Continuing this Journey

As I continue to explore my personal learning network, I continue to come across many interesting ideas and trends. Using Google Reader as a way to read about new and interesting articles or blog posts in subjects that I chose is excellent. I love browsing through the posts that come through and clicking on the links that I want to read more about. I am really loving the Teacher Lingo posts that I subscribe to. It brings me to blogs and articles about a wide variety of things that are applicable to teaching. Of the best value is lesson ideas and activities. By being a member of a personal learning network where teachers exchange ideas, it makes my job easier. There's no need to re-invent the wheel, so if teachers work together and share ideas, it makes our jobs a bit easier, and the students' experiences that much more enhanced. I am not really liking Twitter as much as the Google Reader application. I think it may be because Twitter's posts are so short and they really don't give you much information. I follow PBS teachers and though the information they post is relvelant to my teaching, I find myself not as interested in looking through tweets as I am in looking through Google Reader. On a good note, I do love iGoogle. It makes everything so easy. Now, only if Fairfield U could set up their own iGoogle, so Angel, Stagweb, E-mail, Moodle, etc. is all visible on one page!

Concept Map re: Interactive Whiteboards

And so it goes..

So, I continue to check in with my personal learning network and view any interesting news and updates. Again, I find it extremely hard to keep up with everything, but it seems like it is a slow learning process to be able to filter what to read vs. what not to read. There is an overwhelming amount of information when I use Google Reader to view updates to the sites that I subscribe to.

Another area that I am now concentrating more of my effort on is that of my research project. I really want to do an Action Research using the Smartboard; however, I'm not quite sure if my Smarboard will be installed anytime soon. Rather than bank on it and be stuck without any research of my own, I may choose to do a Literature Review. I will continue to use my personal learning network to stay up to date about any research regarding interactive whiteboards and special education students. I have already read some articles about some great FREE programs that are available online for whiteboards, including PBS kids. There seem to be so many ways to engage students using a Smartboard, which I think can definitely stimulate my students.

Well, another week goes on as I continue to find information about my potential research topic. As a side note, I requested an article from a library in Georgia (I think it was Georgia..) and it came in today...! The research has begun...

PLN Experiences

So, last week, I subscribed to the following blogs:

1. Awesome Resources for Curious Teachers
2. Cool Cat Teacher Blog
3. Dangerously Irrelevant
4. Mad Math Beyond Numbers
5. Teacher Lingo
6. Teaching All Students

Throughout the week, I have checked new postings to these blogs by using Google Reader. First of all, I am very happy with Google Reader. I was required to set my account up with Google Reader for another class, but I never quite understood its purpose. Without actually putting it to use, I did not understand why people use it. However, after subscribing to meaningful blogs, the purpose of the application makes sense. Like Cara said in her PLN blog, I was at first overwhelmed with the number of new feeds. However, I think I am slowly learning to weed through the postings and read the postings that seem interesting. A problem I still find though, is how to choose which ones to read. Sometimes the name of the posting does not really reflect the meaning of the blog. I guess this is something that I will simply learn by experience.

An extremely interesting post from the Dangerously Irrelevant blog is about filtering websites within school settings. "Dear teachers, We trust you with the children, but not with the Internet. Yours truly, the Administration." I think this quote perfectly sums up some of the frustrations that I have at school with certain websites being blocked. Sites such as Ning, You Tube, and many Wiki sites are blocked, thereby limiting by ability to use such tools in the classroom.