Look at Me

Look at me!

Here is my avatar.  What an innovative way to add content to a class. Voki is such a neat tool.  I definitely will use this in my classroom.  I might actually spent more time with this app and create a better avatar using some of my personal graphics.

Here is the text I used for my avatar. Below are my readability statistics.  And look at that.  I didn't use any passive sentences.  I think that is a first for me.

Readability Stats

Any creating avatars are fun.  I used to have a Kim Jong Il avatar for the Wii and my Xbox Live avatar now has a 10 year helmet.

As always let's look at where this assignment aligns with ISTE-NETS-T standards.  Well, again, it looks like we are aligning up with Standards 2 and 3 again.  Using avatars we align with standard 2 by designing and developing unique learning experiences.  We create learning experiences student can enjoy watching instead of the typical lecture.  Avatars align with Standard 3 by modeling digital age work and learning.  Here we are creating new ways to demonstrate knowledge and communicate with students, parents and peers.

Words

Words clouds are pretty.

I never used Wordle before, but I have seen it.  It is a neat little app which takes words from a document and places a ranking on the words.  Words with greater impact are seen in a larger font.  Words with a low impact are seen in a smaller font.   I made three word clouds.  The first cloud we will look at is from the Iste-Nets-T Standards for 2000.

ISTE-NETS-T Standards 2000

As you can see in 2000 the "learning technology" were key aspects of the standards.  After the 2000 Standards I created a word cloud for the ISTE-NETS-T Standards for 2008.

ISTE-NETS-T Standards 2008

Here in 2008 the standards were changed to emphasize "student learning."  This is a major change in the standards in the eight years, but a necessary change due to our changing student knowledge.

For my third word cloud I created one for an Algebra I class.  I found some worded directions on adding and subtracting signed numbers and this is what I got.

Adding and Subtracting Signed Numbers

Now, Wordle is not a great teaching tool for a math class, but it does show some highly needed vocabulary, and is a unique way to review key terms.  Obviously there should be better ways to use the Wordle app in a math class, and I will eventually find it.

This exercise clearly aligns with the ISTE-NETS-T 2008 Standards 2 and 3. Standard 2 emphasizes digital learning experiences.  Wordle is another unique way to design and develop digital age learning experiences.  By highlighting key terms we can teach and students can visualize important terms and understand their significance visually.  Standard 3 looks at modeling digital age work and learning.  Clearly Wordle and word clouds communicate important information to students, parents, and peers in a unique and visual way while modeling innovative communication techniques.

RezlabMath

So this isn't the first time I have thought about building a web site for my classes.  Sites are so easy to create, especially with all the free site builders and templates available.  But of course I need to be unique and really like to use my own graphics, and that is where I have my issues.  I am really terrible with graphics.

 I picked a simple template as I know from experience that one no wants to read any thing so pictures are key and the top, bottom and side margins are rarely looked at.  Everything on a web site needs to be easy to navigate and not a lot of extra wording.

You can see my full site by clicking here.

Again,  this exercise exemplifies the ISTE-NETS-T standard 3:  Model Digital Age Work and Learning.  Web sites are excellent forms of communication.  All types of information can be placed on a site from classroom assignments and quizzes to professional blogs and presentations to personal information and interests.  We can easily link our descriptive statistics from exams to our site.  You can even set up chats with parents and students using the Google Gadgets tools.  I really don't know why web sites aren't used more often.  Web sites are just an awesome way to communicate during non-class times.

Excel 2 - Scientific Notation

Well in this exercise we had to do a t-test in Excel. I was able to use the same data that I used in my last blog:  NAEP State Comparisons 2011 4th Grade Reading. With the power of Excel that is a simple task.  My only issue was the scientific notation.  I noted that some results of the t-test provided answers in scientific notation.

This little quirk made me look at my results carefully.  Just looking at the results makes one think that there is no statistical difference, but upon closer examination I notices the E-07 which told me about the scientific notation and the results were less than .05 for both the P(T<=t) one-tail test and P(T<=t) two-tail test.  With the results of both tests being less than .05 there is a significant difference between the national results for males and females.

Now if the results were greater than .05 we would accept the null hypothesis, that there is no difference, but my results show there is a difference.

In future class an interesting test would examine scores on the fraction test comparing non-traditional students vs traditional students.  We could look at who does better adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions.

This assignment aligns with the ISTE-NETS-T standard 3:  Model Digital Age Work and Learning.   Here we are demonstrating fluency in technology, collaborating with others and communicating relevant information to others.

Excel

In this lesson we are learning how to use Excel.  Taking information from the NAEP website for the 2011 school year, I have discovered that West Virginia 4th grade reading programs do not perform well nationally.  We are well below the national average of 220, with only 9 states ranking lower than West Virginia.

These statistics for West Virginia actually surprise me, as from my experience in the elementary setting, reading is a critical part of the curriculum and is highly promoted throughout the entire school.

Below are the Descriptive Statistics I generated from the Data Analysis Tool Pack.  This is a very cool add-on.

In regards to the ISTE-NETS-T standards, this assignment aligns with Standard 3.  Here we are demonstrating our technical prowess which we can share with others.  We can show students how the entire class performed on an assessment.  I can look at the information and analyze what I need to improve upon.  Stats are always cool.

Rubrics

Rubrics are a very nice way to grade essays and projects.  They specifically tell the student what is expected to get an A and what grade you can expect if you don't complete the requirements.   So that being said.  I have never used a rubric.  So I was a little leery when asked to look at Rubistar.  Once I got on the site, making a rubric was too easy.  I also saw 15 pages of ready made rubrics.  Now most were English assignments, but there were a few math one.  The rubrics are also editable so if the standard fair is too much you can parse it down a little.

This is the rubric I created for an assignment on graphing.

Rubistar Rubric

As far as the ISTE-NETS-T Standards, this assignment easily falls into the Standard 2:  Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments.  Here we are designing a way to assess by using rubrics which allow students to see what is expected.  There really is no guessing as to what a teacher is looking for in the project.   Students have the open communication to choose how far or what grade they want on a project.

Google Earth

Yesterday we looked at Google Maps.  Today we look at Google Earth.  Below is my KML import of my Google Maps I create yesterday.

Google Earth - My Drive Home

The transition was extremely easy using the KML (keyhole markup language) function on Google Earth.  For those who are a little unsure of KML it is simply an XML notation specifically designed for geographical data used on computer maps.  KML was specifically created for Google Earth.

My map was automatically saved in Temporary Place, but it will need to be saved to My Places.  That step again is easily accomplished by a click and a drag.

Looking over the Google Earth for Educators site, I wondered how I could use Google Earth in the Math class.  I kept thinking this is more of an earth science app, but the more I think about it the more I realize that that there are many things a math teach could do with Google Earth.  Obviously distance is one way to utilize Google Maps and Google Earth, but the more I think about it the more things come to mind.  Simple things such as converting distance to gasoline needed for a trip to how much a trip would cost.  All of this plus a lot more would be useful in a math class.

Discussing the ISTE-NETS-T standards, Standard 2 and 3 appear to be the two standards that highlight this exercise.  Using Google Earth is a neat and modern way to develop relevant learning experiences in Math.  Math classes are always littered with "Why do we need to learn this?"  Well here is why.  Google Earth is also a unique way to model digital age work and learning.  Maybe just by showing this app in class someone at some point might find the app interesting and go exploring themselves.

Road To Bali...No wait...It's York

I spent the morning playing with Google Maps.  I didn't really know what to map out so I mapped out a trip I recently took to my hometown.  I choose this because there are several geological and historical points of interest along the road.




View My Drive Home in a larger map


Here is the itinerary for this trip.

This is a really cool tool.  I have used it before but with Bing Maps.  If you need to show historical, geological, etc.  road view is an awesome way to do it.  Check out the "Colorful House" on my map in road view.  You will be able to see why we call it the "Colorful House."

As for ISTE-NETS-T standards, this exercise promotes Standards 1 and 2.  A virtual field trip will inspire learning a creativity.  Maybe even inspire students to actually physically go the places explored in the virtual field trips.  The exercise is a unique and low cost way to explore locations which is a new and innovative way to enhance learning experiences.

Self Grading Math Quiz

Click here for spread sheet answers.


Working with Google Forms again, I have created a little self grading math quiz.  The quiz was simple to make using Google Forms.  The self grading part was a little more difficult.  I previously understood the if statement, but the $ in the answer cell was something I didn't understand.  The only other question I really had was why on the how to video the creator did not use the average function, but chose to use the sum function and then divide?

This is a great way to create and administer a quiz.  Saves on paper, ink, etc.  Again my only issue is the lack of an equation editor, but I think I can work around that.

This exercise is applicable to the ISTE-NETS-T Standard 2:  Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments.  These digital assessments are easy to create, and easy to grade.  As for math, one can go into the spread sheet and easily give partial credit for answers that are not necessarily wrong.  I really think students would love to see more quizzes/assessments online.

Survey

Above is a little survey I created with Google Forms.  This was an interesting exercise.  As first I had no idea of what to survey and then I started to prepare for my Veteran's Upward Bound course.  An obviously the idea hit.  I created a survey to give to my veterans on the first day of class.  I asked for a little background information and some personal information.  I usually ask for this information.  Some I have them write down, some is required by the class and other information I jsut usually hold conversations with the group and find that information out.

I completed my survey and published it to my blog.  I thought about were to put the survey so everyone in the class would have access and found it easiest to publish the survey before writing the blog.  Lucky me, I had two students show up for class tonight.  So I now have results for my survey.

SEE RESULTS HERE.
http://bit.ly/17DbOyM


I found this to be an interesting exercise.  I do see uses for forms in the classroom.  I just wish the forms were more robust, so I could do more math quizzes etc., but this is for free so we will just go with it.  There are plenty of ways to apply this application in the classroom - first day of school survey, syllabus survey, parental notifications, etc.

As always to need to see how this exercise fits with the ISTE-NETS-T standards.  Well, obviously it fits with Standard 2, our little design and develop expericencs and assessments.  It is an assessment tool, and a survey tool.  We can do all sorts of learning with surveying people and we can create online tests until we drop.

Easy to use. Easy to understand, Google Forms.

Prezi - Numbers: Types and Relationships Yet Again

Well, after about two days of working on this and starting over two or three times, I think I have a decent Prezi presentation of my original PowerPoint presentation.  I had a few issues transferring the PowerPoint to Prezi, but decided to create my own stuff in the end.  I learned how to create my own backgrounds, how to create my own collection of images, how to change colors, and many other things.  The only thing I could not figure out was how to size frames.  Being a little OCD this started to bother me and it still does, but over the years I have learned to let it go.  So you can click here to see my newest Prezi or you can watch it here on my blog at the bottom.

Here is everything from the beginning.  It has been an epic journey.  I started with a PowerPoint and ended with a Prezi.

So here is the link to the original PowerPoint.
PowerPoint Presentation

This is probably the most boring way to present a topic. 

Next we worked on the movie.  This was a really cool way to present a topic.

And finally the Prezi.

As you can see the topic and concept remain the same, but the presentation is different for each.  If class is boring create a Prezi, if you have some time change it to a movie.  I always think in terms as all my presentations are "works in progress."  I am constantly changing and modifying to make the presentation better.  Nothing in my world is ever done.

In regards to the ISTE-NETS-T standards, Standard 1, Standard 2, and Standard 3 apply to this exercise.  Creating movies and Prezis will inspire students to  create their own works of art in their own ways.  Students can visually see relationships and have images to remember topics.  Teachers are not standing in front of a class lecturing in a monotone voice and teachers are showing they are were not left in the 20th century where books and chalkboards existed.

Video Killed the Radio Star

Well, this is better than a stupid PowerPoint presentation.  One of my Vets called it "Death by PowerPoint." He was describing the long, boring PowerPoint presentations he had to sit through in the Army.

So this is the PowerPoint presentation I submitted as my PowerPoint for the previous assignment.  I do think this makes the presentation a lot better, but I am still one for talking to the class and not showing videos, but I think there are many ways to incorporation homemade videos into the classroom.  (Notice I used the word talking and not lecturing.  That is another topic of discussion.)

If you have issues  seeing the video on this page, here is a  link you can click to see the video.

As always we need to see how this works with the ISTE-NETS-T standards.  Creating video content easily applies to Standard 2:  Design and develop digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments.  Creating a video of relevant content is any easy and innovative way to present information to the masses.  It is stimulating and keeps ones attention.

PowerPoint

Today's exercise deals with PowerPoint and DropBox.  I have been using PowerPoint  for what seems like forever.  We used to use it as an easy way to document software our company made, simple screenshots and arrows with short and sweet descriptions of what each form did.  Now that I am using the most current version of PowerPoint I really enjoy all of the new little functions available.  I truly love the equation editor.

As for DropBox, I have had an account for a few years now, but have never used it.  I use SkyDrive instead.  Yet again DropBox is another one of those sites where files can be stored and used on the fly where you don't have to worry about thumb drives.  I don't even use a thumb drive anymore.

My PowerPoint Presentation or PNG Images of My Slides Since DropBox Does Not Play Nicely with Microsoft is one that I use in my Veteran's Upward Bound Math class.  Most of the Vets in the class are non-traditional students and they seem to get a chuckle out of the presentation.  This presentation is used to introduce the different types of numbers.  I had a bunch of animation in the presentation, but decided for the purpose of this exercise, the animation was not necessary.  I did however use a technique I read about a few years ago.

Throughout the presentation I want to enforce the relationships between the different types of numbers and how they are built upon each other.  In the lower right hand corner of each slide I place a small icon that links each slide back to the first slide.

As always we must discuss how this piece of technology fits into the ISTE-NETS-T standards.  This exercise applies to Standard 2:  Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments.  With the use of PowerPoint, lessons are easily created and edited.  I am constantly editing all of my PowerPoint lesson, making them better.

Jing a Ling a Ling

I have spent the last three days working with Jing.  As in my previous post, Jing is a neat screen capture tool where a user can add notations to the captured screenshot.  Recently I have tried out the video capturing tool.  This is just as simple to use.  Jing puts a little "Sun" on the screen around the border.

Jing Sun

This sun is movable.  It got in my way and I just clicked on it and moved it over.  If you mouse over the sun, 3 prongs appear.  The left prong is for picking your screen shot, the center prong is for your history and the right prong is settings, closing the application and other things.

To capture my video, I selected the the cross hairs or the left prong.  From there I selected the size of my screen capture and selected the movie option.  The microphone automatically turned on and I was given 3 seconds to prepare.   So after 10 tries, I finally got something usable.  Not that the movie is all that great, but it is better than the original one.  You can check out my video here.  I tried to embed the video, but since we are playing with flash, I had to google for the the html code.  After about 5 tries with different yet similar codes - I give up.  I guess if I really need to embed the video, I could spend a few hours on it, but who's got time for that?

As always we must investigate what ISTE-NETS-T standards apply to this little lesson.  Standard 2:  Design and Develop Digital Age learning Experiences and Assessments is the standard that is applicable to let application.  Using editable videos is a technological sound way to teach a lesson.  Bright colors and fast moving content should captivate students and hold their attention while bringing relevant content to the classroom.

As for the embedding thing, it is really getting on my nerves.  I'm going to figure this one out, but I'm outta here for now.

Happy Father's Day!

Jing Image

Yesterday and this morning I spent a few hours playing with Jing.  This is a very basic screen capture and annotation software.  If you don't have access to PowerPoint, Screencast.com  Screencast is a storage place for  web access to images and videos created by Jing.  You can check out my screencast presentation by clicking here. Over the past years I have begun to heavily rely on sites such as screencast.  I can access my files anywhere, edit them, and present them from any computer that has internet access.

Jing Image

it is pretty cool.  I put together an annotated screenshot of a highlights page I use in my developmental math classes. Here I circled the important formulas needed in the chapter and highlighted important facts.  I saved my work and I can easily place my image in any type of presentation I need.  I also noted that the image can be sent to

This little exercise in Jing is applicable to the ISTE-NETS-T standard 2:  Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments.  By using Jing/Screencast.com and other similar sites I can easily develop lesson plans using this technology.  Highlighting certain aspects of the lesson, important ideas and topics are brought to the forefront.  Assessments are easily incorporated using artifacts created by this technology.  Jing is an easy and effective way to present material to a class.

Diigo

If you haven't noticed I keep changing the layout and general overall look of my blog.  I added two links to follow me on twitter and my diigo library.  I also changed my last blog to make my embedded Prezume fit better.  You might want to take a gander at that.

 _____________________________________________

Anyway, on Friday after posting my last blog, I came to the conclusion that specifically for this class I need to change internet search engines.  I have started using Chrome.  It seems to me that if you are using Google products you need to use all Google products.  Same goes with Apple and Microsoft.  Things just seem to work together better and are a lot less frustrating.

Recently I spent some time messing around with Diigo.  This is a pretty cool bookmarking app.  After installing the diigolet app I started gathering articles for my Diigo library.  So far my library is small, but it is

expanding.  The diigolet app has many functions.  I found the screnn shot feature fun. I started grabbing

 screen shots and then I found I could dd sticky notes and highlights right on the screen shot.

I also bookmarked an article on how to add a widget to blogger.  Some of you may find that interesting.

This whole app again applies to all of the ISTE-NETS-T standards, but one standard really shines with this app:  Standard 5;  Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership.  With the use of Diigo, I can organize and store articles, images, and person thoughts on topics important to my personal and professional growth.  This information can be shared with others and others can share with you.

Prezi

Very Cool! 

I have heard about Prezi and I have seen it in action before.  This is the first time I have used it.  Just running through my resume brought millions of ideas into my mind of uses in the classroom.







I found the application easy to use and user friendly.  It was similar to PowerPoint, but with using the template I found myself restricted.  Some of the "Click to Add Text' boxes could not be deleted, but I figured a work around for those.  (I made them really, really small and moved them off to the side.)  I really liked the insert image feature.  Since I was looking for specific images, the "Insert Image - from Google Images" was a dream.  Click, scroll, and insert was all that I did.  Shapes, music and videos were also easy to add.  I didn't add any of those.  I looked at adding music, but I am a complete moron when it comes to iTunes and Apple - that is another story.

As far as making connections,  this little exercise really highlighted Standard 2 from the ISTE-NETS-T standards:  (Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments."  With this little application there are unlimited ways to present a lesson.  The imagery and animation helps highlight important details in a lesson.  The lesson can be presented in a unique way to help facilitate remembering the information of the lesson.  This is the digital age.

Resume Revisited

This morning I spent a few minutes running my resume through a free online application, http://rezscore.com/,  that reviews your resume.  I guess the sites algorithms looking for key words. 

After a quick 5 second review the site grades your resume on what HR people, head hunters and general hiring gurus are watching for. Obviously current buzz words are key to this one.  I ran my resume through the application and found out I use too many first person verbs.  This awarded me with a B.  I guess that is OK.  I was hoping I would do better, since I spent so much creating, editing and re-editing the thing.  So I took my resume and tried to reword it using more third person verbs, and I still received a B.  I think I might have a limited vocabulary.  Anyway check out my new resume at Alyson Balzer Resume and tell me where you think I can improve it.

Another thing really cool about the rezscore cite was the little skills chart that appeared after running the software.  The Skills graph highlights words used in your resume.  Looking at my skill set, I have high demand and very general skills.  The words Teacher and Community really stick out.  I need to get those words in the upper right hand corner.  Thesaurus here I come.

My Mess-terpiece

Look at Me

Creating the Mess-terpiece

I had fun creating my self portrait using Picassohead.com.  I picked what looked like  "duck face" lips to keep up with those millennials who are constantly taking self photos for their Instagram.

The site wasn't too complicated to use.  Simply drag and drop facial features to the canvas and off you go to create your own self portrait.  Colors were easy to use and the site also gave the RGB numbers so you could go back and use the exact same color again instead of guessing.

The Connections

Standard  1:  "Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning" is the connection.  Exercises like this - simple to use web sites - help students learn by doing something different.  The simple drag and drop features emphasize the topic being taught and not how to use the website.  These sites inspire students to explore.   Questions like "What happens when I do this?" flow freely in the classroom.  Students' natural curiosity facilitate and inspire learning on sites like this. The really neat thing about sites like this is that they are free.  I constantly use free graphing calculator sites in my classes.  Currently I use this free calculator. 

Snipping

Learned a new trick today.  For those of you using Windows 8,  finding the Snipping Tool is a little more challenging as there is not a Start button.

Here is what I did to find the Snipping tool. 


Where to Find the Snipping Tool

As you might be aware Windows 8 does not look like any previous version on Windows.  To find the Snipping Tool while using Windows 8, flick on the right side of the screen and pull up the search/settings menu.






Snipping Tool

Click on the Search icon.  Type in Snip and make sure apps is selected.  The Snip Tool appears on the left side of the screen.  Click on the Snip Tool icon.








This is a great little tool.  Images can be grabbed from the web and displayed in presentations.  I do use this tool frequently.  It is extremely easy to grab screenshots of examples off the web and display on an projector for great illustrations of the current topic being taught.

I do use the PNG format when saving screenshots.  PNGs work better in Photoshop and GIMP (free Photoshop).

Google Docs

As an assignment for my class, I have to publish a copy of my resume.  So if you want to know all about my work history click on this link and read it. AlysonBalzerResume

What did I learn today?

I learned that I am a whole lot more proficient using Microsoft products than I am using Google products. 

Today my adventure in Google Docs started with downloading my resume from SkyDrive and uploading it into Google Drive.  From there everything went bad.  Talk about reformatting.  After spending time trying to reformat the resume so it would publish nicely, I ended up copying and pasting everything into a template.  At least now my resume looks presentable on the web.

This assignment is really applicable to all the ISTE.NETS.T standards, but two of these standards are highlighted with this exercise, Standard 2, "Design and Develop Digital Age Learning
Experiences and Assessments" and Standard 3 "Model Digital Age Work and Learning".  In regards to Standard 2, Google Docs allows a teacher to create and publish documents, spreadsheets, forms, and presentations for in class teaching and assessments.  It allows easy and anytime access for students and others  to see what is being taught in the classroom and what is being assessed.  Standard 3 is highlighted in this assignment by the modeling aspect of the standard.  By presenting ideas and theories to students it is modeling what is expected in real life.
 




 

References:

 

International Society for Technology in Education,  "Advancing Digital Aged Teaching,"  2008,  http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets-t-standards.pdf?sfvrsn=2  2013, May 31.

Wii Fit and Millennial Profile

How is it possible that my Wii Fit age and Millennial profile are the same?  I guess I'm physically older and mentally younger.  This number does make sense in my life. I tend to sit on my rear end and watch juvenile TV shows.

My millennial profile is 54.   Try taking the quiz and see where you fit. http://pewresearch.org/millennials/

Quizzed my husband who scored an 86 - techy loser.  I think his score rose above mine because he gets more texts than I do.

There were some questions on the quiz that had me thinking.  One question asked if I read a newspaper.  I assumed the question referred to a physical piece of paper.  Of course I don't read a daily newspaper.  Who would waste there hard earned money on sheets of paper?  I get my news by TV or I read the news on several sites which link to the daily newspapers.  So the question is do I read newspapers?  Yes I do, but I don't purchase a hard copy like my parents.  Currently my favorite site is dailymail.co.uk.  This site has all of the current news and since it is from the UK the site seems to have the most recent breaking news before the sites in the US.

Another question that had me thinking was the question of contacting government officials.  Who contacts these people?  If you contact a government official don't you get put on a watch list or something?  Does that statement make me paranoid?

Finally tattoos and piercings, I get the piercing question.  Personally I don't need another hole on my body,  something important might ooze out.  While the tattoo question had me thinking I'm just a rebel.  I don't have a tattoo and don't really want one.  I am not a fan of pain and I don't need to express myself by drawing on my body.  I'll just speak to you and tell you how I feel.  Am I a rebel in that respect?

Anyway,  the quiz was interesting and I'm kind of proud my score is 54.  I'm not such an old lady.  I think my score helps in my teaching because today's student is not the student of my generation.  They are constantly being bombarded with information from friends, family and others.  Today's students are always on a cell, on a tablet, or on a computer.  I am concerned about 10 years from now.  Will I still be at a 54 on my millennial profile?  Boy, I hope so.

in keeping with the millennial student theme, I read an awesome article on today's students, thanks to Dr. Pierce, entitled "The Information Mindset" by Jason Frand  http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0051.pdf.  It brought home the dichotomy of what I lived through as a student and what students' are living through today.  Frand speaks of 10 characterists of todays' student.  These are completely different than the characteristics of students when I was in high school and undergrad.

Characteristic Number 1:  Computers Aren't Technology:  My first experience with a computer was in a 12th grade computer class.  We used and Apple IIe with a 5 1/2 inch floppy disk.  I created a basic program to print a picture of a fish made with x's.  From there I took a computer class as an undergrad at WVU.  In this class we used an IBM, and I learned DOS.  By the time I graduated from WVU,  Windows was installed on all of the computers at WVU.  Now I'm using an All-in-one with Windows 8.  Yeah, computers are technology, but they are so integrated in life they are almost another appendage, like a 2nd brain.

Characteristic Number 2:  Internet Better Than TV:  Absolutely not.  I am an avid TV watcher.  I know that makes people cringe, but I don't care anymore.  I watch TV constantly.  It is on in my house 24/7.  I fall to sleep with the TV on and wake up watching to some stupid cartoon on Comedy Central.  If I were a 20 something without a decent paying job, internet would definitely be better than TV.  TV costs money - a lot of money.  Netflix costs less than $10 per month.  With all the new TV's and game consoles being internet ready, I can easily see where the internet is better than TV.

Characteristic Number 3:  Reality No Longer Real:   I don't believe in the statement "Reality no longer real," at all.  Reality is real.  Dead is dead, you are no longer living.  I can see where millennials might have this perception.  How many times can you die in "Call of Duty"?  How is it possible that Jason Statham can survive without a heart and keep injecting himself with adrenaline?  With all the CGI and photoshoping how is it possible for anyone to believe anything? 

Characteristic Number 4:  Doing Rather than Knowing:  I know a lot of stuff, but I think that is due to my age.  I had to know it, but now I keep asking myself  "Do I really need to know this when I can look it up?"  More often than not, my husband and I find ourselves watching TV.  Someone asks a question and next thing all tablets are in hand and we are searching for an answer to our questions.  That is how we found the site wikipeetia.org - The Misspelled Encyclopedia.

Characteristic Number 5:  Nintendo Over Logic:  This works for me.  Failure is a learning experience.  With all the computer technology and modeling available, why not try something, fail, learn, try again, and win?  You can still use the "scientific method" to figure out all possible outcomes, but at least when you fail in Nintendo you get a do over.

Characteristic Number 6:  Multitasking Way of Life:  This is bad news.  Just like a computer, the human brain and only do one computation at a time.  If you do more, everything comes out half-assed, and you will need to do it over again.  Do one thing at a time.  Do it right the first time, and then move on.

Characteristic Number 7:  Typing Rather than Writing:  I guess I'm an old fuddy duddy.  I think handwriting is important.  What if civilization collapses?  How are we supposed to record if we can't write by hand?  I know that is a what if, but I really do enjoy receiving hand written thank you notes for gifts I have purchased for friends and family.  Handwriting is important.  You can't type everything - at least not yet.

Characteristic Number 8:  Staying Connected:  I am on the fence with this one.  Facebook has helped me reconnect with friends and family that do not live near me, but sometimes I am really glad they are not near me.  They just post way too much information.  I would hate to have to see them daily and tell them that I really don't care what you made for dinner last night.  Students seem to have this need to constantly connect with their peers.  I think this is more of an age thing.  With more responsibility this characteristic might change for our current crop of 20 year olds, but it will always stay with the 20 year olds.

Characteristic Number 9:  Zero Tolerance for Delays:  I have this issue.  I want it now, and I can't wait.  I find I keep repeating my mantra "Patience is a virtue."  This characteristic is so prevalent in todays society.  I have 3 children who cry when they don't understand a topic immediately.  This is a big problem in students today.  They quit, throw temper tantrums, etc.  I don't know how to get around it other than calmness and repeat my mantra.

Characteristic Number 10:  Consumer/Creator Blurring:  This just comes along with technology.  Remember the whole Napster issue is 2000?  Setting out guidelines and an understanding of plagiarism and copy rights puts a perspective on the blurring.  This has always happened, people taking credit for others work, but it is just a lot easier to do with computers.

With all of these characteristics about the millennial student stated, millennials are people who were born in the information age where everything is at their fingertips.  The computer chip is an appendage of their bodies.  A millennial can not function without it.  Is this a good thing?  I don't know.  Like it or not these are the students we will be teaching for a long time.

Let's just hope my millennia profile stays the same or gets better.

She Rocks in the Tree Tops

Tweet, Tweet, Tweet says the little white birdy in the blue background. 

You can now follow me on Twitter at

@alysonbalzer

and Google + at

alyson.balzer

Yeah me!  Well not really.  I've been on twitter since 2009.  I have 3 tweets and 1 person following me.  Guess I'm not so popular or maybe I don't have anything to tweet.

Google +, same thing.  I've been on this social media site for awhile too, but no one cares about that one either.  This one is definitely not as popular as Facebook.   I have linked my blog to Google +, because every word I type a dialog box appears with links to people I don't know.  How fun!  (I'm about 50/50 on the sarcasm/truth here.)

What did I learn from this exercise of tweeting/Google+ -ing?  Other than Facebook, there are several other social media sites of interest that are applicable to learning, socializing, and networking.  Team Google has created an online environment that is extremely social media driven.  With the one account (i.e. your gmail address) you can access a multitude of applications.  The chats, hangouts, calendars, etc. are all very useful in organizing ones life and connecting with friends, family, and acquaintances.  And it's all free.

This activity, again, shows how social media is applicable in both personal and professional life.  As a teaching tool, "hangout" is a neat way to reach out to other professionals and students on a more personal level to discuss topics otherwise a little to difficult to tweet.  For the student aspect of Hangout - WOW!  I might not even have to go to a school to teach a class.

Again this activity is relevant to the ISTE NETST standard 5 of Professional Growth and Leadership.  Professional growth is establishing a presence on social media sites and networking with others in your field.  Leadership is showing other professionals that you know what you are talking about and presenting ideas to the masses.

Now I leave everyone with this thought.  Bitly and Diigo.  Signed up for a Bitly account.  Need to see how that one works.  Tweeters seem to use it a lot.  I see the same thing with Diigo.  Need to spend my afternoon reading on that one too.  I might just sit in the sun and read about this stuff on my tablet until the kiddies get home from school.

Cheers and enjoy the day.

SoMe Survey

I found the SoMe Survey very profound and thoughtful.  The first two questions  regarding social media were very basic. Of course I use Facebook religiously.  I also have accounts on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn.    I tend to stay off most social media except for Facebook.  All of the social media sites I have listed above are usually the Page Six of the internet.  I can find all of the local and family gossip on these applications.  Although, Facebook is now an app where I can find information for family activities.

What I found thought provoking about the Survey is that these social media sites can also be used for the better.  I always knew the internet was an excellent resource for research and sharing ideas. I just never put the two together.  I just always limited my personal growth to internet searches and blogs. This always seemed time consuming.  This survey brought the idea of social media as a sharing and learning experience to the forefront.

With a quick search, I found the Facebook page in seconds.



One of Many Facebook Mathematics Pages

With all the social media at my fingertips;

• I can easily find new and innovative ways to teach math. 
• I can use what is posted, try to improve on it, or even put my own flavor to it. 
• I can repost my experiences with the subject matter.
• I can ask questions to other people in my field.

This just names a few of the new ways I have to improve personal and professional growth.

The SoMe Survey activity hits the ISTE NETS-T Standards right on the head specifically Standard 5.  This activity and my subsequent social media searches profoundly jump started my professional growth and leadership skills.  By changing my outlook of social media as gossip pages, I can now use social media as a networking and learning tool.

So, off I go to reacquaint  myself with all of my social media accounts.  Hopefully I can remember UserID's and passwords.  Wish me good luck.



Introduction to Me



MADI

DOODLE

MARRON

 

Since this is my initial post in my blog for my education class, I thought it would be important to share some things about myself.

I am a graduate student at Fairmontstate University.  I received my undergraduate degree from WVU in secondary mathematics education.  After graduating from WVU, I moved around quite at bit.  From WVU, I moved back to Pennsylvania, then I hit Tennessee.  After 4 years there I moved to Connecticut and then finally I find myself back in good 'ole West Virginia.

I have 3 daughters ranging in ages from 6 to 13. This year has been quite a challenge with working, taking graduate courses and being a personal chauffer.  Hopefully with summer around the corner things will slow down and I will be able to smell the roses.