Kelly Griswold's 23 Things

I love to comment on my friends blogs. I have to admit, I started to read their blogs for 23 Things as soon as I realized I could. Kelly F. and I have exchanged a few comments and I have never had the pleasure of meeting her- yet. She has a really cool blog that caught me eye right away. I hope to make mine more like hers!

When I started my classroom blog last year I got a comment from someone I had no idea who they were. I was a little “freaked” out. How did they stumble on my blog? Who were they. She said she would be reading it occasionally and would love to visit…um… still freaked.

After reading the articles required for Thing #5,  I can see that she was more evolved then me and maybe saw something she wanted to try (like my emulation for Kelly F’s site). I have to get over the feeling of my blog being like my personal room. I have to think more global.

Reflections: I commented on a friends blog that I thought that if we were “chatting” about something that we had emotions about we would probably do more of it. Reminds me of what happens at school on group wise when we light up on a subject. I am looking forward to such interactions.

Google Documents

Google accounts are a keen way to share information with people. I have had a google account for a year or so to manage my home page  (horoscopes, itunes and you Tube, news stories- all for entertainment basically) but never used it to it’s potential-like most of things I am learning. Once I scratched the tip of the ice berg, I found there is so much more to it! This was not as easy to manurer through, so I got frustrated right away. I didn’t give it much of a chance to sink in because I wanted to work on the thing I knew how to use- Google maps.

I have to admit, I will need lots more practice to be a fluent googleologist- my comfort zone is stretching from the last three things, but I can see so many practical applications for using google documents and sharing internet space- not clogging up and creating cyber garbage that needs to be managed- One place for mutually working together and recycling and reusing information.  I will need to play with it some more and add to this “thing” when I am feeling more comfortable with it. I will do a better reflection on Google docs soon.

Reflection: I did try to create a table to collect my friends email addresses. I created it and saved it, but had a hard time working with it and finding it after I saved it. I am sure the more you use it, the easier it gets. I just need time and practice. I think since I have had a Yahoo account forever, I am to comfortable using it for my emails. One would think taht YAHOO would have a document sharing application too. Maybe they do. I will need to do some surfing.

Google Maps and Google Earth

I had our tech guys install Google Earth to my classroom CPU a few years ago. I used it in a Language arts/social studies lesson. The kids ate it up! I have to admit it is cool to zoom in on your own house. They do need to do an update though- we owned a barge (yes, a barge) and it sat in front of the house in the early 2000’s- still visibleon my google picture. I can see lots of applications, besides entertainment for this app. Environmental management, such as crop distribution, city planning… but, it is kinda creepy too- Big Brotherish.

Reflection: I did some plannig for a trip I will be taking soon to an area I am not familiar with. I found Google Maps 10x easier to wrok with then Map Quest. I found the directions, telephone numbers and I LOVED the panaramic views. When Ihave time, I will take a virtual tour of some more exotic places… how fun!

Here is a picture of my family taken in Mackinaw last year. My Husband, Ken, had just finished racing in the 100th running of the Chicago to Mackinaw sailboat race. My son, David, is 11 here. It was one of those picture perfect days!

I had to put some thought into which sites I visit enough to warrant adding to my blog log. Didn’t think the ones I use to pay my bills (which are probably the ones I frequent the most, next to my son’s parent viewer at Mona Shores Middle School) would be appropriate for my  audience.

I decided that I would gear this to being more of a “get to know me” blog and added some sites that I use more for family purposes. We Ski Alta every March, so I visit that site as the long awaited date approaches, checking the ski conditions and watching the dream like snow scenes. I was even on the site a few years ago, ok…so it was the site that you can buy pictures from, but the had a neat link that took me there through their site, so technically…

The MYC site was designed with help form my husband, Ken. He is the director of the Junior Sailing program there. We spend a great deal of time working with this organization and my son sails competitively through the race team Ken organized. I can see that we need to add more pictures to show the beauty of Muskegon Lake and the juniors that sail out there!

Now the AMERICAN SAILORS site is a personal labor of love. The Griswold’s made a documentary of that very race that the picture posted is from. We had 65+hours of footage from this race and created this award winning documentary! It is being shown at the Orlando Film Festival this week (Nov. 3rd and 4th) and has already won the BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY at the Grand Rapids Film Festival. It was shown on WGN two times this summer. You have got to go to the site and watch the trailer if you are interested in sailing at all!  (or better yet, go buy the DVD)

I added my favorite educational site at the present time- The Two Sisters. I have a subscription to this site. I read a great book buy these two women that explained a literacy block organization that I tried last year and found very successful. I visit this site once a week to see what the Sisters are doing to tweak the Daily Five, then try to incorporate their ideas into my day. It is all about working smarter, not harder!

I changed my theme from the default to a more elementary theme base. I embeded a photo of my family in this post and described it .  I wrote about my favorite educational web site and linked to that site within this post. I added 5 links to my blog roll.  I have moderated the one comment that I have received so far. I think it is safe to say thing #3 is done!

Reflection: I didn’t have any frustrations with linking. It was easier then it was last year- thank you MAISD! I even added a Scholastic News link ( so mom’s can order books throught he book club online) to my Classroom blog- which I linked from my 23 things blog. This is getting fun!

Each blog had it’s own feel and reflected the teacher that had created it. Of course I gravitated tot he early educational settings. In these blogs I felt you were truley invited into teh classrooms of some very creative teachers.

I was very comfortable in Mrs. Myrel’s First Grade Blog (It felt almost like physically visiting her classroom). I enjoyed the pictures and Journal like posts. I thought it was neat how parents and other teachers (maybe even the administrator) commented back to the class. I can see how a classroom blog becomes just that THE CLASSROOMS and not just the teacher tool I have been using it for so far!

I can’t wait to learn how to do the links like in the Kindergarten Blog. What a great resource for busy parents! I liked how the KinderKid’s blog had posts from each student, another really cool way to get parents and kids involved and show off the learning that has taken place. It is kind of like a celebration that everyone can share. The kids can even share the blog with their grandparents! They will LOVE that !

I did go off on my own and sneaky peeked in Kelly Fuller’s (for our 23 Things class) and saw more going on there- She should be highlighted as well! This is all such a tease- I will have to carve out some time next week (after my observation nerves have settled)  and be adventurous, taking notes to use to morph my blog.

Reflection: I am looking forward to spending some time surfing through all the great sites I am seeing on everybody’s blogs. The 23 Things blog site itself, is a great resource for that. I am enjoying getting to “know” some new people too!

Blogging is just one more way to stay in touch with my parents, or so I thought untill I read the Wiki page on Educational Blogging. Of course (palm to head) why hadn’t I thought of that? Why not use it in a more “interactive” way. My only worry is that not all my kids have access to the web at home, but I will be polling them to see who does.

I communicate with 60% of my parents through emails (probably through their work) and I include my classroom blog site in my weekly newsletter, so why not have a scavenger hunt with it and see how many families I can get to go to my blog? I think I will try to tie this in with the Halloween theme of the week. Maybe do a Halloween riddle at the end of the day and have kids go home and see if they can get the answer off my bog. Not only will that get them engaged with the technology that will be their vehicle in the future, but they will have to read…oh my! that is scary!!!

Reflection: I didn’t have time to do the joke thing…with Common Assessments, report cards and the holiday, I can see that time is going to be a big factor in how creative I can get on a blog. I am hoping this will get easier as I go.

I got goose bumps watching the Youtube segment. Why couldn’t I be in my young 20’s with all this at my finger tips?? Wait…I do have it all at my finger tips- I just wasn’t rasied tapping a messeage to my bff- I have a learning curve and if I want to keep up with my 12 year old and any other young person- I better get with the program!

I am at awe at the  opportunities my son, and first graders I teach, will have to be so connected to everyone, anywhere, anytime- it opens the whole world up- figuratively and literally! So many ways to get your point across and hear, see, feel (visulally and musically enhanced that is) others ideas, digital media truly allows the world to be smaller.

I know just enough to be dangerous, but I would be willing to learn more to enhance my teaching and engage my students. Cell phones are probably in theit near future ( my son had his first one at ten years of age. The freedom that allowed for both of us was liberating ) but I know they know what one is and how they work. You know they all have had their hands on a keyboard and ipods are as much a necessity as the DS and PS they play. It is their world. It is all some of them have known. Sure, I have had the luxury of having seen some of the  metamorphism of this digital world. I have owned vinyl records, eight track tapes, cassette tapes and they have given way to my itouch. Maybe this allows me to be impressed. But imagine ( I am not sure I can) what THEY will see…

Reflection: This whole post was reflective in nature. The older I get, the more I have to reflect on!

Hello World! I feel so connected when I blog! 

 I started blogging last year so I could answer the parents of my first graders, many of them were emailing me through the school email address, probably sitting at a computer at work. I thought I could provide a place were questions could be answered at their convenience…blogging was the answer! I had so much fun last year! I did mini slide shows, birthday updates…any excuse I could think of- It really was “Hello World” experience. I am so looking forward to expanding my abilities and being able to engage parents, students and colleges in the daily adventures of Griswold’s Gossip. It’s all on my blog, baby!