One Tab

I cannot stand where I have a messy and cluttered desktop.  I can't find anything and I can't see my picture of Disneyland's 50th Anniversary Castle by Thomas Kinkade, both are equally important to me.  That being said, I try very hard to keep my desktop very organized.

I also cannot stand to have a million bajillion tabs open either.  Unfortuately, I am VERY guilty of this.  I leave a tab open because I won't remember it if I close it.  I leave a tab open because I work on it daily.  I leave a tab open because I know I will have to refer to it in a meeting today, tomorrow, or next week.  I'd rather have a million bajillion tabs open than a million bajillion bookmarks, cause at least I know I can close the tabs.  The bookmarks...I'm too lazy and they will stay there for eternity.

Knowing that I have a problem with tabs (the first step is acknowledging it right) I decided to do something about it today.  This summer I went to a Google Summit in Charleston, SC.  One of the presenters, Chris Craft, talked about Chrome Extensions.  So I busted out my black and white composition notebook (yup I like to take notes old school) and looked up what he had suggested. There it was, beautifully printed "One Tab: put multi tabs in one page ---> multiple links to share w/ students".

So I downloaded One Tab.  And in 5 minutes, I had downloaded, figured it out, and my life is now changed!  I hear the angels singing above my head as I do a little happy dance in my seat.

Once you download One Tab, you click on it and it absorbs all the tabs for that page and closes it.  I organized my tabs on each page - work, social, articles to read, etc. - so I did this for approximately 5 open windows.  Holding my breath (because at this point EVERYTHING IS GONE!!!) I opened a new empty window and clicked on the One Tab icon on my extension bar (or whatever that area is called) and it showed me a list with all my windows and all the tabs that were open under each window.  I could restore or delete any of them!

Those angels singing became a frickin' choir!!!

Learning in November

Have you ever seen Alan November present?

Let me tell you...well, to me anyway, it's awe-inspiring.  I was lucky enough to be able to see Alan at ISTE 2014.  Then as an incredible perk to my current job, we brought him in to speak to faculty and staff one day and then to the high school teachers the next day.  I spent 2 full days with him.  

Let me share some take aways.  

1) While he represents "ed-tech", you almost forget that he's ed-tech.  He speaks to such a global shift in education and learning.  It's not a tool, it's a thought process.  Design assignments, create learning environments in a digital world - not a paper world.  *mind blown*

2) Almost everything is beneficial to someone that is not in the world of education.  The "site:" command for Google search for example.  The majority of people are googling just with some random words and retrieving thousands and hundreds of thousands of results.  With a few commands, you could have much more precise and much fewer results.  

3) Talk to him 1:1 if you can.  When you talk to him, he asks questions, he wants to know about you and your experiences.  He is enthusiastic and appreciative of what you share.  When you talk to Alan, you feel like he really wants to know about you and what you are doing in education.  

4) Despite being overwhelmed, you leave feeling like you can see his vision.  You have no idea how you will possibly achieve said vision, but you know it's possible.  Even if it's only with one tiny first step.  

Thanks Alan.  I'm again, renewed, inspired, and refreshed.  

Take a Vacation

So I recently returned (yesterday) from a vacation.

"What does that have to do with anything?  Oh great!  Is she going to start showing a ton of family pictures?  I don't know you, I don't care."

So all this is flying through my head.  And while my vacation is more personal than I am going to share, I have a different point to make.  Being a teacher, I often find that when I'm on vacation, I'm not really on vacation.  How many of you are in that boat?  Constantly checking emails...grading papers...creating lessons, etc.

I started my vacation the first couple of days doing much of my job "from home".  I then decided to put my phone/laptop away and really focus on my vacation.  My job is across the country from my parents and "home".  The move was insanely difficult for me because my mom and I are so close.  I realized that if I spent all the time that I had set aside with her, the rest of my family, and my friends working...I would only resent my job, be angry with myself, and miss them that much more when I did return home.

That being said, your vacation is a break for you.  You need that time to recover, you need that time to decompress, and you need that time to enjoy what/who you love.  And you need to give that 100% of your attention.

Cross That Bridge

Recently, I asked a colleague of mine if he was going to submit a proposal to present at an event.  He said he planned on it.  (Neither one of us did because we ran out of time.)  I looked at him as he was replying and he had a very "nonchalant" look on his face.  The idea of submitting - not even presenting - TERRIFIED me! He didn't seem to care at all.  I cared a lot, so I asked him about it.

I'm a 30 something and I'm still afraid of rejection and judgement.  I'm still nervous to put myself out there.  Despite the fact that I aspire to be someone that others can look to for #edtech advice, guidance, conversations.  If, as a professional, I'm still not 100% comfortable...gosh, what about the kids?!

How can we get them to take that first step?  How can we get them to cross that bridge?

What Do You Sound Like?

Funny thing...I just got done recording a You Tube Live Event with a few teachers that I work with. Before getting started, you know, there's some chit chat and prepping, etc.  So the teacher, Brock - yup I'm calling you out! - says, "I read your blog post.  And it, the way you write, it sounds like you."

My initial reaction is somewhat bashful that he would have taken the time to read my rambling.  My next reaction is seriously appreciative.  Not only that he would take the time to read what I thought was important enough to write down, but to also note that he can "hear" my voice in my writing.  So thanks Brock.  It kind of means a lot to me that you read it and that you would say something like that.

That being said, those of you that don't know me...maybe can't hear that voice.  So, here's a short PD that Scott, one of my team mates, and I put together.  Appropriately enough, on blogging!  HA!

PS I am the female voice, Scott is the male voice.  

Why Do You?

Why do you teach?

Why do you cook with mushrooms?

Why do you read a book even if you know you'll cry?

Why....why....why?

I'm working on a version of PD for some of the teachers I work with and the objective is ways they can provide PD to their staff.  I have a couple of approaches, but the one that has me really thinking is blogging.  Why does this have me thinking?  Because I started reading some blogs.

For this particular PD I'm sharing the blogs of some "real" teachers.  Teachers that I know and have worked with.  Teachers who are not looked to in the ed tech world but who are looked to in their classroom.

I just finished reading a post from a friend of mine about having a student observer in her class.  Why did she agree to have that student in her class?  I then reflected back to when I had a student teacher in my class.  Why did I agree to that?  Because I wanted to be a teacher...not just to the kids, but to a future teacher.  I wanted to have an impact.  My friend wanted to give back because she felt like she didn't have a mentor.

Then I continued to think back to when I took that course in my undergrad.  I was NOT a fan of my teacher.  She wasn't warm and she wasn't welcoming.  In fact, she said I didn't take any initiative.  I don't think she knew it was because I was worried I was stepping on her toes.  Why was she selected to have me in her class?  Why did she agree?  Why did I decide to continue on the path to teaching when my experience had been so negative?

Why am I where I am today?  Why am I working with teachers now more than kids?  Why am I out of the classroom?  Why is it so hard in a classroom?  Why would you want to stay in a classroom?  Why would you want to leave the classroom?  What makes you love teaching...regardless of who you teach?  Why are you a teacher?

Why.

Because of You

Kelly Clarkson said it best in her song "Because of You"..."Because of you, I find it hard to trust".

So I recently came up with my own little theory as to why so many people are so adamantly against the use of technology, specifically in the classroom.

Humans are programmed to lose trust when they are disappointed or let down.  Unfortunately, we are often times disappointed and/or let down by technology.  Not just classroom tech, but everything! How many times has your phone broke, or you A/C quit working (in the summer), or the copy machine ate your copies?!  All of these instances lead to a mistrust of technology.  Especially when the molding of young minds is what is "at risk".

I then think, how do we go about trusting again, once we've been disappointed.  We either completely reject someone/something or we protect ourselves.  Since technology is not going anywhere, I highly recommend protecting ourselves.  What does this mean?  It means understanding that technology is man made.  It's not doing anything on purpose to try and cause you problems.  But it's also not perfect.  So have a back up plan.  

How are you going to teach this lesson with technology? 

How you would teach it without technology?

Preparation is the key when it comes to protecting yourself.  Don't let yourself be afraid to trust.