Friday, March 15, 2013

Just Google It!

A week has passed since I attending the Google Conference in Dubai, and my head is still buzzing with ideas of how I could use what I learned next year within my classroom.  So many ideas were discussed during the conference that my mind continues to come up with new ideas.  But the goal of the conference was to pick one thing and become good with it.  Do not try to do everything, you might be only setting yourself up for failure.  But picking that one item is the hardest choice.  The options are endless so where do you begin?

I am currently playing around in my head with the idea of using Blogger with my kids.  Each year I have had my students keep a reading journal about what they had read for homework.  Each month I take the time to make a new journal for them that has the perfect layout and gives them structure so they know what to do.  We talk about summarizing and how we do not need to include every little detail but enough for the reader to understand what happened.  We have even talked about reflecting about what we read:  what do you think might happen next, which character was your favorite and why, how would you change the ending of the book or if you were to write the sequel to the book what would you right.  Why couldn't my students do the same task just within a blog?  It seems easy enough, all I would have to do is get my students set up within the blog at the beginning of the year, teach them how to use it, and then let them have fun with it.

But using technology is not just about using it, it is also about using it safely.  One of the lectures that I went to was about internet safety and how to teach students how to be safe on the Internet.  By the end of the session, it still was not clear on how to do this without close supervision of what the student is doing while online.  So now it comes down to not only training the students about safety but also training the parents how to help their child and how to make sure that they are safe.

My other thought was to have my students at the beginning of the year begin a digital portfolio.  Currently, with the help of my mother, I am looking to purchase a bunch of Flip Video recorders.  They are the easiest way for anyone to record a HD quick video.  At the conference there was a show case of students who displayed their work that they were doing in class.  I had the chance to sit with one girl and we looked at her digital portfolio and it was amazing.  Everything from videos to writing pieces were saved online, organized by subject.  It was all there and she was so excited about sharing it with me.  Now this too would take a lot of time but I feel that the students would then really take ownership of their work since the work is being displayed online.  Honestly who wants to post something that is not showing their best work?  The biggest challenge with this project would be getting enough computer lab time to create it all.

Blogger is something that I am decently well acquainted with and I feel that I would be able to do this with my class.  Come to think of it, these two projects could easily be put together.  One blog with multiple tabs across the top (Reading, writing, science, social studies and math).  The reading element could be their daily blog about what they are reading, science could be videos about the labs we have done, writing would be publishing their writing pieces, math could be having them answer a daily/weekly math problem related to what is being taught in class and social studies could be a space for show presentations that were created in class and reflecting on what is being taught in class.

So the conference was not just about blogger. We also got to see how Google Docs would make team projects a lot easier.  Google has created their very own Microsoft type documents.  You can create a regular "Word" document, spreadsheets and even a presentation.  One person creates the document and then shares it with their team members. From there, everyone has the ability to edit the document on their own time.  Everyone from the team can be editing the same document at the same time with each person having their own curser and own font color.  This way the teacher can see who has done what part and if everyone did their equal share of the final product.  The school that we visited said that they have all of their work done through Google Docs and that the students are trained not to delete anything.  Just in case there is a way to go back within a document to see when it was edited and to retrieve any data that had been deleted.  Every step of the way the document is saved.

Another popular tool that I learned about was Youtube and how you have the chance to create your own videos right online.  Youtube has an editor mode where you can upload your videos, use music, splice it all together and create home movies without ever having to download a program.  It looks just like iMovie or Windows Movie Maker and is as simple as can be.  The video gets uploaded right to youtube and can be saved as a private video.

Technology is moving at such a fast pace these days and this conference was so eye opening.  My school might not have wireless or multiple computers in a classroom, but still all of the above mentioned projects can be done and it has made me even more excited about next year.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Why is it that updating a blog is so easy but so hard a the same time?!

Wow an entire month has gone by and what has happened?  Not much.  Life here in Kuwait continues to roll along.  With each day it is getting warmer and warmer which is nice but at the same time not nice because I know that soon it will be ridiculously hot which is not fun at all.  Cause we all know there is only so much you can take off when it is hot outside, even more so living in the Middle East.

So in January, my friends and I took a long weekend's trip to Doha.  They say that Doha is the future and that can be seen all around.  The city is pretty much still being built but it is already quite nice.  Here are a few pictures to show you what we did on our trip.






Since Doha I have been working on my masters program which is also going well.  It has not been as hard as I thought it would be which is good.  But it has been worth it and in the end it will be good to have a masters degree on my CV.

Next weekend I am off to Dubai for a Google Apps conference which I am really excited about.  Only sad thing is that I am the only single teacher going.  Oh well I still think it will be great cause I am friends with the other teachers.

And that, in a nut shell, is all that has happened since my last post.

Friday, January 18, 2013

breaking new years resolutions

Three weeks into the year and I have already broken my resolution of attempting to update my blog more often.  At least I was honest with myself and only attempted to update more often.  Sorry guys!

So since the last time . . . .

Home for the holidays:

Home for Christmas is always my best trip.  No matter where I am, being home with my family for Christmas is the best choice.  Even though it is only for two weeks, it is always money well spent.  This year for some reason it was extremely hard to come back.  Being home felt so nice.  Two weeks is always a mad dash to see everyone and do everything but some how this year it didn't feel that way.  Everything that I did was perfectly planned out.  Christmas with the family, then a few days later up to the mountains to hang out with friends and enjoy some snow, then down to Philly to ring in the new year and finally back home to have the last two days at home.

Some how this year being home has made me consider moving back to the states to continue working.  Being internationally is great, don't get me wrong.  But at the same time can be a bit lonely at times too.  Minka sure does help with her constant love and affection that she gives.

Nearing the end of another decade

29 . . . a few years ago that seems so far away and now here it is.  A week into being a 29 year old and life is still good.  I was born on Friday the 13th so maybe 2013 will bring me some kind of weird luck.  Cheers to hoping so!

Mastering Technology

Course work continues to press on.  Coming to the end of my 3rd course.  This whole masters program has really solidified that concept that I know what I am doing.  It isn't that I am learning much, but it is making me think of using technology in new ways.  I have read some great articles and had some good conversations with my classmates (like facebook in the classroom . . . hmm not sure about that)

Another year in the Sandbox

This week I officially signed on for another year here.  It took me a while to think it through and actually agree with the idea of staying here.  I do enjoy working at my school because of the great opportunities that are there for growing as a teacher.  The amount of support we have is great.  For sure my last year here but I think it will be great.  New opportunities on the horizon and learning experiences.  It will also be a big year, based on deciding where to go next.  Torn between different coasts.  Lots to consider and think about.  Staying is the right choice.  I am not ready to move, plus I would like to finish my masters before that happens.  It will be a busy year.

In a nut shell, that is about it.  heading into a short week which ends with a trip to Doha for the long weekend.  It will be nice to do some traveling again.