RSS Page Reflection

Here is a snapshot of the Google Reader RSS Feed I created last week.  I am following quite a few interesting elementary teacher feeds which I chose since I am an elementary school teacher.  I chose three blogs to follow.  One of them is actually called "Elementary Teacher Blog" and the others are "Educational Technology Guy: Tech and Learning" and "Cool Cat Teacher Blog."  I thought that the technology one would be quite appropriate for this class.

There was a post on the Elementary Teacher Blog called "What Do You Know About Multiplication By 0 and 1?"  It was an open-ended question asked by a teacher to her students.  The blog had an image of a drawing one of her students made to demonstrate their answer to the question.  I commented on this post because I thought it was a great idea for an assignment to allow the students to get creative with their responses.

I have been checking my RSS frequently over the past week.  I am shocked about how often it changes.  I assumed that there would be new articles and blogs every couple days when the truth is, there are new articles every couple minutes.  My favorite feed that I chose is the  "Cool Cat Teacher Blog" because I can relate to it the most.  I has been very informal and has touched on topics that I am interested in such as the Kindle, education Apps, and "Lesson Plans that Rock."  The feed that I have learned the most from is "Moving at the Speed of Creativity."  Topics that it has touched on range from student blog pages, transitioning to common core standards, and believe it or not, Google Calendar and internet safety (sounds familiar!).

I am enjoying following my RSS feed regularly.  I did not think that I would learn as much as I am actually learning from it.  It feels good to be a part of the education community and stay up to date with the major education organizations such as MEA and NEA.  This is something that I plan to continue doing even after my CEP 810 course is over.

Getting Things Done

I organized my process of Getting Things Done  by compiling the information from my phone, paper calendar, class web page, and my mental to-do list onto a piece of paper.  


While working my way through the process, it felt good to have my day more organized and to have everything in one place.  I'm not sure if it's possible to actually "complete" the process because a "to-do list" is never actually completed but I will say that after using this process for a couple days it was like having a weight lifted off my back. 


It helped me be less stressed out over everything I have to do.  I wasn't constantly trying to remember what I need to do.  One of my biggest problems is that I start something and don't finish it.  Or I'll start something and get distracted and start something else and then I end up staying up until midnight doing something that I could have done first thing that morning.  For that reason, I do think this process will help me.  


In the future, I will definitely use this process.  It really works well for me and I'm glad I had the opportunity to learn about it.

Social Networking

In a way, social networking is a new concept for me.  I guess it has been a part of my life for quite some time now but I hadn't thought about the impact it has on my life until recently.  My family just moved from Georgia back to Michigan in June and neither my husband or I had a job when we got here.  My (very successful) mother would  (and still does) tell me "network, network, network."  So right away we joined a church and put my son in a day camp and swim lessons.  While attending these various activities, my husband and I started to meet people.  And these people knew people and it wasn't long before we were both employed.

I've had a Facebook account for almost ten years now but it wasn't until we moved back to Michigan that I really started using it to stay in touch with the family and friends we have in Georgia.  I can't imagine our lives without it.  Our children are growing so fast and Facebook makes it so simple.  Any time I take a cute picture with my phone, right away I share it on Facebook.  It's only a few clicks of the finger away...much more simple than developing pictures and sending them in the mail!  And it works both ways.  We get to see and hear from everyone else as well.

Currently I am a substitute teacher who is actively looking for a real teaching job.  I have five years of teaching experience.  Social networking has been one of my job searching strategies.  While I had my own class, I did not use a social network with my students.  I would not "friend" them on Facebook.  I did not think it would be appropriate for them to know so much about me.  I do see the benefits of having some sort of networking between the teachers, students, and parents though.  I am definitely looking forward to using a blog page for my classroom.  It will be a great way to communicate, document, share information and ideas, and it would be fun for the kids as well.

I think social networking is very important.  I am looking forward expanding both my personal and professional networks throughout my future.

Mobile blogger

Just set up my blogger account on my phone! Welcome to the wonderful world of mobile blogging!

Web Pages vs. Blogs

What is the difference between a traditional web page and a blog?  In order to answer this question, I had to first figure out what a blog was!  After figuring that out, I was able to distinguish between the two.  Both pages provide information.  However, on a traditional web page the information generally does not change.  In other words, the majority of the page is static.  If it does change, it is not usually on a daily basis.  People would generally access a web page to find information about a topic or to buy or sell something.  A blog page is constantly changing.  It is more interactive than a web page.  For example, a person could share a personal experience on their blog page and readers are able to leave comments, opinions, advice, and create discussions with other bloggers.  With a blog, the author has the ability to take more ownership in the information they share on the internet than ever before.

Welcome to my blog!!!

Hello and welcome to my blog!  Believe it or not this is my first blog...ever.  I'm excited to get started!