Well, here I am posting my final blog. It was an interesting journey. I did learn a lot. I now know words like podcasting, slideshare, google docs and wiki. Plus I can say I am the proud owner of a blog and a wiki.
I must admit some of the things I don't think I will use at this point. Some of the RSS things I wasn't that impressed with. But I did love googledocs, the podcasting and the wiki. I can see using these to improve my teaching and to share ideas with friends. I have been practicing embedding code into the wiki so I can share on line videos for school with other first grade teachers.
I think what I am going to have to keep doing is practicing. All this new info and I am still not sure I know how to use it all. But I am better.
I will think about a blog for parents. Not sure if I am ready to go there yet but I can see how it could be a useful tool.
I feel proud that I have learned so much about the new technology that is out there. Our world is changing fast as far as technology goes. It is very amazing. Now I at least feel like I have an idea of what is out there.
For those still doing it my advice is "stick with it!" There were evenings I was so frustrated and went to bed mad at my computer. But then around 3am I would have a brainstorm. The next day I would try it out and most of the time it worked. Skip gave the best advice..step back, wait and then come back and try again. We are smarter than the computer. At times it didn't seem that way but I feel like I won the battle. I finished.
The end result is worth it. 2 CEUs and more knowledge. I am glad I did it.
I am so proud of you. You should share this experience with your students! Let them know how good it feels to struggle with something and succeed. That is a powerful message.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean "last" blog post? Hmmmmm? Keep going. Keep exploring and share what you find with the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteYou are an inspiration to us all. It's good to hear that there were parts of the 23 things that didn't seem overly relevent to your world. I too have seen that, but have to agree, being half way through that the trip so far has been worthwhile. That's not to say that it hasn't been frustrating.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice. I am a little over halfway through and I find it challenging some nights to finish the next "thing." I'm going to keep plodding through and I will finish, too!
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