can become your personalized social homepage. I feel this may have potential for me to become more organized with all that I am trying to do.
I had so much fun with Flickr. I plan to do much more with my loads of photos when I can find some down time.
I sent my first Voki and did I look cool. It was for my sister's birthday. I have always called her on her birthday to sing to her and this year I knew she would not be home. So I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to test this one out. I created the perfect Voki Me and recorded my rendition of Happy Birthday!! My sister is a teacher at another elementary school in my district and since she was at school, I decided to send it to her there. My only problem was that she didn't receive the first one. I sent one to myself to test the filters. I received "Me". I made one more attempt to send my sister hers only to find it was not successful. This reminds me of the problems I may have with integrating some of this new technology into my lessons.
More to come...
Sunday, March 7, 2010
So many options, so little time
I've spent most of my time this week delving into the many online applications mentioned in this week's assignments. Each has potential to organize, liven up, and/or simplify our lives. Some were familiar to me and many were applications I had not heard mentioned before. Delicious is one that I was familiar with but had never attempted to use and now I wonder why. So many times before, I would jot down a website that I wanted to explore only to forget where I had jotted it down. Now any sites I bookmark are handy when I have the time to explore or am looking for a specific site. Besides the ones that I bookmark, Delicious offers a "hotlist" on its home page which helps to keep me informed as to any current topics of interest or importance. This is a great way to keep organized and I don't know why I waited so long to discover it.
I spent a fun afternoon learning the basics of Flickr and I can see why this image and video hosting website offers so much to anyone, whether it be an individual sharing personal photography or an educator looking for ways to liven up lesson plans and keep their students excited about all they can do online. I decided for my first attempt at a collection of images to use photos of the Songbirds, my school chorus. Parents are always sharing photos of our many performances and I also have collected photos taken at our weekly practices that parents may enjoy. So I chose a variety and enjoyed organizing, tagging, and mapping the photos. I added some annotations for fun. This wasn't a project that would use this feature to its full potential but I added a few to practice this feature.
Animoto is another application using images, this time taking the submitted photos and creating a video of them. I love this and can't wait to introduce this to my students.
Some of the teachers I work with had mentioned using SurveyMonkey in their classrooms. I can see how this would be useful to me as a tool to collect responses from my colleagues to survey questions that I create myself. This could help me make informed decisions as to how to manage the library or computer lab. In addition, it can be used by students to create their own questions to surveys relating to lessons we are engaged in. I already have plans to use Survey Monkey in my upper classes.
I can see the value in all of the sites I have visited this week. Each would add to my organization or lesson planning. I am hoping to incorporate as many as I can into my school routine. The more of these that I introduce to myself, my colleagues, and my students, the better informed and prepared we will all be as we attempt to keep up with the rest of the globe in the 21st Century educational arena.
I spent a fun afternoon learning the basics of Flickr and I can see why this image and video hosting website offers so much to anyone, whether it be an individual sharing personal photography or an educator looking for ways to liven up lesson plans and keep their students excited about all they can do online. I decided for my first attempt at a collection of images to use photos of the Songbirds, my school chorus. Parents are always sharing photos of our many performances and I also have collected photos taken at our weekly practices that parents may enjoy. So I chose a variety and enjoyed organizing, tagging, and mapping the photos. I added some annotations for fun. This wasn't a project that would use this feature to its full potential but I added a few to practice this feature.
Animoto is another application using images, this time taking the submitted photos and creating a video of them. I love this and can't wait to introduce this to my students.
Some of the teachers I work with had mentioned using SurveyMonkey in their classrooms. I can see how this would be useful to me as a tool to collect responses from my colleagues to survey questions that I create myself. This could help me make informed decisions as to how to manage the library or computer lab. In addition, it can be used by students to create their own questions to surveys relating to lessons we are engaged in. I already have plans to use Survey Monkey in my upper classes.
I can see the value in all of the sites I have visited this week. Each would add to my organization or lesson planning. I am hoping to incorporate as many as I can into my school routine. The more of these that I introduce to myself, my colleagues, and my students, the better informed and prepared we will all be as we attempt to keep up with the rest of the globe in the 21st Century educational arena.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Swimming in Widgets
Yes, I'm hoping to keep my head afloat while I'm diving into the seemingly endless pool of online applications. I have signed up for many of them in the hopes, not only of keeping up with my productive classmates, but because maybe some of these applications will help me to become a little more organized in my professional as well as my private life. Afterall, this is what it's all about.
I've been having a blast with RSS feeds and look forward each evening to all the wonderful "stuff"that comes my way.
Delicious is another addition to my newly found organization. To be able to know exactly where the sites are that I want to visit regularly has been a great timesaver for me. I'm hoping that with all this timesaving, I'll be able to get better acquainted with many of the other applications I've heard mentioned in class discussions and around my school. So I'll keep paddling on.
I've been having a blast with RSS feeds and look forward each evening to all the wonderful "stuff"that comes my way.
Delicious is another addition to my newly found organization. To be able to know exactly where the sites are that I want to visit regularly has been a great timesaver for me. I'm hoping that with all this timesaving, I'll be able to get better acquainted with many of the other applications I've heard mentioned in class discussions and around my school. So I'll keep paddling on.
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