The Final Thoughts...Sad that all things come to an end!

So my PLN ended up being pretty organized. This was surprising to me, as I usually am organized  chaos. 
I first started with jotting things down on a piece of scratch paper, with circles, balloons, arrows going in all directions, even to outer space. 
After our critical friends discussions and the ideas and feedback that were given, made me think a little more about the goal of my PLN and the other teachers involved. 
The critical friends session was the most valuable to me. After that meeting, the mind map was easy as 3.14 and really fast compared to my initial brain storm attempts.


Now my thoughts on the Total Package. I really enjoyed LTEC 642, just as i have enjoyed other classes from Dr. Bert. In the beginning,  the Twitter, Periscope and Line assignments were a little overwhelming to me, as I never had to speed post, or tag others in one of my social media posts, other than tagging friends...making the deadlines was challenging for us as a whole class group. In the beginning, the additional waves of conversations via Line were a little irritating, but once I figured out how to turn the sound and vibration notifications off, it became a little easier to deal with, and once the "new" wore off, and not every one in our class was blasting message on it any more, Line became my preferred way of staying in touch with project group members for both the Case Studies and the Collaborative Video Project. 
Another, mildly frustrating endeavor was the CVP, the time differences between Hawaii, Samoa, Germany and Japan, seemed a little challenging for us to be able to have meaningful meetings, and to be able to collaborate effectively. However, in the end it all ended well. 

If I could take more classes from Dr. Bert, I would, although I have already reached my needed number of electives for my Master's. Maybe I could ask him if I could just audit his classes, just for fun!

Social Media, Learning and Sharing

For the longest time, or at least since I started using Social Media, I thought it was just for fun, following celebrities, news, or other entertaining entities. 

Last year, when I started my Master's in Learning Design and Education, and got involved with getting Google Apps for Education going in our school, I discovered that Social Media is much more than just entertainment. 

Social Media, think of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+, etc., many legitimate and valid educational organization use Social Media to share their educational offerings, links, webinars, etc. Many of these organizations or savvy individuals I have "followed" or "friended" on various Social Media channels and have had "conversations" with. However, just as many valid sources sharing Info on GAFE, Educational Technology and so on, are just merely "venting" channels. A few select individuals do all the sharing, and when followers ask questions, no answer ever is given. Therefore, I have found that one has to be very selective when truly using certain Social Media channels as a truly educational tool. If just a few, same people share opinions or suggestions, and questions from followers or other group members go unanswered, there might be some issues with the validity of the group. 
I realized this too late, after I joined a few dozen Google+ communities on GAFE tools. While I still am part of many of these communities, I have now muted several of their communications, and learned to rely more on groups that do have a more global and credible presence, and are endorsed by other global, credible entities. 

This brings me to my assignment for Educators: from all the groups you belong to, be it on Social Media or Professional Communities, list which ones you belong to, which ones you ask questions on, which ones you get answers on, which ones you give answers on. How many of these groups do you truly feel you "belong" to, why? or why not? 
Then, create a short presentation (video, Slides, Prezi, Powtoons, etc) on how effective you feel Social Media channels are in helping you become a better educator, what works or doesn't work when using Social Media as a professional learning tool. Share what you like so far, share what you find troubling, share how you would like to see it changed and how you can distinguish between the credible and not-so credible sources.

I am just wondering if I'm the only gullible, trusting educator seeking knowledge from the Web and Social Media, or if there are others like me, who need to learn the hard way...   Am I?

My Personal Learning Network

As a teacher I have been familiar with a PLC, or Professional Learning Community, for years. These communities are either meeting as a department (have been part of the math department in our school for years, and now am part of the science department of our school for the last 1.5 school years), or as a team (8th grade team in a South Kona Middle School). Usually in these communities we work on data collection on teaching practices, read informational readings and reflect on them, discuss students or plan interdisciplinary projects for our students, or to plan team-building advisory activities. 

So, now on to my PLN, or PERSONAL Learning NETWORK. As a math teacher, I was told to join the Edmodo Algebra I group for the DOE Hawaii, to have access to the online resources and printable workbooks, along with DOE approved quizzes, test, and other activities, and to also be able to interact and share resources with fellow Hawaii Algebra I teachers. What I learned from this group, is that the majority of Hawaii Algebra I teaches don't really know algebra (or are just too lazy to use their brains and just do the problems themselves), as they are whining about having keys to all the worksheets, or whine about certain resources that aren't editable. Considering that the majority of the resources have typo's in them, I have never even looked at published keys of any of the worksheets or quizzes/tests because it takes me just minutes to do the work myself versus printing the keys out, walk to the print room to pick up the docs, to then discover they have wrong solutions on them. So, THAT PLN to me is not that valuable. 

Now that I am teaching Science and STEM, after having been very vocal about not teaching to the math and algebra tests, and have spearheaded our school's adoption of GAFE, I figured I should join fellow Google-minded people. I joined GEG ACE21 Hawaii (the local Google Educator Group), several MOOC groups (Massively Open Online Courses), Chromebooks, Google Classroom, and various other Google+ Communities, just so I could get "da scoops" on things that I am interested in with regards of using technology in the classroom.  I found out that only a few folks within these groups are the only contributors of gem-like resources, the rest of them seem just to be also "whiners". 
Many of them have members who will ask questions on these communities-very valid and interesting questions- and never receive answers or feedback. 
My take-away from some of the groups I joined, is that they are merely a one-way channel of the creators blurting out little not-so-gems to their followers, and that they do not allow for feedback or sharing of resources by members of the group. 

My goal, for my REAL PLN, and for my imaginary PLN that I have to create for my LTEC 642 class, is that is an OPEN network, where people can freely add to and comment on, not just a few select members who run the show. My focus will, hopefully, be open, multi-way communication, sharing of resources, feedback, Q&A, a safe place where members can ask, answer, share and review resources, knowledge, etc.

Next step: get this brain-fart into a brain(mind)-map, and actually make it functional! Wish me luck!

CVP 2015! Are you sure?

Glad that it is almost over. This project has been a challenge to say the least. 

Communication with our Japanese group member has been very challenging. The virtual crickets were almost constantly chirping. 

However, regardless of the trouble we had to communicate, at every step of the project, at least 2 team members were able to pick up the pieces each and every week and roll with it.

I am partially to blame, as I initiated most of the steps of our project, and I believe I was way too direct and aggressive in my approach for our Japanese group members. I am only familiar with Japanese martial arts and how trainings are conducted, but I now realize that I am completely not understanding modern Japanese communication and am now very much looking to learn the modern Japanese way for collaboration.

So, in retrospect, I would merely be suggestive instead of directive in my approach of organizing online meetings, Line, Hangouts, etc. Ask for feedback, instead of telling everybody what I had in mind.

I now realize that the Japanese-Hawaiian community, here on Hawaii Island, has evolved just as much into American culture as any other community. While my students value their roots, by participating in Taiko Drumming, or Bon Dance, it is in a sense very different from the traditions in Japan, even with very modern and eccentric ways of social media communication means, there is still a very deep rooted system of master and apprentice. I now realize that we are all apprentices, and need to merely suggest each other of ideas, and then discuss them, and not suggest of what I might have in mind.

Next time around, I would not take the initial steps to start the project, but maybe just start initial conversations.

I am Grasshopper after all, regardless of the Dan-level I reached at a Jiu-Jitsu Dojo. 

I am ready to learn, and ready to accept my short-comings!
Bring it on!

My Social Capital

I believe I joined Facebook about 8 years ago. Mostly pressured by relatives from across the world as an easy way to stay in touch and to share news and photos of new family members and to watch them grow up. 

Over the years, I also have evolved to use Facebook as a means to follow organizations, public figures and topics of my interest. 
I often find myself going to Facebook pages of companies' whose products I use and like, or even local radio and TV stations for faster updates on local and global events. I "like" them, and "follow" them, and in case of any local incidents, I can post to their pages so share any events I encounter that could have impact on other people in my community.
I have also "friended" people I have never met in person, but share similar interests or hobbies with, and have formed various networks for personal and professional interests. 

After reading Cultivating Social Resources on Social Network Sites: Facebook Relationship Maintenance Behaviors and Their Role in Social Capital Processes  ^{by Ellison et. al. (2014)}
(http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcc4.12078/full) I have become more aware of what I am actually doing when I "like", "follow" or "friend" people or companies on Facebook. I am creating networks and gaining virtual capital. 

With recent developments in France, and many other incidents of terrorism, I have changed my profile picture to stand with France, as a virtual hug of support. For me it is personal, I grew up about a four-hour drive away from Paris, went to Paris with my Senior Class, and have fond memories of my visits there. And some of my relatives go to Paris on a regular basis for various professional activities. 

When I was in my Senior year in High School, and my first year in Medical School in Belgium, there were various attacks of colleges and college auditoriums around Brussels and Liege, several explosions, several people were killed, many were injured. This was the work of a Communist Combatant Cell, trying to spread terror and communist ideology near State and Liberal-oriented Colleges. Back then, the only way one would get updates was through public radio and TV stations, newspapers, and old-fashioned rotary phone calls.

I also find it disturbing, that we as Social Media users, now also have come to share sad and terrible things, while, I personally thought that Social Media always had this fun and positive connotation. 

Maybe if we all shared the following on our Facebook pages, we could indeed create a better place.

Think of your fellow man

Lend him a helping hand

Put a little love in your heart

You see it's getting late

Oh, please don't hesitate

Put a little love in your heart

And the world will be a better place

And the world will be a better place

For you and me

You just wait and see

Am I Influenced By Social Media?

About 10 years or so, I joined the concept of Social Media. With close relatives still residing in Europe, and I living across the Globe, Social Media became the first line of communication with Family to share pictures, get updates on what is going on, and to inform each other of sudden changes or family emergencies, etc. I have seen my cousins' and second cousins' kids grow up via Facebook and Twitter, although I never met them in person-which is pretty sad, but a whole different story. 

While I do have the occasional sudden outbursts of happiness or discontent, and these outburst are usually very vocal and explicit, I have slowed down in posting sudden outbursts on Social Media. I still tend to "like", "1+", or "favorite" posts on various sites, I have slowed down in, and re-evaluated what I post and how I post it. The majority of my public sharing of opinions, emotions or updates, are usually very general and not very provoking of public response.
I do use the private messaging options in my various social media means, to approach other people in my networks or to share VERY opinionated thoughts with people in my networks. 

I think I would like to branch out in to the vast net of Social Media, and create an alter ego for Educational Purposes; start using Social Media as a tool to keep my students on their toes regarding assignments, due dates, resources, etc. These channels will need to stay private, as my students are minors. Over the last 2 or 3 years, I have seen an increase of the use of Social Media as an Educational Tool, and have seen apps been created just for Educational purposes. As a Techie, I am always looking for new goodies I could use in my classroom, for educational purposes: sharing resources, sharing info on assignments, etc. Many commonly used Social Media tools have options to create private groups or lists, while others-like Edmodo, Remind, etc.- focus on just classroom/college cohort applications. Other ways Social Media could be used: means for Professional Development Groups to communicate and share resources, discussion boards on pressing developments in education, etc. 

For these Social Media tools to become valuable tools in an Educational Setting, many K-12 school districts will need to revise their internet and social media policies, especially now that Google Apps For Education has become a very Global tool for teachers and their students to collaborate. While I have been "breaking the rules" according to DOE policies regarding Social Media use to communicate with students, especially with GAFE, DOE and BOE rules need to be changed if Social Media will be used for educational purposes....

Not sure how long that will take, but I am not holding my breathe. I just keep breaking the rules until they change them!

Half-Time or 7th-Inning Stretch?

Well, It's actually past Half-Time, and if I would be talking to my 8th-graders, it is now down to crunch time... So what do I feel at this point besides utter exhaustion? Some words that are in my brain: overwhelmed, way behind, confused.

While the majority of my assignments are not necessarily extreme on how to use brain power to complete them, they are extreme at the pace they are presented and when they are due.

Besides the case studies we have to do on the topics we all voted on, we have these side-bar activities that are usually more instantaneously than the bigger projects.  And these make me feel as if I am torn into several directions at the same time. Multi-Tasking is no longer just an idea, it is a power verb. The CVP with the students of Japan is taking the most out of me, as in frustration, the same individual keeps missing out on synchronous meetings, while language issues seem to be the main culprit...I get it, having to express yourself in a language that you feel uncomfortable with, does take a toll on people, but when you are in a college or graduate setting, that should not be a reason on why you shouldn't attend an online meeting. 

The Twitter curation was fun, as it gave me another way to convince myself I'm not as old as I think I am, and that I can still learn new Social Media tricks...and it gets me to connect with people who feel they should follow me, although I do not have the foggiest idea on who they are, or where they are.  Social now means also Global. I like that! 

The TCCfx2015 event was fun to attend, especially since most of the people who presented, are also people who are or have been in my graduate level classes as my peers or as my teaching assistants. I enjoyed the join.me means better than the conferencing tools that were used during the past Spring TCC conference, the only thing I wished I had done, is find way on how to save the presentation and resources people shared in their presentations. 
When I attended the Google Global Summit on Oahu, just days after TCC, all presenters shared links to their resources via Google Drive, and even though it has been over 6 months, I still have access to these resources...TCCfx2015 was just days ago, and I cannot access any of the links I saved or wrote down. And now I have to reflect on this...ARGH...I was too busy chatting in the chat box, which then in turn made me forget to tweet enough times. Ah! That leads me to my big brain-teaser: I tweeted a few times via my desktop TweetDeck...these tweets never showed in my Twitter app on my phone nor in Twitter desktop version; they only show on TweetDeck, and I did use the correct #! I accidentally spelled a # wrong for our periscope assignment-that's creepy that people across the world can view your live video, and then make hearts appear on the screen. I guess dyslexic Devil worshippers sell their soul to Santa on Twitter this way!

My other class I am taking for my Master's is also having a major paper due at the same time that the class I am writing this blog for has several big items due. I sometimes wished professors would check in with each other on their pacing and assignments, but now I am thinking as a Middle School teacher.

I guess, my 2-cents for future Grad students: don't work 2 jobs while taking 2/3-time or full-time graduate classes...pace yourself, keep a written calendar or planner, start working on assignments early, don't hope your team partners will do all the work, initiate group meetings or documents, and BREATHE! 
And then, take a sick day from work to catch up on your assignments...I say that is OK, I just took my first (not-so) sick day ever -I was out sick only 12 days in my whole elementary to high school career, and only was out  2 weeks from my job to work because of my husbands' open-heart surgery so I could be with him-  to work on assignments and read up on articles for assignments. I did have a fever and body-aches, but I don't think it's the flu! 

Hang in there folks! I know it's the last, hard stretch, but it will be worth it, regardless of the frustrations, difficulties, etc. Crack open a bottle of your favorite beverage, work on your assignments, breathe, and make sure you get enough sleep!

Twitter...Can I use it as a Teaching Tool?

So I have had my Twitter account for about 5 or 6 years now, had to start it up for one of my Post Baccalaureate classes by Dr. Grace Lin at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. I never really understood the need for having Twitter, it seemed to me that it is very "in the NOW", as in instant gratification. I did started following several news agencies, chefs and celebrities, just for keeping up with the news, for fun or hobby. In addition, it seemed to me that "every day folks" didn't really use Twitter that much.

Fast forward to today. I have now tweeted just over 500 times, mainly because I linked my Facebook account, and if I post something on Facebook, it automatically get tweeted too. I also have come across the use of Twitter in an educational setting. Several of my Graduate classes have had a Twitter activity or requirement. I believe the focus of these activities is becoming more adept at using Twitter as a tool, and more specifically as a teaching tool. 

I have looked up close at the article by Peter Tiernan: "A study of the use of Twitter by students for lecture engagement and discussion" (2013). Twitter could very well be used as some sort of "formative assessment" tool, a tool to have students engage with other students with regards to any possible aspect of a class' lectures, assignments or other activities. Also Twitter shows potential as an Audience Response System (ARS); look at it as Kahoot! for college, but maybe not as fun. 

In my current classes we use Twitter, Periscope, Line, etc. as direct stream social media source. While we use fairly "closed system"- as in private groups or lists- some of the material or the posts are visible by the general public (the world). That is something that I would like to see changed, or finds ways to prevent this, as I teach 8th-graders, and I need to keep them protected. Tiernan also mentions in his paper that Twitter involvement varies depending on what part of a learning unit the students are on: high in the beginning, dropping once "the NEW wears off", and then back up when new topics/projects/etc are introduced. I experienced the same thing after we were introduced to Periscope or Line. 

In a K-12 setting, my students would have similar problems as some students mentioned in Tiernan's paper: no access to Twitter due to DOE servers blocking Twitter and most other Social Media sites on the student WIFI server. This makes it an unfair tool as only some of my students have access to smartphones with their own data service. While Twitter does show strong potential as a teaching and collaboration tool, at this point, with restrictions form "higher up echelon" would not be a very effective tool in a Hawaii Public School k-12 setting, unless the teacher finds a way to bypass the restrictions on the student server.

I think, for me personally, considering my students and their attention span, I would like to stick to more of a gamification approach, such as Kahoot! for assessment or feedback purposes, and apps like Remind or Chirp to send them updates or links to resources, assignments,etc.

But none the less, keep on Tweeting...we can only get better!

References:
Kahoot! Making Learning Awesome. Retrieves October 21, 2015, from https://getkahoot.com/

Tiernan, P. (2013). A study of the use of Twitter by students for lecture engagement and discussion. Retrieved October 21, 2015, from http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10639-012-9246-4.pdf 

Collaborative Video Project! Huh? What?

At this point I am frustrated, anxious, mad, ... it is like every day is short by about 5 hours. 

My team for our Collaborative Video Project, was the team who has members who were not able to attend the initial online meeting. Communication has been very hard, and only a few people responded back to my attempts to reach out. 

I get it! Life, work, school, it all gets in the way of getting things done. I have those issues every day, rolling out of bed at 5AM, taking care of the farm animals, shower, getting to school to teach 100 8th-graders Earth & Space Science, go to IEP meetings or parent conferences, get back home, tend to the farm and the animals again, cook dinner, do school prep work, do my own school assignments, go to bed, get up at 5AM, and do it all over again. 

I initiated the first contact...sounds like a Star Trek movie...but I digress.... There was an initial response of what time frame worked, but it seemed like every one was waiting for me to go from there to take the next step. And I didn't take that step, I thought that the day we seemed all be in line for doing a Hangout, that no one actually initiated a Hangout when I wasn't able to get through to all of our team members; it was as if I was all alone out in cyber space with no one responding to my calls out. 

This is the first time that I am in a group that doesn't "tag team". As in one person starts something, the next one picks up the next chore, and so on...maybe I have been spoiled rotten by my previous collaboration and study teams and partners. 

At this point I am questioning my own success and sanity in this project, not even contemplating my team members in this. 

But I have to use this obstacle as a learning tool. Maybe there are cultural difference at play? Maybe it is my Belgian upbringing: you do what you said you were going to do....if not Mom/Dad/Aunty/Uncle/Mama/Papa will whack you upside your head, sometimes even all of them...I still fear that, even now at my age, and most of them being gone at this point, but it is all in my soul and consciousness. I think this is also the case in the Hawaiian and Samoan cultures. Maybe I should not be trying to lead the project, maybe I should just stand in the shadows and wait for things to develop? But then what if no one picks up the ball? Can I allow myself to fail if my team members don't live up to their promises? 

My whole point is TRANSPARENCY. Yes! By all means pick up the ball and run with it when you can, but also be fair to your team, admit when you can't get things done in the time allotted, admit when/if you get stuck, admit when you won't be able to make a real-time meeting, but at least acknowledge the communication that is going around, respond, be honest! It takes a super-adult to admit that you can do something... And that is OK... we are all human, we just need to leave the super-humans to Hollywood.

Thanks for letting me "vent".

Social or Not-so-Social in the Classroom!?

For the last 7-some years I have been teaching in a Public School, it has been instructed to us, teachers, to refrain from "friending" any of our current or future students on social media, even if these students are related to us. In addition, the three schools I have taught at since then, all have/had a strict no-technology policy while on campus. 

While many of our schools have adopted Google Apps for Education (GAFE) in the last few years, and Google+ along with Google Classroom have become a solid educational tool, many of our administrators still frown upon the use of social media as a teaching tool.

I personally have rebelled agains Hawaii DOE policy in a major way. While I do not "friend" current students via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or SnapChat, I do have them added through Google+ in a closed school domain setting via GAFE. Some of my students are extended -calabash- family members, and have been in my social media circles for years, and the fact that Hawaii is such a close-knit community -even with us being spread out over several islands- makes it that you know many people in many places, without even considering your work environment. 

I like Google+ as an educational tool, mostly because it as also streamlined with Google Calendar, it allows me to create communities that I can keep private so I can still protect my students from outside observers.

I believe Twitter can be a powerful educational tool as well. The instant notifications, and the option to create very specific and unique #handles makes it a little more personalized. And Twitter, unlike Facebook, is not blocked on student DOE servers. Twitter is powerful, as I can "tell" my students about any new, developing stories about our Solar System, our Universe, etc. 
I can also Tweet to remind my students about any due assignments, things to bring to class, remind them about tests or quizzes, etc.

I have used the Remind app, as a tool to keep my students and their parents up to date regarding due dates, upcoming major events or projects, etc. but found just a very small percentage of buy-in (21%) although 87% of my student and their parents have texting service on their mobile devices. 

From my point of view, and as observed from the Giant Rock I live on, most of our students and parents need to learn first on how to get away from Social Media as an instant gratification or venting tool, and learn how it can become a very powerful personal assistant and teacher... And the first groups of people who really need to change their openness and perspective on how Social Media can help our students in a very powerful way, are our Admin, District and State DOE personnel.  They need to get away from their own personal inhibitions and misinformation on Social Media, jump into the 21st Century, and let the teachers -the folks on the first line of Defense, the folks who really work with the students, know them and teach them- lead the way on bringing learning into this Century...

Collaborative Video Project Thoughts...

So, since I grew up outside of the USA, and my native language is not English but Flemish (a dialect of Dutch), I find myself in a very unique positions with regards to ELL or second language learners. I was born and raised in Belgium, a small Kingdom, nestled between the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France, with three official languages: Flemish, French and German. In elementary school I learned my second language: French... 

As a child, in my first few years of life, I lived in the French part of Belgium, although my parents were both Flemish. A neighbor of ours- who spoke solely French- was my occasional babysitter. So as a baby and toddler I was exposed to the French language. So when French came along in elementary school, it came very natural to me. In the lower and upper grades of high school I learned German and later on English. In addition I also learned Latin and Greek as requirements for the lower grades of high school.... Those were a lot harder to learn than the living languages. French, German and English were taught in these languages: the teacher would only speak the language unless a student was completely clueless and then would use Flemish to explain what was going on. But since public broadcast was in all three official languages, one would always have had some exposure prior to actual learning the language in school. 

Now, as an adult, I have the desire to learn Hawaiian and Japanese, but have come to find that it is very hard for me now to learn a new language. As a teacher, I have several students who are ELL, and come from various backgrounds. The majority of my students come from either Central and Latin America, Micronesia and Marshal Islands, and have never really had formal education in their native language. The fact they never had formal education, means that they only know their spoken Mother Tongue, and do not necessarily have knowledge of spelling and grammar of their own language -which makes it hard to learn the technical aspects of new languages. I do also have a few students who did have significant education in their native lands (Israel, Japan, Korea), and these students only have a language barrier, and are very knowledgeable of the content of math, science, social studies, etc....but since they learned the mechanics and semantics of their native languages, makes it easier to learn English... most of the time!

In my classroom, I have used various resources to assist my ELL students....I sometimes translate words to French, and that most of the time helps my Spanish-speaking students....For my Asian and Pacific Islands' students, I use pictures, videos, and group my students in heterogeneous language groups, so that they can help each other by using simplified language, gestures, or even just translate into their native languages. Some of my former students have created simple dictionaries of words and expression in their native language, as part of a service learning project, and I often refer to those...and that makes a huge difference with the comfort level of my students, as they recognize the names on the outer cover of these dictionaries as names of relatives and friends...

My own philosophy about Second Language Learners is that we are all in this together...a bit of knowledge, a lot of discomfort, but the desire to work together as one. English has become the driving language in the modern world, and many nations have forced their students to learn English as a requirement to either graduate high school or college. And this is a little unfair... as most of the world speaks other native languages.... maybe we should propose to all switch to Latin as the Universal language of Economics, Politics, Medicine, Science, Foreign Trade, etc....then all people would be equal; equal with the minimal knowledge of the language's nuts and bolts and on equal playing grounds... Only Julius Caesar would smile!

The Facts of Life during Hurricane Season and CRAAP detection.

The last few weeks have been determined by the weather, and more specifically by close-by hurricanes. This week, our community has been subjected again to heavy rains and major flooding. Weather systems have been creating almost micro-climate cells.... you could literally drive 10 minutes and be out of the heavy rain area, and then around the turn, you would be facing flooded roads... Electrical outages, internet connectivity issues...and all the other "good stuff" that goes with these weather troubles.

And then...as if the weather didn't give our community enough issues. As instructed, i checked out my email, my spam and trash folders....I have been getting emails from people and companies I haven't even heard of before....went ahead and blocked them....I am not sure if this is because of Google or Bing searches, or by visiting dubious websites.... AARGH! As a teacher, I have been worried about what my students access online as research materials, helping them distinguish credible online sources, what to look for, and what not to do to find resources. But it looks like I, myself, need to be a lot more aware of what I do online, what site links I click on, and what I leave behind when I do visit websites...
I also need to go through my spam and regular email folders, and start "unsubscribing" from all these list I signed up for without even realizing.
Sad to find out that even the online world has become so untrustworthy. What ever happened to just seeing the good things?

Fourth week in.....

So after our Monday night synchronous class, I had some thoughts about my digital footprint. While we all are aware of what we leave behind in our "real world" as evidence of our actions, there is just as much evidence that is left behind in the digital realm....online, the Matrix, or what ever you want to call it. As I use GAFE in my classroom, and my students use their school Google accounts to create work evidence, many do not log out of their accounts when they put the computers or tablets back. This leads to frustration of the next student who uses this device as they now need to log out the previous user, and log in to their own accounts. But it also leave room for students to mess with their peers' work. 

I keep reminding my students about their online activities, and their account settings, etc.... Because if I can see it on various Social Media tools, and I'm not "friends" with them, that means that their account is completely public....NOT a good idea! Especially for 8th graders!

Our online class meetings are always interesting....besides being informed on what is up next, we also have small-group break-out sessions....what is interesting to me, is that- no matter which group I am in, or what class I am taking- there are always people in the break-out session who are completely silent....be it tech problems, or just opting to not participate...that to me is a little frustrating... I understand that sometimes online classes run into tech problems: mic not working, slow connection, getting kicked off...most of the time I experienced that people who do have tech issues will go out of their way to contact the Prof or one of their peers, informing them that they are having tech issues, and need help to get back online....that is NOT irritating, just a little inconvenient. The quiet ones....

I've also been playing with the idea of using 2.0 web tools for my students to create and submit evidence...not sure which ones I'll line up to choose from, but I would like to see less "Paper Evidence" on my desk....and make the process of submitting work a little more bullet proof!

Now off to week 5, and training on my new interactive science curriculum tomorrow!

Mixed Feelings.... slightly irritated....

So we were introduced to this new App called Line.... basically an IM app, with stickers, emoticons and other gadgets....I think it is really cool...But.....it is also slightly irritating as some of our cohort have been using it as a social media/texting app. I feel like I HAVE to respond to all of these messages- although I know I don't really have to. Anyway...way more pressure than regular texts....making me anxious and irritated.

The other aspects of my LTEC classes are good, and are do-able to keep up. 

But our community has lost two wonderful ladies: Pearl, owner of Pearl's Garden- my go-to spot for all my farm supplies and animal feed; Debbie, a wonderful volunteer for our AdvoCats feral cat care organization. Al of the sudden you have to stop and realize how fragile life is, and how you sometimes just have to drop everything, stop working and just enjoy the day.... I hope these ladies will be watching over me!

This coming week I will be receiving training on our new e-Text book from Pearson for my science classes, have to administer a test on my Geologic Time unit, and come up with a performance assessment for this unit....and then after the Fall Break: round 1 of the HSA Science test....

Multi-tasking

As I find myself in the second half of the 1st Quarter of this school year, grading my students' work, getting ready for the second progress reports to go out, I have also adopted a new grading policy. I will no longer fail students who do submit their work, although it is not really the kind of work I was looking for. This is as a result of several articles we have been reading in our science department. We have adopted a policy of assigning a "50%-minimum" if students submit a sub-par work. Only missing work will be getting the dreaded "zero". We'll see if this works or not. 
I have also been thinking on how or teaming and middle school philosophy has been attempted to be killed by our admin....very frustrating. Hard to find ways to help your admin understand the importance and value of teaming and middle school philosophy.

On the flip side, I also have found myself working late at night, for my own classes. This is something I usually never do... by 9 PM I was in bed....now it's close to 11 PM, and then I find myself awake at 2 AM...mind going 100 MPH.... Not a good thing when you have to get up at 5 AM. 

But....classes are going good, I am not intimidated by the tasks at hand...I just need to stop procrastinating, and need to learn how to pace myself and actually stick to that schedule I made...

If Mother Nature now could also find a way to pace all that rain that has been falling out of the Sky....and a way to turn the heaters down.... Global warming....no longer a myth folks!   

Really Strange Week...

So, as we are in Hurricane season, most of us are somewhat aware of the steps we need to take to be prepare for bad weather...but my life was put on hold for a few hours, when a tiny little stream named Ki'ilae, started flowing again after a few days of heavy rain in South Kona. Afterwards, I found out that my situation wasn't as bad, as many parts of Kailua-Kona experienced heavy flooding.

I left the school I teach at a little after 3 PM. And it had been raining for a few hours, with some lightning and thunder. I stopped at the feed store to get feed for my farm animals, and the owner warned me that "it didn't look good" at my side of the island- I'm only about 25 minutes outside Captain Cook center.

I was going to stop at the little grocery store on the way home, quickly feed all the critters, and start grading my students' Scientific Method test and lab, and then finish working on my LTEC 642 Case Study proposal. 
By the time I reached Honaunau, traffic came to a stop. Ki'ilae started flowing again due to the heavy rains up-slope the west side of Mauna Loa, had become large enough to go over the tiny bridge, and was strong enough to send  a large amount of debris towards the south end, covering HWY 11.... But! Country & State Workers were prepared and had heavy equipment ready to clear the road, and by 4:30 PM, one lane was open and traffic slowly started moving again....except our schoolbusses. For some reason, they decided that they could wait any more and took our students back to school....Very disturbing! I called our principal, he was aware, and the students would probably go to the Cafeteria until parents can pick them up.....but parents were probably stuck in Town (Kailua-Kona) as the flooding there was even worse...

So, when I finally got home, I did my farm chores, started dinner, and just never did any school work...hence, it's Sunday evening, and I'm doing 4 things at a time to get "all my own school stuff" done.....Good thing tomorrow is Labor Day...hope it rains....so I don't have to do farm chores and grade my students' work...

Ah, the joys of multi-tasking.....

Ok, For Real This Time!

So, for my summer session at UH, I created my blog, and published my first blog. 

But I dropped the ball.
I was going to share my experiences with my two summer classes LTEC 642 and LTEC 612, but the two classes in the short 6 weeks of intense work, kept me from attempting to keep my intentions of reporting out.

Now the Fall Semester has started, and my two classes seem to be at a less stressed pace -so far-, I hope to be a little better at keeping up with my intent to blog.
This semester I am taking LTEC 642: Facilitating E-Learning Communities and LTEC 673: Planning for Technology & Resources. 
Yesterday, I also received an email from 'Imiloa Astronomy Center at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo, that I was accepted in the new teacher program: MANU 'Imiloa: Kōlea.
My Fall Break will be spend in Hilo for training. But I am really excited about this, because it fits in my curriculum, teaching constellations and navigation, except I won't be using Little Dipper, Big Dipper, Orion, Scorpio, etc -or at least not all of them with these names. Now I will learn the way Ancient Hawaiian Navigators used the 4 Star Lines, Hokupa'a, the wind directions and houses.

I hope that with the classes I am taking this Semester, I can learn how to create online resources for my students to access the Ancient Navigation knowledge, and make it meaningful, yet accessible for them. Not just the celestial navigation unit, but all of my Earth & Space Science resources.

A Hui Hou......See you later!

My First attempt to blog!

My Adventures in LTEC is my new blog in which I hope to share my learning experiences as I enter in to my second year of the Master's Program in Learning Design and Technology at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, and start the Graduate Certificate of Online Teaching and Learning. 

Besides sharing my experiences along the process of taking LTEC 676 and LTEC 612 this summer, I hope to continue sharing the whole process of obtaining my Master's. I will also be talking about how my newly discovered knowledge will be incorporated into my own classroom: an 8th grade Earth & Space Science class in the heart of Kona. This is the main reason why I am pursuing my Master's: to become a better and more effective teacher and help my students to become Future Ready®.

I welcome your feedback, suggestions and comments as I post my stories and thoughts. 


Thank you,

Pia Cummins