Thing 4

There are 2 particular blogs that stand out for me.

Mark's EdTech Blog is fabulous reading. His premise is that the usual SSR time can now be differentiated and made new again by turing SSR time into computer reading time. Mark uses educational blogs and student's read what their peers have written. What an awesome idea! I would love to see teachers on my campus take advantage of available classroom blogs to learn and share ideas!

The second blog that I found intriguing is An Open Letter About Cyberbullying.

Kuddos to Andi Carvin! I believe he expresses the heartfelt intent of every teacher to stop bullying - especially cyberbullying. Andi is a social networking expert, and this particular blog is a response to a writer of Wired Magazine. Read it, Read it, Read it! I found this blog to most relevant to me since I deal with kids that do bully. And, having another adult express his concerns gives me the courage to continue standing up for the underdog and doing what is right and in most cases very necessary.

Thing 2

At first glance, there is no denying that web2.0 has value. Any teacher, with 1 year under her belt or 30 can perceive that the digital age has arrived and our digital native learners require us to use available technologies to enhance the curriculum. As a district, most of our elementary classrooms are outfitted with interactive white boards, Neo Keyboards, document cameras, video projectors, teacher computers equipped with Internet access, DVD players and media players. Even still, there are numerous laptops available and iPods are becoming a norm to enhance learning and productivity. Professionally, most of these tools have made my time more efficient. Yet, there is still so much to learn. My biggest obstacle is finding the time to fully utilize the tools to mentor my teachers so that they may also feel comfortable enough to use them.

Thing #1

Did you know, there are 7 ½ Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners?

• Habit 1: Begin with the end in mind
• Habit 2: Accept responsibility for your own learning
• Habit 3: View problems as challenges
• Habit 4: Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner
• Habit 5: Create your own learning toolbox
• Habit 6: Use technology to your advantage
• Habit 7: Teach/mentor others
• Habit 7 ½: Play

While educators strive to incorporate these habits into our daily lives, it is no surprise that life and all of its complications make implementing these habits into the daily routine difficult at best. Yet, consider the possibilities if on your next opportunity for growth or learning, you did follow the recipe as outlined above. The possibilities for maximizing your potential increases exponentially. And, those are odds of encouragement that every educator desperately needs!

My most challenging habit, or at least, I hope it becomes a habit, is to begin with the end in mind. For the most part, I can have an idea of what I think I want. And yet, getting there seems to always change the outcome and it is quite usually something different than what I thought I would end up creating. I suppose that is a natural progression for learners. Or, perhaps it is just not always knowing exactly what it is I do want. A challenge for me will be creating the idea and following a plan! I tend to fly by the seat of my pants too often.

Naturally, the ying to my yang....the easiest piece to this puzzle will be my ability to Play!!! Hey...You don't get a blog with a name like Patio Perspective and not anticipate that the owner loves to play! Yet, I am usually quite responsible so I will have no problem owning my own learning. Likewise, asking for help has never been an issue....I am plagued with a questioning mind and mouth. Facilitators beware!!!

The most important habits for me to work through will be to view my problems as challenges and teach/mentor others. Since time is such an issue for most of us, I don't care for problems/challenges because I am often pressed for time. I just need to get it done....kinda like thing 3 - 23. :-) Again, teaching and mentoring others in regards to best practices and uses of technology integration is difficult because of lack of time. Perhaps a blog will create time that I didn't know that I had and I will learn from others. That is definitely a goal of mine throughout this class!