Thoughts By Jen

We have a teacher on our campus — a semi-new teacher — who is NOT using technology in her classroom.

She is one of the most creative, innovative, fun, loving, educators I have seen in a long time.

I enjoy walking into her classroom just to watch how she interacts with her students.

~~When she has turned on skype and invited a missionary from far away to come and share with her students.
~~When she dresses up on the 100th day of school as a 100 year old lady.
~~When  she uses her ipevo document camera to capture a moment in her classroom and display an idea.
~~When she has 10+ parent helpers show up on the last day of the month to help with a special project.
~~When she has students in a variety of areas around the room — sitting on the floor, sitting on beanbag chairs, walking around the room….working in small groups on more than 1 activity at a time.
~~When she is outside playing games with her students and creating new games on the fly.
~~When she is using her laptop and projector to display a picture on the wall to jump start her students thinking and talking.
~~When she laughs with her students, touches a head, kneels down to a 2nd grade  height, cries and comforts, keeping each student as an individual and knowing how to respond.
~~When she meets with the other 2nd grade teacher to discuss ways to “fun” up their classrooms.
~~When she shares how she is going to take something that worked and make it better the next time.
~~And I could go on…..

But you walk into her classroom — you would never accuse her of using technology –
But you would congratulate her on using every single resource at her fingertips.

It does not matter if that resource plugs in or walks in.
It does not matter if that resource is something that clicks or needs to be worn.
It does not matter if  that resource is free or one that goes on the “Wish List”.
It does not matter if that resource is her idea or one that she makes into her idea.

She is a good teacher — NOT because she uses technology — but because she uses her resources.  Any and all — to make her classroom a great place to be!

Just my thoughts today.
Jennifer

Forgive me if I ramble — I am trying to figure out my thoughts — and they are not coming easily today.

In the past week — I have attended 4 conferences –
2 Virtually  (FETC and EDUCON)
2 Physically (CUEOC and EdcampOCLA)

Every conference was very very helpful.   I learned a great deal — not only from the sessions but also from the blog posts and tweetings.

Every conference was enlightening — I was inspired to try new ideas – continually strive for betterment and to think more deeply on topics.

Every conference was fun — I laughed with friends (both physically and virtually), I caught up with family information and people’s lives, and we sang, ate, and chatted.

But I noticed — that with each conference — I traveled alone.

And I also noticed — I was not the only one to do so.

And it continues to nudge me — almost in an annoying “you need to notice this Jen” the common factor of so many of us — that we attend conferences solo.

I wonder –
Is it because of financial issues?
Well, yes…..especially for the out of town conferences that involve travel/hotel/food expenses.
But what about the local edcamp “FREE” conferences — what is our excuse there?

I wonder –
Is it because of selfish issues?
For me — sometimes yes.   I enjoy making my own agenda, being free to travel to the session I want to, when I want to…without having a tag-along.

I wonder –
Is it because of “ego” issues?
By attending conferences by MYSELF — I continue to educate myself — keep myself in the “know” and elevate myself just above those who did not attend.   I still struggle with being the “sage” on the stage!

I wonder –
Is it that we make  up their excuse WHY they won’t join us in our own minds — so we don’t even ask….before giving them the opportunity to even say “sure, I would like to go”

I know of a few friends (@woscholar and @paulrwood to name two) that do a very good job of bringing along their staff to conferences and events….but that does not seem to be the norm.

And this brings me to dwell on 2 things.

1.  How do we (how do I) demand of myself that I don’t go alone to conferences?
2.  How can we expect change on our campuses IF we don’t bring others along with us for the conversations?

In order to conquer #1 — we are just in the planning for an EdCampWineCountry to take place in Murrieta/Temecula — of which I will invite everyone on my campus to.   Maybe a local event will help encourage them to join the conversation.

I feel — personally — that attending conferences alone — continues to broaden the divide we feel between our teachers and ourselves.  And personally, I want to bridge that gap — starting now.

Just my thoughts
Feel free to share yours.

Jen

It is very easy to get caught up in the “Have Nots” especially when it comes to the options of tech….and especially to bemoan the “if only.”

Which is one reason why I really like — http://whatisyoureduwin.com/ — What is your Eduwin.

There is a tie-in to twitter (but if you aren’t on twitter by now, this should be the push you to starting an account.)

Stop at the end of each day — and think –
WHAT WORKED TODAY?
If I could SHARE one thing about today, what would it be?
Finally, _____ I have worked on forever finally came to pass.
THIS was today’s milestone.
ETC…..

And then run over to http://whatisyoureduwin.com/ and post it.

And then take time to read other people’s eduwins.   You might get some ideas of things to try yourself….and you will read “wins” that will make you smile.

…..AND AND AND — if you wish — start a classroom twitter account — and each day invite your students to share their eduwins!!  You might be delighted by what you read — and see how you are impacting your kids in ways they might never express outloud.

Take the time to post an EduWin today — honestly, you will be glad you did! — and we will too, because you shared!

Eduwin is provided by the  EdReach Team:
Scott Meech, Daniel Rezac, Judith Epcke, Jay D. Blackman

There are moments in my life that STICK — (as I am sure there are with you)……

Just recently I had a “Theatre moment” and started to think of memories of the past…..

This past week I finally was able to see WICKED.   I honestly knew nothing about the play & when the scarecrow lifted up the witches hat — the next moment was MEMORABLE.   I laughed, I cried — it is a moment stitched into my mind.

Many years ago, as I sat in the theatre as PHANTOM started….the autioneer said “What will you bid for this chandelier” and the lights went out, the chandelier lit up, and the music boomed — it is a moment stitched into my mind.

When I went and saw CITY OF ANGELS, where the play continues to change as the playwright continues to rewrite the script — there was a scene in the solarium where a tennis ball was being tossed and hit — at the end of the scene, the playwright ripped up the script and the entire scene had to be reversed to the beginning — is is a moment stitched into my mind.

As I thought of these theatre moments — my thought turned to my education…..and I started thinking back to Memorable Moments

……..As a student.

I remember guppies in kindergarten.  I don’t know WHY….but I remember guppies were just the best thing ever and I talked about them for weeks.

I remember genuine junk in 2nd grade.  Never realizing it was the teacher’s discipline policy — I remember being excited to pick from the genuine junk treasure chest on Fridays.

I remember playing 4-square in 3rd grade WITH THE TEACHER and having to say either a state or the corresponding capital when the ball bounced to me.

…..As A Teacher.

I remember the thank you notes from parents who took the time to say “thank you for loving and working with my child”.

I remember seeing the “SNEEZE” video at the United Streaming booth at Classroom Connect conference and realizing there were powerful ways of teaching beyond what I had been comfortable with.

I remember sitting at a table in Atlanta, GA at the NECC conference and my friend, John, said….”let me show you twitter.”

MEMORABLE MOMENTS — some life-changing, some just happy memories……
But all important.

And I wonder — what memorable moments opportunities are you creating within your classroom?
What memorable moments have you had in your classroom?

Pleas share!
Jen

As I continue to simplify my life down in 2012…..I started to look at all the “extra” things I do…..and one is Guess The Wordle.

As a small backstory — for those of you who don’t know about GTW yet — my friend, Jane Lowe, and I were chatting about ways use to wordle (about 2 years ago) and I asked what she thought of students guessing “wordle themes”.   She thought it was a good idea….and 20 minutes later I had started a WIKI about Wordles.  I also created a Ways To Use Wordle slideshow that I shared out too, plus a template to help students/teachers to use wordle.    It started as a MWF commitment and now is a daily commitment — but honestly, thanks to Hootsuite and scheduling in WordPress…..it is now much more manageable.

~~~~end of backstory

So — as I was looking through what needs to stay a priority and what I might be able to “not make a priority” — Guess The Wordle was brought to the table.

I was not sure what kind of impact it is having…..so I decided to check out the stats since we began:

Hmmmm — 52,701 in 2011 jumped out at me a bit —
1,000 visitors per week…….
Perhaps not a lot in your world — but that is an encouraging number to me.
And looking at 2012 — and it is just January 8th — visitors this year look promising!
And I have to admit — I have learned a great deal as well as I create each wordle.

It is not just a quick copy paste create activity.

I work hard at making wordles accurate and challenging.   Wednesday’s take the most time because I really want to make them tricky.   I keep a Google Spreadsheet with all wordle dates and titles so I don’t repeat wordles.   It is not a huge monthly commitment, but it is a commitment and I had to weigh the pros and cons of GTW.

But, I guess if 1,000 people are visiting GTW each week — and teachers are pleased — Guess The Wordle will continue…….

and smiles, I will continue to learn as I create them.

Jen

PS:  If you have used Guess The Wordle, please share in the comment are of how you are using GTW.   Share what you like and I am okay if you add your suggestions on how to make it work better too!  Thank you

ADDENDUM:
TO K. Vincent’s Students:
You are right — and here is a better rendition of 12 days of Christmas!

Pinterest
http://pinterest.com/

Every so often something flashes by through email or twitter – and I take note, but file it to the back-burner for a while until there is time to play.

Which is exactly what I did with Pinterest…….and NOW, I have to share it with you.

Picture it as your Refrigerator Door.   Where you keep all your notices, family pictures, reminders, etc.   A snapshot of your life – if I might be so bold.

And that is what Pinterest is – a snapshot of your “Web” life.

(You need to be invited to join – so if you want, drop me an email and I will pass out invites until mine are gone!)

You need to create an account to be able to use Pinterest and it will walk you through all the options ONCE you are logged on.

I do SUGGEST that you attach the pinterest toolbar icon to your browser toolbar (just drag and drop) and I do SUGGEST that you DO NOT let Pinterest post every time you “Pin” an item…..(you can toggle this option off – but you have to do it each time!)

Before I continue – let me show you a few options of what you can do with Pinterest.

Here is my project board:  http://pinterest.com/projectsbyjen/projects-by-jen/
Here is an example of school ideas:  http://pinterest.com/mrstewart/school-ideas/
Here is an example of teaching ideas:   http://pinterest.com/allywehn/teaching-ideas/

Now you have seen some boards – this is how it works.

As you journey through the web, you might see am IMAGE that sparks your interest.   You click on the little icon on your toolbar and up pops a window with ALL the images pinterest has found on that page.   As you hover over each image, the word PIN will appear…..click on the image you with to “pin”, add it to your board, and write up a tiny description and tada – you are done.   (and pinterest automatically puts a link at the bottom of the image so you can remember where you found it!)

You can make different boards with different topics…..and you also can wander through other people’s boards to get ideas OR repin their images to your boards as well.

It can become a bit addicting but also a great option for saving and sharing resources.  You can also use it for your students to use as weblinks to sites you wish them to check out or to use for projects/bookreports/papers/etc.

One other nice aspect is that you can comment on “pins” or like them.   If you visit:  http://pinterest.com/guessthewordle/daily-wordles/ you will see that 7 people repined James and the Giant Peach.  If I click on that pin, I will see who repined it and I can go visit their boards as well.

It becomes a very easy way of sharing information and you can either keep your boards secure (where only you can add pins) or you can open it up for others.

It is a keeper and I hope you enjoy the options.   And if you make a board, please share it with me!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(This TechTip was included in the January 2012 edition of the Projects By Jen newsletter!)

As 2012 begins, I think of resolutions to make….which more than likely will be broken before I hit submit on this blog post…..

And instead, this year….I plan to re-evaluate.

1.  I am re-evaluating Projects By Jen and methods of communication.
I have already closed the NING (it is something I no longer wish to pay for) and am going to reconsider how the members seem to communicate with each other.  Edmodo is already an option that some have transferred to and our Facebook page has a nice following as well.  But wondering what other options are available…..and to be wise, I need to re-evaluate how it has been done in the past.
I am re-evaluating communication options.

2.  I am re-evaluating conferences….the necessity and the reasons.
In the past, I tend to either speak speak speak the entire time so no time to sit and absorb OR I curl up in a comfy area and just listen in locations such as Web 2.0 or Blogger’s Cafe.
It will be a necessity to continue to attend a few conferences (because several members on my staff are just starting to take notice and they need someone to go with — and chat with about after)….but also wondering about exactly why I attend conferences.
If I attend for the “friends” then why not just get a hotel room somewhere nearby and make arrangements for some meetups??  Or why not look into other alternatives?  Why not a cruise or a Las Vegas meetup??  If it is friend’s I need to see — why wait for conferences? why pay for conferences?
I am re-evaluating conferences.

3.  I am re-evaluating my online presence.
If I look at my past year on online presence I realize 2 major things.
#1 I take this much too seriously and #2 I am socially awkward.
The pendulum continues to swing either to too much involvement or total walk-away.  There is no happy medium….and after 5 years, that concerns me a bit.
And not only the social “phobia” I still have but also the time frame that is truly used if I look at this seriously…and the fact I have twittered over 26,000 times (which is so in-accurate due to deleted tweets, twitter walk-aways and then re-establish, and twitter new name)…is not something I truly am proud of.
Plus, what groups do I not belong to that perhaps I do not — and why?   And my thoughts on #anykindofchats needs to be re-evaluated as well.  Perhaps, I was too harsh in my judgements.
I am re-evaluating my on-line presence.

4.  I am re-evaluating why I blog
I tend to blurt when I blog and I wish my content to be a bit more substantial…..
You tend to get my most recent knee-jerk and that might not be the best usage of this blog.
If I am just purging, I could do that with a diary……
So, I am going to look over some past blog posts and perhaps see if there is a trend (hormones, events, etc) and do some thinking on whether to continue the blog.
I am re-evaluating why I blog.

5.  I am re-evaluating how I share out resources.
Both my own and others.
In the past, worksheets I create for my projects are available ONLY during projects and then they go bye-bye.  I need to see why.
I read a lot of good blog posts that I re-tweet out — but might need to share out more on my thoughts of why…..(which might be a good reason to re-consider #4)
I am NOT a good note-taker at sessions — I tend to just listen and then hope I remember the good parts.  (especially if they don’t have their links/thoughts available).
I am looking at who I RT and why — and already made it a point to perhaps “shhhhh” some loud voices for a while so I took notice of some I overlook…..but that is something I need to reason out why as well.
I need to re-evaluate how I share, what I share, and why.

6.  I am re-evaluating my contentedness.
Have I become complacent or have I become a frightened little kitten afraid to speak up?
Have I learned to speak Ed-Techisms so much I don’t even question myself anymore?
Do I say “Yay” in order to go with the crowd and be accepted rather than say “I think not” and risk being ostracized….and if so…..that is something else to be evaluated.
I believe I am vocal but I also believe I am a scaredy cat and need to look into reasons of why and rethink them.
I am re-evaluating my contentedness.

One of my plans of 2012 is to simplify…..and during this re-evaluation time, I hope to simplify 1-6 down to be more understood and more manageable.
2012 will be year of change for Jen Wagner but I don’t want it to be a impulsive change that tends to react due to reactions.   I never ever truly thought any of this “ed-tech” through and evaluated the whos whats whens wheres and especially the whys.

My plan for 2012 is to stop and think FIRST, think BACK….and then proceed.

So, grins, we shall see how I do.

Jen

When I attended church in Ventura County — I was in the church choir — and we performed in Christmas cantatas.

The words from the song Peasants and Kings have always stayed with me — though it is almost 30 years ago.

For wise men were made HUMBLE — and humble men were made WISE.

Everyone was changed!

May this Christmas be different than any before….and may your life be changed by Him!

Merry CHRISTmas!!
Jen

Small back story –

My friend has 8 kids….each year she thinks of a new creative way to hide who’s presents are who’s until Christmas.

One year all each person’s gifts had a number and her kids had to figure out their number corresponded to a certain Laker Player.   One year it was a scripture verse….etc.

This way — no one knows who’s gifts are who’s until Christmas morning…….because each year the code changes.

So this year, I suggested — let’s do QR codes.

We downloaded a QR reader to her iphone and then went to http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ to create the code and then copy/pasted them into publisher on label paper and then printed them out.

After we did that — I realized, oh, we could have prettied them up a bit more……

so here is a sample of what we possibly could have done if we had not been so rushed:

Such a simple idea but very “techie” and quite fun.   And I also got to show her (and others) many other options with QR codes (like scripture, webpages, registration forms, etc!)

Feel free to create your own — and if you want — come back here and share your ideas.

Hmmmm — I am wondering QR code birthday cakes……  (grins)

Jen

As Christmas is before us — and we think of what we “want” for Christmas — it is also important to think of what we wish to “GIVE” as well.

My church has put together a Gift Catalog which you can visit here:
http://calvarymurrieta.com/gifts/index.asp

World Visions has a Gift Catalog as well:
http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/pages/give-a-gift-change-a-life?open?open&campaign=10152549&cmp=KNC-10152549&gccode=sheep

Or you can build a box at Samaritan’s Purse:
http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/Giving/Build-A-Box/

And you can also help others out at:
http://www.kiva.org/

Or gather up some items and visit your local good will, salvation army, or thrift store.

I don’t know if you are like me — but I have plenty — and this year, I am giving a sheep, a tree, and helping build a well.   Perhaps you will join me?

Enjoying the holidays and the season of GIVING –

Jen