Social Presence Project - Personal Growth Plan

Social Presence Project

06/29/10 Homework

List of social networks that I am using:

Flickr               Birgittemetoo (@yahoo.com)

Facebook         Birgitte Jensen

Twitter             Birgittenyc

Delicious         Birgittemetoo (did not work when I tried to log in Tuesday)

Blogger           Birgittenyc.blogspot.com

Reader            Birgittenyc

Edmodo          Birgittenyc

Answer to question 1:

I have not yet separated my personal and professional persona online. Although I never post anything I’m worried about sharing, my network is growing and I have had several students send friend requests on Facebook. I have allowed some former students to become my facebook friends but to keep my personal life separate from my professional, the most prudent route would be to create a separate professional persona online.  My reluctance stems from having to entertain yet another social presence online. 

Answer to question 2:

I would like to connect with other educators with whom I can exchange ideas and acquire technical skills to best manage digital media in the classroom and simplify homework assignments and class requirements by incorporating shared online workspace or a blog.

Answer to question 3:

My former career was in film production and I have an eye for visual elements and editing, and good knowledge about features and documentaries. 

01/07/10

The picture that comes to mind, when I reflect on my experience so far in this program, is my first Labrador’s introduction to swimming in the open sea. She was just a puppy when she slipped off the deck of our sailboat, fell into the water with a big splash and voila’! She was a natural born swimmer. Not me J …but I have faith that I will get my head above water soon. Which brings me to my number one strength - and weakness: Attitude.

My attitude is within my control. What helps my attitude towards learning new technology is to be patient and mindful of the fact that I don’t have to understand everything all at once. It is more fruitful for me to explore what I can at my own pace. If I fail to maintain a positive attitude towards my learning experience, that’s okay too. I can hold myself to a high standard but I must give myself room to make mistakes because that is part of the learning process too. If I can maintain this attitude most of the time, I will set my goals on a solution rather than fret over what I don’t get and don’t understand. I’ll be able to take what I need and leave the rest.

I am not a “techie” and the reason I wanted to pursue this degree is that I want to make the most out of the classroom experience for myself and my kids. I have large classes, I have small classes, I have students of every stripe and color from all over the world and the one thing they have in common is that they’re more tech-savvy than me J

02/07/10

What a mind-bogglingly amazing opportunity! Already in this first week I have learned so much about new technologies that I can bring into my classroom. So far, the most ingenious ice-breaker and perfect intro to my “Global Issues” course, my Theory of Knowledge course and for introducing prepositions in my ESL class: The Marshmallow project.

Ø  Edmudo Wow!

Ø  Pecha Kucha, yay!

Ø  Google Suite – who knew?! (Not me L)

Ø  Screenshot – Grab that slide!

Ø  Intel visual ranking tool

Ø  And so much more…

How am I ever going to keep track of all these tools? I don’t have to.

My 1^st goal is to go home with a working knowledge of the top 10 that best fit my purposes at the moment and try them out when I go back in the fall semester. If I have learned anything from the last 19 years that I have owned a computer it is this: Technology will keep changing and rapidly too. I am not a “techie” by any standard but I don’t want to be remembered by my students as “That Ms. Jensen, what an old dinosaur she was!”.

My 2^nd and more long-term goal is to make my classes more interesting, more interactive, more diversified, more efficient, more enriching - there are many more adjectives I could add but the point is this: I want to do all of this WITHOUT increasing class prep, feedback and grading time. I think it can be done. If I get it right, I hope to get a lot more efficient.