Chapter 5-Strive to be Tomorrow...Today

After reading Chapter 5, Strive to be Tomorrow...Today, I went back through the chapter to see what I had underlined or starred. I noticed I had the word "positive" underlined quite a bit. I thought to myself that I always try to start the day off with a positive note.  There are days, I admit, that I may have other things on my mind and it's hard to face my class with a positive attitude. Then, I think to myself, these kids are here to learn and they need you to teach them.  If I were a student in this class, I wouldn't want my teacher to be in a bad mood.  That's when I put on a happy face and face the music knowing that everything will be alright.
One of the quotes that I had underlined was "Every day can be a great day if you choose to make it a great day." I love all the ideas they gave on ways to make a positive impact with the people we work with everyday.  My favorite being Two a Day, writing two personal notes a day to either students or staff members.  I have written some notes to my students before and the look on their face when they read it is priceless.   know I like getting notes from them as well.
Another quote that stood out to be was "One way connected educators acquire a powerful and positive voice is by seeking out as many positive and powerful voices they can from all walks of life."  I love this quote because it is true to me.  When I'm with either my fellow BTC's, my fellow 1:1 iPad teachers, or visiting with the district technology trainers, I ALWAYS walk away with a positive attitude.  I know in my heart these teachers are interested in the same things I am interested in and they are willing to share out ideas they use in their classroom.  They give ideas that I may be nervous to try but they give me the encouragement to push myself and step outside the box.  Like the book mentioned, you need to have a can do, will do attitude.  It's all about have a growth mindset.

Chapter 4-Give and Take...and Give Some More

After reading Chapter 4, Give and Take...and Give Some More, I began to think about the ways I give and take.  My teaching partner and I are always sharing with each other.  There are times where I finish up a lesson and run right over to her classroom to share what worked and didn't work or I have an idea that just hit me and I have to share right away.  It's nice having an awesome teaching partner to share ideas with as well as get ideas from.  We are always collaborating and sharing. I find myself saying "I found this idea on Twitter that I think we should try", or she will say "I found this awesome idea on Pinterest we should try." I liked how the author of What Connected Educators Do Differently said "the bottom line, though is that connected educators tend to respond when they are contacted about anything relating to their profession."  I have noticed on Twitter when someone is in search of an idea or asks a question, people that are in the profession start answering from all over the world. They are willing to give.  I know I have looked to see what ideas I can get from apps that I follow to get ideas to use in my classroom. For example, when I see Seesaw tweeting out ideas about what they have added to their app, my students get to try it the next day.  I also see other teachers that tweet out their ideas and think I can do that in my classroom.  Now, I just have to feel confident enough to share out how we use different apps in my classroom.

Chapter 3-Embrace the Three Cs: Communication, Collaboration, and Community

Let's just say, I have really been enjoying reading What Connected Educators Do Differently.   As I am reading each chapter, I am gaining a better understanding of how to communicate in many different ways.  I'm also learning how to build my PLN.  With that being said, after reading chapter 3 I was able to gain more ideas on how to get information out to parents, teachers, and students.

Communication
Under the heading, Communicating with Purpose, I liked how the author discussed different ways to communicate your stories.  It is important to share what is going on in your classroom and school. I have a class weebly site where I share pictures of students learning, what we are learning, and celebrations.  With my class website, I can see how many visitors have visited, which is usually the amount of kids I have in my class.   I have my own personal and school Twitter account.  With my personal account, I tweet out what is happening in my classroom with our 1:1 iPads.  I don't have that many parents that follow me on Twitter.  I also send out a weekly newsletter for parents that may not have internet access to view our website.   With the school account, I tweet out pictures of students that have won awards and reminders for any upcoming events.   One thing I would like to work on getting is a hashtag for our school.  Any ideas?  I'm going to have to search the website the author mentioned to make sure it has not been taken.

Collaborating
I have always enjoyed collaborating with fellow colleagues. In this section, Collaborating with Passion, I liked how the author mentioned that "nothing can compare with working and collaborating face to face with other educators." The iPad collaboration days are one of my favorite days to meet with my iPad academy friends to share ideas or to even ask questions on how they might deliver a lesson the their class. It's always nice to collaborate with other second grade teachers across the district.   I remember when we used to meet with other second grade teachers at their school to share ideas and see what their classroom looks like.  One other way to collaborate is to create a personal blog.   In this chapter, the author said it is important to give back.   This is my first blog and I love being able to share my thoughts with everyone. I have a separate blog for my classroom which is titled 1:1 iPads in Second Grade.  I have yet to share but, I plan on working on it.  It was nice in this chapter that they gave ideas for what your blog should include as well as the purpose.

Communicating
When your thinking of Community-Building with Pride, this is where parents should be able to go to the schools social media accounts and be able to find out anything they need.  Like the author said, this is a good way for parents to get a glimpse of what is happening in our schools.  Which I need to do better at tweeting out on our school's Twitter account more often.  We may not have that many followers right now but, maybe I need to advertise our Twitter handle more as well as getting a hashtag.

This post may be on the lengthy side, but I have learned so much about the three Cs.  It has opened my eyes a little more to get out there and share my/our school's story.  

Chapter 2-Learn What they Want, When they Want, How they Want

   After reading Chapter 2 of What Connected Educators Do Differently,  I began to think about what I want to learn, when I want to learn and how I want to learn.  Let's begin with what I want to learn.  I always enjoy looking on Pinterest for ideas to use in the classroom.  With Pinterest, I find myself looking for art ideas, gift ideas, or ways to organize my classroom.  If I am looking for ideas with technology, I will look on Twitter to see what my fellow #iPadacademy colleagues are doing in their classroom.  Just the other day, I read a tweet by Cassi Yates about giving a spelling test through Schoology and it saved her 30 minutes.  I now have that on my list to do and try.
   Like the authors mentioned, "connected educators find time in the evening hours and on the weekends to learn and grow professionally."  I enjoy learning through Professional Development but, it depends on when it is.  If it's right after school, my mind is still on reflecting the day.  If it's a half day, I feel like I have more time to focus on what is being taught and time to use it.  Then, when I have time in the evening or on the weekends I will explore the websites and hashtags on my own. Now that I am using Twitter more, I have found many hashtags to follow to get ideas to use in my classroom.  I love reading/seeing all the ideas for 1:1 iPad classrooms.  As as technology lover, I feel I could participate in more twitter chats.  It's always nice to watch and lurk but one of these days I'm going to join right in and share my ideas.
   Last, I think about how I want to learn.  Twitter is a great source to get ideas for my classroom but sometimes it's nice to learn from fellow educators face to face. In this chapter, the authors talk about going to an Edcamp.  Iv'e been to trainings where they teach with the style of an Edcamp but I have never attended one.  I do enjoy learning new things "in person" so I have the chance to try out what the presenter is teaching as well as ask questions if I have any.

Chapter 1-What Connected Educators Do Differently

After reading Chapter 1 from What Connected Educators Do Differently, I realized how important it is to have a PLN.  Twitter is a great way to connect to educators all over the world.  When I created a Twitter account in 2011, I didn't use it all that much.  I found myself just lurking onto what other people had to say and watching behind the scenes. I remembering thinking, do other people really want to hear what I have to say?  Well, with being a BTC for my building, I am encouraged to use Twitter to share what is happening in my school and classroom.  Once I started sharing pictures and ideas I had, people started to retweet and favorite my tweets.  It made me feel important and know people do like what I have to say.  Now, I try to tweet out at least twice a week if not everyday.  It is always nice to see all the other ideas that are out there that I can use in my classroom.  I would have to say I have great foundation of a PLN through Twitter.