Professionalism in Professional Development

For my ITEC 7460: Professional Learning & Technology Innovation class one of the assignments is to write a reflection piece about what I have learned and will use from the class.


I was very glad to learn that my class was about professional development, especially after I had signed up at my school to be on the Professional Development Key Team this year.  The staff that I work with on this committee are great!  They are a diverse group with lots of ideas and opinions,  but are also willing to work together to formulate a plan.  During our first meeting, we worked on determining what kinds of training we thought the staff needed, based on our SIP goals:  Math, Writing, and Technology.  The committee decided to send out a survey (which just so happened to be one of the first assignments that I had for this grad course) that would determine where staff members viewed their standing in these focus areas.  


At the next Professional Learning Key Team meeting, the committee decided the topics of the sessions we would use for the upcoming professional learning afternoon and discussed with some of the teacher leaders at school who were willing to lead/teach the sessions.  There would be two different topics addressed on that day with each topic would have a differentiated session.  Teachers signed up for their area of interest and level of training needed (i.e. Technology Integration:  Beginning Integration or Intermediate/Advanced).


Having this class allowed me the responsibility to conduct a survey using Google Docs that was awesome!  It was so easy to gather the data, and I loved the survey results in the pie charts that made great visuals to present to my administrators and my committee.  


I was also given the opportunity to plan and carry out a professional development session from start to finish.  I believe that some of the assignments from this course like the agenda, evaluation, and overview of our current reality helped me see the big picture of how professional development courses can be used to better the teaching and learning of our staff. I think this class also allowed me to develop a framework that I was able to carry out during the session I taught and will be able to use again in future professional development opportunities.

Areas of improvement for the course would be:  

1.  More direction given in class that provided a better understanding and example of what was expected for the overall project/presentation.  I do not feel that class time was spent properly in preparing us for the end product of the class.  Classes dealt more with research into different professional development scenarios and responses to questions pertaining to those sessions that could have been used as at-home assignments (rather than study guides) while using class time to devote to things that directly related to our own professional development assignment.  

2.  If the use of a certain type of technology is needed to achieve the maximum amount of points in the end product, then that technology should be taught in the class.  The overarching professor stated that in order to achieve the maximum amount of points in the course, we would have  to use a Prezi for our presentation, however Prezi was never taught in the class.  Since this is a technology course, I believe it would have been beneficial to actually teach this application.  I think that I might have had a better Prezi if I had been shown what it was capable of, but instead, mine turned out very simple.  I would have also liked to have been given examples of other ways to use Prezi in my classroom.  

Ready to "Get Up" Out of this" Fall" Semester

So, it's been a while.  Thankfully, the fall semester will be drawing to a close soon.  Here are the things I have learned:

1.  I do not like online classes!!!  I do much better with face to face classes that inspire me, offer support, and offer time to get clarification on tasks.

2.  While I appreciate Georgia School Laws, I do not really like reading page after page after page of them.  It sure did make me appreciate my husband and mother-in-law for having to read laws every day for work.  Yuck!

3.  It doesn't seem to be fair to make students use a technology that was not talked about or taught in class in order to attain an A in the class.  Just saying.  (I'll need to make sure to follow that rule myself when giving assignments to my kids.)

4.  Because of the previous mentioned assignment, I learned how to make a basic Prezi.  It can be viewed at: http://prezi.com/3wxdserczeby/smartboard-its-not-just-a-glorified-projector/.  Yay me!

That's the fall semester in a nutshell.

My Summer Vacation

I spent the majority of my summer taking two online courses for my masters program.  The courses I took were EDL 7305:  Data Analysis and School Improvement and 7100:  Leadership Theory and Practice.  Both classes were good and I learned a lot.  I was very excited in the beginning of the semester to learn that the classes would take place entirely online.  I equated this to mean I would be able to work by the pool for some of the assignments.  Yay summer!  I did take my book to the pool once to read the assigned chapters, but that only happened once.

What I soon realized was that the summer semester is shorter than normal semesters, so 12-14 weeks of learning was shoved into 6.  Whoa!  That also meant that modules of learning that were separated into 8 sections had to be condensed to make sure everything was covered in the six weeks worth of classes.  And by condensed, I do not mean that things were eliminated.  Instead, two weeks worth of assignments sometimes were due in the course of one. I had one face-to-face session in each class where I met two really good professors that I would have enjoyed learning more from in a regular class setting.  Instead, I got to learn from narrated power points (which I was really thankful for), and a once a week online chat that was beneficial.  During those online chat sessions, while trying to get good information from the professor, I also got a lot of interesting noises provided by my classmates.  People were talking over each other, some were louder than others whether from being on the phone as a call-in student or from microphones turned up really loud.  I promise at one time I could have sworn I heard a toilet flush, too.  This could have been partly due to the online site that was used to conduct these meetings because I had another class where we participated in something similar, but it was better with buttons you could click that allowed you to indicate a raised hand for a question or a little bird indicated that you were away from the computer momentarily.  I believe that site was called Moodle.  I'll have to check it out to be sure.

Here's what I've learned from this experience and these courses:

1.  Summer vacation does not exist when taking grad courses.

2.  Data is a lot more interesting that I expected, and I am actually excited about collecting and analyzing (now that I know how) it in the upcoming school year.

3.  If I have good ideas and want them to be implemented at my school, I'd better become a principal and make those ideas a reality.

4.  Being a teacher leader is a huge responsibility with job descriptions in all kinds of areas.

5.  I learn much better in face-to-face classes than I do in online ones.

So here I am at the end of my summer classes.  I made it!  And, I still have 3 more weeks of summer (the only really good thing that came out of the Cobb County school year calendar being changed again). Yay summer! Plus, I am at the half-way point in attaining my master's degree in instructional technology.  Yay me!

You'll hear from me again during the fall semester as I embark on two more classes.  Until then, you'll find me by the pool.

Just Look at All This Data

Description: Compiled a Data Inventory Chart of all the data that is collected at school, in what grade levels, and in what areas of instruction.

Standards: PSC 2A,B,C; BOR I; NETS-A 4C,D
Semester: Summer 2011

Hours: 3.5 hours

Population: Principal and School Colleagues

Reflection: For the EDL 7305, I had to complete a Data Inventory Chart that tells about all the ways we collect data at our school.  It divides it into areas by grade and content area, as well.  During this field experience, I talked with my team about the assessments we give each year.  I reviewed the testing information with my assistant principal, I interviewed other grade-level teachers at my school for information regarding data collections, and I composed the Data Inventory based on the information I collected.

Data with a Plan

Description: I developed an action plan/timeline that will help my school build a Data Team and provide a program of understanding data through the Understanding Data Process (UDP).

Standards:TF-II.D (Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experiences)
                 TF-V.A,D (Productivity and Professional Practice)

Semester: Summer 2011

Hours: 4 hours

Population: Principal, Future use with School Colleagues

Reflection: The EDL 7305 class was focused on using data and analyzing it to format a plan of action based on student-learning needs.  The class used a process called the Understanding Data Process and went along with the text The Data Coach’s Guide to Improving Learning for All Students.  I found this process to be one that my school can definitely benefit from, and think that developing an Action Plan that outlines a timeline of activities and resources would allow the teachers at my school to see the importance of data collections and analysis.  This course definitely changed my views on data.  It actually got me excited about the data and what I can learn from it.  More importantly, it will help me make changes in the way I teach so that my students can learn more.

Oh the Data!

Description: I analyzed data from our school's CRCT scores to use in a Data Overview presentation.

Standards:TF-II.A,B,C (Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experiences)
                 TF-IV.A,B (Assessment and Evaluation)
                 TF-V.A,C,D (Productivity and Professional Practice)

Semester: Summer 2011

Hours: 5 hours

Population: Grad School Colleagues, Principal, Future use with School Colleagues

Reflection: I learned so much in my EDL 3705 class with collecting and analyzing data.  This summer class was completely online which made it difficult at times to get field experience hours.  That being said, the professor was well aware of this fact and commented that field experience hours were going to have to include the research hours we spent on projects.  For the Data Overview presentation, I looked at and analyzed data from the 3^rd and 5^th grades at my school related to the CRCT.  Through the use of Microsoft Excel, I was able to compile the data and make visual charts that explained what the data showed.  Based on the charts and data, our school will be able to see that a 3^rd grade area of improvement is math.  We dipped in the amount of students at or above proficiency from 90 percent (2010) to 73 percent (2011).  While the 5^th graders were able to make awesome gains in math, the scores in social studies went from 85 percent (2010) at or above proficiency to 67 percent (2011).  We also have a learning gap between our Hispanic population and our African American and White population that will require us to dig deeper into the data and make strategic action plans.  I was able to speak with my principal about my findings and share my presentation.

Teaching ASP Workers

Description: I taught 3 college-age After School Program workers some tools they could use that would be beneficial for their college classes and for use with the ASP students.

Standards: TF-V.A-D (Productivity and Professional Practice)

Semester:  Spring 2011

Hours:  5+ hours

Population: 3 college-age ASP teachers

Reflection: After collaborating with the ASP director on his webpage, we talked about me teaching some of the ASP workers.  I had the privilege of teaching three lovely ladies about some tools they could use that would benefit them and their students.  For the first three classes, I taught them about Delicious.  We set up accounts, found several links that could be used in ASP (each week the girls had a certain number of sites that had to be added to their account), and how to link to each other's Delicious pages to gain more resources.  The next class, I taught them how to use Zamzar.  Their assignment was to find a video they could use in ASP that the students would enjoy, and then convert it in Zamzar to a format that could be sent to them to download and use at school.  They found some fun videos that the students would really enjoy.  At the end of that class, I told them to bring a smart phone or iTouch so they could co-teach a class on Twitter the next week.  I have had a little difficulty getting used to and seeing the advantages of Twitter.  So, I wanted them to help me learn.  I started by asking them how they thought Twitter could be used from an educational aspect.  I gave them some ideas and got their feedback based on what I had heard and read about.  Then, they helped me set up some things in my account. We made sure we were all "following" each other.  They also further explained the hash tags, re-tweeting, using the zipper, and the purpose of putting the @ sign in front of someone's name.  It was a fun class for me and for them.  The last class we had together I showed them the web page I had put together for my webquest.  They got to explore, offer feedback, and learn more about creating their own webpage in Wix.  This was a great use of field experience time.  I hope to continue to teach these girls in the fall.

What I've Learned in ITEC 7445

I have always wanted to know how to design and publish a web page, and now I know how.  I have learned what it takes to make it from scratch and how to use a template to tweak it to make it my own.  In the beginning, when learning HTML code, I was extremely overwhelmed.  I felt that I would never be able to make the beautiful, eye-catching pages that always caught my attention.  Thankfully, I also learned how to use sites with templates to get the desired effect that I was looking for.  I am so proud of what I have been able to create in my multi-media design project.  I used a Wix template for my project.  Once I figured out the editing tools, it became easy to operate.

My greatest accomplishment with my website came today!  I was able to figure out how to put my School Tube video on the site so that the students could view it at school without any problem.  The Wix site had provided a bit of a challenge at first because it appeared to only want to allow videos from YouTube, MetaCafe, or 5 min.  Today I was able to tweak the HTML code to get it just like I wanted it on my site.  When I went to view it, I crossed my fingers and then let out a squeal when it actually worked the way I wanted it to (it took a half a dozen times to get to that point).  I would not have known how to do that before this class.

Teaching Jing

Description: I taught my teammate, who is also taking grad classes, how to use Jing.

Standards: TF - V.A and D (Productivity and Professional Practice)

Semester: Spring 2011

Hours: 1 hour

Population: First grade teacher and fourth grade teacher

Reflection:  One of my first grade teammates is getting her specialist degree in technology development.  We have really been able to collaborate with each other about several different things we've learned in our classes.  She did not know about Jing, so we spent some time exploring and using Jing in different ways one afternoon.  She then went to another teacher and showed her how to use Jing for a project she was wanting to do with her students for an on-line tutoring class.  It's amazing how fast the really cool technology tools can travel.  I look forward to sharing more with them and to seeing how they decide to use Jing.

Oh Where, Oh Where is My Webquest Going?

I originally thought I would do a Webquest about animals and provide my 1st graders with information and video about animals that they could use to complete an animal "scavenger hunt", in a way.  After talking to some of my colleagues, I decided to go in a little different direction. Now, I'm allowing my students to continue learning about animals, but also making it more relateable to them and I'm tying my science standards in to my writing standards too.  My plan is for students to "Pick a Pet" (that's what I've decided to call my site) for their family based on information they find in the webquest.  I did limit the options based on most popular pets, so they do not have extended information on all kinds of pets.  The students will then use the information they found to write a persuasive argument to their parents about why they should get that pet.  I'm interested to see what they have to say.  I'm also interested to see how their parents respond.  I've decided to put a fun element in the site that allows for some virtual pets just in case mom and dad still say "no".

In the beginning I was unsure of what I should use to develop this site.  I like the idea of Google Sites, but was not entirely pleased with my end product when designing my portfolio shell.  I have decided to use a Wix page available through www.wix.com.  The art teacher's school page is through Wix and it looks really good.  It seems very user-friendly, which I love; and has so many different features available to make it look very appealing too.  I'm hoping that the multi-media features that are required for this project will be incorporated easily.  We'll soon find out.

Teaching my Teammates about Voice Thread

Description: I taught my first grade teammates about Voice Thread.

Standards: TF - II.D, E, F (Planning and Designing Environments and Experiences)

Semester:  Spring 2011

Hours: 1 hour

Population: First Grade Teachers

Reflection: When I first learned about Voice Thread I was so excited about all the possible uses we could have for it.  I feel that it is specifically effective for first grade students since they can very easily use their voice since typing is not a great option for them.  I showed my teammates how we had used the tool in our grad classes and then showed them examples of how we could use it based on examples from the Voice Thread site.  We decided we could use it to see what students had learned about the historical figures we learn about.  It can be a great tool of reflection in Science and Social Studies.  Then I discovered that it can be a great way to teach students reading fluency and reading with a voice. I showed my teachers most recently how my students used Voice Thread to read their advice they had written to kindergarten students about what they should know before coming to first grade.  The finished product was better than I expected.  Some of my teammates are planning to use Voice Thread in their classes now.

Creating a Wiki for the 21 Things

Description: I converted the moodle we used in class to a wiki page.

Standards: TF-I.A-B (Technology Operations and Concepts)
                 TF-II.B-F (Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experiences)
                 TF-V.A-D (Productivity and Professional Practice)
                 TF-VI.A,B,D,and F (Social, Ethical, Legal, and Human Issues)

Semester: Spring 2011

Hours: 5 hours

Population: Grad School Colleagues, School Colleagues

Reflection: I learned so much in my ITEC 7430 class with the 21 Things.  The on-line class was set up in a Moodle page that required a login and password.  I knew that we would loose access to that page pretty soon after the class was over, so I wanted to make sure I still had access to the important tools we learned about in class.  Using one of the tools I learned about - wikis, I decided to use as a place where I could store all the converted information from the Moodle.  I had to make sure that anything linked to the Moodle page was no longer directed to that site.  I went to You Tube and found the same videos that were used in the Moodle and embedded them into the wiki.  By doing all this I have made sure that I have access to these tools in the future just in case I forget how to do something based on insufficient use.  I am very proud of the wiki I made.  I hope others will be able to use it too. You can find my wiki page at
http://internet-tools-in-the-classroom.wikispaces.com/.

Thing 21- More Ways to Share (SlideShare)

The last of our 21 Things was SlideShare.  The idea is that you create a Power Point presentation and then upload it to Slide Share which then takes your presentation and shares it with the world through it's site.  You can find presentations on any number of topics.  I was able to find presentations that could be used with teachers, presentations for my first graders, and much more.  As with any source of information (presented in slide shows in this case) you may have to look through a lot of presentations to find what you are looking for; and if you don't find what you are looking for, you'll have to make it yourself.  SlideShare was very easy to use.  I created my Power Point presentation and simply uploaded it to the SlideShare site.

Wordle presentation

View more presentations from ybates.

I also found a pretty good presentation on Web 2.0.

Thing 20 - Jing It!

The latest tool I've learned about is called Jing.  Jing allows you to capture screen images and then narrate or illustrate how something happens.  You can use Jing to capture one screen shot or you can record several screens through a video feature.  I like the video feature because you can talk about what is happening and next steps as you go.  This is great for a person that really needs visuals to know how to do something on the computer.  I feel that this is a great tool for using with teachers in professional learning situations.  It's been very helpful to have these in the on-line portions of my grad classes so I could see how something was supposed to happen.  

I created a screencast for parents on how to access and subscribe to our class blog.  You can see it for yourself at http://screencast.com/t/aiDZDCbOwr4.

I found that I got very frustrated in the beginning because the tutorial provided in the site was not as specific as I wanted or needed. Thankfully, there were several more tutorials on YouTube.  The one I found most helpful was Jing Part 3.  The basic, free Jing subscription does not have an editing feature, so you have to make sure you have everything lined up correctly and have practiced so that you get what you need in one take.  If not, you'll have to start all over from the beginning (I won't even tell you how many times I had to start over).  I appreciated the pause button so I could catch a breath or organize my thoughts and pages before moving on.  This takes some planning in order to get a good product that you will be proud to use.  

Once you're finished recording or capturing, you can save it to your computer or to a site that holds your work.  The site gives you a url that can be posted in your blog or webpage.  You can also post your creations to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc.  Your creations will be saved on your personal channel that you receive when you sign up on Jing.  

I plan to explore Jing some more, but for the moment, I'm glad this assignment is finished.

Collaborating on Homework Calendar Through Google Docs

Description:  I taught my fellow first grade teachers about Google Docs and used this as a way to collaborate with them before printing the monthly calendar for our students.

Standards: TF- V.D (Productivity and Professional Practice)

Hours: 4 hours

Population: First Grade Teachers

Reflection: Once I learned about Google Docs I was excited to share it with my teammates and discuss how we could use it in the collaboration of the homework calendars we send home at the beginning of the month.  Often when we have a letter that needs to go home to parents or a homework calendar, we end up sending it to each other via e-mail and it will then be revised by someone and sent out via e-mail again, and so on.  Using Google Docs we can invite each other to look over and revise on the spot and then take the final copy from there instead of sending it to one another over and over.  This worked fairly well once we had determined how everyone logged in and what e-mail addresses were being used (some made it hard to determine who was who).  Now it makes a lot of sense to use this tool in so many different areas.

Thing 19 - Let's Work Together On This One

I have never used Google Docs before now.  How could I have missed such a great tool?!  I used it today when putting together our 1st grade homework calendar.  I shared the doc with my fellow teachers and allowed them to edit as needed.  I think this is a great way for our collaboration to reach the next level.  Just a few weeks ago we were sitting in a teacher work session and one of the teachers had put together a field trip letter to go home.  She sent it to us via e-mail and asked if there were any changes that needed to be made.  I edited a few things and sent it back to her and the rest of our team.  Then someone else found something that needed to be changed and the letter was edited again and sent back and out to everyone. I'm sure you get the picture.  Crazy thing is.... I didn't know that there was an easier way to do that until now.  With Google Docs we could have saved ourselves a lot of time by all looking at the document on our computer and making changes as needed without sending it back and forth to each other five and six times.  I love when life is made simpler.

I did notice that not everything worked exactly as I would have hoped.  There were some graphics that did not transfer from my original and a shape that did not transfer the way I wanted it to, but the main idea was there and available to others for editing and feedback.  I also did not like that when my teammates clicked on the web address to get to the document they were then directed to sign in to Google and then sent to another page before getting to my document.  I had not had the opportunity to explain to everyone yet what my plan was for the Google Doc, so some of them did got frustrated and did not go past the first page and another signed in using an account name that I was not familiar with causing me to allow her to "view" but not "edit" because I didn't know who she was.

I can see how Google Doc is useful for teachers in this kind of collaboration.  I also like the idea of using it in the older grades to help with editing student work and provide teacher feedback.  This is a great tool and I intent to use it again very soon.

Thing 18 - Very Social

I love social networks!!!  I was a huge fan of Myspace.  It reminded me of a big scrapbook page that was ever-changing with backgrounds, pictures slideshows, calendars and countdowns, and music.  It was so much fun until my friends moved from Myspace to Facebook.  I refused to get on Facebook in the beginning (out of loyalty to Myspace and because I thought the set up was very boring). But, like I said, all my friends were now using Facebook, so I converted and now I can't get enough.

I am one of those people that think FB or something similar should be used with students for students to collaborate on homework and class assignments. I think it would be a beneficial co-learning place for students to feel free to help others on certain assignments and also gather advice from other students who had previously taken that same class and done similar assignments and activities.  Having said all that, I see the problem that teachers have with becoming "friends" with students. I have a strict rule that I do not accept students or class parents as friends on FB.  It seems that FB is not the only way to engage in a social network.  I have just recently been introduced to Ning.  Ning is a social network site that allows you to make a group and invite people to be a part of that group to provide ideas and generate discussions about the topics posted.  There are all kinds of groups that you can join. I chose to join the Classroom 2.0 group. I loved all the information that I was able to get from the site and the fact that I was then able to find other groups that better connected to my needs like the Classroom 2.0 Beginner Group and the Elementary School 2.0.

My only problem when exploring these sites was ALL the information available.  Between my RSS feed, Twitter sites shared, and now the Ning groups, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with information. I am glad to know that I can find a plethora of information at my fingertips, but need to find the best way to take in all this great info.

Thing 17 - Watch What I Can Do!

YouTube amazes me! Seriously, I cannot get over how many videos there are to see and learn from. Just this year I learned about Zamzar and how to convert YouTube videos so I could download the videos from YouTube and show them to my students. When studying Benjamin Franklin, we watched a Storm Chasers video to show how Benjamin Franklin was actually the first "storm chaser". The kids loved it, and still ask if we can watch the Storm Chasers video again. People are so visually stimulated that it definitely helps to have a video that goes along with the concept being taught. Podcasts are great and useful when you are listening in the car or on the go, but if I have the ability, I want to SEE something. For instance, the videos that are linked to our weekly class lessons mainly provided by CommonCraft, always help me fully grasp what I am supposed to do or how something works.

I also use SchoolTube which is similar to TeacherTube. I have a channel where all my videos are and I can find them easily. I also tag my videos for easy access. Some of the videos created were for learning fun, like the Doubles Song we learned for addition of like numbers:


 or the one I made up and taught the kids to help them remember the parts of speech:

My co-teacher and I also decided it would be a great idea to help parents see how we were teaching a certain concept that may be challenging. We've only done one of these so far, but I'm sure there are more in our future. This is the one we created to show how to teach students to count mixed change.

We had some good parent feedback after posting this one to our site.

Here is one I found on YouTube that I thought was beneficial. It's called "How To Deal With a Screaming Child While Shopping".  :)


This is also a great way to put technology in our students' hands with the proper guidance.  Students can use smart phones, flip video cameras, digital cameras, etc. to record something and share with others, in some cases, immediately.  We had a 4th grader recently use her smart phone on the bus to video what was happening and post it on YouTube before she was dropped off at her stop.  She, of course, got in trouble for doing this because she did not have permission to video the bus driver or the other students on the bus.  When asked about the uploaded video, she said she just wanted to show her   experience as a kid on the bus.  The students already know how to use this kind of technology, so why not let them in a way that is allowed and educational.  This could have been a good school project or documentary of the goings on of the bus if it had just had the right permissions and a little guidance.

Thing 15 & 16 - Can You Hear Me Now?

Before I was sure about what a podcast was I had a general idea. Then I read the chapter in our textbook, got completely overwhelmed.  My general idea had been on the right track, but there was so much more that I was unaware of.  

Now that I've had some time to "play" and reflect, I'm interested in podcasting, but not quite sure the best way to go about it.  I had read an article that got my attention about podcasting for students where kindergarten teachers recorded themselves reading a book and would send home an ipod touch and the book for students who were struggling with reading to listen to each night.  What a novel idea.  This would be a great way for me to use the podcasting skills I've learned. I've mentioned this idea as well as one more in my podcast below.  Hope you'll take a moment to listen.

Found a site I thought had a lot of different podcasts called Learn Out Loud.  Click here for a pretty extensive catalog of all they have to offer.

Multimedia Project

In my multimedia project (aka Webquest), my students will be challenged to explore what animals need to survive.  Students will have the tasks of determining what is important when learning about how animals: eat, find shelter, protect themselves, and relate to plants and people.  Students will navigate through several websites listening to information and watching videos and record their answers to questions regarding the sites visited. 

i.e. Students will use the site: http://www.pbs.org/teachers/connect/resources/7770/preview/

which provides videos of a mama and papa eagle taking care of eggs and then baby chicks to answer the questions:

How do mama and papa protect the eggs/babies?

How do the mama and papa feed the babies?

What do you think the babies learn from the mama and papa?

What was most interesting to you?

I plan for students to have 2 weeks to work on the webquest.  Some activities will be completed whole group, while some will be completed during center time.

Thing 14 - Good, but Not Sure About Delicious

There is a lot to explore with the Delicious  site, and I am still in the exploring process.  I hate to judge before I've seen or used all the things it has to offer. Check out my page: www.delicious.com/ybates

Here's what I've liked, so far: 

•  Delicious has an easy way for capturing sites to put in favorites page.  The ability to have a designated spot in the tool bar so you can just drag and drop is very user friendly. 
•  The ability to search by subject for topics is great and then being able to immediately save the suggestions to your page is fast and easy too.
• The tag system makes is a good "filing" system to find sites later and relate them to eachother.
• The "social" part of the site allows you to follow the favorites of others that might relate to you and your interests, which gives you access to more sites without all the searching work on your own.
• Being able to have a web address that I can give out for others to use would make a good way for students and parents to use access sites easily from home.

Here's what I don't like, so far:

• I'm not a huge fan of the way the page is laid out.  I'm not sure exactly what it was, but something seemed off.  Again, I'm still evaluating and exploring, so it could just take some getting used to. 
• Even though I like the social aspect of following someone else's sites, I felt somewhat overwhelmed.  There were so many sites that I tired of looking at other sites. 

I have used a bookmarking site before called I Keep Bookmarks.  I like the layout of the site with my categories and folders housing my sites where I can find them easily.  It is appealing and easy for me to find things on this site, but that could just be ease of use due to my familiarity with the site.  It is not a site that is as easily accessible for other people to get to like Delicious.  It requires a username and password.  Also, you have to copy the sites you want to add and then edit your page to add them, instead of the simple drag and drop method of Delicious. 

As part of my field experience hours, I am teaching some college After School Programworkers at our school how to use some of these Web 2.0 "things" with the kids in ASP.  When developing a bookmarking site for ASP use, I will ask their opinions about Delicious vs. I Keep Bookmarks.  I'll be interested to hear their oppinions and feedback. The jury is still out for me.

Thing 12 - Tons of Tools for Your Technology Toolbox

I decided to give a brief synopsis of several tools, how I would use them, if I liked or disliked the tool. I thought having all of these wonderful tools in one place could be beneficial later.  It was a lot of fun exploring and playing on these sites.  Hope you find several that will be helpful to you.

http://www.wallwisher.com

Sticky notes used on a “bulletin board” where people can post comments to a general question you pose.  I can see how this could be used at a professional development with teachers posting their answers or questions to the topic addressed. You can see the one I created at http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/SmartBoardUse

http://www.wordle.net

Wordle was fun!  You type in a bunch of words and it puts them into a colorful collage.  I can see this being used for vocabulary, synonyms, antonyms, general information regarding a topic covered to see how much was learned and retained, review of terms studied, etc.  In our class we play a game called “Splat” where there are a lot of words on the board and the students come up two at a time and use fly swatters to “splat” the word/answer based on the clue given by the teacher.  This would make for a great game of Splat.  One problem I had was that when I typed in a name it separated the first and last name instead of leaving them together.

http://www.timetoast.com

Time Toast was a neat idea.  It allows you to enter information so that it can be put into word bubbles and placed on a timeline.  I wasn’t super impressed with Time Toast.  I would like to customize the dates on the timeline a little more so that date bubbles could be space further apart. 

http://quizlet.com/

Quizlet is a site that allows you to make virtual flashcards for a subject.  The basic format is that you need to be able to enter a word and definition.  Once you enter in the words and definitions the site quizzes you using a variety of test questions and games.  It gives feedback on what you answered correctly and what you got wrong.  It is a little time consuming at first to enter in all the information.  Another good aspect is that you can share your flashcards with friends for their use, as well.

http://www.dumpr.net/

Dumpr was a fun site where you can choose a visual effect like – pencil sketch, rubix cube, billboard, etc. and then upload your own picture to be shown in that effect.  I can see how the kids would get a kick out of using their photo and customizing it using one of the effects.  It could then be used for a creative writing assignment.  I did not like being redirected several times and having to get back to the main page over and over.

http://edu.glogster.com/

Glogster is an online multimedia poster.  I have to say I got chills when I saw this and started learning more about what it is.  Students can make a glogster to post on a website, wiki, class blog, etc.  Students can use glogster to make posters about a topic being studied, as a class display project of choice, or as a star student presentation (instead of using a traditional display posterboard).

http://www.mixbook.com/

MixBook is a site where you can take your photos and use them to create a photo book.  There are editing tools available as well as backgrounds, texts, and stickers.  This seems similar to some other photo book sites (i.e. Shutterfly), but it seems a little more complex with more ability to customize. Books can be made and shared online or purchased in hardcopy.  I can see my students putting together a book with pictures and text from a fieldtrip. 

http://blabberize.com

Blabberize is a cute idea.  You upload a picture and make it talk by recording a voice and setting where the mouth would be to open and close on the picture.  It was a little tricky to work with.  I had a problem with the exact location of the mouth placement.  The kids would get a kick out of it when seeing the animal or selected image talk and/or creating one themselves.  Their image could make a class presentation for them.  Not sure of how long you can record, so that would be something to look at.

http://www.pikistrips.com

I love the look of pikistrips.  You load your photos in a type of comic strip format and type the text into the white comic bubbles.  It’s a great visual and I think students would really have fun putting these together to share. If you use one  of the photo sites to make your pictures look like a drawing, you have a double comic strip effect.

http://www.befunky.com

This was another fun site that allows you to upload a picture and edit it to change effects, add borders and frames, add text, and add other “goodies” to your photo.  I enjoyed playing with my pictures and can see how students would like using it too.  Pictures can then be saved and used and inserted in other creations. 

http://www.toondoo.com

Toon Doo allows you to create cartoon figures that can be used in pages or even in a book you can create.  You can also upload pics and add toon features to it.  Another fun site, but this is another one that you have to create a username and password to sign in each time.  So if you have not already signed in to a ton of other sites, this may be one you’d like to explore.

http://www.gliffy.com

Gliffy is a site where you can create charts – flow charts, venn diagrams, SWOT, floorplans, etc.  You can use templates that have already been created or you can choose a blank page and add your own word bubbles, arrows, etc.  It’s a good site for helping organize, but I feel that it is not too much different from how we use Inspiration.  It seems like a good site to be used for high school or college age students.

http://www.picnik.com/

I use Picnik all the time to edit my photos.  There is no need to sign in.  You can upload a photo and use the editing tools available to crop, add effects, add texts, borders, etc.  I am familiar with this editing site, but even when I first discovered it, I felt that it was a site that was very easy to use.  Students could use it like the other editing sites to work on pictures that could then be saved to use in other settings and projects.  

Narrated Power Point

Description: I taught a fellow first grade teacher how to make a narrated Power Point.

Standards: TF V.D (Productivity and Professional Practice)

Semester:  Spring 2011

Hours:  1 hour

Population: First grade fellow teacher and her grad class

Reflection:  Last semester I had shown the first grade teachers on my team a narrated Power Point presentation that I had created for class.  One of my colleagues came to me this semester and asked if I would teach her how to create a narrated Power Point for her grad class she's taking.  Her class is on-line and she was looking for a way to present her information in a different way than was usual.  I was able to teach her how to do create it and then help her troubleshoot.

Blog Design

Description:  The After School Program director asked for some help and advice for making his blog look better.  He also wanted to make sure that he had links that were appropriate for different aged students to have access to at school and at home.

Standards: TF-IIA. and IIC. (Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experiences) and
                 TF-VD. (Productivity and Professional Practice)

Semester:  Spring 2011

Hours:  2 hours

Population: Colleague - ASP director, ASP workers, ASP parents and students

Reflection:  I get along really well with our ASP director.  He is currently attending school to become a physical education teacher.  He also subs in our room on occasion.  He asked that I take a look at his blog and evaluate its effectiveness.  He also wanted some suggestions of what kind of links could be added to the site that would prove educational, fun, and safe for students to use in ASP and at home.  I was able to provide feedback on his blog.  I suggested he use Smilebox to show off some of the pictures of activities going on in ASP, and then showed him how to use Smilebox.  I researched and provided several links that he could put on his blog for educational fun.  I think his blog looks really good and having the links available by grade level along the sidebar makes it easy for parents and students to find and use.

Thing 11 - Let the Show Begin!

Slide shows are a lot of fun.  They put images together in a visually appealing way.  The students love when I put slide shows together and post them on the blog. They get so excited to see themselves along with all the visual effects and music.

I started creating slideshows a while back for my myspace page.  I was a myspace user for a while and used it more frequently than Facebook because it allowed these types of visual effects along with fun backgrounds and music.  I wanted my class blog to be similar to a myspace page because it's fun and appealing, in my opinion.  I have used Slide and Rock You before to create slide shows, but the site I have been using most lately is Smilebox .  It has tons of different applications available from simple to super cutesy.  It also allows you to add different music styles to accompany your show.  If you are not familiar with this site, please check it out.  It's definitely worth it.

This free slideshow design created with Smilebox

Laos 099 by theloneconspirator - http://www.flickr.com/photos/loneconspirator/368628785/

peanuts by fung.leo - http://www.flickr.com/photos/fungleo/4867253974/

Peanut by nanaow2006 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/nanaow/3975929242/

Peanut Harvesters and Crop Yield Variability (5) by Soil Science - http://www.flickr.com/photos/soilscience/5084484546/

Peanuts by Steve Snodgrass - http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevensnodgrass/4328093689/

Behold the Mighty Circus Peanut by KateMonkey - http://www.flickr.com/photos/katemonkey/4197055856/

arne jacobsen, NOVO factories, copenhagen 1966-1969 by seier-seier - http://www.flickr.com/photos/seier/4753283616/

Thing 10 - Thanks for Sharing!

I was introduced to Flickr for the first time and I must say that the possibilities are endless when it comes to all the things you can do with this amazing site.  Flickr is a site where you can upload your pictures for storage and arrange and tag them based on your specifications.  That wasn't anything new for me since I have used Shutterfly and Snapfish before to house my pictures online and then create and order things for purchase.  Those sites I just mentioned are great and I am a huge Shutterfly fan, but Flickr is DIFFERENT!

With Flickr, you can upload a picture for friends and family to see or let the world see.  This reminded me of my experience with photo sharing in Face Book.  I love when my friends and family leave comments on the photos I've shared.  Flickr works in this way too.  Where Flickr differs is in the application.  Flickr allows you to put in a tag and see all the pictures related to that tag.  You can arrange your pictures and make a slideshow on site or take a single picture and annotate certain parts of it to provide more details.  You can also map out the exact location of where a photo was taken, which is a great way to connect photos to geography.  You can also use your pictures to create and edit magazine covers or movie posters.  How cool is that?! These ideas and more are known as FlickrToys.

In my first grade class, we are about to study George Washington Carver.  We're also about to study plant parts and needs.  I thought I would tie these two themes together.  I found several pictures of peanuts, peanut plants, harvesting, etc. in the photos available for use in the Creative Commons section.  Seeing how a peanut grows and is harvested seemed like a good place to start before telling about all the great things George Washington Carver used peanuts for.  Unfortunately, like so many these days, we have a couple of kids with peanut allergies.  We have to be extra careful when bringing things into the classroom.  Flickr gives us the opportunity to bring peanuts into the classroom in a safe way.  And, if you can't actually have peanuts in your room, you could try these...  unless, that is, they are produced in a factory that also contains peanuts.

Image by KateMonkey 

Thing 9 - CC (Creative Commons)

Ok, I'm guilty.  I'll admit that I go to Google to find images all the time to use in newsletters, blog posts, presentations, etc.  I didn't realize until my class last semester that that was against copyright.  I mean, the perfect images are there and if I have a way to display them in a good light, why shouldn't that be allowed?  Thankfully Creative Commons is available to help us out.  It is a site of images, documents, and videos that have been created for the purpose of sharing.  How nice is that?  As a teacher, we borrow and re-vamp each others things all the time, so I really appreciated when I found "Open Educational Resources (OER) — learning materials that are freely available to use, remix, and redistribute" on the Creative Commons site.  That is exactly how I thought things should be available. Maybe I had not considered this in great detail before because I don't do a lot of posting to the web, yet.  If I created something, I'm sure I would want the credit for doing so.  I plan to use Creative Commons in the future when looking for graphics to use,  I'll make sure the students understand how this tool should best be used, and I'll pay homage to the person who worked to make it available to me.  But, what do I do when the image I need isn't there? 

Cracking the HTML Code

I use HTML code all the time when putting videos, graphics, and Smilebox shows in my school blog, which you can check out at http://teasleyes.typepad.com/bates_cook/.  I am very familiar with seeing it, but had never realized the extent needed to create it.  I'm in awe of those people who study and create it so that I can add it to my page and create such a fun product.  I love all the colors and graphics!  This being said, I am definitely one of those people that likes things to look appealing, which I think I've mentioned before on my blog.  First impressions are everything and that comes with how things look. The material is the next important feature along with easy navigation.

I was very overwhelmed when trying to use HTML code to create a page on my own.  I appreciate the fact that I can understand it more, but feel like I will be using Sea Monkey or Google Sites for my web page needs.

Thing 7 - Wiki Whati?

I am not very familiar with wikis.  I have not used one before in class or collaborated on one.  I have used Wikipedia to gain information about a topic, but have usually taken what it said as fact.  After reading the latest chapter in Richardson's Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, I now know a lot more.  I have learned that a wiki is a site that allows everyone to be an editor.  It allows for anyone to change anything at any point in time.  This was a very scary concept to me.  Maybe, partly because I am pretty averse to change, so the fact that someone could come in and change what I had just put on a site bothered me a little... no, a lot.  I remember when Wikipedia first came about and people were changing things like crazy to be funny and see who would notice.  Now, thankfully, I have learned that there are people behind the scenes to work as the "bouncers" who "kick out" the purposefully untrue information.

After taking a peek at a some wikis, I can now see some obvious benefits to creating wikis.   I love the Schools in the Past wiki where Mrs. Cassidy's first grade class asks people to weigh in on how playgrounds, studies, and rules in school are alike and different based on the time period. I can see how my students would like to hear about this kind of information.  In the Go West wiki, I noticed the editing part when looking at the history of the posts.  I liked seeing the grammatical corrections that were being made.  It was neat to see editing in this way.  What a great behind the scenes moment for the teacher to observe.  In the Salute to Seuss wiki, I liked how the classes provided book reviews.  I was a little unsure of how to navigate around the page and wasn't sure if it was because of my inexperience of wikis or the page format. I'll be able to answer that question with more wiki exploration.  But, by far the "ah - ha" moment with wikis came for me while reading Cool Cat Teacher Blog's post about her use of wikis the first time.  Her post gave me the mental visual aid that I needed to finally get it and understand a great use of wikis.  Her students were so excited to collaborate in this technological way on book reviews and study guide notes.  Students were able to add information to a page that would be truly beneficial to other students, AND they weren't just told they had to do it as an assignment, they actually wanted to come in and add posts.  The excitement she talked about that became contagious among the students made me want to take part too.

Thing 5 - Information Overload or Information Organized (RSS Feed)

Last semester we were instructed to set up an RSS feed through Google Reader.  At the time, I mainly used it to check my colleagues blogs.  It keeps them all nice and neat so I can access them easily and respond.  I also subscribed to a few technology sites that I thought would be helpful.  I only checked it when I needed to read and respond to my peers' posts.  The information that was coming in from the tech sites was very overwhelming, so I would either ignore it or just skim the latest headlines.

So, now I am in my second semester, and my professor has instructed me to subscribe to more feeds and learn to get better at reading, or rather scanning, my feeds.  I'm still pretty overwhelmed and not entirely sure how much is too much.  So, I still have some questions regarding that.  Right now I feel that Richardson has summed up my thoughts best when he says, "Don't be surprised if at first you think RSS is adding to your information overload instead of easing it".  I am holding out hope that he is correct when he then goes on to say that "with a little time and experience, you'll begin to understand why pretty soon RSS will be a household tool, and why it will make you and your students smarter, more effective consumers of information." (Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for the Classroom; Richardson; Corwin, 2010).

The best thing I was able to learn from this chapter in Richardson's book was the ability to organize.  I love when things are organized!  Learning how to use folders in RSS was an "ah-ha" moment.  Now I can easily find the blogs of my peers, the cooking blogs I've subscribed to, the technology information I have, and then the other classroom support blogs.

While scanning some information lately, I found an interesting article about using podcasts and vodcasts to  help struggling readers.  My "Classroom Technology" feed provided an article (http://www.convergemag.com/classtech/science-podcasts.html) where a science teacher was using vodcasts so that he could provide lecture information before class and then use class time for the actual experiment time. What a great idea!  I know we will be learning more about this type of technology in the future of this class, so I'm sure I'll use this article again.  The article then provided a great idea for me with my 1st grade readers who need additional help at home.  It suggested that we send an iPod Touch and book home with a podcast of us reading the book for the student to follow along with at home.  How great an opportunity for me to extend my teaching!

So, my goal is to become a better scanner of my RSS feeds, know how to look for and subscribe to the most pertinent feeds, and organize it accordingly as I go along so that I can find it easily and not be overwhelmed.  I also want to find sites that I can use as a teacher and my students can use for class.  I have first graders, so finding things for them will be a challenging goal.  Someone suggested using a shared site that they can access, which sounds like a good way to start.

Thing 4 - How Can You Grade What I Say? (Evaluating Blogs)

Evaluating student blogs can be tricky.  The students are going to ask, "How can you grade what I say", and "Why did my thoughts and ideas not make an A?"  Preventing these types of questions can be done by having a plan that the students know in advance.  This can be accomplished by providing the students with a rubric or even having them help you make a rubric to show what the expectations are.  

Jeff McClurken and Julie Meloni provide some good tips for making the blog experience better in their article ‘How Are You Going To Grade This?: Evaluating Classroom Blogs.  The three main things they recommend are:

1.     Talk to students about what they think makes for a good blog post, 

2.     Provide feedback early on about their blogs, and

3.     Highlight particularly good blogs in class and/or on the class blog

As educators, we provide rubrics and expectations for writing, so it only makes sense to do the same for blogging. 

Criteria	Unacceptable	Acceptable	Target
Blog Posts by Students	No clear purpose; unorganized, no reference to what was being taught or learned.	Purpose is somewhat clear and organized with reference made to what was taught or learned.	Purpose is clear with an organized thought process and more than one reference is made to what is being taught or learned.
Comments or Responses that students leave on other student blogs	Comment or response makes no reference to content of post.	Comment or response is made to content of post.	Comment or response is made to  content of post and adds insight or questions.

Thing 3 - Extra, Extra, Blog All About It

Blogs are usually reflective.  In order to blog, you have to read.  You read, in order to blog.  Make sense?  The language of blogging seems to be one of reflective thoughts and ideas about something in particular (usually someone else's blog, article, ideas, etc.).  Good blogs require research and links.  Exploring some different blogs helped me develop a better understanding of them and their language.  Those that interested me most were the ones that were more reflective and less straight research or stated facts.  While those blogs had good information too, I liked reading the ones that I could tell had a human point of view attached.

My favorite that I read was by Dan Meyer entitled "Why I Don't Assign Homework".  Mr. Meyer lays out his reasons for why he feels that homework is not an effective way of practice for students and why he chooses not to give it.  I could see where he was coming from and have often had a similar opinion.  However, when reading through the comments on his page, I could see why the people who disagreed with him had valid points in favor of homework.  Mr. Meyer later says that he does give some homework now, but not a lot and nothing that is not worth the effort. This is a great example of how the feedback on blogs can "potentially teach us more" through the "connective writing" as stated by Will Richardson (Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Tools for Classrooms. Corwin, 2010).

The two blogs I read that directly involved student writing on the blogs were fun to read.  The third grade blog had students writing to an author and asking very insightful questions about her book. The author wrote back and gave genuine feedback that I can imagine the kids loved and appreciated.  The second grade blog was interesting.  It had students responding to a real picture and story of a mama duck at their school.  One day the duck wasn't there anymore, but the eggs were still in her nest.  The teacher had the students write about what they thought may have happened to the duck. The second grade teacher left the inventive spelling of her students, which made me smile and connect since my first graders will be writing in a similar way.  I love the authenticity of the project and the creativity shown in the students' stories.  These two blogs provide an example where "students become part of the and writing and learning process"(Richardson, 2010). These blogs were inspiring to me as an example of what young elementary students can do.  

The last two blogs I read were more informative.  One talked about technology building student spies as students use their phones to record and video teachers for entertainment purposes which put teachers in an awkward position and a poor light.  This blog was very informative and a little scary.  I love the way the author, Vicki Davis (aka Cool Cat Teacher), writes.  She has a style that draws you in a provides great information, while also having a context that appeals to me.  She has been added to my RSS feed.  The blog by Anne Davis, was also very informative, but seemed dry and to the point.  I appreciated all the ways she provided that weblogs can be used for education, and can definitely use it as an excellent resource. That leads me to a very important point - there are so many blogs that you have to be careful with what information you deem to be trustworthy.  Not all blogs provide accurate information and you may have to do some additional research in order to find the most accurate source if you are looking specifically for information to quote as true.  

Thing 2 - Giving Everyone a Voice

I can not even express how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE the grad program I am in.  Seriously!  One of the reasons I am so excited at the moment is because of a new tech tool I just learned about called "Voice Thread" (www.voicethread.com).  After being introduced and reading through all the info and tutorials I had to show it off to someone, and my husband was the lucky one since he was the only one around.  I thought his explanation of it was pretty good when he said,"it's kind of like a blog you can hear".

Voice Thread allows you the ability to upload pictures, text, and videos.  It then allows you the ability to record your voice to go along with what you have uploaded.  The coolest feature is when several people log in and respond to the same picture, text, videos.  Our professor made a slide and then all the people in class logged in to that same slide and recorded reflections.  You can also text your ideas and opinions, but that was pretty common.  

While browsing the site, I found one made by a second grade student who used the story of the three little pigs.  She served as the narrator and she had someone else read the parts of the pigs.  I thought this would be so much fun for my first graders.  I think having them come up with a story and then drawing pictures to be uploaded would really add to the authenticity of the project.  Adding their voices as characters in the story for a Reader's Theater type assignment would really get them involved.  I also found a presentation with an addition number sentence and three students were sharing the different ways they solved the problem. This was great because they all got the correct answer, but had different strategies to find the solution.  This would be very inspiring for my little ones to see and then participate in for themselves.  Right now we are studying about Harriet Tubman and I think it would be neat to have each of them share their thoughts and feelings about her experience and bravery.  The ideas are really flowing and I could go on and on. 

I love that Voice Thread can give my first graders a chance to participate in something pretty high tech without having to type.  They are learning keyboarding skills, but the pecking at the keyboard takes quite a while when a lot of words is necessary, plus the inventive spelling may be hard to understand unless you are seasoned in reading it.  This will allow them to respond in their own voice.  I can't wait to try it.

I did check it out at school, and thankfully, it is not a blocked site.  I  know we do not have headphones with microphones at school, so I need to take my one set or find another way to accommodate the recordings.  Also, someone mentioned that only 3 people are allowed to respond unless you have a paid account, so I'll need to check that out as well. 

Discussion and Exploration of Video Sharing

Description:  During this field experience, two of my fellow first grade teachers and I discussed and reviewed what video sharing technology was best for posting on our blogs.

Standards:  TF-II.C (Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experiences)

Semester:  Spring 2011

Hours: 1 hour

Population:  First Grade Teachers

Reflection: We discussed School Tube, Smilebox, and Rock You.  One of the teachers said that she had had trouble with Smilebox because of some ads that had popped up at one time.  She said that it was a while back when this had happened, but that she had not used it since.  I explained that I use it all the time.  I especially like that I can use my pictures and video in the same scrapbook-like pages or slideshows.  Rock You was also mentioned, but I said that I had not used it with video before so I was going to check back to see if that was a possibility.  I use School Tube a lot too and embed the code into my blog, but I am fortunate because I am one of the people on file to publish the videos.  Since the other teachers I talked to are not, it makes it difficult to get the videos when you want them.  We decided to continue to explore and report back what we found.

Video Lesson on Money

Description:  This field experience was done with my co-teacher.  She and I decided to post a video on our blog showing parents the strategy we use at school to help teach our students how to count mixed change.  We discussed what was important to mention during the video and how we would show the parents.  Then I videoed as she taught the lesson.  I posted the video in School Tube and then embedded the code into our blog for parents to view at home.  

Standards: TF-V.C and D. (Productivity and Professional Practice)

Semester: Spring 2011

Hours:  1 hr.

Population:  First Grade Co-Teacher and Class Parents

Reflection:  My co-teacher and I had ordered Flip recorders to use in class.  We decided that we would use them first to video a demonstration of a strategy we were using at school to help teach parents how we were teaching the kids at school to count mixed change.  Upon completion and post of this video, we were thrilled with the results.  The video is short so that it doesn't become a burden to watch.  The strategy seems clear based on the visuals and description.  We shared it with class parents via our blog. We also shared it with the principal and assistant principal.  Our assistant principal happened to be at a conference where she shared our video as a demonstration on how some of her teachers were using technology.  The principal shared our video with the other teachers at school.  This has good and bad repercussions. Some of the teachers on our team were upset with us because they viewed it as though we were showing off and had not told them that we were planning to do this.  We had no intentions of that at all.  We simply had an idea and went with it immediately.  We've talked about these kind of situations in grad classes on several occasions.