My PLN

I was feeling so motivated today I decided to share with you my PLN. This has been a topic of conversation in our Internet for Educators class and we were asked to make our own PLN so here it is. It was an interesting assignment, I never really think about how connected I am with millions of other people. I think after this class is over, and all assignments are complete this PLN of mine will grow significantly. (I hope it does anyway) Maybe for those of you reading this not in my class, you could create your own PLN just to see how you're connected to different people and the unlimited resources that are available to you. ( Just make sure you read the "Terms and Conditions" before joining and sharing anything, no one wants you to get in trouble)

-LB

John Finch- Surprising Statistics

Yesterday we had the pleasure of having John Finch in our Internet for Educators class, this time in the flesh. Although I think having people skype in from different places in the world, I kind of like having an actual person in the class. There are less glitches, and I feel like it can be more of a discussion. None the less I still enjoy hearing from people who cannot physically be in our class because without technology we might not ever be able to gain from their knowledge. (Hmm think about that and all that has been discussed in previous posts)
With the other two presenters we have had in the class, they have been telling us to connect, connect, connect. But John Finch made us take a step back and think about the implications and the legal standpoint of everything we post online. And frankly he scared me a little (or a lot!). It was discussed that every division needs to have a social media policy and that it is actually harder to post a picture of a child's great work on a unit or a project you made up yourself. You as a teacher and a school need to have written permission just to post it, because it technically is the child's property. This got me thinking... When I first thought about posting resources and ideas online I just thought I would post them, but it really isn't that simple. As a teacher who wants to incorporate technology into their future classroom we will have to do some work beforehand just to make sure you have covered all your bases. Although you may not think you are doing anything wrong, you very well could be and it could cost you lots of money or worse case it could mean losing your career. This in turn doesn't just apply to technology used for education, it applies to everyday use of your computer and pictures and downloading music. We all just press "I agree" under the terms and conditions but I think we should take a second look before we agree, just in case.
Another topic John Finch talked about was cyber bullying. Before sitting down and talking with John I thought cyber bullying was a huge issue (and don't get me wrong it is) We have talked about it in other classes that I have taken and in those classes it was brought up as quite the up and coming issue. But John mentioned that if we look at statistics, only 8 to 12 percent of students who were/are bullied say its done by cyber bullying. Most bullying is still physical/verbal/social and emotional bullying. This I found interesting. A great example that the media portrayed as cyber bullying was the Amanda Todd case (if you are reading this and don't know what I am talking about, do some research) in actual fact it was more a case of blackmail if you look deeper into the issue. So we still have to look at cyber bullying as an issue but its not the biggest issue out there for us up and coming teachers, bullying in any form is. We need to be educated on the facts about bullying (like how cyber bullying only happens to 8-12 percent of people) and we then need to educate the generation that we are teaching so they know how it affects people and how we can end the vicious cycle. As I mentioned before this was very interesting to me and got me thinking about cyber bullying and verbal/physical bullying and how bad it really is, so I have decided to do some reading up on it and I'll get back to you in another post when I have gathered some thoughts and opinions on it.
The discussion with John Finch was eye opening. He brought up great topics that I think should always be talked about. As much as we should connect, and share our knowledge about the good things we come across as educators, we should also share knowledge on the "scary" topics that are real issues in our schools today.

-LB
"The fountain of information lies at your fingertips and is accessible anywhere at anytime and schools need to emphasize this. We are no longer in a world where you need to go seek enlightenment, it is everywhere"- Christopher Myers

Social Studies and Technology

So as I was doing another assignment for a class, an article review, I came across an interesting article on Social Studies and how a teacher implemented technology to help deliver the Social Studies Curriculum in a new and interesting way. I love Social Studies and history, but at times I know it can be pretty dry, and well kind of boring. So maybe technology can help with this small issue.

Retooling the Social Studies Classroom

Alec Couros- Connect, Connect, Connect

Today in class we had another great presenter, Alec Couros. Alec had plenty of valuable information to share with the class of future educators. Some things that stuck out to me at first was the young age at which children are surfing the web and being connected to social media sites. It wasn't alarming, and I guess it was pretty obvious if you really think about it. I think what we should take away from this is that as educators we should help children who are on the internet use it appropriately and give them the knowledge and resources to do so.
Another point that stood out to me in the presentation was how we should slowly integrate technology into the classroom. Schools are now turning to the bring your own device policy (which I think is a good idea) so we as teachers should embrace this and use it in our classrooms. We should start with communication, embrace the new ways to communicate in an educational world. As teachers we can use kidblog, or edublog. We should also embrace new forms of expression (kidsnippets anyone! If you are reading this and aren't in my class http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsRk0TXYXuA) Networks is another great way to learn. Having someone skype into your class, learn via social media (twitter, facebook) These are all great ideas that I as a future educator would to use in my classroom. If I can set up all these types of things (a blog, different websites with great resources etc.) now I will already have a great grasp for how to use them in the classroom and it won't be such a challenge when I am also trying to start a new classroom.
A few other snippets that really stuck out to me:
Some of our best colleagues are the ones we have yet to meet (and perhaps maybe we never will)
CONNECT CONNECT CONNECT in different ways and with different people. This is your most valuable resource! And lastly
Give away your knowledge (for free) and the things you may gain from this have the potential to be great!

On a side note I am really enjoying blogging and having an education twitter account so I can look at various links and things like that. I also love reading other peoples blogs. I know I haven't posted any resources or blogs or ideas but I am just beginning and really just "browsing" at the moment. It'll come!

-LB
"There can be infinite uses of the computer and of new age technology, but if the teachers themselves are not able to bring it into the classroom and make it work, then it fails." Nancy Kassebaum

Dean Shareski- You are what you share

I just wanted to start off by saying thank you to Dean Shareski for presenting in our Internet for Educators class. This was the first time I have heard Dean speak and it was interesting and inspiring. Dean talked about how technology is always changing and its hard to be "good" at technology, because it is always evolving and new ideas are always being put out into the world. Dean talked about three lessons he has learned in terms of networking. The first lesson was that students in our classrooms should use media and technological devices to develop their literacy skills. The second lesson was that there are teachers everywhere, and we should take advantage of the seven year old who can teach us how to use the basics of photoshop, or the new update on our iphones. His third lesson and the one he was most passionate about, was you are what you share. Even if you don't find your lesson that inspiring, or the art project that exciting, if you share it, it may be just what another teacher needs for their classroom. It could be the one thing that makes their class want to learn. The time and effort you put into the lessons for your class will seem like nothing if you don't put it out into the cyber world for others to also learn from. The internet has so much information for educators, we need to take advantage of it. The more we share, the more people will read, the more they will share, the more information there will be at our fingertips. So now I have been inspired to go look for blogs with exciting lesson plans and share, share, share.
Here's to many more blog posts, with hopefully inspiring information for other soon to be educators.

-LB
"Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow." -Anthony J. D'Angelo

Blogging eh?

           Well this is my first post and I am actually quite excited to start blogging. I (like most) have always thought about blogging, but thought I had nothing worth while to say. But I think this could be a great place to share resources as well as create a network of resources for others, to become, what I think will be a better, more knowledgeable and exciting teacher.
     First off, a little about myself. I am from a small town in Southern Manitoba. I have two siblings, one brother and one sister. My mom is a retired elementary school teacher and I credit her for my interest in becoming an educator. I use to spend my last week of summer vacation in her classroom, as she got the class ready, I would pretend to teach and draw all over the chalk board (and sometimes pretend it was my own classroom). I have a love for hockey and winter sports. I learned to skate on an outdoor rink at a very young age, and soon became involved in the minor hockey system. I played organized hockey till I graduated in 2009. During my time in school I traveled to New Orleans Louisiana, and helped rebuild a house after hurricane Katrina. I also went to Italy in grade 12 and after that trip I caught the travel bug, and I have an itch to go back, and explore even more. After graduation, I moved to Brandon and started attending Brandon University, I graduated with my BA in June with a major in History and a Minor in Sociology. I am now in the Middle Years stream in the Faculty of Education at Brandon University, and enjoying (almost) every minute of it!
      I hope I can keep up with this blog, even after the semester ends. I hope you all enjoy my posts, and I'll try my best to keep it as resourceful as possible.

-LB