Places I Love

This has to be one of my favorite places, my home, my screen house. This is the place I love to be, weather permitting. This is my backyard retreat; it is actually where I do a great deal of my homework. I love to sit, rock, read and play games. I enjoy listening to the birds, and letting my dog feel free to come and go as she pleases. When the grandchildren are here, we spend hours on the swings reading and giggling. The shade keeps the hot sun away, as well as an occasional shower. My granddaughter has severe epilepsy and cannot be in the direct sunlight for very long, and this helps us stay outside more often. This could be considered my stay-cation resort, my husband and I love to be at home and this is our get away. 

Life Defining Event – Why I Am Who I Am

One event that completely changed the way I feel about who I am happened many years ago, but its lessons will forever be with me. I feel that being the best mother I can be is the job I was cut out for. I have always taken pride in looking out for my family and what is best for all of us.  I have three daughters and when they started school, I also began volunteering at school two days per week. 

My youngest daughter needed some assistance with her speech development.  I was concerned for her, and was willing to do whatever was necessary to get her on the right track. I had been volunteering in the school for 5 years, and had just taken a job as an educational technician when the school called the meeting to discuss her learning. 

I went into the meeting feeling like this was going be a team effort to do what was best for my child. I walked in to the Kindergarten room, it was conference time, and the teacher and principal were there. They were both sitting in adult size chairs and there was a student chair there for me. It felt a little odd, but I was not too concerned. The meeting went on and I felt like I was under attack. There were many things discussed and comments were made that my daughter had not been exposed to certain things, and was not getting what she needed at home. I was shocked to hear this from co-workers who knew me and my children. I sat there and listened,  and we came up with a plan and life went on.

It was what happened when I got home that completely changed my life and my views. I cried for a couple of days thinking I was an unfit parent, although I knew this was not true. My husband and I had many discussions and by Sunday afternoon there was a new fire in me. I was not a bad parent, I had not done anything wrong and plain and simple my child needed help.
I came out of this knowing that I was a good mother and decided I would never let anyone talk down to me and treat me like that again. This was actually a very positive thing for me, because it helped me discover what was important to me: MY FAMILY! 

This event helped me find my voice and I am very grateful for that. This is just one example of how you don’t understand why something is happening at the time, but in the end it works out for the best.

Fortune Cookies

   *Practice makes perfect

   *A friend is a present you give yourself

   *Success is a journey not a destination

   *A hunch is creativity telling you something

   *The only people who never fail are those who never try

   *Allow compassion t guide your decisions

   *New ideas could be profitable

   *Understand more, judge less

   *Follow your hearts desire

   *Believe in yourself

How We Communicate in 2012

I am not a digital native, being born before the late 1960’s. We did not grow up with the technology that kids do today. I love technology and have picked it up fairly easily. I have facilitated many technology sessions and created cheat sheets to help my fellow digital immigrants. When computers became popular and easier to access, I could never have imagined the way they would change the way we communicate.

While working in a public school, I did a lot to promote professional development. This involved finding many sources that teachers could access at their own pace, and at a time that was convenient for them. At that time I attended many webinars, which are learning sessions on the computer. You would log in and a screen would come up on your computer with some sort of slide show. Sometimes the voice would come through the computer and other times we had to call in.

I also created an avatar in Second Life and attended many learning sessions. This was very interesting because your avatar is actually in a virtual world. People, usually businesses or higher education groups purchase space called islands. When you are logged in you can travel to many different places. I used to meet with folks from Orono on Black Bear Island. Discovery Education has an island with a conference room to present various topics. Fellow educators could also present various topics.

My most recent employer often held conference calls, did video conferencing, and most recently offered sessions in Adobe Connect Rooms. The Adobe Connect rooms were very interesting. We were working on a state grant and were using the room that the state had available. We would log in and call in while the facilitator had the screen set up with several sections. We were finding websites and resources that met the Learning Results and Standards for the State of Maine. They were called Open Educational Resources. These are sites that are free for anyone to use. We were trying to set up a directory that would be helpful and cover all standards.

It is hard to believe how far we have come and the variety of resources that are available. There are many more I do not have a lot of experience with but thought it was fun to show the growth in our communication.

Favorite Blog

One of my favorite blogs is http://www.teach42.com/. This is a blog that is written primarily for educators. It is full of varying views on educational hot topics. Most of the posts provide tips on how to get kids actively involved in using technology effectively in the classroom.

 Steve Dembo is the host of this site; he currently works for Discovery Education. I had the opportunity to meet him at several conferences and have attended some virtual sessions he has put on and he really knows his stuff. I like the fact that he posts all of his contact information,  is quite easy to reach, and as a rule gets back to you quickly.

This site is a great resource for teachers. Some of the tabs have been cleaned out recently and I am sure that is to make room for more presentations, etc.  Under projects tab he has Web 2.0 which is a plethora of websites that are great for educators.

There are many sites, but one of them that I like is livebinder.com. This is a site where you can post documents or any information you would like and access if from anywhere. It is very handy if you work on more than one computer. There are also many samples that you can view. Another site I like is http://popplet.com/.  I have used this to do some mind mapping for various papers I have worked on. It is great if you want to use pictures in place of words as well. This site helps you find rhyming words if you are looking for a word and can’t come up with a rhyme.

I encourage anyone with a little time to explore some of the resources. They are good for educators, but everyone can find some useful tools. Have fun!

Successful Writer

As a writer, I will consider myself successful when I can communicate my thoughts clearly and create a piece that others are interested in reading. A deep understanding of the subject matter is necessary, unless it is a piece where you are exploring your thoughts for personal use and reflection.

Generally, topics that I feel strongly about seem to be the easiest to write about. If I am passionate about a topic it certainly shows through in my writing and makes the piece more enjoyable for others to read. I have often found myself writing technology tutorials for others to use. I have a love for technology and this has been a way that I have been able to share that love, while teaching and enabling others to use it more effectively.

When I start a writing piece I just like to type away and get it all on paper. The next steps are editing and reviewing to figure out what needs to be adjusted to make a strong piece. I like to have someone read my writing piece for clarity, and to be sure my views have been expressed clearly. I have often used a mapping strategy to help me organize my writing. I used to use many different strategies with students I worked with and different strategies seem to work best for different types of writing pieces.

There are times however, when writing is entirely a personal piece and I find that expressing my thoughts on paper as a good way to sort out ideas and thoughts. This is often the easiest way to get things off your mind and then move on. 

KVCC

I am half way through my business program at KVCC. I am creating this blog for my ENG 219 class, should be fun!