Social Bookmarking Plan
The complexity of social bookmarking is truly amazing. Professionally, I know social bookmarking will help me grow as I learn from others. I think the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child” applies here, except that the child is the web and the raising is being able to gather information. In order to get the most out of the web, we must all work together to share what we know. If we don’t, we will be struggling to keep up with the massive amounts of information. .
I plan to create categories for the areas that I want to grow professionally, ie, SAT Preparation, Math Tutoring, Language Arts Tutoring, Tech News and Innovations. I will create tags for these categories on del.icio.us and subscribe to those tags. My goal will be to incorporate at least one new idea based on what I have learned from the bookmarks of others into my work.
In order to collaborate with others, I will do my own searches in these categories. Knowing that I am helping others will motivate me to create new bookmarks. Because I am home, it is extremely important for me to reach out and collaborate with other professionals. I need to stay current with trends so that when I do return to work in a few years, I am not behind my peers. Social bookmarking with blogs and other websites is crucial to my self-directed professional development.
RSS..Really Simple for Students 4-B-2
As an elementary teacher, I had trouble thinking of ways that RSS could help my students. After giving it some time and thinking of the curriculum, I think RSS feeds would work best in Science because it is an area of study that is constantly changing. For example, I could sign up for NASA RSS feeds when we study space, which would help deliver the latest information to the students. Our textbook still has Pluto as a planet.
RSS feeds would work for communication between parents and teachers. Parents could subscribe to the teacher’s blog and possibly Board of Education’s webpage to have the latest information. This would help for something as simple as homework or field trips, but as important as school delays and closings. I found an article that explains superintendent’s uses of blogs. Teachers are always crunched for time, and RSS allows them to get the latest news from their favorite sites without having to check them individually. RSS also encourages collaboration and sharing-something that is too infrequent.
Personally, I plan to use RSS feeds to conserve time. I complain that I don’t have enough time, but RSS feeds will help me work smarter, not harder. And isn’t that the whole point?
Pageflakes: My new best friend
Here is my Pageflakes page:http://www.pageflakes.com/sherryvalenti/. I really am enjoying customizing my own homepage and subscribing to many RSS feeds. The BCE class has given me the opportunity to brush up on the latest trends in technology.
How to make my life more convenient…
As I am staying home with Olivia, I have some personal goals set for myself. First, I want to invest some more time in some of my hobbies, especially gardening. I am trying, like many other people, to live a more green lifestyle. I found a few blogs that will do this: www.greenlivingtips.com and www.dougsgreengarden.com. I also want to keep up with new information in the Instructional Technology field, so I am also going to subsribe to http://athinkingplace.wordpress.com/.
Last, but not least, I am going to subscribe to Dr. Greene’s site and Mothering Times. I can connect with other mothers, which is something that helps keep me going on my journey through motherhood.
Old Blog, New Blog
Here is the link to my old blog, where you will find my initial posts. I am going to see if I can transfer them over…we shall see.
