THING #10

The pictures are photos of my precious family. My grandmother died at age 101 and my mother is now 85 years old and the others are those of my children and grandchildren. I am blessed.

THING #10

My husband is from Maine and we go there every other year. The last year we were there we took a cruise up the coastline of Maine to view the lighthouses. This was absolutely breathtaking. There are thousands of lighthouses in North Amerca, but without a doubt, the Portland head Lighthouse is the most photogenic.

Flickr will probably become my new "best friend."

THING #9

"We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won't need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don't fire cannons to call attention to their shining - they just shine."

I love lighthouses and chose to capture some of the beautiful photos taken of them. This one was posted by Spirited Rob/Roland Migchielsen, who is a Dutch psychologist. This photo was taken of the Heceta Head Lighthouse near, Florence, Oregan. To view other photos by this photographer you can view his collection.

THING #8

Currently, I do most of the power point presentations for the Superintendent's office and other administrators. I have always been concerned about the copyright laws especially regarding the use of students and since we are in education and they are our reason for existence we love to incorporate students into our presentations . However, our office has purchased several cd's containing photos that are freeware so we do not have to be concerned with copyright laws. I am excited to know that through the use of Creative Commons I will be able to share slides, photos and information without fearing Mrs. Copright (Mary Woodard). I know how sensitive the copyright laws are and am glad to see that with the use of the internet it is being addressed in a way that is protecting and useful. If I have seen the cc in the websites I've searched, I've never paid attention to it, but now I will be very watchful and be sure to bookmark these pages for additional references. Man oh man I do think my brain is in overload with all this information and just hope that I can catalog the information.

THING 7

I love following blogs and have for several months now. However, I have always been a little hesitant to leave comments especially if I do not agree with the blogger. But after reading 10 Techniques to Get More comments on Your Blog, the purpose of commenting is a networking tool to use for discussion and input. I can certainly see where blogging could be a useful tool to the classroom teacher; however on the down side I'm afraid of too much negative feedback. It is a wonderful tool to be able to globally network without leaving your home or office. I must get out of my comfort zone and try commenting a little more instead of just reading.

THING #6

Wow--- what a window of knowledge to receiving and archiving information. I can see where networking and compiling varied perspectives of opinions on certain issues is going global. However, I am a little overwhelmed and overloaded on all that I am learning. I am trying to process what information is critical for my job performance. Since my job indirectly affects classroom learning and so much of this information is geared int hat direction, I am trying to rethink to my position. I have chosen to follow several legislative websites in order to stay informed on changes that will affect the areas of my job responsibilities. Also, as with anyone, I am also following several family blogsites and a daily devotional website to jump start my day in the right direction. I am seeing where the teachers of MISD can greatly benefit from the support and networking by using the reader.

THING #5

Google Reader is a real time saver. Note just for the general surf addict but I can see where it will be a great time saver for receiving feeds on updates from all the legislative websites as legislation bills are enacted regarding education so we can make sure our policies and procedures are in alignment with the new bills. I can see where all individuals would be interested in receiving these feeds; my husband would be very interested in the stocks sites.

Thing #4

Who would have dreamed that we would use blogging as a way to connect people and their thoughts and as a tool for teaching. Blogging allows you to the opportunity to express your thoughts and not worry about the grammatical aspect. I feel that blogging will bring out more creativity in students. What a way to teach kids and adults it's okay to express yourself and being able to write it down in a way is a self-helping technique as expressed in the blog by Patrick the fifth grade at risk student.

THING #2
Man oh man, I thought I knew what was going on in the classrooms, how things have changed. Even though I work in administration and understand the "tech talk" regarding promethean boards and wikis, and kindles and elmos.. I had no idea of the impact into the classroom and teaching. All I can think of is the days I watched STAR TREK and thought how cool this would all be if we could have all that technology..and look where we are in the 21st century. I only hope my mind can keep up with all these technology and we don't loose all that personal touch. I say this as I'm sitting in my bedroom looking at my lonely record player and I'm thinking how proud we were when we upgraded to a 4 discs cd player and now there are ipods to take the disc players place.. Oh my I am aging as I am learning. This might not be too good on my health!

June 29, 2009 4:23 PM

Technology is uncharted territory for so many of us. I definitely am one that embraces continuous learning; however I am a little resistant with some of the technology. I love the fact that my iphone keeps me connected to family and friends and I also have access to my emails on one small cellphone. However, I hate losing the personal touch...a handwritten note from my grandchildren. I would have never dreamed that we would be embarking on an age where texting would take the place of that letter. I also worry that technology has made my children and grandchildren accepting to the use of slang terms that are accepted in texting and when they are doing an assignment this slang filters through without a second thought. The fact that we can access any information by just googling is awesome, but does one know how to find a phone number the "old fashioned way" - the yellow or white pages.. and reading the newspaper has now become part of the past. However, my husband refuses to give up this vice and will never read the paper on line. I like most love the fact of shopping via of the internet; however, I also worry about my personal information being in the guts of some computer somewhere and landing in the wrong hands. Bottom line, change is good and please don't take my computer away, I remember typing all those Curriculum Guides with carbon paper...What a nightmare and I also remember the first computer we brought into MISD, the Burroughs system and I thought, I will never learn to use that thing but you know what I embraced the challenge and I embracing this challenge...