Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Thing 3 - Register Your Blog
The title of Thing 3 is a bit misleading as it is not about registering my blog. It is, in fact, about ways in which I can see myself using a blog in my teaching. An obvious use is keeping my parents up-to-date with what we are doing in class. I can blog about the lesson for the day and what the students are learning. Another way to use a blog in the classroom is to have the students create their own blog for creative writing purposes. Of course this would depend on whether or not the students have computer access in the classroom. As a secondary English teacher, however, I do see some great potential in using blogging to further my students' writing and education.
Thing 2 - Create a Blog and Post an Avatar
In this post I am to explain how I decided on my posting name and the name of my blog, as well as my experience creating my blog. Also, how did I choose the look of my avatar.
I believe I posted about the name of my blog and creating my blog under Thing 1, as I read that to be included in that post. However, I will cover it again, perhaps in more detail, here.
I came up with the name "KramerMAT" by trying to think of something that had part of my name in it along with something that connected it to my class. I wanted my last name to be part of it so that it would be easier for my instructor and fellow students to identify me. A major part of my identity at the moment is that I am an MAT student. I combined the two to come up with my posting name. When I created the name of this blog I had the same concerns. I wanted my name to be part of it as well as an identifier for the class. "Kramer's 23 Things" seemed like the most obvious choice.
Creating the blog was very simple. I had no idea that blog generators were out there that are free. The hardest part of creating the blog was deciding on the background. Which should tell you how easy it is to do.
The avatar that I created is based on how I look. I am me and don't want to pretend that I look different. I wanted an avatar that represented me as closely as possible. I chose a red top because I like red and it looks good on me. I would have liked one with sleeves, but didn't see one I liked. So sleeveless it is. Black pants are always a winner. The avatar that is there now is actually the second one I made. The first one had on black glasses and was minus the dog. I usually wear contacts and only breakout my glasses occassionally. When I created the first avatar I had been wearing my glasses for a few months due to various reasons. Once I was back in my contacts I decided to update my avatar. I took the glasses off and added a dog. Why a dog? Well, I wanted to add something to her. Her arms looked funny and she seemed all alone. I have a wonderful dog for a pet and decided to put her in. Although she is black, not brown. I tried to alter the coloring of the dog, but to no avail. So there's my avatar, closley resembling me, with a brown dog which looks nothing like my dog. LOL. I did try to put books in place of the dog, but the books are HUGE.
I believe I posted about the name of my blog and creating my blog under Thing 1, as I read that to be included in that post. However, I will cover it again, perhaps in more detail, here.
I came up with the name "KramerMAT" by trying to think of something that had part of my name in it along with something that connected it to my class. I wanted my last name to be part of it so that it would be easier for my instructor and fellow students to identify me. A major part of my identity at the moment is that I am an MAT student. I combined the two to come up with my posting name. When I created the name of this blog I had the same concerns. I wanted my name to be part of it as well as an identifier for the class. "Kramer's 23 Things" seemed like the most obvious choice.
Creating the blog was very simple. I had no idea that blog generators were out there that are free. The hardest part of creating the blog was deciding on the background. Which should tell you how easy it is to do.
The avatar that I created is based on how I look. I am me and don't want to pretend that I look different. I wanted an avatar that represented me as closely as possible. I chose a red top because I like red and it looks good on me. I would have liked one with sleeves, but didn't see one I liked. So sleeveless it is. Black pants are always a winner. The avatar that is there now is actually the second one I made. The first one had on black glasses and was minus the dog. I usually wear contacts and only breakout my glasses occassionally. When I created the first avatar I had been wearing my glasses for a few months due to various reasons. Once I was back in my contacts I decided to update my avatar. I took the glasses off and added a dog. Why a dog? Well, I wanted to add something to her. Her arms looked funny and she seemed all alone. I have a wonderful dog for a pet and decided to put her in. Although she is black, not brown. I tried to alter the coloring of the dog, but to no avail. So there's my avatar, closley resembling me, with a brown dog which looks nothing like my dog. LOL. I did try to put books in place of the dog, but the books are HUGE.
Thing 1 - Habits of Life Long Learning
OK, so here it is a few weeks into class and I have totally been putting off starting on my blog. Don't ask me why. Maybe because I wasn't sure what it was all about. Sure, I set up my blog page and Avatar within the first week, but then it just sat there. I kept thinking that I need to start on it... I need to start on it... and... finally... I have. (I did try to view the slide for Thing 1 several times before class started, only to realize that I didn't have earbuds with me.)
So today I sat down at my home computer and went to work. Sort of. The problem is there is no sound at all, despite having working speakers. On top of that, the bubble that appears directing me to "press play when ready" disappears into the bottom of the slide. I have forward, backward, to the end and to the beginning options, but no play button. Next problem. The bubble that says go here to read the text if you can't hear anything disappears into the side of my slide. Ugh! So, I went ahead and flipped through the slides making notes, but am thinking that I'm really missing a lot of information.
I decided I need to go ahead and post to my blog regarding this topic since I've already procrastinated a bit. I do plan on going into class early and speaking with the instructor about the issue. Who knows? Maybe there really is no sound and life is just playing with me. If not, I will come back to this post and update it once I can hear the audio that accompanies it. Until then I will share which habit I think is the easiest and which is the hardest for me, based on the slides only.
The 7.5 habits presented are:
1. Begin with the end in mind
2. Accept responsibility for your learning
3. View problems as challenges
4. Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner
5. Create your own learning toolbox
6. Use technology to your advantage
7. Teach/mentor others
7.5 Play!!!
I think the easiest habit for me is to begin with the end in mind. Through out life knowing a cut off date has helped motivate me. In grade school I'd think, "Just a few more years and then I'll be in high school." In high school I'd think, "Pretty soon I'll be graduating." After high school I'd use other dates to help motivate me to get me through. Having an end point gives me motivation and a purpose.
The hardest habit for me would have to be to view my problems as challenges. Yes, I've heard it before and sometimes I have actually done it. But usually I see my problems as big, fat, ugly problems. In order to view my problems as challenges and look at them as a puzzle to be solved will take some thought process retraining on my part. When I encounter a problem I will just have to stop my emotional reaction, slow down and take a new look at it. Wish me luck!
Hmmmm, I'm also suppose to write about what I want to learn by playing with Web 2.0. I really don't have anything specific. I'm eager to learn anything that I can. Learning to set up a blog was neat. Now that I know how, and that it is free, perhaps I will create more blogs and/or blog more. It was fairly easy to set-up this blog. Don't know if that was due to already having a Gmail account or not. The hardest part was thinking of a name for it. I wanted it to be somthing that related it to the class I am taking. That is how I came up with the name, although it seems a bit bland. Being able to customize the background is nice. I tried out different backgrounds to see how the blog would look. I wanted a background that was inviting and pleasent to look at, nothing cutesie or too plain. I'm happy with the one I picked. There were a few others I liked, but they had white areas for the text that seemed too contrasting to the background.
So today I sat down at my home computer and went to work. Sort of. The problem is there is no sound at all, despite having working speakers. On top of that, the bubble that appears directing me to "press play when ready" disappears into the bottom of the slide. I have forward, backward, to the end and to the beginning options, but no play button. Next problem. The bubble that says go here to read the text if you can't hear anything disappears into the side of my slide. Ugh! So, I went ahead and flipped through the slides making notes, but am thinking that I'm really missing a lot of information.
I decided I need to go ahead and post to my blog regarding this topic since I've already procrastinated a bit. I do plan on going into class early and speaking with the instructor about the issue. Who knows? Maybe there really is no sound and life is just playing with me. If not, I will come back to this post and update it once I can hear the audio that accompanies it. Until then I will share which habit I think is the easiest and which is the hardest for me, based on the slides only.
The 7.5 habits presented are:
1. Begin with the end in mind
2. Accept responsibility for your learning
3. View problems as challenges
4. Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner
5. Create your own learning toolbox
6. Use technology to your advantage
7. Teach/mentor others
7.5 Play!!!
I think the easiest habit for me is to begin with the end in mind. Through out life knowing a cut off date has helped motivate me. In grade school I'd think, "Just a few more years and then I'll be in high school." In high school I'd think, "Pretty soon I'll be graduating." After high school I'd use other dates to help motivate me to get me through. Having an end point gives me motivation and a purpose.
The hardest habit for me would have to be to view my problems as challenges. Yes, I've heard it before and sometimes I have actually done it. But usually I see my problems as big, fat, ugly problems. In order to view my problems as challenges and look at them as a puzzle to be solved will take some thought process retraining on my part. When I encounter a problem I will just have to stop my emotional reaction, slow down and take a new look at it. Wish me luck!
Hmmmm, I'm also suppose to write about what I want to learn by playing with Web 2.0. I really don't have anything specific. I'm eager to learn anything that I can. Learning to set up a blog was neat. Now that I know how, and that it is free, perhaps I will create more blogs and/or blog more. It was fairly easy to set-up this blog. Don't know if that was due to already having a Gmail account or not. The hardest part was thinking of a name for it. I wanted it to be somthing that related it to the class I am taking. That is how I came up with the name, although it seems a bit bland. Being able to customize the background is nice. I tried out different backgrounds to see how the blog would look. I wanted a background that was inviting and pleasent to look at, nothing cutesie or too plain. I'm happy with the one I picked. There were a few others I liked, but they had white areas for the text that seemed too contrasting to the background.
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