ttl4d5

I've been writing a lot so I am going to take it easy tonight. I turned in my movie and though I don't think it's perfect, it seems to convey what I need it to. I do use Cormac for all sorts of silly things in my classroom. There's a picture of him wearing gigantic headphones with "No Headphones" on it that hangs on the door. I also have one with a speech bubble to tell where my class is when we've gone to the library or the comp. lab. I wonder if people need to know this in order to understand why I used him in the movie. My students will understand though (context) and I guess that's what matters.

I loved learning a little of what Acrobat can do though I thought the Sitebuilder was too basic. I realize now it was just to get us to create a class on there. I used the time to redo my class schedule for next year and then look at university classes for next year.

Okay, that's all for tonight. I managed to get all the cloth diapers washed and go to the grocery store. Though this class is a lot of work I haven't found it overwhelming at all. I like the challenge and I love the chance for lesson planning and professional development.

don't let the bed bugs bite!

thoughts

I've got to tell you, right now I am just looking at these tools as ways of making doing my job easier. I am not really thinking of how to best use these programs with students. I need to check out more of the lesson plans that are available on AL because they look promising. I tend to think everything is easy and get waaaay ahead of myself and my students. I forget how to slow down and think about the steps I used to get there. So anyway, I am going to concentrate on really understanding backward design rather than the cool programs. Frankly, (sorry in advance Pam) we started having so many tech problems at South this spring that I stopped logging on to my networked emac. I only used my checked out laptop for everything, especially grades. I knew teachers that couldn't access their grades, never mind post them or check e-mail or post attendance, for days at a time. By stating the obvious here I'm not trying to place blame. I'm just wanting to remind people (and this builds on what Jason Ohler was trying to stress) that it's not the technology that's vital, it's the ideas. If I plan to do an iMovie with students I need to make sure that all of their planning is done and done well. If the network fails or we run out of ram or a kid can't login then there has to be a low tech back up plan. Crayons and paper? Well, after the macs were reimaged it took 20-30 minutes, half a class period, to open Word during the time my students were typing final drafts of a year-long autobiography project. I had to have a backup plan.
What I'm trying to say before I head to bed is:
Technology integration is not the goal of this program, great teaching and great learning is the goal. I think at times during the day we all lose track of that because we are so excited/tired/stressed/busy. I am loving it though.

D4

Watching Signing Time - almost have the song memorized.

I am sad that we only have 2 days left. Though I have known (figured out on my own) a lot of what we have gone over I have still been learning through doing. I have also figured out some cool things Safari can do! I wish all of my "projects" in Entourage traveled with the program. At the end of the year I figured out how to control the calendar for one class, save as html, and then post on Sitebuilder. SO much easier than having a cal on sitebuilder, one in Entourage, and one for planning! I am pretty amazed at how much I have learned on my own over the years. I was the last person in my high school class to get around to taking a typing test (an old Mac classic circa 1989ish) even though it was a grad requirement. I did use MUDD games in college as a way of chatting with my brother, also in college. I still know some DOS and I used to write programs on our old Commodore 64. I credit the Commodore 64 for all I know today. :) Of course, it helps that I am a genius. ;)

I was feeling pretty "teched out" this afternoon. Cormac and I had "Ticklefest 2006" we took a snooze. I woke him after about an hour because I was bored and wanted to play. Our cloth diapers arrived today too and they fit him pretty. low tech
It's amazing how sucked into a screen you can get. I noticed that hardly anyone came back upstairs to eat today since we couldn't use our laptops.

I'm concerned about what session to choose (forget if that's tomorrow or Saturday) because I am interested in most of them. I guess I will go to Smart Board since the board I begged and nagged Pete Tryon for has gone woefully underutilized. I'd love to learn more Garageband too but, oh well.

Huh, I thought I had a lot more to say. I even had it all planned in my head. I will have to come back to this later or tomorrow.

If I can get out of the house a few minutes earlier I will try to go to Carrs for doughnuts. Keep your fingers crossed!

confession

I love TTL4

btw

I updated my profile on here and am slightly freaked by the people I am matched up with. I tried to upload a photo but my ego is too big to shrink to 50K.

three!!!

Muy caliente! Just saw a little salsa dancing on So You Think You Can Dance. How do you write that sizzle noise? hmmm

Anyway, today went by really quickly. I loved working with Heather on the daily though the content will remain top secret until the morning. I do accept bribes of diet coke though. It's probably a little late for that. I should have floated the bribe to Pam when she got curious. I just want to say that this is the mostest funnest group of instructors ever.
I am proud of all the multitasking Heather and I did on our daily. We used four different programs to put it together. There was one strange glitch but I am guessing it stems from not powering off my computer very often. I'll keep you posted.

(when I write blogs I feel like the main character in Go Ask Alice and am tempted to make up lots of bad stuff)

I also forgot to eat and drink today (I was b u s y) then worked out with my new personal trainer. not very smart

So, I am easily distracted. For me, this class is beneficial because I actually have time to use the technology. I actually have time to sit and THINK about what I want students to learn and understand. We should go over those 6 ways of understanding in class though; I suppose we wil go over them in the Elluminate discussion. I'm looking forward to Eluminate because I managed to talk Mardell into paying for an Eluminate class offered by College Board about AP Language. They have Eluminate sessions archived on their site but I am looking forward to being an active participant.

As I reread this blog I realize I sound like an idiot. :) I should try to go to bed early. I will reflect on the day further in my dreams.

Day two

Well, I feel like I have a decent grasp of the EU and EQ for this unit. I think that helping explain it to Lara, my peer partner, made what I needed to do a lot more clear. I just finished creating a comic for my unit in Comic Life. A comic about learning to understand satire? I think it works but I am a little bit over tired. My husband won't look at my comic unless I retitle it "Cormac the Great." humph!
This morning's session was a little disappointing, but not because of poor Todd who couldn't get the program to work properly. I'd love the see what cfx can do and be able to play with it later. I did find the overview of Final Cut Express pretty interesting and may need to invest in it later. I would just need to find the time to actually use it!
Okay, it's getting late and I have little of intelligence to say. I need to learn more about satire so I appear more intelligent as I continue to create my unit.

Day 1

Whoa. It rained. Cormac woke up before I left and sobbed at the top of the stairs. Will I make it through six whole days of learning? Will I find my way through the maze at Dimond? Will I be able to park since I decided to not bike?
I drove the two minutes to my husband's alma mater, parked immediately, slumped in a seat in the auditorium, and began this next phase of learning.

more to come...